Page 151 of Shattered Veil

I stand, worry crawling all over me. Instinctively, I finger my phone, but get nothing other than a blank screen. Quickly, I power off and then power on. But nothing.

It’s fully charged, but the phone is dead.

Jillian has stopped talking and is tapping her screen, troubled.

“What happened?” I step closer. “Is your phone working?”

“Yes, but my call with Eoghan just dropped.” Jillian shows me her cell screen. “I’m trying to call him back but it’s going directly to voicemail.”

My face drains of all its blood.

“Guys, what’s wrong?” Ella moves beside me. “You’re scaring me. You’re both white as sheets.”

Any other time I would blame my cheap Irish skin, but Jillian’s ma is from Ireland, too.

“Jillian are you on our data plan yet?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Ella, butterfly, is your phone working?”

She slips it from her purse. “Yeah?”

Jillian’s phone rings again.

“Eoghan, I’m here. What’s going on? Uh-huh. What phone is this, babe? Your burner?”

The burner phones work. Because they run on the federally protected spectrum that uses military satellites.

Mine is at my house.

“Can I talk to Eoghan, Jillian?”

“Yeah, oh Balor. It’s bad.”

My throat tight, I say, “Alo?”

“All our phones are dead, except the burners,” Eoghan speaks calmly. “Even Darragh’s and he’s fucking livid because he’s a doctor. What’s going on?”

I glance around, the worst pit in my stomach making me sick. “Check the bank accounts.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Which one?”

“All of them. Mine. Yours. You manage them, Eoghan.”

“Aw, Christ.” Eoghan jostles the phone after tapping. “What the fuck?”

“What it is?”

“This can’t be happening.”

“Balor, what’s going on?” Ella slips an arm around my waist.

I close my eyes and hug her close to me.