Page 35 of Shadow Weaver
He stoppered the vial and popped it into the silver pouch.
The radio crackled. “Carlo, where are you? Where’s Justice? Over.”
Was it bad that the hint of panic in his voice gave me a thrill of satisfaction? Carlo arched a brow at me.
“We’re coming up,” he said. “Stay put. Over and out.”
“Come on,” Carlo said. “Let’s get the heck out of here before Brady goes caveman and forgets he’s supposed to be playing it cool and giving you space.”
* * *
Barracks four wasa huge two-story affair with a watchtower. Apparently, the tower was a standard feature of sector two and three barracks. There was a telescope up there and access to the control room. The place was fitted with intercom radio communication to the other sector two and three barracks and had its own generator. The dorm was wider, and the beds slightly larger. There was even an armory, but I’d yet to be given a tour of that.
Right now, my attention was on Carlo as he worked at his portable lab. He’d set up on the dining table and was hard at work doing science stuff. Thomas and Aidan were out on patrol. Lloyd was on control room duty, and Devon and Harmon were sleeping.
Brady stood by the coffee pot, mug in hand, watching Carlo work on the sample while I hovered at the nightblood’s side.
“Get some rest, Justice,” Brady said.
“I’m fine. I need to know what that stuff is.”
“You have weaver class in four hours. Go get some rest,” he insisted.
He was right. I’d been on patrol all day, and weaver class was at sunset, but still. I had to know.
“Venerick will be swinging by in an hour,” Brady said in Carlo’s direction. “Do you think we’ll have answers?”
Carlo didn’t respond. Instead, he peered into his microscope, staring at the slide he’d prepared. “Shit.”
“What?” Okay, so I was crowding him, but this was exciting stuff.
“Neurotransmitters.” He sat back and ran a hand over his face. “I can’t be certain without further tests, but … I think this chemical was used to keep whatever was in the holes asleep.”
“You mean to keep the critters asleep?” Brady said.
Carlo nodded.
My mind was whirring. “Critter tunnels go deep, and they spread wide.”
Carlo’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Uh-huh, go with it, Justice.”
Oh, fuck. “You don’t think the fomorians did this? Sprayed the tunnels and … and used them to get around the mist … To move beneath us.”
Brady cursed. “It explains why the critters were silent for so many months and coincides with the increase in raiding activity. It’s why we can never fucking catch the bastards.”
“And why they’ve been able to get so far in and withstand the mist.”
“But we’ve had a shit-ton of critter activity the last few weeks,” Carlo pointed out. And then he slapped a hand on his forehead. “The cave-in at the catacombs … It woke them up. It disrupted the sleep cycle.”
Brady drained his mug and pushed off the counter. “I’m calling this in. Justice, get some rest. Now.”
“Wait!” I took a step after him. “What’ll happen now?”
He stared levelly at me. “I don’t know. We call it in, and we wait for orders.”
“They’re going to go in, aren’t they? The knights?”
His nostrils flared. “It stands to reason.”
