Azriel stopped in front of the unit and crossed his arms. His expression gave little away, but blue fire flickered down the sides of his sword, radiating an energy that was oddly tense. Valdis—the name of the demon trapped within the sword, giving the steel a life and energy of its own—was as ready for action as her master.
I had a similar sword strapped to my back, but Amaya was shadow-wreathed and invisible. The only time anyone was truly aware of her presence was when I slid her dark blade into their flesh—although she did have a tendency to scream for bloodshed, and generally at the most inappropriate times.
"But what sort of magic? Good or bad?" I stopped beside him and eyed the roller door dubiously. I couldn't feel anything, but then, I wasn't always sensitive to magic.
"Neither. In fact, it is almost Aedh-like in construction."
I frowned. "The only Aedh we know who play around with magic are the Raziq, and I seriously doubt they'd be involved on any level with Nadler."
"There is Lucian."
I frowned. "Yeah, but he isn't capable of magic."
"That we know of."
True. But surely to god he wasn't linked to Nadler. Surely to god I hadn't been that gullible.
Azriel, perhaps wisely, made no comment about that particular thought.
I studied the innocuous-looking door for several seconds, then carefully raised a hand. As my fingertips neared the metal, energy began to flow across them. As Azriel had said, it didn't feel evil or dark, just wrong. It was also oddly similar to the magic in the circle of stones that had formed a protective barrier around the gateway Jak—my ex, and a reporter who was helping us—and I had discovered underground when we'd been searching for Nadler's base of operations in West Street. And that certainly suggested I'd been right in suspecting a link between Genevieve Sands and Nadler himself. According to Ilianna—who wasn't only my best friend but an extremely powerful witch—every spell was as inpidual as the person creating it. Two spells having the same sort of feel could only mean the same person was behind both.
"We need to get in there," I said. "We need to uncover what they might be hiding."
"I do not think that would be a wise move."
I frowned. "Why?"
"For one, the magic involved prevents me from entering, and two, I would think crossing the threshold would notify Sands, or Nadler, or whoever else might be the true owner of this container."