Nico picked up the phone.

Perry Pullman's voice came through on the other line. It was calm and sincere, but like a knife at the bottom of a serene pond, a sharp anger cut through the apparent confidence. “Where is the real grimoire.”

Nico closed his eyes and focused all his attention on slowing his heartbeat, to not let his emotions get the better of him again. The image of Yuri’s dead body flashed in his mind. He set it aside, and spoke cool as a sleet of ice. “How did you know I was here?”

His tone was even, almost casual, as if talking to an old acquaintance. Apparently, it only made Pullman angrier. The killer growled, ignoring Nico’s question entirely. “Give me the real grimoire, or I will hunt you down for the rest of your short life.”

No matter how hard Nico tried to stay calm in this situation, he felt his fear and anger bubbling up through him. His grip on the phone tightened. “You should ask the two Sentinels who showed up at my door what happens when you threaten me.”

There was a second of silence. Was he genuinely shocked at Nico’s words. Harsh laughter bled through the phone. “I heard about that. You ran like a rat. The Russian was ten times more the magician than you, and look what happened to him.”

Nico had never hated anyone in his life. He didn't even know what it felt like to hate someone so much, not until now.

Pullman broke the silence. “Show up at Larkin square within the hour with the grimoire. If you don't, I will find everyone you care about.”

He hung up. Nico did the same. His hands did not shake. Despite the anger burning in his chest, he felt oddly calm.

Fu looked worried.

Nico gave him a wary smile. “Did you catch any of that?”

Fu nodded, not hiding anything. “Nothing escapes me within my Hold. You don’t have the real grimoire, if there is one.”

“I know.”

“And when he finds that out and you tell him the truth, he still won’t believe you.”

“I know.”

“He’s stronger than you.”

Nico nodded. “I’m smarter.”

Fu stared at him for a long moment, and folded his arms. “You are resolved in this. I won’t be able to sway you.”

Carmen spoke up. “So, this is it, huh?”

Nico nodded. “He revealed his location.”

Carmen blinked. “Can’t we just call the Coalition and have them arrest Pullman for questioning? They have magical interrogation, right?”

Fu made a clicking sound with his tongue. “We still don’t know who he was working with. If it’s Balthazar, there is a good chance they would take his side in this.”

“Nico has no choice, huh?” Carmen asked, her shoulders sagging. “This isn’t fair.”

Nico walked over and patted her on the shoulder. “There’s always a choice, and mine is to do what I can.”

“You could run,” she pleaded weakly.

Nico smiled. “No. Five have died because of him. I won’t give him the chance to take more lives, especially using my sigil.”

Fu sighed. “You have an hour, well…forty minutes. It’s twenty from her to Larkin.”

Nico nodded. “I might be able to come up with another array before then. But the hour mark is telling. It means he is running out of time, as well.”

“How?” Carmen asked.

“All spells require power, intent, an array to guide and shape the power. His ritual array no longer has an intent, which was the portal to the Nextover. Without one of those components, the spell will break,” Nico explained. “Pullman must have an anchor array that’s keeping it together since the intent is gone.”

Carmen turned to Fu. “Uh, do you have a gun or something I can use? I can shoot the guy while he isn’t looking.”

Fu snorted. “If you’ve never touched a gun in your life, you’re more liable to kill yourself than Pullman. This is his fight. You’ve done what you can.”

“And besides,” Nico interjected. “We’ll be fighting in the veil. Since you have no power or a way to enter the veil, you can’t do anything until the veil breaks.”

She sat back down, weary from the conversation. “I’m sorry. I sound ridiculous.”

Fu smiled. “You’re watching your friend go off to what may be his death. It’s okay to want to help.”

Nico sat down, and pulled a few of the papers together. “I have a little more time to prepare.”

Thirty minutes later, he could only come up with one more array. It had an eighty five percent chance of working. He pulled out the coins he pocketed from the NextOver, and drew an array to embed an array to shape the metal on each side.

When he finished, he can Carmen walked to the door. Fu gave him a hug. “I’m proud of you. I’ll see you soon.”

Nico returned the hug. “Thanks for sticking your neck out for me.”

Fu let go, and said. “I have never once regretted becoming a Holder of a hearthome. I meant I would never leave my domain. But this is the first time I’ve questioned my decision. I wish I could leave for a few hours and beat the crap out of Pullman for you.

Nico smiled appreciatively. “It's fine. This is the path I chose.”

Then he had an idea. Before opening the door to leave, he said. “Actually, you can do one more thing for me.”

“Anything,” Fu promised.

“I need you to make some phone calls.”

–-

Carmen and Nico were back at Larkin square.

It looked completely normal to the naked eye. Nico invested some magic into the Gallahad mind formation within his eyelids once again. He could see the thin veil over the park.

Luckily, the two guards from earlier weren’t there anymore. In the distance was a lone figure, the silhouette Nico was certain he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Carmen’s hands on the steering wheel shook. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gone as soon as you leave so he can’t use me like he used Yuri. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. You’ve done more than enough,” Nico assured her.

“If it was you from a couple of days ago, saying this. I would be freaking out right now,: she confided. “But right now, you look calm.”

“I’ve changed,” Nico agreed.

She tilted her head to the side as if weighing her words. “Not change into something different, but changed like you became…I don’t know…more you.”

Nico smiled and opened the door. “Thanks again, man. I'll see you soon.”

He stepped out and closed the door behind her. She drove off, far away from any spells Pullman could cast.

Nico stepped forward toward the park, and put his hand on the very edge of the veil. He felt its resonance. It wasn't as solid as before, confirming Nico’s suspicions. It would fall apart soon.

This was why Pullman seemed on edge. He was hiding within the veil and probably evading the authorities like Nico was. Or if Balthazar was involved and truly wanted the grimoire like Fu suspected, then he wanted to get the grimoire before Balthazar could get it.

Once the veil broke, the Sentinels would show up to their location.

Nico invested MP into divining more information on the veil. A window appeared, telling him he had an estimate of sixteen minutes until he completely collapsed. It also added that the veil was inextricably linked to the ritual array.

From an efficiency standpoint, Nico was impressed with the idea of linking a veil to the array. It was something he never thought of. He wondered for a moment what kind of magic Pullman would have been capable of if he had truly studied Gallahad like Nico had.

The thought left him as soon as it had come.

It didn’t anymore. Nothing mattered except for how this fight would go.

He mentally reviewed his plans and backup plans. Measure counted that he had an eighty six percent chance of defeating Pullman if he went for the kill. That was not an option. Nico was not like Pullman.

Measure also told him he roughly had a thirty percent chance of defeating Pullman without killing him. Honestly, that was a much higher chance than Nico thought he would have.

But those percentages meant nothing.

Nico was certain he hadn’t seen all of Pullman’s cards. Pullman would also be wary of Nico’s abilities as well. In a fight between mages, preparation and deceit would determine the outcome.

Nico stepped through the veil.