Bianca learned magic

"Stop goofing around. We're still inside Bianca's, and we still have to get out." I frowned, and glanced at Justine, then swiftly, left and right. "Where's Susan?"
Justine blinked. "She was right here behind - " She turned, staring.
Water dripped.
Silence reigned.
Justine started trembling like a leaf. "Here," she whispered. "They're here. We can't see them."
"What's this 'we' stuff, kimosabe," Bob muttered. The skull spun about in its fishnet sack. "I don't see any veils, Harry."
I swept my eyes left and right, gripping my blasting rod. "Did you see her leave? Or anyone take her?"
Bob coughed. "Well. Truth be told, I was looking at Justine's luscious little - "
"I get the point, Bob."
"Sorry."
I shook my head, irritated. "They snuck in, under a veil maybe. Grabbed Susan and went. Why the hell didn't they stick around? Just put a knife in my back? Why didn't they take Justine, too?"
"Good questions," Bob said.
"I'll tell you why. Because they weren't here. They couldn't have just carried Susan off that easy. Not now."
"Why not?" Bob asked.
"Trust me. She'd be a handful. They couldn't do it without making a fuss, which we'd notice."
"Assuming you're right," Bob said, "why would she just walk away?"
Justine glanced back at me, and licked her lips. "Bianca could make her. I've seen her do it. She made Susan walk into the laundry room on her own."
I grunted. "Looks like Bianca's been hitting the books, Bob."
"Vampire wizard," Bob said. "Black magic. Could be very tough."
"So can I. Justine, stay behind me. Keep your eyes open."
"Yes, sir," she said, her voice quiet. I strode past her, toward the stairs. Some of the energy I'd felt before had faded away. My pain and weakness grew closer to me, more noticeable. I did everything I could to shove it to the back of my mind. A swift little thrill of panic gabbled in my throat and tried to make me start screaming. I shoved that away, too. I just walked to the bottom of the stairs, and looked up them.
The doors at the top were elegant wood, and standing open. A soft breeze and the smell of night air flowed down the stairs. Late night, faint with the traces of dusty dawn. I glanced back at Justine, and she all but flinched away from me.
"Stay down here," I told her. "Bob, some things are going to start flying. Give her whatever help you can."
"All right, Harry," Bob said. "You know that door's been opened for you. They're going to be waiting for you to walk up there."
"Yeah," I said. "I'm not getting any stronger. Might as well do it now."
"You could wait until dawn. Then they'd - "
I cut him off, short. "Then they'd force their way down here to escape the sunlight. And it would still be a fight." I glanced at Justine and said, "I'll get you out, if I can."
She chanced a swift glance at my face, and back down. "Thank you, Mister Dresden. For trying."
"Sure, kid." I flexed my left hand, feeling the cool silver of the shield bracelet there. I gripped my staff tight. Then rolled the blasting rod through my fingers, feeling the runes carved into the wood, formulae of power, fire, force.
I put one foot on the stairs. My bare foot made little sound, but the board creaked beneath my weight. I squared my shoulders, and went up the next stair, and the next. Resolute, I guess. Terrified, certainly. Seething with power, with a simmering anger ready to boil over again.
I tried to clear my mind, to hang onto the anger and to dismiss the fear. I had limited success, but I made it up the stairs.
At the top, Bianca stood at one end of the great hall through the open doors. She wore the white gown I'd seen her in before, the soft fabric draping and stretching in alluring curves, creating shadows upon her with an artist's conviction. Susan knelt beside her, shaking, her head bowed. Bianca kept one hand on her hair.


Grave Peril, Page 414-417