Cored

Chapter 50: Desperation

Katherine awoke with a start, her magic racing. She put it into her hair, turning it a vibrant teal, and let Nestor fly out of her hands. He looked anxiously at the young woman who he could have sworn he left perfectly confident in herself.

"Sorry," Katherine said, pulling him back into her chest and trying to shake the dust of the dream off. Trust your gut, trust your gut, trust your gut, she repeated over and over as her heartrate slowed enough for her to stand and walk downstairs. She looked at her watch—it had been thirty minutes since Iz had left. But there was still no sign of them.

Trying to shove all the emotional garbage back down and use her brain for something worthwhile rather than worrying while there was no one there to ask questions, she conjured the door back to Iowa and stepped through. She pulled out her cellphone and looked through the messages until she found Harry's.

"Katherine!" he said, picking up on the first ring. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I have something I need to tell you. An idea for you to look into. Are you in New York?"

"Yeah. Been here a week. What's going on?"

"You need to search the letters for powder. For any trace, no matter how miniscule. Don't even pick the letters up at first or you might scatter it everywhere. And if there is someone you find still just sleeping, look in their noses."

"Powder?"

"Yes. If this person has been living underground, trying to limit their magic, they might have gone looking for more muggle options."

"Okay. Picquery and I will look into it. Grouse has been searching for Chris and Iz and everyone else missing, so it's just he and I, but I think we can manage."

"Wait, Chris and Iz?" Katherine said. "Iz is with Crawley and I."

"She is? She's went missing weeks ago, not long after Chris; it's why I came to help. How did she find you?"

"We found her yesterday, outside the house in Iowa. But I checked her head, there was no magic in it. She said she had been with Picquery..." But she stopped, gasping as a twinge hit her left knee.

She set the phone down on the counter and popped her head through the cellar door back to Idaho, looking up at the enchanted ceiling to see what was happening outside. Her breath caught as she saw Iz standing in the clearing, Crawley crumpled at her side. The auror was sending spell after spell at the barriers that would have kept her from seeing the cabin.

"Harry," she said shakily as she returned to the phone.

"Katherine, what's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

"In the MACUSA satellite office."

"Go into the training room alone. Seal the door."

"Katherine—"

"Just do it! Tell me when you're there."

"Okay, okay," he said. She could hear him running. "I'm here. And there, the door's sealed. Now what is this—"

But he stopped speaking as a giant door appeared atop the reflective floor and opened wide to reveal a stricken, pale Katherine inside.

"The first time we spoke, what was I doing?" she said, pulling the phone down from her ear.

"Trying to get into the pub. You had been locked out," he answered, trying to look in the door.

"And what did you ask me?"

"If you were looking to eat, drink, or rob the place."

"And my answer?"

"You said none of the above."