Nothing. She was absurdly disappointed, as if she’d truly expected him to simply follow instructions.

“Gabriel,” she whispered more urgently. “You have to wake up. Even for a moment. Just for a little bit, so you can have some of my magic. You know I want you to have it. I’d push it into you if I could, but I … can’t.” Her voice broke, tears following. “Idiot wizard—just take it. Please.”

She tried again to open that channel between them, to replicate how it felt when he drew magic from her. Water flowed downhill without help; why not magic? She’d replenished, and she wanted, more than anything, for him to have it. Over and over, she tried to push the magic into him, with no result. She simply couldn’t do it. Never, not even in those early days of crashing denial when the oracle head spoke those dreaded words, had she hated being a familiar more.

It simply wasn’t fair.

“Lady Phel.” Asa spoke softly, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Wizard Alise is here. She says it’s time.”

Nic nodded, surreptitiously wiping her tears on Gabriel’s shirt. He wouldn’t mind. If he were awake, he’d use the shirt to dry her tears himself. She sat, then stood. One step at a time. She eyed Asa, watching her with professional concern. “Why can’t you take my magic and put it into Gabriel?”

Asa shook his head in slow-moving regret. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Why not?” she demanded, as if he’d made the rule.

“Magic doesn’t work that way. I could put it in him, but it would disperse again. He has to actively take it in for it to do any good.”

Nic knew that. She didn’t even know why she asked. “Take care of him, will you?”

Asa smiled ruefully. “As if his parents would let me do anything less.” Then he frowned. “Watch yourself with Sammael.”

“Excellent advice.” She realized Jadren had also come to fetch her. “Ready to establish the wards?”

He dipped his bearded chin, wizard-black eyes serious. “No one will get through. In fact, unless Sammael brought a ward-breaker, the entire warded area should be invisible to any searchers.”

That was as good as they could get. Alise was waiting for them in the outer offices, turning to walk by Nic’s side without comment. Jadren and Alise flanked Nic as they walked together to the main hall, then out to the front porch. Sage and Quinn were waiting there, along with a cadre of other wizards and their familiars. Even Dahlia, the Ophiel wizard, was in attendance, and Nic wanted to ask if she planned to swath Sammael in fabric to slow any aggressive moves.

Alise met Nic’s questioning gaze and shrugged. “They wanted to bear witness, at least.”

Bear witness to what, exactly?

Dahlia moved forward as Nic did. “Lady Phel, may I?” She held up a hand sparkling with magic. “For the pride of the House,” Dahlia added, by way of explanation, and Nic nodded permission. The gown shifted around her, changing to a heavier, more expensive fabric. A gleaming silver taffeta, it was embossed with slightly lighter and darker moons tumbling across the expanse in subtle shimmers. The taffeta itself had subtle waves that rippled like water in moonlight. The style changed somewhat, too—the neckline higher, the sleeves longer. More formal, she supposed. More impressive Lady Phel.