Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,101

the closeness of the shelving and all the items stacked on the floor, there really wasn’t another choice—to the rear of the store. After passing through thick plastic strips that divided the main store from the rear storeroom, she led us left and up a flight of stairs. A bathroom sat directly opposite the landing, and there were two other doors—one down a short corridor to the left and another to the right.

The woman stopped and motioned us toward the left door. “They wait inside. Would you like coffee?”

“No, but thank you very much,” Mo said.

Luc—who was still melding the light around his body to remain invisible—stepped quickly to one side as the woman nodded and went back down the stairs. We continued on, the floorboards creaking under our feet. The door ahead opened, and Mia appeared.

“You took your time,” she said cheerfully. “Sadly, that means all the food we bought has now been consumed.”

“I think eating is the last thing on their minds right now,” came Barney’s friendly rumble somewhere to the right of the door.

“A statement that shows your ignorance when it comes to Gwen.” Mia moved aside and motioned us to enter.

The room was large and appeared to serve as both an office and a break room. Filing cabinets lined the left wall, and in front of these were a couple of tidy desks. To the right were two sofas and a coffee table; Barney had claimed the smaller of the two sofas and had two-way radios, his phone, and some other electrical paraphernalia lined up on the table in front of him.

Ginny was perched on an office chair she’d dragged over to the window, but glanced around as we entered. “There’s been no movement into or around the terrace for the last hour, and no indication that anyone is currently inside—though it’s still early and they might be asleep. There is some sort of weird air movement around the building, though. It’s something I’ve not seen before.”

“That would be energy ribbons.” I grabbed the other office chair and rolled it over to the second window.

“Ribbons?” she said, eyebrow raised.

“Darkside evilness, basically,” I said.

“Ah, well, that certainly explains the weird vibes it’s giving me.”

“It’ll do more than give you weird vibes if you get close to it,” I said.

“Does that mean you won’t get past it?” Barney asked.

“No. It just means we have to be bit more cunning in our approach.” Mo quickly updated them on everything and then added, “What’s the situation with the Manchester council?”

“There’s a councilor keeping an eye on earth vibrations from the terrace next door, another watching from the parking area near the gardens, and a third in a van parked in the street behind the terraces.”

“Have they got any record of a witch living in that house?” Mo asked.

Barney shook his head. “Thanks to the city’s growth in the research and manufacturing sectors, Manchester’s witch population has become transient. It makes it harder to keep tabs on everyone.”

I frowned. “Why would they even want to?”

“The witch registration rule was brought here after a number of violent events in the early nineties—some witch based, some not,” he said. “It was a means of keeping tabs on troublemakers—of which there were plenty at the time, believe me.”

I grunted and glanced back to the street. Nothing had changed and yet a tiny niggle that appearances were mighty deceiving stirred.

“Whatever we’re going to do,” I said. “I think we need to do it sooner rather than later.”

Mo glanced at me sharply. “What are you sensing?”

“I don’t know. Something.”

“Then we move.” Her voice was crisp. “Barney, I gather you’re in contact with the councilors?”

He nodded and tapped one of the two-way radios. They all had in ear receivers, so at least using them would be less noticeable. “I’ve tuned them to the same channel and will coordinate.”

“And Gwen and I?”

“Are on a separate channel so you don’t hear all the chatter—that could prove dangerous inside. I’ll alert you if anything happens.”

“Good. Ginny, you’ll remain on air watch, but you can’t do it from up here. You and Mia need to grab a coffee, then stroll to the seat under that plane tree in the park. Just remember, our foes may or may not be obvious. They might even be spell concealed. Luc—”

“He’s here?” Mia’s gaze darted around.

“Near the door,” came the reply, amusement evident. “Didn’t want to shock the store’s friendly inhabitants by suddenly revealing myself.”

“Huh.” Mia studied the doorway for a second. “It’s a little