Chapter Ten

On the castle’s gunnery range, Harry coaches Fitz, who questions how to find Justine without a personal link. Harry explains the possessing entity stripped her place and that European contacts or the White Council won’t help. He considers consulting powerful spirits but warns of their dangers, especially given his shaken focus.

Harry details failed tracking using Justine’s items, likely blocked by distance and suppression, while White Court operatives hunt by mundane means. Fitz suggests angels or Hell; Harry dismisses both as impractical or perilous. Training resumes: Harry bans fire indoors, steers Fitz to force magic, and emphasizes discipline, stabilization, and focused visualization.

Fitz’s first “Forza” blast is diffuse and draining; Harry reframes it as progress and refines Fitz’s technique. They discuss why instinct isn’t enough, the need for control to avoid lethal accidents, and the physical toll of early casting. Harry feeds Fitz and pointedly probes his street-trust instincts, which exposes Fitz’s guarded past.

Bear interrupts: police have arrived. In the hall, Detective Stallings, exhausted and short-staffed, outlines Chicago’s collapse—Guard presence focused elsewhere, a minimizing governor, and media blackout. He reports hundreds, possibly a thousand, disappeared at night, mostly the very old and very young—likely ghouls drawn by widespread death.

Harry acknowledges SI can’t brief regular cops on monsters without reprisals, so he offers a cover—“cult on PCP”—and practical counsel: use shotguns with slugs to stop ghouls. Though stretched thin, he commits to look into it. He also orders Bear to get the officers hot food, pairing immediate relief with a promise of action.