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“Who is he?” Adam asked.

“I have him down as Tristan Reyez,” Bobby said. “We have five more just like him. There’s something off but I can’t see it. Would you have a look?”

Adam nodded. His brother had Sight, just not a lot of it. Nor was he trained in its use. Bobby had been content to let it fade away, but he remained sensitive to magic and the other side.

Adam opened his Sight.

“There’s nothing there.”

He could see traces of the damage wrought by the creature, but nothing else.

“That’s what I’m getting, what all of our tests are showing,” Bobby said. “He’s alive. He’s awake, but . . . empty.”

“Yeah. The lights are on but . . .”

Bobby let out a sigh.

“Thanks. I just needed to know it wasn’t like last time.”

Adam understood. Annie, Bobby’s wife, had gone through that, having an ancient spirit invade and take up residence, but this was different. This wasn’t possession. It was displacement. The man’s spirit had been ripped out of him.

Bobby led them to other rooms. Adam wasn’t surprised to see Cole among the patients.

Like the others, he lay there, eyes open.

“I know him,” Adam said. “Can I try to talk to him?”

“Yeah.”

In a hospital gown, without his snarky T-shirt or expression of disdain, Cole seemed diminished. The guy had always been abrasive, but he didn’t deserve this.

“Cole?” Adam asked. “It’s me, your favorite warlock.”

No response to the teasing, or the w-word, which always got a reaction. Cole’s eyes didn’t so much as blink.

Cole just stared straight ahead. His breathing seemed normal, and the monitors, which Adam had way too much experience with, looked fine.

“I’m going to call the Guardians, the elves, is that okay?”

No change.

Gingerly, he reached over and lay his hand atop Cole’s.

No reaction, not even when Adam opened his Sight and probed Cole’s magic with his own.

It was like looking into the windows of an abandoned house. He could see the shape of things, where this or that would go, but the property was vacant.

“Yeah, nobody’s home,” Adam confirmed.

“If they’re not here, where are they?” Bobby asked. “The Underworld?”

Adam and Vic exchanged a look.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this before. We’re going to need help from the immortals.”

Vic and Bobby returned his frown.

“Will the elves even talk to you?” Vic asked. “They weren’t very friendly last night.”