Page 21 of Mystery of Magic

I shook my head. “This is different. The map has registered this as dark magic, but it wasn’t connected to the ley lines. This is different from the museum.”

Daryn was weary. Two explosions, this close together. How could they not be related, but I couldn’t explain how they were different? Only that they were. “Shannon and I will head over. We will take my vehicle in case we need to investigate the surrounding area. Plus, this business is located in a mostly-mundane-owned territory.”

I followed Daryn to the elevator and upstairs to the hallway, but startled slightly when Daryn pulled me into the cafeteria. “What are you doing? We don’t have time to eat.”

Daryn went to the counter where they offered Mexican and grabbed two burritos. “We will eat on the way. You need to eat. That power bar has worn off by now.”

I grabbed a couple of bottles of water and two chocolate chip cookies. “Then we might as well have dessert.” We were out thefront door in under a minute and pulling out of the base parking lot thirty seconds later.

Daryn and I ate our food in silence. There was no need to talk. We could feel each other’s emotions through the bond, and we were both worried about the location of this event. Why target the mundanes? What value could a pawn shop have?

The tires crunched the gravel on the pavement as we came to a stop in the parking lot. The explosion should have alerted the mundanes in the area, though the shop was off the beaten path and surrounded by trees.

My heart sank at the sight that greeted us. The once-charming pawn shop lay in ruin. I had visited it a few times with my mother and had found some unique treasures. The acrid smell of burnt wood and scorched memories hung in the air, a stark contrast to the welcoming scent of old jewelry and antique trinkets that had welcomed me before.

The building’s facade was barely recognizable, its windows shattered and its walls bearing the scars of the fiery explosion. Charred debris lay scattered across the main entrance pavement, like the remnants of a forgotten war.

I squinted through the lingering haze of smoke, trying to make out the name of the shop that had held so many stories within its walls. The sign, once proudly displaying the words “Taver’s Treasures,” now dangled precariously from a single rusty chain, its letters warped and partially melted by the intense heat of the fire. The name had changed since my last visit, but the destruction of someone’s dream was never easy. This could have been my store. My future.

With a heavy heart, I stepped over the charred debris and into the remnants of the store, determined to uncover the secret of its destruction.

There was a faint sound before Daryn hit the tattoo on his neck. “Report.”

The click of his keyboard preceded Cipher’s voice. “Daryn, I found a video of the pawnshop before the explosion. The new owner installed a camera, and the feed automatically uploads to the cloud. I made a copy.”

“Send it over.”

Daryn grabbed his phone and pulled up Cipher’s contact before hitting the play button. I stared at the image and sucked in a breath when a cloaked figure entered the pawnshop and grabbed something from the backroom. Smoke seemed to swirl around the strange figure, making who or what it was impossible to discern. Once the criminal returned to the main room, it held an artifact I didn’t recognize in its hands. A pulse was released before the creature ran from the room with preternatural speed.

Seconds later, the image turned to snow, and the shop was left in the condition we had found it in.

“What was that thing?”

Daryn shook his head. “It was a shroud, a shadow creature. It is created with dark magic.”

“Why would they destroy the pawnshop?” I asked.

“That creature retrieved something from the back. There is no camera in there, so we don’t know what it was, but they didn’t seem to know about the one in the main area. But that isn’t our biggest issue.”

“What could be worse?”

“I am pretty sure that the artifact it was holding is from the museum. It was listed as destroyed and the shards in inventory.”

I blinked. “The artifact debris is all fake. It wasn’t just a few items.”

“It appears so.”

“Who could create a fake of that magnitude?”

“That is the question,” he whispered. “We need to return to get that list together.”

“Do we have to go back?” I asked.

Daryn tapped his tattoo. “Lochlan. We just watched someone use an artifact I have seen at the museum. I was sure it was listed as destroyed, but I may be mistaken.”

“Describe it,” Lochlan said.

“The artifact is no larger than the palm of my hand, with rough-hewn stone and polished gemstones. Its surface is etched with intricate, Celtic symbols. The gemstone at its center glowed with a pulsating light, when activated. It used to be housed on one of your pedestals in the museum.”

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