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was worried about what would happen to me if Marcus wound up getting killed, but she hadn’t taken into consideration the hell I went through when she was lingering on in the hospital after falling victim to the dark spell, Endless Night . I was just about to tell Marcus that maybe we should slow things down when someone started shouting.
    â€œGet back behind the counter, Travis,” a voice rang out. I caught a glimpse of Travis Butler as he headed out the main doors and into the parking lot. He was dressed in his McDonald’s uniform and his arms hung limply at his side. I couldn’t see his face but I did see him walk straight through a snow bank and then behind an SUV in the drive-thru line. The driver of a car that was turning into the drive-thru lane jammed on his brakes, narrowly missing Travis and bumping into the menu sign.
    â€œDid you see that, Marcus?” I asked.
    â€œSee what?” he said as he wolfed back the last of his Egg McMuffin.
    I pointed to the parking lot. “Travis Butler from school. He just about got nailed by a car coming into the drive-thru.”
    Marcus spun around in his chair and then stood up to take a look. “Oh yeah… there he goes. Maybe he’s tired of working for an oppressive corporate entity.”
    I watched as Travis walked to the far end of the parking lot. Suddenly a jolt of magical energy assaulted my senses and I slipped my amulet into the recess on my Shadowcull’s band.
    â€œOh man, Julie. He doesn’t look right in the head,” said Marcus as he threw on his coat. I jumped off my seat and together we raced through the main doors and out into the parking lot.
    I leaped over a snowdrift as Marcus narrowly avoided being sideswiped by an oncoming minivan. Ahead I could see Travis Butler marching forward through an unplowed parking lot adjacent to the McDonald’s, his entire body covered with squirming, disgusting little ghost larvae.
    â€œTravis,” I bellowed. “Wait up!”
    The sound of traffic on busy McLeod Trail filled my ears as we raced across the snow-covered lot. Travis was no more than a hundred meters to our front, so Marcus kicked into high gear and sprinted through a knee-deep snow drift. There were four lanes of Sunday morning traffic less than twenty meters from Travis. I scanned the area to see if there was something, anything that I could blast with a jolt of magic to either stop the traffic or slow his approach.
    â€œDo something, Julie!” Marcus shouted. “I won’t catch him in time!”
    â€œI’m on it,” I huffed, trying to catch my breath. I gazed at Travis Butler with my Sight, desperately searching for the dark spell’s path of flow as he lumbered through another snowdrift. A sharp gust of wind came out of nowhere. It sent a blast of freezing air up the back of my winter coat and I shivered as I tried to search out the dark spell’s source with my spirit.
    A swirl of dark energy frothed at Travis Butler’s feet, leaving a black trail in the snow like a smudge. The bitter taste of dark magic filled my mouth and suddenly the icy breeze kicked into high gear, turning into an all-out gale force wind. A blinding wall of snow rolled across the busy street, enveloping Travis Butler and he disappeared from my field of vision entirely. I gritted my teeth together and I sent my spirit shooting through the malicious energy, trying desperately to locate the source of the spell. I found it, a rope knot of wicked power, but the magic was woven so tightly there was no time to attempt to unravel it.
    â€œMarcus, stop!”I shouted. He was barely visible through the blinding haze of snow and ice.
    â€œI can’t see him, Julie!” he shouted back through the howling wind. I fought my way forward, tucking my face into the collar of my coat to protect it against the thousands upon thousands of sharp ice crystals that stung as they hit the skin.
    â€œMarcus,”