“You are the one who could have come here at any time beforea third of your citywas infected,“ I tell him. “And you’re the one wasting time now. The wand, Grand Magus, and I will save your people.”
Not ‘our’ people. Not anymore. He chose that for me.
The grand magus stares at me for another long moment, and the weight of the formal oath pulses in my chest.
Then he swears under his breath and draws his wand.
I honestly wasn’t expecting his own wand. The guards must all be low-level enough he doesn’t think they can draw on enough magic to resolve this. It explains why I don’t recognize them.
I still don’t quite believe it when the grand magus keys his wand to me so I can use it.
Magic isn’t truly a matter of words, just focused intent, so I feel it when the magic takes root in my heart like a seed.
I feel the shining connection to his wand when he hands it to me, a tether between me and this extension of my will.
I close my eyes, breathing deeply at the sudden rush flowing through me. Evram, to his credit, doesn’t interrupt, letting me adjust.
He did teach me for a long time. Once, I would have said he knew me better than anyone.
When I open my eyes, I focus on an angelic symbol in the plague spell and twist it, sending off a cascade that unravels the whole thing.
And then while a grand magus of High Earth stares at the spot in disbelief, not watching me at all, I have a window. Just for an instant.
I take it.
I gather my will again, visualize the spell I need, and point the wand at the portal.
Evram’s gaze snaps up to me. “What are you doing?”
“I banish you and your people from this world,” I say. “Go back through this portal and do not return through it.”
My former mentor’s eyes widen and his expression has just started to turn outraged, but before he has a chance to say anything—to yell, to command his guards to steal his wand back—the portal becomes a void, sucking him and the unsuspecting guards back through.
The portal snicks out of existence like it had never been.
All the magic the High Earthers brought with them—the bubble, the holding stone—is gone with it.
It’s just me.
Me, and the wand still keyed to me, which the grand magus can’t undo unless he takes the wand back.
And that wand is connected to High Earth and can draw from the magic in that world.
Sound crashes around me, and I am no longer invisible.
The feeling of magic is no longer everywhere, but I feel electric,alive, for the first time in years.
Whirling, I use a tiny kernel of magic to part the sea of people around me, and ignoring them all, I take the wand and head for the door.
I hold magic in my hands.
Magic that I stole.
And magic I have a very small window of opportunity to make sure that I can keep.
Chapter 2
When I approach the doorway leading out of Artist Alley, there’s a man who doesn’t move out of my way, despite the magic.
