"Not yet." Ilianna stepped carefully from the circle, then walked toward me. Her face was pale, strained. "Neither Mom nor Kiandra have come across anything like this before now, but I guess that's natural, given the source. They're relying on my limited knowledge in their attempts to unpick the various layers."
"Well, you did reroute the magic in the warding stones my father left at Mom's."
And I had to wonder if that had been deliberate. After it, those stones were all that was stopping the Raziq from entering our home – the thought stalled, and I blinked as excitement surged. Maybe the damn answer to the Raziq problem had been sitting right in front of my nose all the time!
"Rerouting the magic of the stones was easy compared to this," Ilianna said. "This collar is interlaced and complicated. I just don't know if we're going to have the time to dismantle it."
Tears briefly shone in her eyes, but were rapidly blinked away. No time for tears. Not yet.
I looked at Mirri. Her expression was stoic, but fear lurked in the depth of her eyes. "You will. Have faith."
"Faith is something I'm rapidly losing." Ilianna paused, and glanced at Azriel. "Sorry, but it's hard to keep believing when your bosses are doing squat to help the situation as far as I can see."
"They tend not to interfere unless absolutely necessary."
"Seems to me the opening of hell and the possible destruction of both Earth and the gray fields would make interference a necessity."
"Hence the reason I am here," he replied. "More Mijai are not practical in this situation."
"Meaning if it was warranted, more would come?"
"If necessary, then yes."
"I guess that's something." She returned her gaze to me. "I'm gathering you're not just here for a progress report."
"No." I hesitated. "But I have a question about the warding stones before I get into that. Are you able to replicate the spell on the stones? And if so, would it be possible to make some sort of personal protection circle using it?"
She frowned. "I could repeat the spell, no problem, but I don't know —"