swear each time I got a clear strike.” Emma paused to rub her still-aching shoulder. “Yet it just looked at me like I was some sort of annoying mosquito. I have no idea what’s going to happen the next time I have to fight it.”
“Next time?” Loni’s voice started to turn high-pitched. “You think there’s going to be a next time? Because that’s even more reason why we should go to Kessler.”
“I promise, if I thought there was any chance Kessler would listen to me, I would go and see him, but aside from all of my aches and pains, we have no proof—”
“Wait.” Tyler cut her off and suddenly darted over to Loni’s laptop and started to tap away at the keyboard. “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” Loni demanded.
“We get proof that you were fighting the darkhel and then Kessler will have to believe you,” he said as his fingers continued to fly across the keyboard.
“How?” Loni demanded.
“Okay, so this is completely off the record, but I might happen to know how to get into Burtonwood’s security system. They put out an EMR pulse every two minutes to make sure all the wards are working and that no elementals enter the grounds.”
Loni widened her eyes. “Tyler Owens, how exactly do you have the security clearance to get into that system?”
He grinned. “Let’s just say I know someone who was dumb enough to bet against Ruby the cockroach, and then when they couldn’t pay what they owed me, they offered me the code in lieu of cash.”
“You know how to hack into the surveillance system because of a bet you made on an insect?” Emma double-checked to make sure she was hearing right.
“That’s correct. I mean, it’s not my fault if people continue to underestimate the speed of a five-legged cockroach.” He gave an unrepentant shrug. “Anyway, the thing is that Emma was fighting the darkhel for at least ten minutes, which means there should be some sort of image, and maybe we can get some clues from the thermal resonance. Of course it would help if I knew what I was looking for,” he added with a frown.
“You get us in and I can do the rest,” Loni assured him as she leaned over his shoulder. “And Tyler, I’m going to be wanting these codes. I still can’t believe you held out on me like this.”
“Most girls want flowers and chocolate, but you want a security code,” Tyler quipped as he continued to tap away at the keyboard, pausing only to wince as Loni hit him on the arm. “Ouch. Anyway, Miss Zodiac, here’s your EMR. Make of it what you will.”
“So what does it say, Lon?” Emma watched as her friend intently studied the computer screen.
“It says . . . oh.” Loni frowned as she nudged Tyler out of the way so she could sit down and start tapping something on the keyboard. Then she softly swore under her breath. “According to this, there was no elemental activity at all.” She scrolled down the page. “And this is going back until ten yesterday morning when you first saw it. Okay, that idea is officially a bust. So how did it get through the wards and through an EMR scan undetected?”
“And more to the point, why can Emma see it?” Tyler added as the frown lines continued to gather on his face like a storm. “You know, this is one bet that I wouldn’t back.”
“I know. It makes no sense.” Loni continued to stare at the screen.
“Preaching to the choir,” Emma assured them as she gingerly got to her feet and walked over to the window. “Problem is, that thing is out there. Somewhere. And we don’t know anything about it. What if it’s hunting right now?”
“All the more reason to tell Kessler,” Loni persisted.
“Can’t. Expelled, remember?”
“I don’t like it.” Loni shook her head so hard that her silver hoops started to jangle. “In fact, sometimes I think you’re the Taurus and not me because you have one hell of a stubborn streak.”
“Not stubborn, I just don’t want to get kicked out of Burtonwood. Especially since right now all I want to do is find out how this thing knew my mom. I think we should go to the library and see if we can . . . what?” Emma paused as she realized her friend was looking at her like she had just suggested they both fly to Paris and jump off the Eiffel Tower together. “Just because I’m not