"The spirt came close enough to burn me." Aziz said. His dark eyes winced at the memory. "I thought I was finished—that I’d be cooked alive, like the fellow who died in the alley. But then I sensed someone trying to break my hermetic circle. The circle held, but the interruption disturbed the spirit somehow. It vanished—just like that." He started to snap his fingers, then winced at his burned skin.