Alison C Gifford

Danica Lane thought escaping the sick web of a Los Angles predator was the hardest thing shed ever do, until she swept through time to 1883 into the arms of an accused killer. Nathan Hayes learned at an early age to live his life honor-bound, but when he was arrested for a murder he didn't commit, avoiding a noose took precedence. He never dreamed taking refuge in an abandoned, stone cellar would thrust him one hundred-forty years into the future.

Nathaniel is eleven-years-old and a magician's apprentice, learning the traditional art of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells far beyond his years. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, to assist him.