As she watched, trying to comprehend what she was seeing, another mirror sparked with chartreuse energy. And then another.

“It’s a chain reaction,” Harlan said. “At this rate all of the mirrors and the ceiling will be channeling the energy. The reflected heat will get hotter and hotter. When things get too intense there will be an explosion. We’re standing in the middle of a paranormal bomb.”

CHAPTER 21

So much for my oracle talent,” Olivia said. “Any halfway talented oracle would have shouted a warning before we got trapped, not when it was too late.”

The green fire was spreading around the room, leaping and crowning from mirror to mirror the way wildfires do when they move through forests. The first sparks of chartreuse radiation were flaring in the ceiling now. She could feel the paranormal heat rising.

Harlan shot her a quick, knowing look. “Credit where it’s due. You gave us a very big clue on how to get out of here.”

A terrible sense of dread spiked with guilt settled on her. She recalled what she had said when she went into the short dreamstate. “ ‘When the time comes you will know how to go through the mirror’? What does that tell us?”

“Going through a mirror—the right mirror—is our only way out.” Harlan crossed to a pedestal display stand. “We have to move fast.”

Harlan gripped the base of the display stand and smashed it into a burning mirror. The crack of shattering glass echoed across the spectrum. He struck again and again. Chartreuse fire rained down on the floor in shards of broken glass. A section of concrete wall was suddenly revealed.

Harlan moved on to the next mirror.

“Got it,” Olivia said.

There was no need for the flashlights now. The interior of the gallery was illuminated in the eerie green radiation. She dropped the penlight into the pocket of her jacket, picked up a slender floor lamp and slammed the metal base into the nearest mirror. More burning shards cascaded onto the floor. More blank concrete wall was revealed. She moved to the next mirror.

“Is this about putting out the flames?” she asked, crashing the lamp into the next burning mirror. “Because I don’t think it’s working. We’re just creating smaller fires.”

“No, it’s about finding Sefton’s real safe room,” Harlan said.

They were smashing a lot of mirrors, but the room was getting hotter. The wild waves of energy acted like frissons of electricity on all her senses. It was difficult to focus. She was getting dizzy. Her balance was off. She was suddenly afraid that she would faint. She took a deep breath, forced herself to concentrate and moved on to another mirror.

“Found it,” Harlan shouted over the sound of fracturing glass. “Over here. Hurry. This room is going to blow.”