Ellie, who had been silent, looked at them, and in the next momentScylla’s bed had reshaped itself into a modern hospital bed with a controller to raise and lower both the head and foot of the bed. “That ought to help,” she said mildly.
Maybe the others didn’t realize the wonder of an electric bed working sans electricity. Dan was impressed, though.
I want that kind of control,he thought.And power.
After one last glance over at Axell, who smiled encouragingly, Dan went inside himself. He wasn’t sure how else to explain it, but he felt like he was traveling in a vast castle-like building, but it wasn’t like Crenshaw Castle. The halls were brightly lit, and the rooms were mostly unlocked doors.
On some level, he realized he was inside his own essence. His spirit or soul or energy or whatever one wanted to call it. He looked out of a large window into the field outside. Multiple glowing shapes in different hues hovered there. One had a solid cord that was tied into Dan’s castle.Axell.Surprisingly, another thready path twisted past several glowing shapes to a tall figure.Sondre!
And for a moment, Dan looked at the others and thought,I could take some of that.It was probably the first time he realized what Axell had truly meant when he said Dan was hungry or compared him to a wolf. There was a ravenous craving in him that wanted to consume and take.
That’s my magic. It takes.
Later, Dan would ask how others were siphoned before they were sent back to the nonmagical world. For now, he concentrated on not reaching out to the witches his mind saw as glowing shapes.
“Allan. Focus on Allan.” Prospero’s voice echoed through the castle of his mind, sending chills over him at the thought of her entering his mind.
Dan turned his attention to the writhing, glowing shape that looked like it was levitating. It was flat where the others were standing. He reached out… not quite hands but a magical extension of them, as if they stretched like a pour of energy creeping toward the blue glow that was the prone witch.
As soon as Dan’s energy touched the shape that he knew as Allan,his magic shifted, like a creature left off its leash finally. He felt like an invisible mouth extended from him, biting at the energy and swallowing it down in gulps.
And the more he consumed, the more he wanted.
He felt guilt at the thought of taking. Healwaysfelt guilt for taking, for wanting, for craving.
But I’m allowed. They want me to do this. They brought me here to do this.
And so Dan let go of his self-restraints and let himself take that glowing magic into himself as he refilled the reservoir that had been depleted by everyone’s demands.
37Ellie
Ellie watched in horror as Dan started to shake. Light stretched from him in what looked like tangible ropes. The ropes twisted across the ground, vibrating like the tips of rattlesnake tails as they pursued the people in the room.
“Is that normal?” Scylla murmured.
“No.” Sondre moved forward so he was between Dan and everyone else—except Prospero. She stepped forward, too. They exchanged a glance that was easy enough to interpret.
Dr. Jemison gestured to Walt. “Help me move Scylla out of here.”
“I’m not leaving.” Scylla crossed her arms. “Plan, Prospero?”
For a moment, it struck Ellie that no one had asked the chief witch. Prospero was the one managing things, the one trusted to go after threats, the one the governing body leaned on and somehow also the one who had been punished by assigning her an amnesiac wife. Once the crises were all resolved, Ellie would be having words with the chief witch—and maybe the entire Congress of Magic.
But the magical cords were thrashing like living serpents now. Theirserpentine motions were hypnotic to Ellie, and when one of the cords lashed out at a speed akin to a striking cobra, Ellie did nothing to resist it.
“Allan. Focus on Allan.” Prospero’s words were terse as she stepped between Ellie and the radiant light that was spilling off Dan’s body like something inside him had caught fire.
The twist of magic released Ellie and twined around Prospero’s ankle. It steadily started creeping upward.
Prospero stumbled.
Her voice taut with something Ellie couldn’t identify, Prospero ordered, “Move toward the door, love. If this doesn’t work, I need you tostophim.”
Ellie realized what she meant since they had discussed ways to use her magic to stop a witch. It wasn’t a thing Ellie wanted to do. Murder ought not be the first choice. This wasn’t the place to say that, though, not to this assembled group.
Dan was obviously beyond hearing their regular voices, but Prospero’s magic was more than words. Even as the shimmering magical cords kept seeking the witches throughout the room, Prospero stepped in front of him and grabbed his face in her hands. Staring into his eyes she repeated, “Allan. Focus on Allan.”
Prospero’s voice wavered, but when she stepped back, jerking her hands from Dan’s now–blindingly bright body, her gaze darted to Ellie. It felt like a plea for help.
