A chill arced across the back of Sierra’s neck, lifting the small hairs there.

“That does not sound encouraging,” she said.

“No, it doesn’t. The Foundation cleaners talk about hunting down the monsters, but what if we haven’t seen the real thing yet?”

“A scary thought.”

North headed back down the side tunnel. “Time to get to work. Let’s see if my glasses survived the fire. With luck, the lockbox protected them.”

Sierra hurried after him. “The Foundation team in Fogg Lake is bound to have heard the rumors of your loss of talent. What will you tell them when they ask why you’re not wearing the glasses?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. If someone is targeting my family, I want whoever it is to think they’ve been successful in blinding me. For now I’m going to let everyone believe that I no longer need the glasses because my night vision talent has disappeared entirely. That I’ve still got my sensitivity to paranormal vibes and my intuition, but as far as my special ability goes, I’m a burnout.”

“In other words, you no longer know who you can trust at the Foundation.”

“Right.”

—

The poisoned glasses had survived the fire. North decided to leave them in the charred lockbox. “They’re as safe in there as anywhere,” he said. “I’ll pick them up later. The box is too heavy to carry and I sure as hell don’t want those damned glasses anywhere near me.”

“I agree,” Sierra said.

They started hiking toward Fogg Lake.

They did not have to walk very far before a Foundation team in a big SUV found them. The driver introduced himself as Dexter Rose.

“Figured you’d have enough sense to pull over and stop once the fog closed in,” he said. He eyed the charred hulk of metal sitting on the side of the road. “What the hell happened to your vehicle?”

“It was sabotaged by some Puppets,” North said.

“Puppets, huh?” Dexter snorted in disgust. “Just what we need. We’ve got our hands full dealing with the raider crews who keep trying to sneak into the caves. Word of the discovery of the Fogg Lake lab is spreading fast in the underground market.”

“Arganbright and the others back at headquarters knew they wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long,” North said.

“True.” Dexter gave him a considering look. “Are you okay? I heard you had to wear some fancy sunglasses these days.”

“Turns out I don’t need them anymore,” North said.

Dexter frowned in concern. “Is that good news or bad news?”

“Bad news,” North said.

The members of Dexter’s team shifted awkwardly and made sympathetic noises.

Dexter nodded, his eyes grim. “Shit. Sorry to hear that.”

“You and me both,” North said. “But hey, I’m still a pretty good investigator.”

Dexter gave him a comradely slap on the back. “Never doubted it for a moment.” He glanced at the black metal box. “That thing feels hot.”

“Lost lab heat,” North said.