They sped northwest through a damp green world. The roads grew busier. Despite the fizzing in his mind, the combination of the big meal and his enormous fatigue soon had Alex nodding toward sleep. Just before he dropped off, the thought really struck home: he had brought Harry back. And that meant he had finally succeeded in contacting the power in the tablet again, directing it.

His process, the curious detail of focusing on Kenzie Mitchell, worked—even if he didn’t understand why or how. He was learning to control his power. It had taken seven hours, but he was sure that now he knew the way, he could find it faster. He could do it again.

XXIV.

OVER THE WALL

Alex woke as the car bumped to a halt by a country roadside. His grandfather was already getting out.

“Are we there?” Alex said. The dashboard clock showed it was not long after noon.

“House is about five minutes back that way.” The old man pointed with his cane. “But it wouldn’t do to just drive up and ring the bell. Bit of sneaking seems in order. So, I’m going in, you and Harry can wait—”

“No way. You’re not going in alone. I’m coming. Harry said they had guns. We might need . . . this.” Alex took out the toy robot.

“You’ve really worked out how to use it?”

“Kind of. Well. Not sure. It takes time. But looks like I can.” Alex nodded toward Harry. “It’s got to be better than nothing.”

The old man stood pulling his lip, then nodded. “I’m not keen on you trying to use that thing any further, either, Alex . . . but, this is the situation. And it’s a different kind of power from my father’s creations. Yes, okay, agreed. Grudgingly.”

Alex thought about the flier hidden in his rucksack, the faint sting of salt on his fingers. A different kind of power—he wondered just what his grandfather meant. He recalled the definition he’d read on his phone in the café, when he’d looked up the name David’s great-grandmother had yelled at him: sorcerers who may practice both light and/or dark magic. Light and dark. It was beyond him. But the idea of using the flier again filled him with apprehension.

And yet, it could prove valuable, and he knew he could do it far more easily than reaching the power inside the ancient tablet. He moved to pull the rucksack over his shoulder.

“No, leave that,” his grandfather said. He hoisted his Gladstone. “Got everything we need here. I’d rather you were able to move as fast as possible. Just in case. Okay, Harry. Keep watch for them to arrive. If we don’t come out in, say, twenty minutes, then . . . well. Improvise. Feeling up to it?”

“Practically bionic,” Harry said.