The next day, Gail was using her power at the bookstore. Impressively.
Callum encouraged her. "Keep going. It's amazing."
Gail was fascinated, watching the bluish energy. The plate was levitating. The light was so bright that the shop owner had to close her eyes.
Gail tried to get the attention of two students at the back. They were so immersed in what they were studying that they did not even notice her.
Callum commented, "Better tone it down."
Gail asked, "Professor Brown, where did you get this incantation? I always struggled with the light spell."
Callum said it came from some great books, from a friend of a friend.
Gail requested that he thank them for her. "The telekinesis focus is working very well too."
Callum asked how the healing experiments were going, and the attack skills she had mentioned.
Gail explained it. She had seen an asymmetrical structure, and with circulation inversions she had got some success in hurting crickets.
Callum pretended he had understood, when he had not understood at all.
As she kept talking about technical matters, Callum kept thinking. Sometimes listening to her makes me feel a little dumb. He had started magic late. But it was impressive to see how quickly a young, well-trained mage learns everything.
The admiration lasted about a second, until Gail said, "A cricket touched my finger and I screamed."
Callum thought to himself: maybe it's not so amazing after all.
In another place, an important meeting was starting.
Chester was irritated. The meeting had been scheduled at night specifically for somebody who was still late.
The grey-headed, bearded man assured him that he would come.
Chester said it was better to come early.
Then somebody with red shoes came. A pale hand held the golden doorknob.
Chester said sarcastically that he had finally decided to come.
That was Antoine Levin. Master of the vampires of Minneapolis.
The vampire's vision went red in a second, the fury overwhelming him. Antoine reached the table and warned him. "Watch how you talk." Chester answered with a deep growl.
Just then one hand slammed forcefully down on the table. King Raveb, fae ruler of the Midwest. "Start the meeting. Immediately."
Antoine settled. The Guild's representative, Archmage Jenry, officially declared the meeting started. Wizards, vampires, shapeshifters and fae, all in one room, because there was a killer at work among them and the time had come to deal with it.
Out on the road, Callum saw a sign on his motorcycle. Vignette City.
Hello, home. Right now it also looked decent. Relief. The Guild investigation had not destroyed everything.
He used the spatial sense. The hidden bags were located below the floor. Everything was still there. Gold and money exactly as it had been left. He picked up as much as he could carry. Something was left behind. With Lucy's advance and the rising cost of magic materials, it would be a little more useful where it was.
The plan was to hide everything and leave. But a few minutes later he found himself standing like a fool near a house.
What am I doing here? He tried to convince himself. One look from the eagle's eye. If everything's fine, then I'll go.
The spatial sense told him the whole family was in the kitchen.
Jessica asked Clara to get the steaks out of the freezer. Clara smiled and said she would bring them right away.
Arthur noticed something. "She looks very happy."
He asked his daughter about the nightmares. Do they still come?
Jessica said yes, but the vampire had erased most of her memory. If that had not happened, the trauma would have been worse.
The sheriff said they were fortunate that help had arrived so quickly.
Jessica remembered Callum. "He did that entire rescue himself." She said it had been more than luck.
Then Jessica smelled something different. "Papa. You're feeling it too."
Yes.
He opened the door almost desperately. A little way off, a motorcycle was visible.
Arthur asked, "Is that what I'm thinking?"
Jessica said no. Callum was already going at speed.
In his mind: that was a close call. Keeping them away from him was necessary to keep them safe. Otherwise the Guild would come again.
Lucy's voice on the phone. "I need the locations of all of the Guild's teleportation circles."
"That's going to be a problem," Callum said.
Lucy said not necessarily. But it was surprising. "We thought you moved through those same circles."
Callum clarified it. "No."
Lucy explained that she would send the publicly available information. The data on the private circles of important households would be very complicated. Important families with private portals. Intriguing.
Callum's own teleportation range was just fifteen metres. A Guild magic circle travels thousands of kilometres. One circle was in the back of a mattress store. The magical world really is hiding under everybody's nose.
There was heavy security around the Guild portals, and the options for approaching them were severely limited. Gravity telekinesis worked well with the motorcycle. But it left a magical signature. Jessica had sensed it once already.
If a Guild agent sensed it, that would be serious trouble. Teleportation. This is the best option. If I ever understand the system of the Guild's circles, I will not be caught.
With the spatial sense, the teleportation circle appeared, glowing. It was complicated at that distance. Maybe you cannot understand the details completely from far away. Geometric, die-like shapes floating in the air, surrounded by rings. Normally magic like that would have been done by engraving symbols onto a plate. But this was a full, flooded construction.