Disclaimer: The Bartimaeus Trilogy is the property of Jonathan Stroud.

A/N: Allendra, Silvertrumpet, Duckweed, LM, Nari, thanks for the reviews and the well-wishes! Dollery, thank you for reviewing, I love hearing what people think of the story! You bring up some good questians. First of all the reason the Spirits haven't left London is because there isn't anywhere else to go. The whole country has been evacuated, and with all the water of the English Channel separating them from Europe, the spirits aren't going to be leaving any time soon. On top of that, we have Nouda's rather depressed attitude. As for your second questian, you're probably right, but since Nouda is such a strong spirit, it would be a long time before we see him start to weaken. Hope that answers your questians! Happy Reading!

Nicholas Drew blinked the nervous sweat from his eyes as he knelt before Nouda's golden throne. A horde of lesser spirits surrounded him, grotesque leers painted on their withered human faces. An ugly blonde spirit circled him like a hungry wolf, the heels of her bright green pumps clicking sharply against the floor with each step.

"…And you said your name was Nicholas Drew?" said the spirit.

"Yes ma'am…or sir…ma'am?" Nick spluttered incoherently.

The spirit waved a hand. "Gender is irrelevant to us. What is relevant is your offer to tell us the location of Kitty Jones and her people."

"Yes…um…there are stipulations, of course..."

Suddenly Nouda's thundering voice broke in on the proceedings. "Why must you insist on bargaining with this stammering mud-creature, Atotoztli?" His scaly face puckered in annoyance, and a gust of hot steam rolled off his skin with a menacing hiss.

"Patience, my Lord, patience." Atotoztli replied, raising her palms in a placating gesture. Nick, meanwhile, had turned green with fright.

"Now, what were your demands again?" Atotoztli asked softly, leaning in towards him. He scrambled backwards, a choked squeak forcing itself from his lips. The spirit gave a low chuckle.

"I want to leave England," he finally managed, "I want to be escorted to Dover and given a boat of some kind so I can get out of this living hell. And I want you to promise not to harm me."

The spirit smiled cruelly. "That seems like an awful lot of work. You are in our power here; what makes you think we won't consume your flesh right this moment?"

The colour drained from Nick's face. He clasped his hands together to hide their tell-tale tremble. "If you kill me, you'll never find the rest of the humans."

Atotoztli tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Alright, human. You'll have your deal. Tell us where the rest of the humans are hiding and I guarantee you safe passage from England. Now where are they?"

Nick cleared his throat.

"There's this old warehouse north of town…"

OoOoOoOoOoO

Kitty tapped her silver blade thoughtfully against the sole of her shoe. She'd been sitting in the tall grass all morning. Cool dew was soaking into her pants and a nasty fly was buzzing mercilessly around her head, yet she had not moved so much as an inch. Her eyes were fixed on the rabbit hole in front of her; she knew it was down there, and her protesting stomach would not let her leave until it poked out its fuzzy little nose and met with the business end of Kitty's knife.

If I can't feed myself for one stupid day, how am I going to survive the rest of my life like this?

Suddenly a tuft of soft grey fur poked over the rim of the burrow. The rabbit sniffed the air cautiously; its long ears wriggled back and forth, listening for an approaching predator.

Kitty's hand tightened around the knife.

Before she could spring on the small mammal, something drifting on the horizon caught her eye. A column of billowing black smoke, rising up from somewhere in the vicinity of…

North London…no, it can't be…

With a strangled cry, Kitty sprang to her feet. The small grey rabbit ducked for cover as she leapt over the rabbit hole and took off along the river bank, grey-streaked hair flying behind her like a thundercloud.

She could smell it before she saw it. A smoldering, charcoal smell, like the glowing ashes of a bonfire, the strong hot scent of molten metal, and the sharp tang of magic pervading all. She stepped into the courtyard, blinking away the floating flakes of grey ash that caught in her eyelashes. The warehouse was gone.

In its place was a jumbled heap of metal scraps and fine black ash. Heart in throat, Kitty desperately yanked away a few pieces of debris, both hoping and dreading to find a familiar face beneath. But there was nothing. No one. They had all been consumed by flame, or else by spirits.

She shook her head, as if to deny the reality around her.

"Bartimaeus, how could you?" she breathed. Suddenly she felt overwhelmingly dizzy. She sank to her knees. Alone. Betrayed. Hopeless.

She tried to summon up a sliver of her old fighting spirit, but all she felt was the echo of the empty ache in her chest.

Suddenly her ears caught the soft sound of bare feet on gravel. She turned.

"You look unhappy," said Ptolemy.

Kitty stared for a moment at her unexpected visitor, then turned away. She couldn't stand looking at his face any more. Not now.

"I'll bet I do," she mumbled.

"Are you not glad to see me?" He asked, "It's been awhile."

Kitty glowered. "We could have used your help a while back. Where did you get off to?"

"You were getting on just fine without me." She could hear the smile in the apparition's voice, "That's why I'm here now. You seem to have lost your way."

Kitty let out a long breath. "I've lost far more than that."

"Not quite as much as you think."

"What are you talking about?" Kitty didn't like the gleam of amusement in his eye—it made her want to punch him in the face, ghost or not.

"Kitty, you need to summon Bartimaeus," the young Egyptian said, avoiding her question.

"Bartimaeus has been summoned, as you can see." She gestured to the smoking ruin around her.

"You need to summon Bartimaeus before some one else does," he continued, "Just do it. You'll understand eventually."

Kitty crossed her arms. "Even if I wanted to, which at the moment, I decidedly do not, I couldn't. There aren't any summoning materials around here. All of the incense and chalk is in the summoning chambers of parliament itself."

"Well, obviously you need to go there."

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"I don't want to."

"Yes you do."

Kitty groaned. "You are impossible. I'm crazy to be listening to you—crazy!"

And yet twenty minutes later she was on her way.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The entrance to the London Underground yawned beneath her like the throat of a hungry beast. Kitty stood at the top of a flight of concrete stairs, staring into the inky darkness.

"What I wouldn't give for a flashlight." She mumbled to herself.

As much as Kitty didn't fancy a walk through the subway tunnels in absolute darkness, the idea of running into a spirit was far worse. By taking the Underground, she could walk all the way to parliament unnoticed—in theory at least.

Her mind was made up. With a resolute step, Kitty descended the stairs and was swallowed by shadows.