When I’m done I go over to Gabriela, stand at the head of the table, and put my hands on either side of her head. Vivian wheels over a crash cart.

“You ready?” she says.

“I just did it.” The monitor next to the bed begins to beep as everything returns to normal.

“You ass,” Vivian says. “I thought her head was going to explode, or something.”

“Hey, I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t.”

“Goddammit, Eric.” She turns her attention to the monitor. “Vitals are looking good. You think she’ll be out for long?”

“I’ve only brought someone out of it once, and that was more on a timer. I wasn’t actually there for it. Could be minutes, hours, I don’t know.”

Vivian frowns and I can see the gears turning as she puts things together. When I first got back to L.A., her fiancé, my friend Alex, was kidnapped. Vivian wanted to come with me to get him, only I had a better idea of what we’d be up against.

I wasn’t about to see her get killed. So I sort of knocked her out with the same spell I used on Gabriela. Yes, it was a dick move. And if I had to do it over again, I probably would.

The gears finally click into place and Vivian says, “Is it the same spell—” But she doesn’t finish, because a massive jolt slams through the building, almost knocking us down. I hear glass shatter, car alarms go off. I throw open the door to see shattered glass, a few injuries, and the entire top floor bathed in a red-orange glow.

The building’s on fire. They followed us back here and set the place alight. Then I realize no, that’s coming from outside. Through the shattered windows I watch a fireball the size of an oil tanker billow up into the sky.

I note the direction, estimate the distance. Sonofabitch. When Gabriela and I got out of Vernon, Quetzalcoatl and Sastre set the factory to explode. A blast like that must have taken out the whole facility at least. We’re only about three miles away. Far enough away to be safe, but not so far we can’t feel it. Fire crews will be swarming the place soon. It’s going to take them hours to put that out.

But as I’m thinking that, another explosion just as large erupts near the first. It happens so fast and it’s so bright that I don’t quite register before the shockwave hits. I feel it punch through my chest, pushing me back.