I nodded. Made sense. “And something has to be happening there. As crazy as it seems, workers have been in there for how long without major problems. Before that, summer school? And the only thing I know that has happened has been a kid being pushed down the steps. So what could’ve possibly changed now?” I thought that over. “Then again, the spirit of Sam? He came back to warn Stacey to stay away from the school, because he sensed something bad was about to go down. I figured it was the portal he was sensing.”

“Maybe they wanted to clear the school out in preparation for the Transfiguration?” Dez suggested. “But that doesn’t make much sense.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “That’s at least two weeks from now.”

Looking out the window, I wondered if something had triggered the ghosts and Shadow People to become more violent? Or if it was just nature taking its course? Any ghost or wraith would become more dangerous the longer it was trapped.

“You’re awful quiet over there.”

“Sorry. Just thinking.”

“About Zayne?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t told him about my plans to go to the Crone, but decided against it. That was something better left not being shared until tomorrow. I had a feeling he would either try to talk me out of it or invite himself along.

Dez was silent for a moment. “Nicolai didn’t want me to call you in on this.”

“What?” I looked over at him.

“With everything going on with Zayne, he’s concerned you’ll be distracted.”

Me? Distracted? I almost laughed. “First off, I’m always distracted. I’m in a constant state of distraction.” I held up two fingers. “Secondly, I’ll admit it. Zayne is a priority. Right or wrong, I don’t care. But dealing with the Harbinger is still my duty. This is what I’ve been...bred for.” My lip curled. Bred? That sounded terrible. “This is what I’ve been training for. If something is going down with anything that has to do with the Harbinger, I need to be in on it. I can separate what’s going on with Zayne and with the Harbinger, and finally...” I stared at my three raised fingers and then lowered my hand. “I don’t have a finally. I just have one and two.”

Dez grinned. “I know, but he’s worried that this could be a trap. A way Gabriel is going to try to lure you out.”

“It could be,” I said, and Dez glanced over me. “I don’t know if he believes that the Wardens would bring me in or not. Maybe he does, but it’s not like he doesn’t know where I live. Imps and another demon showed up last night.”

“What? And you’re just now bringing this up?”