Found by Jasper by Kaje Harper

Author:Kaje Harper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kaje Harper

Chapter 9

Jasper eyed the end of his magic rope as the end curled itself into a loop on the workroom floor and formed a knot. And then broke at a critical juncture. The construct fell apart and the magic snapped back to him, jarring him right behind his eyes. He closed them and pinched his nose.

Nibs said, “I wish I could help. This isn’t something Michael ever attempted.”

“It’s all Jasper’s invention.” Hamish rubbed Jasper’s shoulder.

He opened his eyes to nod his gratitude. He’d borrowed power for that rope, so no doubt Hamish’s brain was aching with the backlash too. “We should take a break, maybe eat some lunch.”

“How soon do you anticipate we’ll hear back from Locke?” Xsing asked.

“Hard to say. I’m sure he’s doing what he can.” Locke might be a stuffy bore, but he wasn’t the sort to abandon familiars in need. Jasper hoped the same could be said of the Chicago council.

They’d called Locke right after breakfast with the familiar-and-sorcerer list Nibs had dictated. Now all they needed was some kind of scrying token to actually make progress.

Hamish stretched, pulling his shirt tight across his chest, and switched the radio on. Past the static, the voice of Disaster Dan mumbled something about boats. Jasper joined Hamish, reaching past him to tweak the tuning the necessary tenth of a degree.

“…waters now nine inches lower than at flood stage. Cleanup is beginning in the outlying areas, but authorities think it will be several more days…”

Jasper ignored the sound of the ongoing flood report. The morning paper had reported no deaths and no one missing, just a lot of damage. He and Darien had agreed, back at the start, that the risks of using powerful magic out in the world meant saving it for situations with lives at stake. These flood victims didn’t need him.

He knelt to wipe a damp rag across the canvas floor, erasing his latest effort, still in the chalk-and-improvisation stage. He had a roll of fresh canvas waiting for the spell rope’s final form, but they weren’t there yet. “Perhaps if I pre-formed a loop and knot at the beginning—”

“Hush!” Hamish threw up a hand, staring at the radio intently.

“…trapped by a cave-in at the Mississippi Palisades State Park on the Illinois border earlier this morning. The group were spelunking and only luck kept the last caver from being caught in the rockfall. Authorities say there’s no current explanation for why the limestone cave suddenly collapsed.

“The sole escaped caver claimed he saw a bright yellow fire flash around the tunnel right before the roof fell, but the local park service says the location is a hundred feet underground, in a stable area with no coal or other flammable substances. This is an interesting mystery, and we’ll keep you updated. Efforts to retrieve the three missing men are underway, but no one knows how much excavation it will take to reach them or how long the oxygen behind the rockfall will last the trapped men.”

For a brief

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