Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

19. The Battle Of The Mansion

Emma fumbled with the lock on the back door to Abigail's house, trying to be as quiet as possible. Michael and Wilamena stood behind her, both holding their breath with anticipation.

Everyone else - Jake, Beetles, and Abigail - were asleep. It was the dead of night, so it was natural for them to sleep. In fact, the children should have been asleep too. Only instead, they were sneaking out of the house, something they felt bad about because Abigail had been so kind to them. But it was necessary if they were going to rescue Kate.

Emma and Michael had made the plan as soon as they had a moment alone. They had faked going to bed, when really they had packed anything and everything useful, from bobby-pins to a dagger, into Michael's bag. Soon before they planned to leave, Wilamena had come and guessed what they were doing. She had said they weren't doing it without her and that she was coming to help.

Now they simply had to make it out the back door without alerting Gabriel, who was keeping watch by the front door. That was a difficult task, what, with how alert and experienced the warrior was.

Emma finished unlocking the door, and slowly opened it hoping beyond hope that it didn't creak. Once it was opened, she let out a silent exhale and tiptoed through, Michael and Wilamena on her heels. 

Soon they were through the door and had shut it, and were making a beeline for the street. As they speedwalked away from the house, they thought they were in the clear. Until they heard, "where do you three think you're going?"

As one, the three turned to see Rafe's ghost standing there, arms crossed, brow furrowed. Michael and Wilamena fidgeted, mumbling something about fresh air. But Emma looked Rafe directly in the eyes as though daring him to stop her, and said, "we're going to rescue Kate."

"That's what I thought," Rafe replied, "and do you have any sort of plan for this?"

"Actually, we had an idea on how to take down the magical shields so we  could get in," Michael commented.

"I'm all ears," Rafe said.

"Emma and I have magic, strong magic, and maybe the combined force of our power could make the shield's magic short circuit," Michael explained.

"That's a good theory," Rafe admitted, "but you can't control your power yet. How do you know you won't just get yourselves hurt?"

"That's a risk we're willing to take!" Emma snapped, getting frustrated. Her sister was in danger for goodness sakes, they didn't have time to just sit around talking, "we're going to save Kate and you can either let us go or we'll make you get out of our way!"

"Or I could go with you," Rafe said, taking them all by surprise.

He continued, "I know the place, and I could help you keep your magic under control. Face it, bringing me along is the best way for this plan of yours to work."

"You... you really wanna help us?" Michael stammered.

"Of course I do," Rafe answered, "I love Kate. I would do anything to save her. And because I love her, and she loves you, I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

Michael and Emma exchanged looks. They could tell Rafe was being absolutely sincere, and for all the conflict between them in the past, they could really use his help. 

"So it's the four of us then?" Wilamena questioned.

Michael shrugged, "I suppose so."

"Great," Emma turned back and began waking toward the road, "now let's go get Kate back!"

...............

As they reached the mansion, they kept to the shadows, keeping on watch for any of the Dire Magnus's sinister monsters guarding the building. They could see a few screechers lurking by the front door, but other than that, the Dire Magnus seemed to be relying on his shields to protect his hideout.