Their practice lasted most of the day. Now that they were getting closer to the expedition date, their handling a gun had become their top priority. Noah forced himself to take part, believing that just because they didn’t see anyone didn’t mean they weren’t being watched.

  This time around, John had set a time limit on their training, and when the wagon finally came down the long road, the driver, the one who’d driven the wagon yesterday, rushed the horse all the way back to the residential area.

  “I forgot where the Rades’ stay,” the driver finally said, throwing a quick look at Noah.

  “Aren’t we supposed to go back to the Store?” Zach asked.

  “That was the plan, but something happened—I swear it’s been one thing after the other. I can’t talk about it. They’re still figuring out the details. It didn’t involve the Expedition Function, but all the heads and deputies are meeting right now to discuss it and the cursed enforcers’ got the Store closed off. So, the functions that operate out of there were sent home — it’s only about two hours before everyone’s off anyway.”

  “Oh,” was all Zach said.

  Noah stared in the old mall’s direction, frowning to himself.

  “So?” the driver asked.

  Both Zach and Noah looked back at him questioningly. “Which building you in, you dull?”

  “Halfway up 1st,” Noah responded, glancing at Zach as his eyes suddenly gleamed with the spark of an idea.

  Zach understood immediately. Despite the fact that their luck might very well be another massacre somewhere within the Store, he still couldn’t believe it.

  “I’ll get off there as well,” he said to the driver. “Lucas was supposed to give me something for my hand. His own thing, not at the ward. I might as well fetch it now.”

  “Works for me. I can take the damn thing right back to the farm and head back. Today, I count as someone who works from the Store.”

  When they arrived at the building, it was surreal standing there. He could almost feel his stalker’s eyes on him. Weird that whoever the Dorsi had been working with hadn’t come to check up on their partner’s target.

  Or maybe they sent someone much better at his job.

  He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably, suddenly feeling exposed in the cold air.

  The apartment was exactly as he remembered it being, if a bit more cluttered. The books were laid out on the ground as if both brothers preferred to read on the floor. Though he couldn’t make sense of it himself, there was an organized sense of chaos to all of it.

  “Don’t move anything,” Noah said, disappearing into one of the back rooms. Sounds of cupboards and drawers being opened came out after him.

  They’d cleaned up so that there was no trace of the fight that had happened. Most likely everything they’d broken that day sat behind the shelf that hid the hole into the other apartment.

  Zach’s eyes immediately went to the little figurines. There was the whale-like animal that had interested him last time.

  There was a flat, disk-shaped statue that drew his attention. Fitted with small groove tracks filling the width of the shape, the stone itself was pitted. Zach bent to inspect it more closely, swearing there was something strange about it.

  Was that a voice?

  “So, first things first,” Noah said, stepping back into the room. “Theory. Everyone on the planet is capable of performing Theurgy. Strength is dependent on how long you’ve been directly exposed to it, or how long you’ve been practicing.”

  Zach looked away from the stone, the voice vanishing with it, and found Noah clearing a small space in the middle of the room.

  “That’s why you’ll have trainees who live in a temple with a master. Being exposed to him day in and day out would by association make you more powerful than others. Not as powerful—not automatically, that also stems from age—but more than those who weren’t exposed to it.”

  Once the space was clear, he sat cross-legged on the floor, laying out his dagger and the silver balls he’d called guideposts.

  “What exactly are we doing?”

  “Theurgy functions in three different ways,” Noah said, indicating Zach sat opposite him. “With artifacts, like the silver knife I use. Then the grimoires, which use runes to tap into Creation. And the rarest, those who can voice the source; it’s like reading the words of life.”

  He picked up the dagger and drew it across the palm of his hand. A small line of blood welled up in its wake, but he barely reacted.

  “I told you blood was important, but only for Theurists who use artifacts. This is almost like a payment. By shedding blood, you’re able to tap into Creation and draw out whatever you want. As long as you have a clear image.”

  His blood started floating upward. A sheer shield spread high over them, filling the room until it pressed against the far walls of the apartment. His blood shimmered crimson in the light streaming in from the windows.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “People who don’t really understand Theurgy like to think we’re capable of anything. Like we could use creation to bring food into existence. But that’s not how it works. Not really. It’s only metaphysical constructs.

  “It’s aligning yourself with the forces that govern reality. Weaker versions or aspects of the Creational Forces, but still powerful. You do get some who are strong enough to do it without silver, though the creation might cost more.”

  “And what exactly does all of this have to do with me? You said the Emerys didn’t practice Theurgy, and I promise you Theurgy doesn’t exist in my world.”

  Noah set the guideposts in a square, shook his head, going through the book he’d walked in with, before he set three of the balls in a straight line, with the fourth to the right, just opposite the one in the middle.

  “I told you that the wall around your memories reminds me of the Ospelians. But they use something wholly different, something the rest of the world has been dying to figure out for centuries, but can’t. Not even we know what it is.

  “That’s where you come in. If I can figure out your wall, I might be able to crack the knowledge. Which means I might be able to bring the wall down. But first, we need to find out if it’s actually Theurgy-based.”

  “Again, you said the Emerys didn’t use Theurgy.”

  “I said as far as we know they didn’t use Theurgy,” Noah corrected, holding his hand out and gesturing for Zach’s.

  “But if the wall is made up of Theurgy, doesn’t that mean someone purposefully put it there?”

  Noah sighed, dropping his hand.

  “To draw Creation into another human being, that person has to be attuned. Meaning they have to have some strength within them, or it won’t work; the Creation won’t manifest inside them. If that wall really is something like what the Ospelians use, then just the fact that you have it means you have an affinity for it. Of course, we won’t know that until I test it, will we?”

  He held out his hand, staring at Zach, who only had eyes for the dagger. Noah’s blood still coated on its sharp edge.

  “Aren’t you going to clean it?” he asked, unable to explain his reluctance.

  “I need to form a connection, so you can take me with you. Think of me like medicine entering your blood, but we’re both going to the site of the infection. If there is an infection.”

  Zach shook his head, finally understanding his reluctance. Deep in the back of his mind, there was a flashing warning. His blood wasn’t to be touched. He focused on it, trying to find its origin. Then it came to him, as clear as daylight.

  The Head, sitting before him at a large ornate desk, an oriel window overlooking the farm positioned just behind her. She looked intensely at him.

  No matter what, you have to ensure no one has access to your blood. Ever. There are people out there who can do a lot of damage with it. Understand me?

  “What?” Noah asked with his frown.

  “Oliver and his brother. The Head told them never to give their blood away. There are people out there who can do a lot of damage with it.”

  “Of course, she knows,” Noah muttered to himself. “They’ve only been hunting them for years.”

  “Hunting?” Zach asked.

  That guarded look flashed across Noah’s face, his jaw hardening slightly. “You need to decide,” he said instead. “Are you going to trust your vague memories of the Head, or are you going to trust me? I’ve already told you why I’m helping you. I still can’t tell you more than that. So? Which one will it be?”

  Zach looked back down at the guideposts, the symbols drawn right at the top looking more alien than they had the first time he’d seen them. It wasn’t a difficult decision to make, but that was part of what bothered him.

  He held out his hand, palm facing up. Noah nodded, taking his hand and drawing the dagger across his palm. Blood welled up immediately, even as the cut started closing. There was no stopping it; he could feel the webs rushing to repair the damage. But it seemed they’d drawn enough blood.

  Noah held the blade between them, his hand positioned directly underneath it. He closed his eyes, his face going slack and calm. Zach looked around, wondering what was supposed to happen when he blinked once and found himself standing before the wall.

  “It is Theurgy,” Noah said in amazement from beside him.

  “You know that already?” Zach asked in surprise.

  “That’s the infection I spoke about. I only envisioned the point of the Theurgy in your body, and it brought us here. It never occurred to me when you mentioned the wall back in the hold. She never would’ve missed something so obvious,” he cursed at himself.

  Zach would’ve asked what he meant, but he was staring up at the wall. Those silver cracks were still there, covering the walls like veins of pulsing light. This time he heard nothing. No whispers, no buried feelings. Nothing.

  Noah walked up to the wall, its height stretched so high it looked endless. When he laid his hands against it, Zach heard a sudden high-pitched scream. Noah removed his hands quickly as though he’d been burned, but not before blinding pain shuddered through them both.

  Noah took a step back, glancing at Zach. His expression was odd, misplaced on his features. He turned back to the wall, holding his hands out. Zach felt a strange energy echoing out from him, a low vibration that hummed through the air.

  A deep pressure seemed to push down on them, but it wasn’t the same as when Noah altered gravity using his Creational Force. No. This was something much stronger, something more ethereal.

  Like small silver snakes, the cracks in the walls started contorting, then, in one, swooping motion, a bright flash washed off, that deep vibration pushing against them. They were thrown out of his mental landscape, their consciousnesses crashing back into their physical bodies.

  “That strength,” Noah whispered, the dagger still in his hand.

  “So, the wall does have something to do with Theurgy,” Zach said. “How is that possible? You said it was rare.”

  “Exposure,” he said irritably. “It’s all about exposure.” He noticed Zach wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Theurgy is rare because while everyone has the potential to do it, you need to be exposed to actual users. Which is hard because the strongest Theurgists keep themselves secluded for most of their lives.”

  He waved the dagger through the air, the blood splattering to the floor as the shield vanished. There was no fanfare, no special ritual he stuck to as he picked up the guide posts and got back to his feet.

  “Lucas has to see you, he’s good at testing. I wouldn’t get an accurate reading off of you. We’ll have to find a way to get you here when he’s off.”

  “Testing? What testing? I thought you just did that?”

  “We tested the wall,” he moaned out as if tired of explaining things to a child. “Now that we know it’s Theurgy, we have to test you. To see what kind of strength we’re dealing with. I mean, I felt some of it. It managed to sever the connection and that was only a fraction of it. I could feel it. Can you imagine?”

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