Chapter 208: Better Pray Her Aura Holds Steady

Chapter 208: Better Pray Her Aura Holds Steady
Evelyn's POV

We all talked over each other trying to explain what had happened. Juniper listened quietly, then after a moment of silence said, "Take me somewhere open."

So we brought her to the training grounds. She stood in the center, looked up at the sky, then scanned the buildings around us.

"This'll work," she said.

Then she closed her eyes and went completely still. Her fingers lifted slightly, like she was reaching for something invisible. The wind picked up, pulling her purple hair back, and suddenly she didn't look like a person anymore—more like part of the landscape itself.

I stood off to the side, not sure what I was supposed to be doing.

A minute crawled by. Juniper didn't move. The only sound was wind through the trees. I started counting heartbeats to pass the time. Somewhere around eighty-something, she finally opened her eyes.

She didn't look happy.

"The core's still there," Juniper said. "Right under your pack house."

My stomach sank. Figured as much.

"But that's not the real problem."

I looked at her. "Then what is?"

"The structure." Juniper turned to face everyone. "This isn't a single control point. It's a full pentagonal formation. Five vertices, each with its own power source. That thing in the center? Just a hub pulling energy from all five points."

She let that sit for a second.

"Cut the center all you want—if those five sources are still active, it'll just boot back up. You gotta take out the vertices first. Then the center falls apart on its own."

Shit, my wolf muttered.

Yeah, I know.

Magnus stepped up from the back. "Wait, so we spent weeks trying to crack the center when we should've been looking somewhere else entirely?"

"Pretty much." Juniper gave him a look. "Center's just for show. The real lockdown's in those five points."

Cyrus was already heading for the equipment room, mind link open. Give me five. I'll grab everything I've logged.

Want help? Sophia asked.

Just have Mark bring some chairs and a table, Cyrus said. I got the rest.

Mark's voice cut in immediately. Of course there's nothing useful I can do.

So go grab furniture, Sophia said.

Yeah, yeah.

Five minutes later, Cyrus had covered the table with printed data. Heat maps, signal logs, anomaly markers—the works.

Juniper glanced at it. Her face said it all.

"None of this is gonna help," she said flat out.

Cyrus blinked. "What?"

"Heat imaging and signal tracking don't work on this kind of magic," Juniper said, tapping one of the charts. "Plant-based control has the same energy signature as regular biological heat. Your equipment can't tell the difference."

Cyrus stared at the pile of papers. Didn't say anything for a few seconds. "So I wasted my time."

"Not completely," Juniper said. "At least now we know tech won't cut it."

Real comforting, my wolf said.

Before I could respond, Nadia spoke up.

"I might know where they are."

Everyone turned.

Nadia stood near the edge of the group, looking a little uncertain but determined. Milo immediately moved closer, positioning himself like he could block anything coming her way.

"Go ahead," Juniper said.

Nadia took a breath. "I've been tracking Brandon's money while I was gone. During that, I ran into some people who got out of his territory."

She paused, collecting her thoughts.

"One guy told me about a lockdown setup like this. Five specific plants at five spots around the border, working with some central ritual. Creates this ongoing control field."

Juniper's expression sharpened.

"He described the plants in detail," Nadia continued. "I remembered it. Been watching since I got back. On the way here, I spotted at least two locations."

Cyrus immediately spread the territory map across the table.

Nadia grabbed a pen and marked two spots—one northeast corner, one southwest. She stopped, studied the map for a moment, then added three more possible locations.

Stepped back. Looked at what she'd drawn.

The five points formed a perfect pentagram.

Cyrus stared at it and said "Shit."

Then quickly added, "Sorry." Glanced at Juniper.

"Don't worry about it," Juniper said. "I was thinking the same thing."

Magnus came over, studying the pentagram. "So we've been living dead center of a massive magic formation this whole time."

"Yep," Lucian said.

"And nobody noticed."

"Yep."

Magnus paused. "That's... embarrassing."

Lucian turned to him. "It's not your fault. That's on whatever was controlling you."

"I know. Still feels embarrassing."

Orion spoke up from the side. "Is there a point to this?"

"Yeah. Processing my feelings."

I couldn't help it—I laughed.

Lucian looked over at me. "So you're doing the heavy lifting here?"

"Looks like it."

He took a step closer. "What can we do?"

I thought about it. "Keep your brother from standing around sighing the whole time. Kills my concentration."

"I don't sigh," Magnus said.

"You just sighed three times," Lucian said.

"That was exhaling while I think."

I laughed harder.

Juniper watched us, something close to patience wearing thin in her eyes. She cleared her throat.

"Alright. Actual business now."

I got myself under control and looked at her.

"First we confirm all five plant locations," Juniper said. "Then we prep five purification herbs—one per vertex. Tomorrow we start working through them one at a time."

She paused, eyes on me.

"You'll need to channel your Beta aura as a conduit. After each one, you'll probably be down for half a day. Once all five vertices are cleared, the center drops on its own."

"How long total?" I asked.

"Four days if we're lucky," Juniper said. "Six if we're not."

Mark's voice came from nearby. "We don't have six days."

Juniper turned to him, expression calm. "I know."

Then her gaze came back to me. Got more serious.

"So you'd better pray her aura holds more steady than I'm estimating."

Everything went quiet.

I met Juniper's eyes. No doubt there. Just trust and a hint of worry.

I took a deep breath.

"No problem."