I'd never had to sit in a hospital and wait for news about someone before, and I found it far worse than I'd anticipated. Apparently, 'girlfriend' wasn't sufficient to gain entry to a patient's room or information so soon after admission, so Athena, Artemis and I were stuck sitting in a waiting room watching the clock tick. All we knew so far was that Ben did indeed have a mild concussion, his nose was broken, his left shoulder was dislocated, and that the impact with the wall appeared to have both fractured his left humerus and cracked a rib or two.

The bones would be fused whole by magic within a few more hours. It was the one branch of healing magic that didn't require more time and energy than was feasible except in life threatening situations. He'd still need to wear a sling and tape his ribs for a week or two while his shoulder healed and the fused bones finished setting (which was more of a 'just in case' practice than a necessary one). His nose would also likely be set and healed by now...broken noses were a fairly simple thing to take care of, if very painful. And, of course, he'd have plenty of bruises. Time would take care of those and the rest.

The police and paramedics had expressed some polite disbelief when I told them how Ben had received those injuries, but had accepted it in the end. It was, after all, extremely rare for a ghost to be able to affect the physical world enough to hurt someone. However, through the application of a mild truth-sayer spell, Ben's badge, and a quick call to the Yard to talk to Ben's boss, we had convinced them.

The previous October, a ghost - possibly the same ghost - had given me a cut on my cheek that had been slow to heal and still showed as a thin white scar, so I knew from experience how fast an angry ghost could move. I still felt guilty, though. Yes, I knew it had happened suddenly and with almost no warning. The ghost had likely been listening to us, and had acted as soon as it realized we were growing distracted. It had attacked without a sound and without any visual presence, making it next to impossible to detect unless one of us had had magic actively searching for it.

But Ben had been hurt. If our theory about Brenna using the ghost to go after targets related to me was correct - and it seemed more than likely now that someone close to me had been hurt by the ghost - then it was almost directly my fault.

There was also the question of the missing detectives that had been shadowing us. The last I’d heard, they were being looked for.

Sitting beside me, Athena had removed her shieldblade's harness so she could sit comfortably, and was currently resting the sheathed sword point-down on the floor, slowly turning it in her hands. I could feel her equally irrational guilt over not having moved fast enough to stop it, or not having warned us sooner of her suspicions. She sensed my eyes on her and looked up to meet them, and we both knew that we were thinking the same thing: What could either of us have done differently under the circumstances?

Nothing at all. But knowing something intellectually isn't always the same as feeling it in your gut.

Artemis lounged at our feet, the tip of her tail flipping slowly, displaying typical feline disdain for all things not her. But Athena and I could sense her worry for Ben, echoed by our own. All three of us wanted him to be all right.

That was where Hollis Ellister found us, sitting and waiting to find out if we'd be able to go in and see Ben before we had to go home.

"Dear child," he said from the doorway with honest sympathy, "It's after one in the morning. How long are they going to let you sit here?"

I looked up and realized that although I hadn't heard him enter, Athena and Artemis were already looking in his direction. I felt some chagrin about being too distracted and too tired to pay attention to my surroundings at a time when I was potentially in danger - even inside a hospital - and I'm pretty sure it showed on my face. "I'm not sure," I admitted slowly, pulling out my pocket watch and examining it. "Good lord, we've been here for three hours?"

Hollis smiled gently. "The hospital called me after you gave them my information as your emergency contact."

"I did that, actually," Athena said quietly. "Alys didn't hear them ask."

I stared at Athena in surprise. She nodded slightly. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "You really didn't hear the nurse ask. I could feel how distracted you were, and how upset, so I when they asked I gave them Mr. Ellister's phone number." She turned her attention to Hollis. "I hope that was all right."

He nodded. "Of course it was," he replied firmly. "I wouldn't have it any other way, especially not with my best employee's partner injured."

"I'm your only employee," I said dryly.

Hollis shrugged dismissively. "Only, best, under the circumstances it's a matter of semantics." His eyes met mine, and I saw the concern in them. "Are you all right?"

"She's fine," Athena reported before I could say anything. "Just exhausted. One of the nurses here is a Hermetic Mage and cast several diagnostic spells on Alys with my permission."

My attention returned to Athena, once again startled. "She did?"

"He did," Athena corrected me, her lips twitching as she tried not to smile at my gaffe. "You were completely distracted. It's a good thing Artemis and I were here to keep an eye on you."

> Artemis retorted in a dryly superior tone. >

"I did see the first two, I just missed the diagnostic spells," I protested, then added, "Athena, Artemis, thank you." Then I turned back to Hollis and said, "I guess I'm all right. I'm worried about Ben. And have they found the missing detectives yet?"

"Detective Donovan is sleeping," Hollis said gently. "I asked after him before coming to find you. As for your minders…I haven’t heard anything yet either. The doctor tells me they couldn't convince you to leave, and asked me to try. Donovan is resting...you should be too. You won't be able to do him any good if you're too tired to think straight."

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. "Rationally, I know you're right, but…"

Hollis smiled. "I understand. What you're feeling isn't rational, and that's perfectly normal. Tell me, did you capture the ghost?"

I pulled the gently glowing ruby out of my coat pocket. "It's in here. I was casting the spell in a hurry though, so…"

He approached and took the gemstone from my hand. With a practiced gesture, he held it up to the light between his index finger and thumb, then squinted at it. "Yes, very nicely done. The enchantment binding the ghost within could use a bit of tightening up, but this is excellent work." He lowered the gem and looked at me again. "I want you to tell me all about what happened."

I nodded and gathered my thoughts, then opened my mouth to start explaining.

"On the cab ride home," he interrupted. "According to the doctor, Donovan will sleep through the rest of the night and probably a fair part of tomorrow. They have him sedated so the bone-healing magic can work uninterrupted, and they're going to have additional tests to run once that's finished."

"He's not going to be safe here alone…" I protested weakly.

"I saw at least three Hermetic Mages on staff," Hollis replied gently. "Besides...Brenna has lost her weapon now. Even if she hadn't, this hospital - like most hospitals - is shielded against hostile magic, so he's quite safe here. I promise."

I was too tired to argue, so I surrendered to the inevitable and let myself be led out to the cab he'd called to take us home.

Either I was more tired than I realized, or having someone (trusted) in a position of authority over me take charge caused me to let my guard down further than intended. Either way, I was more than a little embarrassed when I turned to look out the window of the cab...and when I turned back, found that it was gently bumping to a halt in front of Hollis's townhouse. Athena was just finishing answering Hollis's questions about our little adventure, so I rubbed my eyes and tried to pretend I'd been paying attention the whole time. Fortunately for my slightly bruised pride, nobody made a big deal out of it. I was merely led inside by Artemis and Athena, handed a mug of cocoa by Elsie, and sent off to bed.

Even as I drank it, I was fairly certain Elsie had doctored the cocoa with a sleeping potion of some sort - it just didn't taste quite right. So I wasn't surprised to find that it was mid-afternoon, some twelve hours later, when I finally woke up. Artemis was snoozing on the bed beside me, her forepaws and head resting on my stomach, and Athena was sitting in the window seat with her legs stretched out in front of her, a book resting open on her lap...but her head was tipped back against the sill, and she was making that soft half-purring sound that I took for snoring.

A tray of sandwiches in plastic wrap sat on my desk. I saw a note sitting atop the pile of sandwiches, but it would have to wait for Artemis to move before I could get up to see what it said. So I shifted a little and began to gently pet Artemis's ears, content to lie in bed for a few minutes and collect my thoughts before facing everything that might have happened since I went to sleep.

The events of the night before had largely confirmed it: Someone was trying to kill people I cared about, and had been amazingly sloppy about it until now. I hadn't wanted to admit it to myself, no matter how many times I'd brought it up to others as a possibility.

When I had begun my apprenticeship with Jonathan Tremane, he had explained to me several facts of life about being a Wizard. In spite of the way other children had treated me while I was growing up, I had found it hardest to accept that eventually, I would make enemies. Not just people who didn't like me, or who were jealous of me or didn't want me around because of my hair color, eye color and pointed ears…people who genuinely wanted to kill me

"Alys," Jonathan had said, sighing and resting his elbows on his desk as fourteen year-old me had sat across from him and tried to understand, "Sometimes you're going to come into conflict with other spellcasters and beings of power. It may be intellectually, across a table during negotiations or in an educational setting. Or it may be at opposite ends of a magical duel, or by saving someone from a demon or something similar. There are hundreds of reasons why a wizard might find himself..."

"Or herself," I had interjected.

"Or herself," he had agreed with a small smile, "at odds with another sentient being. Many of those beings will be even more unforgiving than the girls who pulled your hair and the boys who kicked and punched you when you wanted to play their games."

"Sometimes," he had continued after a moment, "You'll make an enemy by accident. Something you say or do will upset someone, or disrupt their plans. Sometimes you'll even do it on purpose, because it's your job or because you feel it's the right thing to do. No matter how hard you try to prevent it, it will happen sooner or later."

I hadn't understood then, but as I got older, I had come into better understanding of the problem. People - by whatever definition of 'person' you subscribe to - are not always rational or sympathetic (or even /mostly/ rational and sympathetic, frankly). Nor are they always forgiving or understanding. In point of fact, they rarely are, at least in my experience. It's a sad statement about the nature of humanity that we are so often incapable of letting go of negative emotions, especially anger...but at least we have the choice - literally, the ability - to do so. There are many beings that live alongside us that are by their very nature incapable of even the choice to let go of those emotions.

And sometimes, we are forced to stand in the way of someone doing what they think is right...because we disagree, because we think they need to fail, or - irrationally - simply because we can. Free will is as much a burden as a gift.

I sighed and stroked Artemis's fur. She moved slightly and I felt her come awake. > she observed. >

> I replied silently, not wanting to wake Athena, >

> she replied with certainty.

>

> she retorted. >

I sighed again and nodded. >

Athena lifted her head and opened her eyes, evidently having been awake and listening. "You did what you had to do," she said quietly. "You had a job to do, and so did she. In the course of doing hers she was trying to keep you from succeeding." She smiled gently. "Artemis and I know better than anyone how driven you are to complete the tasks set before you."

> Artemis agreed. >

"She has a point," Athena observed. "The artifact she tried to steal from us was undeniably evil. We all felt that as soon as she had it out in the open."

"True enough," I agreed. "I just wish she'd come at me head on rather than trying to hurt the people around me."

> Artemis said, stretching and yawning. >

"That much is obvious," Athena said wryly. "And she's probably pretty crazy."

> Artemis licked her lips. >

Athena, on the verge of retorting, sighed and closed her book. "Why don't you go see if Elsie has something for you, Artemis? Alys and I have sandwiches waiting for us."

Artemis rose and hopped off the bed with surprising lightness for a cat her size. > To my amazement, she reared up on her hind paws, caught the doorknob in her fore paws, and managed to twist it far enough for the door to pop open. Then she slipped through and was gone.

Athena looked just as surprised as I did. "When did she learn to do that?" She asked.

I shook my head and sat up. "I've never seen her do it before. Guess we'd better warn Elsie to start locking the kitchen at night."

Athena smiled as she handed me a sandwich. "I guess we'd better. I was up earlier...Ben sent a note with a courier to let us know that he's awake and waiting on the results of the rest of his tests. The doctor wouldn't let him cast a Sending...I could practically sense how frustrated he was in his writing." She giggled. "When he was describing his conversation with the doctor, his handwriting got all spiky." She gestured to the note on the desk. "It's all there. After you've eaten something, you can read it."

"Only after I've eaten something?" I asked, amused at her taking charge.

She nodded primly. "Only after you've eaten." She giggled again. "You cast a complex spell and slept for twelve hours..."

"Elsie drugged me, didn't she."

Athena nodded, smiling. "I'm pretty sure she did. Me too, but I got a smaller dose. It was just a simple sleeping potion...she knew we wouldn't get any sleep otherwise."

"Smart girl. So how does Ben sound?" I asked, then finally took a bite of my sandwich.

"Reading between the lines of his note? He's cranky at being told he's going to be in the hospital for another two or three days, his ribs, head and shoulder ache, and he hopes we'll come visit." She blushed gently. "He included me and Artemis."

I smiled around my sandwich. >

Athena nodded, then her smile faded and she set her own sandwich down without taking a bite. "What're we going to do about Brenna?"

My sandwich - ham and cheese, always a favorite - suddenly tasted sour. I swallowed and set it down on the plate. "We have to lure her out somehow. I won't allow her to hurt anyone else I care about."

"I assumed that a direct confrontation would be part of whatever the plan turns out to be," Athena said quietly. "Perhaps we should ask for help..."

I shook my head. "She's my problem. I'll take care of her alone. I won't risk..."

"It's not your choice, sister," Athena interrupted me in a firm tone of voice I rarely heard from her. "Not only is that the dumbest thing I've heard you say, you must know that Artemis and I will be with you no matter what, just as Brenna's familiars will be with her. Assuming she managed to claim the second panther." She grimaced. "I can't imagine any self-respecting feline wanting to be with her, but I suppose there's a compatible familiar out there for every spellcaster."

"It's a side effect of the binding ritual," I said, and felt a pang of guilt as it sank home what I had done to Athena and Artemis by claiming them. Oh, I had no doubts that their natural personalities remained...but I had undeniably changed them, molding their minds and hearts to be my perfect companions. I was equally certain that they were better for the change, just as I was.

Athena smiled. "I'm aware of that, Alys. So is Artemis. We're both very pleased by who we've become for you. And I'm aware that Brenna will have changed her familiars the same way..." Her smile turned impish. "But I still can't see any self-respecting feline wanting to be her familiar."

Her joke drew a laugh from me in spite of myself. "You know," I said, "I can't either. But that's how it works." I fell silent for a few moments, prodding my sandwich listlessly. "I suppose I can't face her alone, can I?"

"No, you can't," Athena replied firmly. "You're going to need our help at the very least, to even the odds. Even if she didn't have familiars, we wouldn't let you face her alone. But Alys, wouldn't it be wise to ask Mr. Ellister, and maybe even Jonathan, to help you face her? Or at least to have a fall-back plan, or some backup?"

I opened my mouth to reject the idea out of hand and stopped. Jonathan had once told me that I should always try to catch myself when I start to respond to an idea without giving it any thought, because it probably meant that I was being stubborn or was in danger of making a bad decision. So I thought about the question carefully.

Based on our encounter the previous winter, Brenna had more experience with magical combat than I did. Heck, she seemed to have more combat experience in general. She had caught me completely flat-footed, blasting a hole in the wall of my train cabin and sending me slamming into the opposite wall. If we hadn't had Artemis to unbalance the odds in our favor, Brenna and her elevated panther familiar Hecate would have had Athena and me dead to rights.

Emphasis on the 'dead' part. Maybe. I still wasn't convinced Brenna had been trying to kill us. Be that as it may, the resulting spell battle had shown her to have a proficiency at casting fire spells in enclosed spaces that I didn't have, as well as equal skill at defensive magics and tactics. She'd clearly fought spellcasters before in real, mortal combat. I had only ever dueled with Jonathan and a few other spellcasters in training sessions.

When I had finally acted in desperation, conjuring a phoenix construct made of elemental fire to destroy the ritual dagger she had very nearly managed to steal from me, Athena and Artemis were both already out of the fight.

Could I take her in a fair fight? I set aside my ego and tried to answer the question honestly. So no, I didn't really think I could. Fortunately, Wizards never fight fair - most spellcasters don't.

Would it be wise for me to recruit the aid of older, more experienced combat spellcasters like Hollis and Jonathan? I had to admit that it definitely would. I had no doubt that the two of them would be able to overwhelm her individually, let alone together.

But...there was always a but. But Brenna was a largely unknown quantity. Could I be certain - really certain - that they could take her?

No. I couldn't. I'd never really seen her pull out all the stops. But a few weeks back, she had successfully demolished a town with just her familiar's help, while maintaining illusions that made her and Hecate look like me and Athena respectively. Sure, the illusions had slipped a few times, long enough for people who were paying attention to suspect it hadn't really been me. But it still suggested that she had a tremendous amount of skill, power and discipline at her command.

Which meant that anyone who I brought with me would be in danger. Either directly, through confrontation with Brenna...or indirectly, as a distraction for me.

I shook my head. "I can't stop you and Artemis from coming," I said gently, "And wouldn't if I could. But I won't risk anyone else."

Athena stared at me, frowning a little. I could sense her trying to think of an argument to talk me out of that course of action...but deep down inside, she felt the same way I did. Somehow, it was just wrong for us to ask for help with this, thereby endangering people we cared about.

Don't look at me like that. I didn't say it was rational, logical or particularly smart. It's just how we felt.

Finally, she sighed. "All right. Do you have a plan, at least?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. I don't even know where or how to find her, unless we can track her using the ghost. I'll think of something, though."

Athena nodded. "Of course you will. In the meantime, we both need to eat. Then we'd better find Artemis and make sure she's not gnawing on Elsie."

"Unlikely," I said, picking my sandwich back up and trying to convince my stomach to settle enough to eat the rest of it. "Elsie's snuck her too many treats to be in danger at this point."

"True."

There was a soft knock at the half-open door, and Hollis stuck his head in. "Awake? Good." He came inside, holding a slip of paper in his hand. "A courier just arrived with a note from Ben's doctor. Their diagnostic spells this morning found internal bleeding, and one of his cracked ribs may have punctured a lung…" He trailed off. "He's been upgraded to critical condition until they determine the extent of his internal injuries and what can be done about them. So you won't be able to visit him today."

By the time he had finished, I felt light-headed and I was certain that all of the color had drained from my face.

"No…" Athena whispered, shaking her head in denial.

This couldn't be happening.