The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) by Christina G. Gaudet

Have I done the right thing? “And now we have a chance against those wizards when they do catch up to us.”
    She doesn’t back down as she follo ws me wherever I try to hide. “You don’t have all of your magic. It wasn’t all kept in one bag, you stupid moron.”
    “Unlike those smart morons, huh?” Not the best retort, but it will have to do.
    “What do you expect to do when they come? Do you know anything about magic?” Her hand goes to her hip while the other waves the now empty bag in the air. “Have you ever done a spell?”
    I try to sound confidence when I say, “I made Al big again.”
    “By using his own knife and almost killing him, something you could have done without opening the bag.”
    “What’s the big deal?” I throw my hands up in defeat. I hate getting yelled at, especially when I haven’t done anything wrong. “Maybe you’re worried now I’ll be better than you at magic?”
    Her expression is somewhere between pity and a glare. “All you’ve done is given them an easy target.”
    “They’re here!” Al shouts from the hallway.
    Neither Cindy nor I move. We’re too busy scowling at each other. When Al bursts into the room, he takes one look at us and slams the book closed on the table, surprising us out of our stare-down.
    “We have to go.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “Now.”
    “Go where?” Cindy asks. “I didn’t find anything helpful in the books, and if we run, they’ll simply track little-miss-perfect here’s new power.”
    Yeah, alright, maybe it was a mistake. “Well, maybe if you explained any of this before leaving me in a room with mystical powers in the first place then I wouldn’t have opened the damn bag.”
    “None of it matters right now,” Al says. “We know this building is connected to my world somehow. If we can figure out how to get there, they might not be able to follow.”
    “But we have no idea how,” Cindy says. “The best we have is a box, and even Al won’t be able to fit inside now.” She crosses her arms while staring directly at me. “Thanks to someone.”
    I get it, Cindy. I was wrong. Time to move on.
    “There has to be another way.” I rush over to the shelves and pulling out book after book without actually opening any. It’s like I hope to simply know if I’ve found what I’m looking for. “If Gran was travelling back and forth regularly, there has to be something bigger. Maybe an object?”
    I switch from the shelves to her desk and pull items out by the handful.
    “It’s too late,” Al says.
    From his tone I know exactly what I’m going to find when I raise my head from the desk. Stewart’s smile is bigger than ever, though the rest of him is disheveled and singed. Borin stands behind him, watching us and carefully cracking each of his knuckles. Around both of them is an eerie glow, similar to the net and Cindy’s pockets. Except where the net had been neatly constructed of beautiful, terrifying bits of energy, the light around the two wizards is blotchy and fraying around the edges. I can’t keep my eyes directly on them for more than a few seconds without feeling nauseated.
    “Hello, Lou,” Stewart says in his fake sweet voice. “My, how you’ve changed.”
    Al’s hand slowly reaches for the weapon no longer strapped to his belt. I follow his lead and go for my own weapon, fingers slipping around the keys in my pocket so when I make a fist, the sharp metal edges point out between each finger.
    “And look at the stray you’ve picked up,” Stewart’s amusement increases as he notices Al for the first time. “You’re a long way from home, boy. I suppose we have you to thank for releasing her magic. But I’m afraid you aren’t going to get to enjoy your first taste today. Her magic is mine.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Cindy says. “I knew it. I knew there was something off about you.”
    “It’s not...” Al starts to say, but stops. Instead he keeps his focus on Stewart. “You’re not