A sound like the crack of thunder deafened my ears and the floor bucked and trembled. Males and females in the lobby dropped like the eight ball on the final shot of a billiard match.

The only ones in the lobby still standing were several Trackers, a couple dozen norms, and Desmond.

"Nadia, Hades," I shouted. "Get the norms out of here." I motioned with my arm toward the closed doors of the theater. "The rest of you, let's go." I turned my attention on the theater. Silence. No more screams.

Desmond was on one side of me, Colin the other. I didn't bother to get close enough to open the doors by hand. I gathered my air element, let it whip through the air, and blasted the theater doors open.

We came to a stop at the threshold.

The theater was empty.

A gaping hole, a dark archway, was cut-or burned-into the wall beside the stage. Sparks sizzled along the inside edges of the archway. Even the glow of the exit signs didn't permeate the darkness within the hole.

I looked at Desmond. "What is that?"

"A portal." Desmond looked stunned. "Only Amory has the power to make a portal wherever he chooses," he said. "It's a power that I never had." Desmond's eyes met mine. "He was here. Amory was here."

"A portal?" I glanced around the empty theater. "Did he take everyone here with him? I saw them. There were hundreds of people."

"I am not certain any being in Otherworld has that power," Desmond said. "Except the Great Guardian. A rare 'talent,' if you will." Desmond said the words as if he tasted something bitter and nasty on his tongue.

The darkness was deep inside the theater. Desmond's light from the lobby didn't penetrate the darkness through the doorway. Most Trackers could see well in the dark, although not as keenly as I could. None of them grew up underground.

Desmond released several large balls of light that floated and lit up the theater in an eerie greenness.

It occurred to me I hadn't seen Angel and I started looking around me. "Angel!" My voice carried throughout the theater with an answering echo. "Angel, are you here?" No response.

"It is most likely your friend was taken." Desmond touched my arm. "I am sorry." I heard the Magi's voice in my head.

"I am sorry," the Magi had said to Angel. "So very sorry." Was this it? Was this the reason the Magi had looked so sad when she'd said those words to Angel?

"Damn." I clenched and unclenched my fists. "Damn." I'd lost another friend.

I would get them back.

I would get them back.

Not only was I worried about my friend and fellow Tracker, but the knowledge Angel had would not be good in the Sorcerer's hands.

"Angel went with me to the Magi," I said in a low voice to Desmond and Colin who had remained at my side. "She knows everything I do from that visit." I met Desmond's gaze as I continued. "The Magi told us to find you and gave clues on how. She gave us your name. Why wouldn't the Magi have given us more information on Angel? Instead she detailed much, knowing she would be taken with that information." Desmond shook his head. "Magi are not given to interpret the facts. Their information can be almost a puzzle. The Magi might have only understood harm was going to come to your Tracker friend." He looked around the theater as if searching for something. "The fact that Amory can obtain that knowledge from the Tracker gives us even less time to find the Sorcerer."

"Angel was also a lead Tracker on our team." I looked up and saw the other Trackers gathering around us.

I heard sirens coming in the direction of the theater-PTF sirens. A cleanup detail was on its way.

"Let's divide our team and search for any being who might still be here." I directed Trackers to various sections then each headed for his or her assigned area.

I kept Colin and Desmond with me. "Is the portal still open?" I started jogging toward the huge archway. "Is it possible to go through it?"

At ten feet away, Colin grabbed my arm and held me back.

I swung my gaze to his. "What are you doing?"

"Wait." His expression was tight, grim. "Listen to the Sorcerer before you get any closer."

"It is probably benign." Desmond stepped past me and moved toward the hole. "But as your friend says, safer to stay away until I check it out."

"Okay," I said and Colin released my arm.

When Desmond was a few feet away from the hole, he raised his hands. The area around the archway flared green. By the light his magic gave off, all I could see was a solid wall where blackness had once been.

"Closed." Desmond's jaw tightened, then relaxed. "Probably better for now. We're not ready to follow him."

"Even though hundreds of people are missing?" I said.

"We don't know what would have been on the other side of that portal." Desmond gestured toward it. "Ultimately salvation for your people, or a trap. It could have been either one."

"Of course." I rubbed my hand over my head. "It is hard to give up on that many people." Desmond glanced around us at the Trackers who were searching the theater. "We need to check every Tracker for a mark."

"Colin," I said. "You first."

"What mark?" he asked looking confused.

I made a motion with my hand. "Bend over a little so that I can see behind your left ear." He leaned down and I pushed away the soft gold of his hair. His skin was warm as my fingers brushed the soft flesh.

Colin straightened as I stepped away. "No marks at all," I said to Desmond.

"Fill me in then," Colin said.

I explained the mark to him, only found on Hosts that a Sentient has taken over.

"We should work as a team, examining one Tracker at a time," I said. "The three of us together in case one of our bunch does happen to be a Host and controls that Tracker's abilities."

"Let's do it," Colin said and we headed toward Joshua.

TWENTY-NINE.

Amory kept his emotions contained as he stood in front of ten of his twelve advisors on his balcony and looked out over the nearly four hundred unsealed Hosts and an equal number of Shells-what the paranorms called Zombies.

He would have found the term "Zombies" amusing if it hadn't been for the fact he didn't know what to do with the Zombies. It was not supposed to have turned out this way.

"It did not work," Jalen said from behind him. "What now, my lord?" Amory's jaw tensed and his fingers twitched. He ached to turn and blast Jalen to cinders. The advisor questioned him at every turn. If not for the others, Amory would have done away with him long ago.

But he needed the trust and allegiance of all of his other advisors and he could not afford to eliminate one of them simply because that advisor continued to question his actions.

Although it would be extremely satisfying.

"Do not trouble yourself as to what is next, Jalen," Amory said after letting moments pass. "I will deal with this problem and the issue will be solved in time." Amory continued to let his gaze pass over those assembled in front of him, including members of his military who were ensuring none of those assembled could leave.

Were there any significant acquisitions?

"In days you plan to take the bodies of a million new Hosts," Jalen said and Amory ground his teeth. "You cannot bring such an incredible number of beings through the portal in order to seal the Hosts."

Amory kept his back to his advisors. "This was a test."

"A test that failed," Jalen said.

"Enough." Amory whirled and faced Jalen. Lightning flashed just yards from the balcony and the immediate crack of thunder was deafening. A rush of wind spun dead leaves and dust across the floor of the balcony, around the feet of the ten advisors in attendance.

None of the advisors flinched, and Amory had not expected them to. But if he wasn't mistaken, the corner of Jalen's mouth twitched as if amused that he had affected Amory. Advisor or not, Jalen might soon die.

"I will seal these Hosts today." Amory's Host had a much deeper voice than his own had been. It sounded more deadly and more powerful in this body than the one he had grown old in, then discarded.

"As I seal them I will be able to perfect the process."

"I would hope so, Lord Amory," Jalen said. "You have little time or our move to our new world could be endangered."

"Endanger. What will endanger my plan? What can stop this?" Amory bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Nothing can or will."

LeeLa, the Earth Otherworld surgeon, cleared her throat. "I understand you have excellent news regarding your niece."

Amory calmed his expression and let the storm of his emotions subside a little. "Una and Tieve brought back word that Bryna has been found in a paranorm infirmary. She is in her target Host, the female named Candace Moreno." Amory released an inward sigh of relief that his favorite niece would soon be recovered. "Tonight they will ensure she is freed and returned here to Doran for sealing."

"It will be good to have her back amongst us," LeeLa said.

"Bryna is too valuable of an asset to have been lost as she had," Jalen said with a scowl. "As an advisor she has information that would be unfortunate in the hands of those in the Earth Otherworld. I am surprised she has not been recovered yet."

Amory studied the male who looked the part-just as arrogant and pompous as the Army general whose body he had taken. Information on the general had been well researched before Jalen had been sent to replace him. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to give Jalen that Host body.

Unfortunately it was too late.

Amory ground his teeth. But he had other ways to deal with problems. "You may be excused," he said to his advisors.

They began to bow and turn away but Amory said, "Jalen, I wish for you to stay and oversee today's sealing."

"I must return to the Earth Otherworld," Jalen said.

"And I must insist you stay." The chill in Amory's voice made Jalen's eyes flicker. Almost imperceptible, but it was that slight moment in time when Amory knew Jalen was afraid of him. It was one of the few instances he had seen weakness from the advisor.

A smile threatened to turn up the corner of Amory's mouth. But he maintained his scowl. "Join me. We have much to do."

Jalen hesitated only a fraction before he walked forward to stand beside Amory.

The Sorcerer turned his attention from Jalen to the crowd and let his voice ring out as he said, "Do any of you have information from your Host that may be of significance to our takeover of the Earth Otherworld?"

Out of the four hundred Hosts standing before him only half a dozen approached the balcony and looked up at him. One by one they gave him information they considered significant.

The first five would be very useful. A well-known news reporter for The New York Times who had been researching instances of slayings and disappearances; the daughter of the owner of a major television network; a scientist who studied biochemical warfare; even a paranorm who was a Metamorph, able to take on the persona of any human she wished to ...

And the best prize of all ... a Tracker.

Amory looked over the sea of Hosts and Shells. "All Hosts, please sign in for your scheduled time. You may not know what knowledge you possess that may be valuable. You will fill out the questionnaire and will be called as needed."

He pointed to each of five of the six Hosts standing in front of him. "You five, go to the Knowledge Center now for your full debriefing.

"Tracker." He looked at the sixth Host. "You will remain with me for now." This Host looked far from one of the elite paranorm fighting force known as the Night Trackers. Instead she looked more like a silly young female with her pert features, small frame, and long blond curls that tumbled over her shoulders and down her back.

But when she spoke it was with intelligence and authority. In just a few words and with the power he commanded, he determined she was decisive, independent, loyal, and could not only protect herself but others as well.

"What is your name?" Amory asked.

"My Kerran name is Aela." She tossed curls over her shoulder. "My Host's name is Angel."

"Angel." He repeated the name aloud because he liked the sound of it. It had been a long time since Amory had felt the stirrings of desire and his new Host's body felt it with a power he hadn't experienced before. "I'm sure you have much to tell me." His voice lowered to a deeper rumble. "I would like to discuss it with you in private."

The Host's self-assured expression cracked and Amory saw the underlying Kerran's fear to be alone with him. He remembered the female she had been before. A plain, forgettable female with no backbone.

No longer would that be true. Her plain, forgettable Shell was out there somewhere and would one day be destroyed or fail.

Amory just smiled. "Join me on the balcony, Angel."

"Aela." There was a stubborn set to her jaw. "I am Aela."

"Not anymore." Amory gave the young female a look that made her cringe. "Now, Angel." The female moved through the crowd until she was at the foot of the balcony. He flicked his finger and heard the raw scrape of metal against metal as he unlocked the gate. Its hinges squeaked as it swung open.

Her footsteps were almost silent as she ascended the steps. He barely heard the breath of sound as she climbed higher on the staircase.

Amory turned his focus on Jalen. "You will organize the Hosts and Shells and arrange for their care."

Jalen opened his mouth but Amory made a slight turning motion with his fingers and the advisor's mouth snapped shut. His eyes widened and his jaws worked as he tried to open his mouth.

"Much better." He wasn't killing the bastard, was he? So there was no conflict with his advisors as far as he was concerned. "You will organize the Hosts by age and separate males from females." It wasn't necessary, but it would keep the advisor busy. "Have the wranglers take the Shells to the corrals.

We'll deal with the Zombies later."

Jalen put his hands to his mouth, begging with his eyes for Amory to release the spell.

Amory flicked his fingers at Jalen, and an exhalation of relief and fear came out the moment the advisor's mouth opened.

The Host named Angel approached them. Amory smiled at her and she looked terrified in response.

For some reason he'd always had that effect on females. With the exception of those paid to please him.