canapes. I glanced around the room, noticed several of the nondescript suits drift into clusters and back out.
I uncrossed my arms. Whatever was going on might just be more important than stopping my kids from creating an international incident. âWhatâs wrong?â I asked, keeping my voice low. The shadows around my face meant I didnât have to fake a smile.
âNot sure. Mr Longâs people had information about a suspected security breach. Passed it along as a gesture of goodwill. Our people are looking into it, but Dunbarton wants our Aces mobilized in case something goes down.â
Information? I wondered if it was the same warning Mei Shen had been trying to deliver. If so, Mian Zi had outplayed her again. âWhat sort of breach?â I scanned the room again, assessing.
âElectrical grid. Primary. Doesnât make sense. Thereâs nothing of value in the Academy displays, unless someone really has it in for that albino alligator, and all the tech in Argentâs displays is disabled or removed. And the alarms are on secondary backup even if there was something here worth stealing.â
âQuite a few civilians. Perhaps theft isnât the point.â The collateral costs of Ace battles were always a hot button issue, good for taking up a month of news cycles. It was the PR reason for exhibits like this one, and Argentâs close ties with the NRA, and some would say Skyrocketâs entire existence. His reassuring smile and plain-spoken Midwest charm seemed designed to comfort such fears. âWhatâs on the primary grid? Only the primary grid?â In other words, what would fail if an attack on the grid succeeded?
âOnly primary?â Abby shrugged. âHVAC, PA System, non-emergency lights, some of theââ
âGet everyone out. Now.â I was already moving, searching the crowd. Tsung. Where had Tsung got off to? Was he still on the roof with Tom?
âMasters?â Abby swiped for my arm. I shook her off and made for the stairs. The itch at the back of my spine finally gave way to a full body shiver. Lights. And Mei Shen had said her information came via David Tsung. I knew what was coming.
âEvacuate the civilians. Now. Before they attack.â I paused at the base of the stairs and tentatively reached out with my senses to prod at the veil between worlds. It was in shreds. Practically non-existent. I searched for my kids in the crowd. They were nowhere in sight, nor was Sylvia Dunbarton and her personal protection unit. All I saw were civilians.
âThey who?â
The lights flicked out. Emergency lighting kicked in, sullen red and useless against this foe. The first screams started.
âThe Shadow Realms.â
Three
Science!
A bby shrieked as something from the depths of the disco display whipped out and wrapped around her waist. She chopped a deflecting hand through the tendril, but two more shot through the dissipating cloud, going for her arms.
She ducked, rolled, and came up with a gun.
âDonât shoot!â I caught the two tendrils â solid for me as they had not been for her â and tore the tangle of darkness out of its nest. Whipping it over my head once, twice, I cast it back into the Realms from whence it came.
âNo shit, Masters. Iâm not going to fire around panicked civilians.â
I hadnât even considered that aspect. âIt wouldnât be effective. Youâre better off shooting at smoke.â Another shadow hurled itself at us, this one vaguely beast-shaped, with spiky fur and claws that reflected the dull red emergency lights. I struck it at sternum level, followed up with a front thrust kick, and opened up another conduit to the Shadow Realms for the beast to fall back into.
Except it was a temporary fix. With the lights out and the veil between realms torn open, anything I sent back could easily come through again. And, as Abby had said, there were too many