Ian

A while later, the taxi arrived at the warehouse complex. I slapped way too much money into the cabbie's hand. "Keep the change."

I hopped out and ran into the maze of buildings. In the northwest corner of the complex sat the quite warehouse, devoid of activity. Not a good sign.

When I reached it, the door wouldn't unlock. It was a number pad lock. I pushed my hand against the mechanism, searching for the pins telekinetically, but I couldn't breach the exterior of its case. So I crushed the box and the lock fell from the door.

Inside, there were no signs of life. They must've started packing up as soon as I'd left with Joseph earlier. The only vehicles left were the Range Rover and the silver Aston Martin Vanquish. Who in their right mind takes a Ford Taurus over an Aston Martin?

The keys to the Aston and the Range Rover were nowhere to be found. I tried to start them telekinetically but had no luck. Without the transponder in the key, the vehicles were no more than elegant-looking paperweights...for really huge pieces of paper.

I hit the button to open the garage door and the warehouse filled with the tinny sound of clanking metal. I ducked under the door as it rose, exiting the building, then leaned back against the dirty, weather-worn metal wall and sank to the ground.

Where would I go from here? Only a few citizens knew how to get to Winter's Edge, and I wasn't one of them.

Then I remembered Abby's story about Elian Frost, who'd left Winter's Edge to join a monastery. Maybe he knew a way back to the city. It shouldn't be too hard to find a monastery around Denver.

Just as I stood to my feet, something in a tuft of grass next to the warehouse caught my attention. A tiny white envelope.

I turned it upside down and a rectangular black key fob fell into my hand. The Aston Martin symbol shown through its clear top.

A small note fell out along with it. It read, Let's play a game, shall we? When the clock strikes 10 p.m. on the third night, if you haven't made it back to Winter's Edge, I'll kill your girlfriend.

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