”Listen, Jeremy,” she said, looking into my eyes. ”We’re not homicidal maniacs. Sure, we enjoy our job, but we’re actually working for a government agency.”

Belinda reached over and flashed me an identity badge. It had her face on it, and below was the glowing emblem of the Arcane Seal of the President of the United States. Astrid showed me an identical badge, except this one had her face on it instead of Belinda’s. I looked closer.

They were almost certainly genuine.

It would be nearly impossible to forge that seal, but it probably could be done. The night’s antics didn’t feel even close to finished either. I couldn’t explain how I knew that this was just the beginning, but I felt it deep in my gut. The only way through this was to keep pushing forward.

I sighed as I looked from one to the other of the women. ”Okay,” I said, “say I believe you, why am I involved in all this?”

”It’ll all be explained when we get to the mansion,” Belinda said, growing impatient. ”If you find yourself still wanting out once you know more, then you can leave. We won’t stop you. But we need to get to the mansion first. We don’t normally leave it unattended, and even low-level thugs could use the core if they were to find it while it’s in its current state.”

Core? Did she mean a creature core? Was there some powerful and rare creature core hidden within the mansion?

I figured the only way I’d get answers to my questions was if I reached this mansion they kept talking about.

”Okay,” I said, throwing my hands up in resignation. “I’ll drive you to the mansion, but I expect some more explanations when we get there.”

”Fine by us,” Belinda said, “but let’s get a move on! We don’t want to run into more PentaTech goons if we can help it.”

My fingers shook a little as I plugged the ignition with the key, but I got hold of myself and cranked the engine on. The car started, and I picked up speed as we carried on following the broad, dark, tree lined dirt road.

”How many more of those goons do you think are left?” Astrid asked Belinda.

“I’m not sure exactly, but I can check. Hold on…” Belinda closed her eyes and touched her temples before answering. ”I’m reading a half dozen lifeforms. They’re all congregating further up the road.”

”A blockade?” Astrid asked.

”Most likely.”

”Shit!” I yelled. “There’s no way this rust bucket is going to be able to plow through a blockade!”

”You don’t have a choice,” Belinda said. ”Activate your enchantments.”

“You think my Force Barrier is going to carry us through a full scale military cordon?” I asked.

Astrid pressed a finger to my spell panel. ”This is an amazing bit of spellwork.”