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also knew that at this moment, Dr. Verity was working his way through them without a sweat. They only had a few minutes before the mad scientist showed up, which meant Owen needed to be in place. And that meant giving Bethany something to do.
    â€œSpell book,” Owen whispered, nodding toward the center of the room, where a monstrously huge book lay open on apedestal. “In the Kiel Gnomenfoot books, you learn a spell by reading it, but can only cast it once without the spell book. Then you have to relearn it. So don’t cast the search spell by accident. . . . You’ll only get one shot.”
    â€œDoes it have a table of contents or something?” Bethany whispered, her eyes widening at the size of the book. “How am I supposed to find the right spell?”
    Owen shrugged. “In the books, the spell book always opens up to whatever spell Kiel most needs. Maybe just try thinking hard?”
    Bethany nodded and slowly approached the book, trying not to make any noise. Not that the Magister would hear her, as intent on his magic as he was. That was the only way Dr. Verity had been able to surprise him.
    But not anymore! Owen shuddered at how amazing this was going to be. “I’m going to keep watch,” he told Bethany, then backed away into the shadows next to the door, giving himself a clear view of anyone who came in, as well as of Bethany and the Magister. He pulled the bat from behind his back and held it ready. Too bad he couldn’t use some kind of magic on Dr. Verity, but the doctor would expect that. Baseball bats, though, not so much.
    Bethany reached a hand out to the spell book, but before she could touch it, the book leaped to life, pages turning on their own, making Bethany gasp and step back in surprise. The book came to an abrupt stop, and she glanced down at the page. Immediately a warm glow spread from the book to Bethany’s hands, and she leaped backward.
    â€œWhat was that?” she whispered to Owen, her eyes still on the spell book.
    â€œThat’s how it works,” Owen whispered back. “It’s teaching you the spell. That’s what the glow was. Was it the location spell?”
    She shook her head. “ ‘Amnesty of Amnesia,’ ” she read. “ ‘For removing memory.’ ” The glow began to light her up, and she quickly stepped backward again.
    â€œWhy would it give you that?” Owen said, starting to worry. Bethany needed to be done before Dr. Verity got here, or the doctor would see her. The last thing they needed was a spell book that couldn’t do its job.
    Bethany glanced at him, and he quickly shoved the bat behind his back. “Uh, who knows,” she said, sounding almost guilty. “But I don’t remember the words to the spell, so I guess I didn’t give it enough time. Doesn’t matter. Let me try one more time to find the location spell.”
    She put her hands on her forehead and stared at the spell book, apparently trying to make it turn to the spell she wanted. The book complied, flipping its pages to a new spell near the beginning, and Bethany glanced down at it, then gave Owen a thumbs-up.
    She must have found it, because this time as the book began to glow, Bethany laid her hands on the page and allowed the light to slowly sweep up her arms and into her body.
    â€œIt’s like hot chocolate on a cold day,” she said, a tiny smile on her face. The light quickly faded, and she turned back toward him. “That was almost . . . nice!”
    â€œGreat,” Owen told her, nervously looking at the door, where he could swear he heard explosions getting closer. “You sure you have it? Like I said, all spells are one-time things if you don’t have the spell book, so let’s make sure before we go.”
    Bethany closed her eyes. “I think so. I can remember the words. They’re all here in my head.” Her eyes opened,