Chapter 15

“Eulalie’s their boss,” said Tasia, and she stepped through into a log carbon’s bedroom. On a nearby wall was yet another glowing portal. “This is also a security thing, so don’t be surprised when—”

There was a loud bang as the portal behind them was slammed shut. Everyone spun to see a trio of rats standing around a collapsed pile of two by fours. Tasia knelt down to pick one up and sniffed it, then looked up at the wall, which was in pristine condition.

“Is this new?” she asked the rats, holding up the wood. It had bite marks along the edges. “This is way less scary than the metal door trick.”

“It’s faster to set up, too,” said a voice from the other portal. “Now will you hurry up? I didn’t have a lot of time to get this done.”

Tasia jumped to her feet, dropping the two by four, which startled the rats and caused them to scatter. She smoothed out her blouse on the off chance that Dana was also on the other side.

“What’s going on?” asked Aurora.