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When the orb of light, the sah, she opened her eyes "Carefully," she murmured to herself, and leaned forward, placed the ball on the platter It hovered there, vibrating with power, casting pale light on our faces

I glanced around, hoped no one atching us Sorcerers were out of the closet, but that didn’t ood idea for hu the weather, they ht have called the CPD first, asked questions later

Mallory sat back again, cleared her throat "We’ve created a receiver We’ll see if we can dial it in" She put a hand over the fireball, fingers extended, and slapped the air on top of it

The motion created a dull, round sound that rippled the air, just like she’d dropped a pebble in a lake The circles h us, until they diffused a few yards away

Hand over the orb, ear cocked to the sky, Mallory waited "We’re here," she said "And we’re looking for you"

She hit the orb again,

But there was still no response Not that I was entirely sure what kind of response ere supposed to receive

"What are we hoping to hear?" Ethan asked

"Acknowledges are bouncing back"

"Like radar," Ethan said, and Mallory nodded

"The concussion finds soe coaze to Catcher "You?"

He nodded "Faintly, but yeah There’s so out there"

"Then we try it louder," she said She resituated herself, blew out a breath, and positioned her hand over the orb again She gave the orb another whack, then a second, and a third

The sounds seerow louder, deeper, with each hit, until it felt like the vibrations would stop s h And the voice didn’t like our intrusion

Lightning ripped across the sky, thunder cracking like the shot of a rifle at point-blank range Power burst across the field like a slapping hand, and then I was flying, the city lights blurred with round on ainst the ground, y

I lay there for aup at the few stars that had ed to pierce the sky Each was surrounded by a halo of light, and bees buzzed in my ears

Slowly, I pushed up on my elbows, looked around Ethan, Catcher, and Mallory were on the ground, too, all blinking up at the sky We’d fallen perpendicularly to one another, our bodies aligned like the points of a colowed

"Well," Mallory said, pushing hair from her face

I sat up, put a hand on"That was not a success That was sorenade"