I wander to the side of the building and find a window I can easily climb through. I know I should find Thane and tell him to come with me, but the compulsion forward is too great. At first, I think the window’s open, but glass crunches beneath my feet, and I realize it’s been knocked out of the frame. This is beyond stupid and I know I shouldn’t venture in alone, but if there’s evidence inside that might tell me what happened to Lily, I want to find it, so I climb through, slicing my palm.

“Jesus!”

The word slips out, a harsh curse in this dark atmosphere. When I inhale, it’s sawdust I taste on my tongue. I close my fingers around the cut, feeling sticky blood pool in the crevices of my palm.

I stand for a moment to get my bearings as the lights flicker and fade. The warehouse is nothing spectacular, just a concrete floor scattered with broken pieces of wood and metal. Overhead, heavy beams create a pattern that holds up the metal roof, and windows are set high up to allow in as much light as possible during the day. Still, there’s something about this place that’s familiar. I can’t place it, but I feel it, like energy vibrating around me, raising the hair on my arms, pricking along my neck.

I pull my phone out to text Thane to meet me here, but before I can, the lights go out, and something crashes to the ground, startling me. I whirl, facing the sound just as the lights come back on, and find a large black bird flying toward me. I lift my hands to cover my face, but at the last minute, it turns upward and flies toward the rafters. It tilts its head, watching me. I can’t say whether it’s the same one I saw at Nacoma Knight my first day or one of the ones in the trees outside my house, but it’s definitely a raven.

The bird’s beady black eyes glint in the dark, and an involuntary shiver runs down my spine.

“Stupid bird,” I mumble under my breath before continuing to explore the warehouse under the watchful gaze of my unwanted companion. I text Thane, but it churns and ultimately bounces back as undeliverable. No bars inside this building. For now, I’m on my own.

I’ve inspected most of the warehouse when I hear it—movement from somewhere distant. There’s a door in the corner of the room. As I step toward it, a harsh caw erupts from the darkness, and that stupid bird swoops down in front of me. Startled, I drop my phone. I can’t shake the feeling that this thing wants to peck my eyes out. Instead, it perches on the windowsill closest to me.