“How did we get caught in your trap and taken prisoner in your freaky other world?” I finished his sentence for him. “Well, there was an unintended consequence to your last little scheme, so when we stumbled upon your portal, we got zapped.”

“If that’s the case, then out of my way!” he shouted, raising his arms to do a spell.

I stepped in front of Owen and felt the magic hit me, but it had no effect. “Sorry, I’m back to normal,” I said with a shrug.

“And so am I,” Owen said coolly. He raised his hands, as though preparing to do a spell, but then he froze. I followed his gaze to see that he was looking across the circle at the two Council men, who were staring at him. McClusky looked smug, like he’d been vindicated, and Mac’s forehead was creased with concern. Owen lowered his hands.

Sylvester didn’t get the opportunity to take advantage of that, though, because Merlin and Granny were on him. They worked surprisingly well as a team—disturbingly well, really. Sylvester whirled to face them, and it appeared that Granny was blocking his spells while Merlin focused on attack.

Merlin was able to hold Sylvester. The Elf Lord was still doing enough magic to keep the rest of us at bay, but he wasn’t going anywhere. Brad moved in as close as he dared and said, “You thought you could silence us, but now your treachery will be even more widely known.” He smiled and added, “But perhaps there’s a nice place you could start over, a whole city where you can rule to your heart’s content.”

“You wouldn’t!” Sylvester snarled.

“Why not? You did,” Earl said.

“Quick, pick your favorite fantasy, and maybe they can give it to you,” I said. “But I don’t recommend the romantic comedy one.”

“There is a bookstore that needs someone to run it,” Owen put in. “Do you like books?”

“Oh, no, he’s not getting away that easily,” Mac said. “He has to answer for multiple counts of kidnapping.”

“This isn’t Council jurisdiction,” Merlin said mildly. “This is an elf matter. We wizards are merely lending our support.”

“The leaders of the elven lands should decide his fate,” Brad said. “More elves were taken from their realm than wizards were taken from this world.”

“I will accept the authority of the Council,” Sylvester shouted. I wasn’t so sure he was making the right choice, but I figured it was his funeral. Just so long as he couldn’t interfere in my life again, I’d be happy.

Mac and his partner looked awfully pleased with themselves as they stepped forward to take Sylvester into custody. When they reached him, he suddenly grabbed their wrists, and their faces went strangely blank, as though they’d forgotten who they were. Then they went blanker than that, like they were losing consciousness. He wasn’t just giving them the same identity-erasing whammy he’d given us. He was killing them, and they were too dazed to do anything about it. Owen shouted a warning. When they didn’t respond, he jumped forward to break Sylvester’s grasp on them. But when he touched Sylvester, the Elf Lord’s touch had the same effect on him as it had on them, and he fell to his knees. Mac and McClusky staggered, still too stunned to help, so I ran over and brought the point of my elbow down hard on Sylvester’s wrist, forcing him to release Owen.

As the others teamed up to stop the Elf Lord, I leaned over Owen. He was conscious and breathing, but he seemed a little unsteady. “Do I need to remind you who you are?” I asked him without taking my eyes off the Elf Lord.

“I’m good,” he said, pushing himself back to his feet.

Mac and McClusky, now recovered, came over to Owen. “Thanks, man,” McClusky said, extending his hand to Owen. Owen looked at it skeptically for a moment before shaking it. Mac clapped him on the shoulder and gave him an approving nod.

“So, you’ll be giving a good report to the Council, right?” I prompted. “After all, he may have just saved your lives, at risk to himself.”

“I think we can put in a good word,” Mac said. He glanced at McClusky, who gave a reluctant nod.

By this time, more elves had come up the stairs and joined us on the roof. Brad went over to one of them, and they had a brief conversation, then Brad returned to Merlin. “They’ll take him through the portal and lock him in the containment area,” Brad reported. “That should keep him from being a problem here. A few of the elves want to stay, at least for a while, but the rest will return home, and they’ll find and return any remaining prisoners there.”