“They already sense magical energy. We just need to tweak it so that it picks up chaos magic,” I say, wondering how on earth we’re going to achieve that.

“You know how to do that?” Aysha asks the question I’ve been dreading.

“Couldn’t you hum a modification or something?”

“Or something?” Aysha arches an eyebrow.

“Do we have a better idea?” Katya asks. “No? Then I’m with Taika. Let’s go.” She bursts into a run, and we follow.

27

There are over a dozen theremins lining the shelves in Mr. Fotsios’s storeroom. Big ones and small ones, some prickling with odd adornments whose functions I can only guess at.

“This should do.” I choose one double the size of a large flashlight and haul it off its shelf. It’s heavier than I expected, but I can manage it with two hands.

“I probably shouldn’t touch that,” Katya says.

“Don’t even look at it.” Aysha waves her hands and Katya backs up, keeping her distance as I set the instrument on the nearest desk.

“What do I do?” Aysha asks.

“See these two antennae?” I point to the two metal rods sticking out of the theremin, one vertically, one horizontally. “Usually, holding your hand close to this one controls the pitch and the other one controls the volume.” I flip the power switch and a crackle of white noise comes from the speaker.

“But with these ones, they react to a person’s aura. Like this.” I push it closer to Aysha. The device instantly produces a fluting melody.

She steps away and the music grows softer. “That’s actually pretty cool.”

Katya tries next, stepping cautiously closer to the antennae. The melody changes, becoming more jagged.

“What about you?” Katya asks.

I inch closer and the device falls silent. No tone, no white noise—nothing at all.

“Huh, guess it can’t react to what isn’t there.” And somehow this doesn’t bug me quite as much as I thought it would.

“It’s reacting to something.” Aysha pulls the device away from me and the white noise returns.

Maybe some residue from the liminal realm rubbed off on me, like pollen on a bee’s legs, and that’s what the theremin is picking up.

“So, Mr. Fotsios can control the flow of energy,” I say, getting back to business. “He can create a whole symphony with these.”

“How do you know all this?” Katya asks.

“I went to one of his concerts.” With Natalie. “It was pretty good.”

“Didn’t know you were into music.”

“Actually, I’m more into rock and punk.” I give her a single shoulder shrug.

“You, really?” She stares at me like I’ve grown two heads.