The grid was still there.

  Steve lowered his camera and blinked hard, but when he raised it again, the pattern remained—perfect lines intersecting through the Church of the Moon's Mercy, ones and zeros stamped at each junction like some cosmic filing system. He moved to the left. The grid moved with him, staying locked on the church. He circled around the fountain. The lines didn't shift to stay behind the building. They went *through* it, like the stone and stained gss weren't even there.

  He'd taken several photos from different angles. The grid appeared in every single one, always piercing straight through the church's center.

  And he swore the grid was spreading. The lines reached further now than they had five minutes ago, creeping outward like roots.

  Movement caught his eye.

  The kid from the library—Eli—burst out the church's side door, clutching that weird book to his chest. His head was down, shoulders tense. Steve's finger hovered over the shutter. Something about the way the boy moved, the way he held the book like it was the answer to a question he hadn't asked yet.

  Then the men came.

  Two of them, fast, cutting across the square like they'd been waiting. The first grabbed Eli's arm, yanking him off bance. The boy screamed. The second lunged for the book.

  Steve didn't think. He dropped the camera into his satchel and ran.

  The bigger guy had Eli pinned against the church wall, one hand cmped over the boy's mouth, the other prying at the book. Eli thrashed and kicked. Steve smmed into the man's side, shoulder-first. The impact jarred his arm, but the guy staggered, cursing. Eli twisted free—

  The second man grabbed Steve from behind.

  Steve's brother Simon had drilled three things into him: *Hit first. Hit hard. Don't stop.*

  Steve drove his heel back into the man's crotch. The guy grunted, his grip loosening. Steve spun and punched him in the throat.

  The first man came at him with a knife.

  Steve saw the bde fsh and twisted, but not fast enough. The knife grazed his forearm, hot and sharp. He countered with an elbow to the man's face. Cartige crunched. Blood sprayed across the cobblestones.

  The church doors flew open.

  Hansel.

  The librarian didn't hesitate. He barreled into the knife-wielding man, driving him back with a two-handed shove. The guy stumbled—he was big, bigger than Hansel—and swung wild. Hansel ducked and drove his fist into the man's gut. The man doubled over, gasping.

  The second attacker, still clutching his groin, snarled. "Give us the fucking book."

  "Why?" Steve snapped.

  The man bolted.

  Hansel didn't chase him. He grabbed the remaining attacker by the colr, yanked him upright, and smmed him against the church wall. The man's knees buckled. Hansel pinned him there, forearm tight across his throat, fist drawn back. Murder in his eyes.

  "Hansel." Steve's voice cut through the adrenaline haze. "He's done."

  Hansel didn't move. His breath came fast. The man gagged, fingers cwing at Hansel's arm.

  "Hansel."

  A beat.

  Then Hansel exhaled sharply and stepped back. The man slumped to the ground, coughing.

  Steve rested a hand on the librarian's shoulder. Hansel's muscles were rigid beneath his shirt. He didn't pull away, but he didn't rex either. Steve let his hand drop.

  Eli was still pressed against the wall, wide-eyed, the book clutched to his chest. "I—I don't know what they wanted. They just—" His voice cracked. "They said to give them the book. They called me by name."

  Hansel's head snapped toward him. "What?"

  Eli swallowed. "They knew who I was. They said—*Eli Pickliver, give us the book.*"

  Steve wiped blood from his arm onto his shirt. "You know them?"

  Eli shook his head.

  Hansel picked up the knife from the cobblestones and tossed it into the nearby fountain. Then he turned to question the attacker.

  The man was gone.

  Steve frowned. He pulled the camera from his satchel and turned the screen toward Hansel. "I want to show you something."

  Hansel took the camera. Their fingers brushed. A spark. A pause. Hansel's jaw tightened, and he focused hard on the screen like he could burn a hole through it.

  His throat worked. "What is this? It looks just like the patterns on Eli's book."

  "No bullshit," Steve said. "And it goes *through* the church. Not behind it. Through it."

  Hansel's eyes flicked up to meet his, then away. He handed the camera back and held out his hand to Eli. The boy gave him the book. Hansel opened it. The pages were filled with diagrams, tables, and dense text. Phrases jumped out: *accumution of experience points*, *threshold advancement*, *quantified progression through tiered achievements*.

  "*Experience may be gained through completion of tasks, defeat of adversaries, or ritual actions,*" Hansel read quietly. "*Upon reaching prescribed thresholds, the practitioner advances to the next tier of capability. Each tier unlocks access to enhanced abilities and deeper understanding.*"

  Steve gnced at his bleeding arm. "Sounds like some kind of magic system."

  Hansel's jaw tightened. "If it is, I've never heard of anything like it. This reads like you're measuring magic. Tracking it in numbers."

  "You can measure magic," Steve said. "Track progress. Some academies do it."

  "Not like this." Hansel flipped through more pages, frowning. "This reads like... instructions. A manual. Step one, step two, step three."

  Eli hugged himself. "Brother Aldric's been preaching about it for weeks now. He says some people are receiving special blessings from the goddess—that she's showing them a new way to understand her divine pn. A way to measure our devotion and growth in her grace."

  Hansel stared at the boy. "Aldric said that?"

  Eli nodded. "He says it's a gift. That the goddess is revealing the true structure of her blessings so we can walk her path with certainty."

  Hansel closed the book slowly. "I've been going to this church for years, and I've never heard anyone talk about magic like this."

  "Should we tell the sheriff?" Eli asked.

  Steve hesitated. "They're gone. And you're safe."

  "But they *knew me*," Eli said.

  Steve's gaze darkened. "Then I'll keep an eye out for them."

  "I'll walk you home," Hansel said to Eli. He looked at Steve. "You should get that arm looked at."

  Steve flexed his fingers. "I've had worse."

  Hansel's mouth twitched. Almost a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm sure you have." He handed the book back to Eli and started toward the street.

  "Hansel."

  The librarian stopped but didn't turn around.

  "Thanks," Steve said.

  Hansel's shoulders rose and fell. "You too." He still didn't turn. "Be careful."

  Then he walked away, Eli hurrying to keep up.

  Steve watched them go. Hansel's hand lifted once, like he might look back, but he didn't. Just kept walking until they turned the corner and disappeared.

  Steve pulled out his camera and checked the screen again. The grid was still there, still cutting through the church. And the lines were definitely spreading. He could see them reaching toward the library now, toward the fountain, toward the edge of the square.

  He looked at his bleeding arm, then back at the church.

  Whatever was happening here, it was bigger than a mugging. Bigger than a weird book.

  And somehow, he didn't think it was going to stop.