I wasn’t supposed to fight a shaker in her domain. But here she was, standing with her hands clasped in front of her, defenseless. She was also the only thing standing between me and the room where Fume Hood was.

“Let me through,” I said.

“No,” she said.

I pushed out my aura, as hard as I could manage.

She didn’t flinch. It didn’t reach her.

That was what this was. Her sanctuary was a protection from shaker effects. She overrode everything by transplanting this screwed up baby decor into the area.

I wondered if I could hit her. I looked around for Snag and didn’t see him.

“Wake up,” she said.

“What?” I asked.

“Wake up, sweetie.”

The crib, a little red wagon with blankets heaped over it, and a carriage nearby jumped, rattling as if something had moved within.

I heard wet sounds. Throughout the hazy altered space, the meaty squelching started to overtake the background hums.

I stopped in my tracks.

Things moved beneath the blankets. She still hadn’t budged.

I turned around and ran.

Fuck this.

I got away as fast as my legs would take me. I hit the wall at the end of the hallway and stopped myself with my hands rather than slow down with my legs. I turned right and headed away, past more cribs, more strollers, baby seats and bouncy chairs, all draped in their blankets of varying types and quality. Some tipped over from the violence of the agitation.

Yeah, no, whatever it was she was doing, I wasn’t going to mess with it.

There had to be other ways.

I escaped the area of Nursery’s shaker effect, stepping back into ordinary community center hallway. I was in the opposite corner of the second floor from where I’d started.

Looking out the window, I could see the shadows cast by Lord of Loss’s branches. Was it worth chancing flying outside, then flying into the room where Fume Hood was, when Lord of Loss could try hitting me or grabbing me?

There was another stairwell at the end of the hall—one I hadn’t sealed.

The door opposite it had something hanging on it. A gauntlet with clawed fingertips, the ‘arm’ something electronic. The claw’s tips were embedded in the wood of doorframe and door both.

“Hello?” I called out. I glanced back to make sure Nursery and Snag hadn’t followed me.

“Don’t touch the door!” was the rushed response.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Patrol from the high school, community center staff,” the voice from the other side said. “Don’t touch the door. There’s a bomb!”

“I see it,” I said.

“They said they’d disable it when they left. You said to stay safe, so we cooperated and let them lock us in.”