“The layout of this place is pretty simple. It’s not a big station. It might not have one.”

“It’s a station though. It has employees on a good day. Let’s look for the employee entrance, wherever they go for a breath of air or smoke.”

Byron nodded.

Some stayed behind to keep an eye out the windows and the glass of the door, while, at my indication, the rest of us fanned out, checking the building. Rain’s blades cut the bulletproof glass that walled off the security booth. I flew through, while he retreated back to Cassie and Doon.

There was a side door, by a supply area that looked like a quadruple-size broom closet and small workshop combined. Some old construction material lay by the wall.

The door was securely locked, at the top and by the knob.

A bit of light in my peripheral vision got my attention. I could hear the familiar crackle, and stepped aside.

My mother pushed a spike of light through the lock, then reached up, letting the spike extend to reach the one above. White-hot metal dripped down.

“Lights,” she said.

I turned and flicked the lights off. The only illumination was from the station interior. The storage room and this employee-only area were dark, illuminated only by the spike.

She held the spike out of the way while she cracked the door open, pressing her head to the crack, then pulled back. The spike was held against palm with her thumb to provide illumination as the four fingers were held up.

The hallway here being dark would mean that anyone outside wouldn’t see a sliver of light appear. And that was good, because there were apparently four of them.

“Guns?”

“Assault rifles. Your dad could deal with it, but that gets noisy.”

Four of them with guns.

I hesitated. I could send the Harbingers, but I didn’t trust them.

“Go back, tell others to clear the way, then have Sveta come here. She can deal with it. She should be hanging back near the portal.”

My mother nodded.

Others had filtered into the back area. I bid them to draw nearer. Chastity and the Harbingers. Once they were in the storage room, I partially closed the door.

“I love how in sync you two are,” Chastity said.

At first, I thought she’d meant me and my mom, and I wanted to laugh. Then I saw she was talking to the Harbingers.

“It’s not on purpose,” Harbinger One said. “When you’re very good at doing what makes the most sense in a given moment, you usually do the same things most moments.”

“It helps that we have the same DNA, we grew up together, and we enjoy each other’s company,” the other one clarified.

“Believe me, growing up together does not mean you get along,” Chastity said.

I closed my eyes, blanking out my thoughts to avoid connecting that thought to anything relevant.