The first thing Eli saw was the delivery van facing the wrong way.
It had stopped across the near lane, its back doors open and a string of red cloth tied between the handles. The driver stood on the pavement waving traffic away from the bridge. Behind him, the span dipped toward the river. A pale seam ran along the road surface, wider at one end than the other.
The second thing Eli saw was the worker on the ground.
A woman in a response vest knelt beside him. Another responder pulled a metal barrier across the approach while horns sounded in the line of cars behind them. Beyond the worker, water curled around a concrete support. A faint shimmer moved above the broken curb, too thin to resemble an open gate but bright enough that Eli slowed.
“Stay off the span,” Kellan said. “We were asked to clear the approach.”
Sera moved to the pavement where she could see the road and the river. She did not need to say she was using her talent; the way she stood, still except for her breathing, was familiar to them now.
“There’s a current near the far support,” she said. “Weak from here. I can’t tell whether the shimmer is the source.”
