Gabriel released one of Fort’s hands and punched him in the gut, then opened a teleportation circle underneath them, which they dropped through and into incredibly warm air. Fort glanced down to find an active volcano below them, lava rising out of the cone in all directions.

And they were falling straight for it.

“You have to cast it!” Gabriel shouted, punching him again. “Open a portal, or I let you fall!”

Fort tried to concentrate to open a circle, but a blow sent the world spinning, and everything began to go dark. The lava below him now was so hot he could feel the heat through his clothing, but Gabriel didn’t seem to be bluffing.

“Okay!” Fort said. “I’ll do it! I promise!”

But the heat was overwhelming now, and he wondered if Gabriel would have the time to—

They passed through another circle, emerging from a vertical circle onto a tiled floor, their momentum sending them skidding down a familiar-looking hallway. Gabriel twisted around until he was behind Fort and put him in a headlock.

“Now,” Gabriel said, as Fort heard yelling and footsteps coming toward them. “Open the portal, right back where it was. If you do anything else, I’ll drop you into that volcano inches from the lava. You won’t have time to save yourself.”

“You’d kill me to get your brother back?” Fort gasped, struggling to breathe against Gabriel’s grip.

“I’d burn the whole world down,” Gabriel sneered. “I was supposed to protect him! When my father heard about the books of magic, I told him Mike was too young, that he should send me instead, but no, Mike had the right birthday and had to go. It’s his fault that my brother got taken, but yours that I lost him again!”

“It was… the Old Ones,” Fort grunted.

“Gabriel!” shouted Colonel Charles from behind them. “Let him go. What is going on here?”

“I found Michael, Colonel,” Gabriel said, not turning around. “And I’m going to fix your mistake. I’m going to bring him back.”

“What are you talking about?” Colonel Charles shouted. “Your brother is gone!”

“NO!” Gabriel shrieked. “No, he’s not! I never believed that. You let him go, but I always knew he was still alive! That’s why I asked you for the book of Summoning two weeks ago. I studied Space magic so I could go look for him! But then you took the book away before I could master the portal spell, and I thought I’d have to steal it back… but fortunately, my new roomie had the same plan. So I waited for what felt like years. And finally Fort learned the right spell, and we found him!”

“I’ve got a shot,” one of the guards yelled.

“No one fire!” Colonel Charles said. “Son, let the boy go, and we’ll talk.”