down Jamieâs body, as if he was planning to skin him. âWell, youâre too scrawny to be any good with a sword.â
âI prefer to think of myself as slender,â Jamie told him.
Nick gave Jamie a blank look, then said, âCome on. Iâll drive you to my place and teach you how to throw knives.â
âWhat!â said Jamie. âWhy?â
âBecause I am a sweet and caring individual who is truly concerned about your welfare,â Nick drawled. âYou coming?â
Jamie glanced at him and at Alan, and carefully did not look at Mae. It occurred to her, with a painful little shock in her chest, that Jamie didnât want to go back home with her.
âOkay.â
Jamie didnât want to be around her, and Nick hadnât asked her to come. Mae had a vision of them all just getting into the car and driving away, leaving her by the side of the road. Then she turned and looked into Alanâs eyes.
âDo you want to come and take a walk with me?â he asked. âI know you must have some questions.â
His blue eyes were steady and so dark they looked like deep waters, like you could fall into them for miles.
âI do have a few questions,â said Mae.
âOkay, so hereâs my first question,â Mae said as they walked back to the city center. âWho the hell is Celeste Drake?â
âSheâs the leader of another magiciansâ Circle,â Alan said. âThe Aventurine Circle. I donât really know much about it; her Circle never hassled us much. As magiciansâ Circles go, Ibelieve theyâre not the worst. Not much interested in power squabbles, and a higher number than in most Circles have real uses for their power. I think Celeste herself is a doctor, and I know one of the Circle has a special interest in using magic for fighting; the time we heard that was the one and only time Nick has ever been inspired to do magical research on his own. There are a couple of historians who use scrying bowls to see the past.â
âWell, speaking as a feminist, Iâm glad that women can leadâuh, groups of unspeakable magical evil.â
âYes,â Alan said gravely. âItâd be shocking if the evil magicians were sexist. For one thing, that would mean they were stupid, and having stupid enemies would be a terrible blow to my manly pride.â
Mae laughed at him for being a goof and Alan grinned back at her, easy and charming. She elbowed him gently, and he didnât break stride.
âSo why are we feeding Gerald to the Aventurine Circle in particular?â
âI still have a few contacts in the Goblin Market,â Alan said. âWord is that Celesteâs looking for him. I imagine itâs to express her displeasure about the Obsidian Circle invading her turf when they came chasing after Nick. Her Circleâs based in London, you see.â
âAnd movingâs difficult for them,â Mae said. âTerritoryâs a big deal.â
âEvery circle a magician ever draws is a reflection of the one circle of stones their group is named for. The sigils they wear link into the same circles, and bind them to each other. Some magiciansâ Circles have their circles buried in the ground, some of them hidden in plain sight as old druidsâcircles. They all guard them with their lives. And they hate the thought of another Circle coming near theirs. Black Arthur didnât ask Celesteâs permission to move his Circle into her city. He took what he wanted and planned to crush anyone in his path.â
âThat was kind of Arthurâs way.â
Alan nodded. âItâs left Gerald in a complete mess. A lot of magicians have left his Circle and taken different sigils. He had to move back fast, heâs recruiting desperately, and one of the big Circles is after his blood for trespass. And itâs all very convenient for us.â
Mae touched her new talisman.
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain