As the others worked, I held out my arm, the disc mounted on it like a buckler. The projected image of team yellow was visible over top, everyone drawn in miniature.

I floated back, and the distortion eased up a fraction. I could see where disparate pieces were drawing together into something more coherent, between flickers. I tried to find the place where the signal strength was best.

The others seemed okay, at least.

I heard a beep. Foil moved Precipice’s phone in front of cabinets, trying to figure out where the trap was.

“Careful,” Precipice said.

Foil raised her rapier, then pointed it at the cabinet. She let Precipice take his phone and move it around. When he’d confirmed her target was in the right location, she thrust her sword through.

Five spikes punched through the wood of the cabinet, each a foot long.

Foil’s sword shimmered slightly as she tugged it free. With a few short swipes up and down, left and right, she demolished the trap. Spikes that were four feet long tumbled to the counter, then the ground.

The cabinet was open. There was a miniature filing cabinet inside, partially damaged by the rapier’s swipes. While Chastity helped Foil take it down, Parian took the phone and started sweeping over the fridge.

I don’t think I’d be comfortable stealing food, I thought.

I was even less comfortable with the distortion.

“Is the distortion in this image not Nursery?” I asked. I indicated the projected images.

“I thought it was,” Precipice said.

I shook my head.

I moved the disc around more. This time, my aim was on finding the area with the most distortion.

A triangular closet beneath the stairs.

“Quiet!” I hissed.

All of the rustling and packing up stopped.

There it was. A dull thud. Like the heartbeat of someone catatonic, as large as the house.

Precipice raised a hand, touching his ear. I nodded.

He heard it too.

“Didn’t realize there was a closet there,” Foil said. “Suddenly glad I didn’t, because I might have opened it.”

“Is she here?” Candy whispered.

No mist, no rose color, no changes to the environment I could see.

“Can’t be,” I said, whispering so I wouldn’t disturb what was inside. “No, as near as I can figure, the chiming means she’s doing her work, setting her power into an area. The dull thuds mean the power’s there, active.”

I backed away from the closet.

“So long after she left?” Foil asked.

The door was shut. Nothing leaked out—no gas, no fluids.

“It’s sealed tight. The seal is keeping the power inside the containing space,” I said. “Don’t—”