I slid off Maia before she had a chance to kneel for me and threw the saddlebags over my shoulder as I ran toward the steps.
“Rafe’s been captured,” Joe said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, I need to get him free before they can move him.” I pounded up the steps and past Joe as he stepped inside to allow me entrance.
“Was he injured?”
“I don’t know, Joe. We were in a hangar at the airport when Rafe suddenly blasted me out of the hangar and into the open air. When I looked back, he was down, and guards were surrounding him. From the queasiness, I felt after, I think they used some form of gas.”
“My spirit totem sent me a warning about bad air after you left,” Joe said as he closed the door and moved to stand beside me.
“That would have been helpful earlier.” I dropped my saddlebags on the floor and set Rafe’s on Joe’s table. Opening first one side and then the other, I searched for what I knew Rafe had.
“What are you planning?”
“I’m going to rescue him.”
“And how do you expect to accomplish this?” Joe asked.
“Beast said that once Rafe wakes up, they could only hold him inside a circle.”
“And you’re looking for?”
I held up the small book I’d seen Rafe studying once. It wasn’t his large grimoire or even his pocket grimoire, but it had all the appearances of a grimoire. Unlike his other two, Rafe hadn’t shown me its contents. Whatever was in it, he didn’t think I was ready to see it.
The hell with that.
Joe took a step away from me. His body language was stiff and cautious.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“That’s a grimoire of night magic. I didn’t know Raphael had one,” Joe said, his concern obvious.
“Well, he does, and I’ve seen him use night magic on a couple of occasions. I need something that will breach a circle, and I’m betting I can find something in here,” I set the small grimoire on the table and bent over it.
“You aren’t ready for night magic. Woman, you are barely a novice at being a Wanderer, and you want to try night magic?”
I stared at Joe for a moment, my throat much tighter than I would have thought. For a few seconds, I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Then I swallowed hard and shook my head. “I’m ready for whatever it takes. Unless you have a better alternative…”
I waited, my vision blurring as Joe slowly shook his head.
“That’s what I thought. Rafe can break a circle with his meteor spell, but I don’t know that one and I don’t have a sling. I’m going to have to find something that I can cast.”
I turned back to the open grimoire, concentrated, and said, “Show me what I seek.”
The pages began to flip rapidly past, stopping about two-thirds of the way through the book. I leaned closer to read. I felt contact on my shoulder and realized Joe had moved to stand beside me, close enough for our shoulders to touch.
“A tremblor spell? What the hell is that?” I wondered.
“It’s an earthquake,” Joe answered.
I slammed my fist down on the table beside the grimoire. “An earthquake? How in God’s name is that going to help me break a circle?”
“It makes sense. A circle is a line of material or perhaps an etching in the form of a circle. Once it’s activated, only someone like Raphael can break it and then only from the outside. Inside, a magic user’s abilities are mostly nullified unless they cast the circle themselves.”
“I understand that, but…oh, if you break the material that forms the circle, the spell will collapse.”
Joe nodded. “From the outside, it’s very difficult. It takes an incredible amount of energy to break even a beginner’s circle. If the mage holding Raphael is powerful, then the energy to rupture the barrier is even greater.”
He turned away from me and walked to the fireplace where the last embers of the night’s fire glowed softly.
“What’s wrong, now?” I asked.
He stirred the embers and then set a couple split logs on the andirons. He waved his hand, and the logs burst into flame. Turning slowly, he studied me.
“Well? I don’t have all night, Joe,” I groused.
“That’s a powerful spell, but it will take time to cast. Time you won’t have.”
“Can’t I cast it from outside the building where he’s being held?” I asked.
“Possible, but the required energy goes up the farther you are from your target. If you aren’t beside the circle when you cast it, I fear you won’t survive the casting.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“As I said, that spell takes a lot of energy. I know you Wanderers store energy in your life force. If you hold that spell for very long, you may die of old age.”
I shook my head. “Wait, you know this for a fact or are you just trying to persuade me not to use it?”
“If I could persuade you, I would lie to you about it, but I can see the steel in your eyes. You will make the attempt no matter what I tell you.”
I nodded. “I owe Rafe. Whatever it costs, I’ll pay.”
“Then you will have to be beside the target circle when you cast it. How strong is your own shield?” Joe asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know; it stands up to anything I’ve encountered so far.”
“That’s not very encouraging,” Joe said.
“It’s the best I can do, Joe. I haven’t had to use it enough to compare it to Rafe’s.”
Joe nodded, looked thoughtful, and then said, “We’ll test it. Activate your shield.”
“What? How can–”
He raised his right hand. It glowed.
Frak! I triggered my shield as his
