SECRET KISS

GALLOWS HILL ACADEMY SERIES BOOK 8

D.R. PERRY

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 This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events
portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

Copyright © 2021 D.R. Perry

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Previously Published as part of the megabook

Secrets All Unfold

Version 1.00, August 2022

ebook ISBN: 979-8-88541-818-8
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 T H E S EC R E T K I S S T E A M

Thanks to the JIT Readers

If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!

Jackey Hankard-Brodie
Rachel Beckford
Zacc Pelter
Dave Hicks

Editor
The SkyFyre Editing Team

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 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16

Thank you!
Also by D.R. Perry
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 CHAPTER ONE

We walked slowly down Hawthorne Street because of the

crowds. Salem’s streets were always busy on Halloween,
even in the hour before midnight. Ed took the lead,
surprising me with an uncanny awareness of our
surroundings.
With a dancer’s grace, he whisked me out of the way
seconds before a cloaked figure would’ve spilled a Slurpee
on me. After that, he hopped lightly, narrowly avoiding
getting covered with litter from a toppling trash can.
“Leaping Luna, look at that Phantom!” a spandex-clad
man’s voice chuckled.
“Like the second coming of Fred Astaire,” his monster-
masked companion said.
A tween on an electric scooter zoomed by. The only
reason she didn’t hit us was Ed, dipping me out of the way.
“Let’s take a shortcut,” I said.
“Good idea.” He chuckled. “Even if I feel like I could do
this all night.”
Instead of taking a right on Derby for the most direct
route back, I continued straight down Congress Street.
Once we crossed the bridge and passed the Harbor Walk
entrance, the crowds thinned.
“We’re going to overshoot Harbor Street by kind of a
lot,” I said.
 “I don’t mind.” Ed gave me a lopsided smile. “I’m with
you.”
I’m not sure how long it took us to get to the end of
Congress Street, but we held hands and talked about
nothing important the entire way.
I led us down Leavitt Street back toward Washington.
Ed’s shoe came untied so he paused to fix it. I continued to
the intersection where I hesitated, unsure whether or not
to cross the street.
The roar of a large engine sounded.
Instinct moved my feet into the crosswalk, then up the
double yellow line in the middle. I zigged and zagged, a
choice validated by the shriek of tires and the scent of
burned rubber.
“Ghosts of Salem, heed me!” Ed cried.
Horace was by my side an instant later, merging into the
right side of my body.
We lifted that foot to ascend the far curb, intending to
dive for cover between two buildings. Even with Horace’s
strength and my shifter reflexes, we weren’t fast enough.
Halogen lights blinded me. An impersonal bar of steely
pain slammed our left side. We lost control of our tenuous
merge.
I flew through the air alone, under no other power but
gravity.
Shift.
I did but knew better than to let instinct choose my
raven form. The last thing I needed was a broken wing. I
popped the Sirin extras out on my back.
Scraps from my meticulously designed costume dropped
out of the sky as I rose into it. I screamed, but not about
the clothing. Wings pulled on the bones in my shoulders,
jerking my indubitably broken left arm.
I heard the soft bing-bong of a car door left open. I
glanced down to find Ed merged with Rob, directing ghosts
toward the figure by the car. Then the unmistakable rustle
of somebody down there shifting to bird form. Someone too
large to be Marjorie.
“Follow me.” Horace sailed ahead. “Roof, twelve
o’clock.”
I saw what he meant, a tin and slate surface. The house
at the end of Fairfield Street.
I almost made it, too.
Behind me, something my size thudded against a nearby
roof. Furious thunder roared past my left ear. It sounded
again, then stung between my wings like a yellowjacket.
I banked left and managed a few flaps, carrying myself
over the church, some train tracks, and Jefferson Avenue.
Ultimately, I fell from the sky, hurtling toward something
white and flat on Dove Avenue. It lit up red a moment later
and pulled away screaming.
An ambulance.
Behind where it had stood, a bewildered bearded man in
blue scrubs dropped his cigarette and stared up, eyes wide
and mouth open.
“Dr. Meister,” Horace said.
He didn’t manage to catch me. Later on, they all said he
saved my life.

“Iron poisoning?” Matron Klein said. “The doctor said

someone shot her, but Ed said he restrained the driver next
to the truck. So how’d she get shot between there and the
hospital? Or fly all that way? Her wound’s between her
wings.”
“Maybe she’ll tell us herself when she wakes up,” Mr.
Hickson said.
“If she can remember anything.” Dr. Cormack sighed.
“Iron causes hallucinations. We can hope Ed’s ghosts saw
something.”
 I wanted to speak, to ask where Ed was. No matter how
I tried, I couldn’t. My eyelids wouldn’t even flutter. That
made sense. Iron was serious business for a faerie shifter
like me.
“He’s out in that waiting room, barely holding it
together,” Mr. Hickson said. “Can you blame him?”
“Not at all.” He sighed. “They’ve always been thick as
thieves.”
“More than that now,” Dr. Cormack said. “I was
chaperoning. The timing of this attack gives me a bad
feeling, Jedi.”
“Me too. We’ve seen this before, Kyle.”
“Let’s hope it makes them stronger. Like when Justin—”
They went on, talking about events years in the past.
Something like a stiff frost crept across what little there
was of my consciousness until I could barely hear them.
Eventually, their voices receded entirely. Sometime later,
while wondering whether I was dead, I heard a new one. It
was male and seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Or
open my eyes to see who it was.
“Hey, uh, Mavis.” Somehow I sensed him shaking his
head. “Listen. The nurses adjusted your medication and
said things are gonna get weird before you wake up. But
uh, you’re going to make it.”
I tried nodding. The image of being covered with frost
returned, but I didn’t realize how violently I shivered until
warm wiry arms wrapped around and held me.
The first thing I saw when my eyes opened was Ed’s
face, with Rob looking over his shoulder. I realized that
although his head and shoulders quivered, it was my
muscles causing the movement. It took a tooth-gritting act
of will, but I stilled them and looked into his eyes.
The tears in them stopped standing and ran. He let go
and stood. Then he sat back in the chair beside the bed and
lifted one shaking hand as though to wipe them away.
 Mine got there first. I opened my mouth, trying to speak.
Instead, I let out a croak.
“It’s the meds. They dehydrate you.” He sniffled,
reaching for something on the table. “Here.”
He held a pad up and put a pen in my right hand. I found
my left set and in a brace so my shifter healing would heal
it properly. I tried my best to scrawl the words “don’t cry.”
“Too late for that.” Ed swallowed. “By hours. Because
Mavis, you died.”
I blinked, dropped the pen, and glanced around the
room at the ghosts for confirmation. All three of them met
my gaze.
“You did,” Horace agreed.
“Nearly,” the professor added.
“If Dr. Meister hadn’t been on his smoke break, it might
have stuck, too,” Rob confirmed.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Ed said.
I nodded, then held out my hand. Ed clasped it, but I
wanted more than some glorified handshake. I tried leaning
toward him, hoping he’d get the idea.
Of course, he did. He was Ed, and I was Mavis. He
hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. He scooted the chair up, then leaned to meet
me. We held each other like that long enough for my leg to
fall asleep. The nurse brought in a cup of water, but
somehow I needed to keep holding Ed more.
From the doorway, someone cleared their throat. We let
go and looked up. My brother stood there, cradling a
sleeping Nut. He placed her in my lap.
“Crow, of course,” Ed said.
I reached for the water and sipped some. The
conversation I wanted to have wouldn’t play out well on
paper.
“In the, uh, mostly flesh.” He held up a gloved left hand.
“Thanks for watching over her, Ed.”
 “Nothing could’ve stopped me.”
“I see that.” Crow nodded. “Doc Meister filled me in on
your wound and what Ed said happened on the ground.
What happened after you and Horace took off?”
“That part’s all jumbled.” I sighed. “Can’t be sure it’s
accurate.”
“That’s okay, Mavis,” Horace said. “Reveal us, and I’ll
give you my account.”
I did. Horace moved to the middle of the room and
opened his mouth.
“Wait.” Crow held up his prosthetic hand. “Call in that
other ghost while you’re at it.”
“What other ghost?” Ed blinked.
“The guy listening in the hallway. Dude hid in the wall
when he realized I could see him.”
Rob, Filberto, and Horace looked over their shoulders at
the wall.
“Come on over and introduce yourself, buddy,” Ed said.
The ghost he’d spoken to took his time. Moments went
by before we saw a hand emerge. It retracted, and a foot
appeared near the floor. Almost like he wasn’t used to
being incorporeal. Horace cleared his throat.
“He might need help.”
“I’m on it.”
Rob reached into the wall, rummaged around, and
pulled. A moment later, a tousle-headed incorporeal
teenage boy clad in Gallows Hill sweats appeared. He
stared down at his feet.
“Wow.” Ed’s eyes widened.
“My name’s Rob. What’s yours?”
“Uh, I already know all of y’all.”
“Odin’s beard,” I croaked. “Magnus.”
“In the, um, ectoplasm.”
“Finally.” I grinned. “Good to see you.”
“A kid brother?” Crow beamed. “This is awesome!”
 “Uh, thanks, I guess?” He ran a hand over his mop of
curls. “But don’t look at me. Mr. Lancaster’s got a story.”
“Right.” Horace nodded. “Call me Horace next time.”
“’Kay.”
“Don’t leave anything out,” Ed said.
Everything Horace said up to my fall toward the
sidewalk and Dr. Meister was the same as my memory.
After that, it diverged.
“She was falling but steered toward the hospital anyway.
As something flew away.” His hands curled into fists. “I
couldn’t see it against the sky last night, not even with all
the big lights from the parking lot.”
“Something. Not someone?” Crow asked.
“It’s hard to say. Usually, I can see corvids just fine in
the dark. So if it was one, they darkened their feathers. Or
used a machine.”
“You think someone used a drone to attack Mavis?” Ed
blinked. “That’s, uh, novel.”
“Any drone would need magitech enchantments for
stealth.” Crow shook his head. “Everyone in our family
flunked Lab. So I think your first instinct was right, Horace.
Now it’s totally obvious.”
“Not to us, it isn’t,” Ed said. “You’ll have to spell it out.”
“This was Barbara’s doing.” Crow sighed. “Our scariest
sibling.”
“Don’t you mean sister?” Horace blinked. “Manny was
downright terrifying.”
“He learned it all from Babs, though. She’s my literal
nightmare.” Crow sighed.
“Uh, he kinda punched the biggest dragon, like, in the
eye. How’s big bad Barbie a nightmare?” Magnus met my
gaze and raised an eyebrow.
The corners of my mouth tilted up. I started to laugh. It
came out a lot dry and a little papery, like when Crow
sanded his whittled creations. Six pairs of eyes blinked at
me, bewildered. I drank from the cup again before
speaking.
“Ed said I died,” I explained. “Magnus being free proves
I’m a full medium now. That near-death experience broke
through my last limit.”
“What’s that mean?” Crow asked.
“So much.” Professor Luciano grinned. “Conjure an orb
for us, Mavis.”
I did, with my left hand. The orb grew to full size
without any ballistae. For giggles, I collected another in my
right with my psychic talent.
“That’s not possible.” Crow blinked.
“Like a ghost stuck in a solid for ages?” Magnus
grinned. “That kind of possible?”
Doctor Aranha had said I was the only one of my siblings
who had a chance of outwitting Mom. Babs was brutal, not
cunning. Her lack of foresight had given me a major
upgrade.
I glanced at Professor Luciano. When I’d met him in the
piping above the Hawthorn Academy locker room, he’d
called me a monster. Back then, I thought he’d been
delirious, but he wasn’t. He’d only called out my zodiac
sign. Cetus, the sea monster.
Ed’s eyes met mine and lit up. “Everything’s impossible
until it’s not. We’re fighting monsters. We have to be as
powerful—”
“As monsters,” I finished. “You called it, Professor. Since
I’m choosing my destiny, I’m using my powers for good.”
“What are you saying, Mavis?” Crow breathed.
The question’s energy hung in the air. I smiled.
“With enough practice, I’m the nightmare. Compared to
Ludovico, Babs is small potatoes. Let her come. I’m not
afraid.”
I’d never spoken truer words. With my brothers and my
best friend on my side, I could face any danger.
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 C H A P T E R T WO

Being a full medium didn’t feel all that different at first. I

worried about Magnus being out and about, especially after
watching Professor Luciano adjust to being incorporeal. My
twin brother took to being out of body much more easily.
He recovered from the whole ordeal that separated us
faster than I did.
Ed didn’t leave until he had to go to school on Monday
morning but came back after school that afternoon and
Tuesday. Crow stayed in the hospital the entire time I was
there. When Dr. Meister discharged me on Wednesday after
breakfast, both of my brothers escorted me back to the
boarding house. Nurse Wilson would decide whether to let
me return to school after dinner that night.
Crow got me situated in my room with books and
snacks, then went upstairs to unpack and settle into his
room on the fifth floor. We had a lunch of sunbutter
sandwiches together in the otherwise empty dining room.
Late that afternoon, Magnus stuck his head through my
bedroom door.
“Hey.” He grinned.
“Hey yourself.” I smiled. “What’s up?”
“I’m going with Horace to the veteran’s center. Gonna
meet Uncle Ettore.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” I nodded. “Tell him I said hi.”
 “I will.” He pulled his head halfway out, then put it back
in. “Ed just came up the stairs with soup for two.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, Magnus. See you later.”
“Yeah, later.”
Magnus left by ascending through the ceiling, still
halfway in the door. A few moments later, Ed knocked on it.
I got up and opened it.
“You could’ve said come in, you know.”
His hands were full of paper soup cups and wrapped
triangles that smelled like grilled cheese sandwiches. And a
pair of Snapples, of course.
“I knew you had all that and didn’t want you dropping
any of it.”
“Magnus doesn’t miss a thing.” Ed smirked.
“He’s definitely on the ball.”
“Almost like you two are related or something.” He
winked, then started setting the food out on the empty
desk.
“He takes the words out of my mouth before putting
sandwiches into it.”
“Dr. Meister would put me in traction if you ended up
back in the ER for choking on this.” He held up a sandwich.
“Then I’d better not.”
My stomach rumbled. He pulled a chair out for me, then
pulled up the other and sat in it. I’m not sure whether I was
extra hungry or missed the boarding house soup and
sandwiches, but after we finished, Ed stared at my mouth.
“You’ve got a little—” He pointed.
I tried wiping.
“Nope, missed it.”
I tried again. He shook his head and reached out with
his napkin. Before he pulled it away, I took his hand,
tomatoed napkin and all.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey yourself.”
“Just wanted to say I still want to keep going.”
 “Must have been some kiss then. On that dance floor, I
mean. If you still want that after getting nearly dead right
after.”
“Not just going.” I leaned closer. “Going specifically with
you.”
“Oh.” He tilted his head. “Me too.”
We kissed again. This time the world remained solidly
within easy reach of my perception. I had eating so quickly
to thank for that.
“Urp.”
He pulled back, wide-eyed and twitchy mouthed. I put
my hand over my lips, then shook my head, positive it’d be
a mistake to hold my feelings inside. I dropped my arms to
my sides and gave up on restraint. So did Ed.
Laughter filled the space between us, warm and natural
as the sunlight streaming through the window. I knew, even
though I couldn’t see it, that somehow our mingled mirth
was even brighter.

“We’ll see you on Monday!” Kiara waved from the door.

“Yeah.” Brandon nodded. “Bye.”
I jogged over to hold it for them while Ed lugged their
bags. After they left, we repeated the process with Saya
except Cosmo helped with the copious amounts of luggage.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come down on Friday or
Saturday?” Hope raised an eyebrow at Ed.
“We might,” he said. “But probably not.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Mom’s cooking. It’s been ages since she made a holiday
dinner and if she goes all out, we might all be in food
comas.”
“Fair enough.” She studied his face. “There’s a fly in
your ointment, though.”
 “Ben Endor.” He sighed. “He’s staying here again, and
this time Kiara’s not here to watch him so we have to bring
him to the sanitarium.”
“Hmm.” Hope narrowed her eyes and put her hands on
her hips.
“Oh no.” Rob covered his face with his palm.
“Edward Aion Redford,” Hope said. “I hope you don’t
blame Benjamin for making the mistake of looking up to
you.”
“I blame him for swiping our magiscience fair project.”
“He apologized and has been nothing but polite to all of
us ever since.”
“Bringing him to dinner might encourage him, though.”
“One surefire way to cure hero-worship is to get real
with your admirer.” Hope hefted a satchel of books. “Bring
him along and watch the magic happen.”
“I can always bombard him with Cosmo’s dad jokes if
that doesn’t work.” I grinned.
“Hey!” Cosmo snorted. “I resemble that remark! But
good call.”
“Now you can relax, Ed,” Hope said. “Just enjoy the
day.”
“Only if Mavis is sure she’s not bothered.” Ed looked
over his shoulder at me.
“I’m cool with Ben now,” I said. “Besides, I was thinking
of asking him to test the ghost specs after we tweak them
again. If we bring those too, we can get more of a baseline.
Your mom has a lot of ghosts, right?”
“Huh.” Ed chuckled. “Okay, then.”
“So I guess we’ll see you on Sunday, then.” Hope
nodded.
“Yeah, have fun in Newport,” I said.
They left in a flurry of hugs, but the downstairs hall
wasn’t quiet for long. Someone knocked on the door
outside.
 I froze, even though I knew Marjorie was in jail awaiting
trial. Ed took my hand. Behind us, a throat cleared. We
turned to find Wyatt at the bottom of the stairs with a duffel
bag slung across his shoulders.
“That’s for me,” he said.
“Oh, cool.” I swallowed, then pulled the door open.
“Hi, Mavis.”
Jill stood there, holding a bag of her own. Wyatt stepped
past us to join her. Behind them, John Clayton’s small
vehicle pulled to a stop.
“Oh!” I smiled. “This is even cooler.”
“I don’t get it.” Wyatt blinked.
“I got enough for both of us.” Jill elbowed him and
winked at me. “Anyway, see you all after break.”
“Bye.” Ed waved.
As the door closed behind them, I relaxed. Ed didn’t.
“Two exes,” I said. “No problem.”
“That wasn’t awkward at all,” he added.
“So what’s got you wound up then?”
“Ben. I’m still worried he might do something drastic.”
“This isn’t the discomfort you hashed out with the rest of
the crew.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “It’s something different. Like a
hunch but less neutral.”
“We’ll keep our eyes on him. It shouldn’t be hard, all
things considered.”
“I hope you’re right.”
I was, for the most part.
Horace informed us of Ben’s impending arrival in
enough time for us to get downstairs to greet him. I even
went so far as to reveal the ghosts before opening the door.
Rob greeted Ben with a raspberry the moment he
stepped into the hall. That defused all the tension for Ed.
Although Ben maintained his usual brand of quiet
reticence, I caught him grinning through dinner when he
thought we weren’t looking.
 “Hey, kid,” I said in the hall before lights out.
“Hey.” He held a clear bag containing a basic set of
personal care items.
“You wanna borrow a book?” I opened my satchel,
revealing a handful of choice selections I’d picked up over
the years at the public library’s paperback sales.
“Oh!” He blinked. “Fiction! Yes, I do. I mean, I would
like to borrow one.”
“Take your pick.”
Ben peered at them for a moment. His half-closed free
hand reached out and plucked one, reminding me for all
the world of a heron.
He’d chosen Stranger in a Strange Land.
“Good choice.” I grinned. “Don’t worry about when you
give it back. I’ve read that one more than once. Kiara lent it
to me on my first night here, and I liked it so much I got a
copy.”
“Thanks, Mavis. I almost wish Messing had a dorm so I
could have a roommate to share books with next year.”
“Nothing says you can’t share with friends who aren’t
roommates.”
“I guess you’re right.” He nodded. “Thanks again.”
He pushed through the door to the bathroom. A moment
later, Magnus spoke behind me.
“It’ll be harder for him than you think.”
“How so?”
“Think about it. How many friends from Messing does
Ed have?”
“Diego.”
“They wouldn’t be friends without you breaking up that
fight on the first day. From what I’ve seen, Messing
Academy’s not a friendly place in general.”
“You really remember all of that?”
“Uh, most everything.”
“Oh no.” My face heated up.
 “Not like that!” He floated around in front of me. “I, uh,
slept. Strategically.”
“Oh, thank the gods.”
“Thank me.” He chuckled.
“Okay, then. Thank Magnus.” I snorted. “Happy?”
“Totally. I don’t like how we got separated, but I’m glad
we can talk like this now.”
“Me too.” I nodded. “You’ve missed out on so much. How
can I help you catch up with everything?”
“Hmm.” He floated up and down the hall, the ghostly
equivalent of pacing. “I know. Next time you’re portaling,
can I talk to Dad?”
“I’ll ask Sid. He holds it open for Horace and Bianca, so
I bet he’ll do it for you and Justin, too.”
“Thanks.”
I yawned.
“I don’t miss that part.”
“Don’t blame you.” I reached for the doorknob and
turned it. “See you in the morning.”
“Night.”

The next day, I found Ben at breakfast and handed over a

notebook and the specs with an explanation of how I
wanted him to help test them.
“Make sure to write down any differences between what
you see before and after I reveal the ghosts.”
“Okay, I’ll do that. Thanks.”
A bit after when we’d normally have lunch, we piled into
Matron Klein’s station wagon. Since Sid was up in New
Hampshire doing his family thing, she’d accepted Delilah
Redford’s invitation to Thanksgiving dinner.
“Not sure how she’ll feed us all,” Ben said. “Unless the
entire place serves a giant meal.”
 “More like the other way around,” Ed said.
“Hmm?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“I managed cooking holiday meals just fine back in my
cabin,” Crow said.
“Managed?” I chuckled. “You practically did miracles
over that fire.”
“Along with every other fire he brought food to.” Ed
elbowed him.
Nut barked and wagged her tail.
“Glad all three of you think so.”
Matron Klein pulled the car into a parking space. We
piled out and hurried through a steady fall of sleet, which
would’ve been trickier if the fae who ran Danvers
Sanitarium hadn’t had time to throw rock salt down
already.
Once through the door, we hung up coats and hats. I
followed Ed up to the clear barrier that partitioned one of
the voluntary resident common areas from the rest of the
lobby. A man close to the matron’s age stood at an easel,
spreading yellow and orange around on a canvas in wavy
vertical strokes.
I shivered without understanding why. Ed took my hand,
then stated his purpose here.
“Visitors for Delilah Redford, party of four solids, four
ghosts, one familiar.”
“Heard and understood.”
I remembered too late that the method of transportation
around this place was vanishment. I didn’t have my anti-
nausea amulet.
“Fewm—”
A moment later, mouthwatering aromas of sage,
rosemary, thyme, and roasted meat almost instantly
mitigated my impending nausea. Along with copious
amounts of garlic, of course.
 I opened my eyes. We stood at the edge of an enormous
kitchen. I recognized all the appliances from cooking in the
boarding house, but Delilah’s weren’t as industrial. Instead,
everything was done in a homey northern Italian style,
complete with a brick oven for pizza.
“Hi, Mom,” Ed said.
I let go of his hand as his mother crossed the terra-cotta
tile floor to get to him.
“Sonny boy!”
Delilah was a slight woman with olive skin and graying
hair tied in a ponytail that hung an inch or two past her
shoulders. Her arms barely reached around Ed’s waist
when they hugged. Somehow she managed to lift his feet
off the floor, if only for a moment.
“Sorry it’s been so long,” he said. “It’s been—”
“Edward Aion Redford. Do not apologize for working
hard, especially in your third year of school. And with new
ghosts at that.”
Nut barked.
“See? The pup agrees with me.” She leaned down to let
Nut sniff her hand. “Bravo cane!”
“The new ghost is Mavis’s, Mom.”
“I mean, only technically. We’re still working that out.”
“Wait a minute.” Magnus shook his head. “I spend
eighteen years stuck like glue to you, and we’re still
working that out? Like I’m not heeding your call.”
“Oh, and he’s a card too.” Delilah clapped. “Let me
introduce him around.”
Ben tugged my sleeve. He pointed at Matron Klein. “She
can’t see or hear half of this.”
“Oops.” I focused and revealed the ghosts.
“Oh, my.” The matron said. “This makes more sense
now.”
She peered at where Delilah stood calling in an entire
throng of ghosts and introducing ours around. Except for
Rob, who heartily greeted friends he hadn’t seen in a while.
 “Those are all hers, most of them up from Rhode Island,”
Ed said.
“Wow.” Ben blinked. “I can see why you’re so talented.”
“When you get to Messing, you’ll learn that
mediumship’s not as simple as quantity,” I said.
“Sam tells me that all the time.” He nodded. “Our
family’s more about bond strength. So I’m always
impressed when I see someone who does things like Mrs.
Redford.”
“It has its drawbacks.” She looked over her shoulder at
him.
“Guess I’ll see when I try it myself.”
“Come over here, and I’ll show you a bit of what I know.”
When she beckoned, he followed, milling behind her as
she led the ghosts through the motions of putting the
finishing touches on trays of food. Matron Klein and Crow
went along too, helping set the table and pour water.
Something about Ben’s placid expression bothered me.
His family was one of the most well-respected in terms of
medium study and lore. Almost every one of the Endors had
that talent too. Ben wasn’t one yet.
“You’re wondering how he’s so sure about his eventual
fate,” Rob said in my ear.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “I’m worried.”
“Good. Keep an eye on him.”
“What’s that?” Ed asked.
“Nothing appealing as far as you’re concerned.”
“We talked about this, Rob.”
“We talked about a lot of things. I’ve known you for all
but one year of your life.”
“Cut the condescension.”
“He wants me to keep an eye on Ben.”
“Whatever happened to snitches get stitches?” Rob
moaned.
“Stupid rule doesn’t apply to me.” I stuck my tongue out.
 “Since when?” Rob put his hands partway through his
hips.
“Since forever.” I mimicked his pose for the most part.
“Ask Crow. Especially when someone might not be safe.”
“So, we’re telling Mr. Endor.” Ed grinned. “As soon as
he’s back.”
“The crew too, this weekend,” I added.
“Fine then.” Rob pouted. “Be practical about it.”
“Glad you approve.” Ed gave him a thumbs-up. I gave
him two.
“Look at you two, ganging up on me.”
“More like teaming up, friend,” Horace said.
“It’s for the best,” the professor added. “Especially in
this world of ours.”
“Wash up and sit down for dinner!” Delilah called.
We lined up at the kitchen sink, washed our hands, then
took our places around the long oval table. Before taking
her seat, Delilah put a set of small bowls down for Nut, so
full that she had no reason to beg at the table for anything
but ear scratches.
Outside of television, I’d never seen a holiday dinner this
big let alone this varied. That was saying a lot, considering
my seven siblings. If the table hadn’t been a solid oak slab,
I might have foretold its impending collapse.
Instead, I took the seat with my name on a card beside
it, between Ed and Matron Klein and across from Ben.
Delilah pointed out the dishes with either meat or dairy to
Ben before we passed food around.
“I didn’t use pork in anything, by the way,” she said.
“Oh, thanks. I wasn’t sure you knew I keep kosher.”
“Stephanie told me, of course. Now, let’s eat.”
The plate was twice the size of my head, and I only took
half-scoops, but barely a third of the offerings fit on it. I
sampled the usual turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and
potatoes and had squid ink pasta, feta and olive salad,
porcini mushrooms with basil, and fried eggplant.
 “Wow.” I raised my glass to our hostess after taking a
bite of the latter item. “Cheers to the chef, this is
awesome!”
“Yeah, ditto.” Crow lifted his too.
“Grazie!”
Everyone dug in, with Ben doling out his meal on two
plates with a separate set of utensils, one vegetarian and
the other with meat. Silence reigned, but Delilah only
smiled until we sat back.
“Sorry for dropping out of the conversation,” Matron
Klein said.
“Quiet means the food’s good.” Mrs. Redford chuckled,
then gestured at Ed. “It’s so nice to see this bambino clean
his plate for once.”
“Mom.” Ed rolled his eyes. “Stop it.”
“Have you been going to the Gallows Hill gymnasium?
Looks like you trained with those wrestlers or something.”
“Nah, still just singing and dancing.”
“Well then, you must serve Ent water over in your dining
room, Stephanie.”
“No, only Salem city water.” The matron smiled. “Ed’s
growing up is all.”
Ed sat there with his face glowing crimson. I took his
hand under the table, and his complexion edged back to its
usual color.
Plates, glasses, and utensils floated away in the hands of
Delilah’s ghosts. Platters and serving bowls still mostly full
of food followed. The ghosts divided each dish’s contents
into eight smaller containers. These got stacked into eight
cardboard boxes.
“Why so many leftovers?” Crow asked.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “There are only five of us.”
“One’s for Mr. Muscat, another for Mr. Micello,” Delilah
said. “They’ve both helped me out since I arrived here,
from getting things out of storage in Providence to bringing
books and music.”
 “What about box number eight?” Ed raised an eyebrow.
“That’s for your father, of course. It’s been a decade
since he had a proper Thanksgiving dinner.” She tilted her
head. “Before you ask, you don’t have to bring it to him.
That’s taken care of already.”
“I mean, I would’ve if you wanted me to.”
“That’s good to know.” She clapped. “Dessert!”
Ghosts brought pastries I didn’t have names for, cakes,
cookies, candies, and pies. Although there wasn’t nearly as
much on the table as dinner, it was still an incredible sight.
I managed a bite of almost everything except the pumpkin
pie, which I’d had pretty much every year anyway.
Once we all sat sipping coffee, the ghosts repeated the
packaging process with the desserts. Once those got piled
on top of the rest of the leftovers, they wrapped the boxes
into bundles.
“I can’t move.” Crow patted his stomach. “Grounded
bird over here.”
“Same.” I nodded.
Ben yawned.
“Next you’re going to tell us we don’t have to go home,
but we can’t stay here,” Rob said. “We’ll have to carry the
victims of your food coma home, Delilah.”
She put one hand to her chest. “I’ll do no such thing, but
the sanitarium has strict visiting hours.”
“True story.” Crow leaned forward in his chair. “I think
the adults in the room can make it. I’ll carry the kiddo.”
“No, I’ll do it.” Ed stood and headed around the table to
where Ben sat nodding.
Nobody asked whether he was sure he could lift a sixth-
grader. Not even his mother. Nobody looked the least bit
surprised when he hoisted Ben without a hitch in his
breath.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER THREE

Mr. Endor pulled up in front of the building on Sunday

morning before breakfast. On his way out the door, Ben
gave back the notebook with his ghost spectacle
observations. And the glasses themselves, of course.
“Can I borrow another book some time?” he asked.
“Sure. Drop by after school when you want one.”
“I will, thanks. Tell Ed I said bye.”
I did exactly that back in the dining room.
By lunchtime, our friends began arriving back at the
boarding house. Since it hadn’t been a long break, we kept
our greetings casual.
Cosmo started an enormous game of Uno with seven
sets of cards in the lounge that ran for the remainder of the
day. He only let us pause for dinner, encouraging us to eat
more fervently than Delilah Redford had. By seven-thirty,
he declared Brandon the winner.
“Good thing you’re not a kelpie instead of a selkie or I
would’ve suspected you were a dark horse.” Cosmo
chuckled.
“Oh my God, that’s a groaner even for you.” Wyatt rolled
his eyes.
“Yeah, and more of a stretch than usual for our lion
king,” Ed said. “Hertha must have demanded some serious
table manners.”
 “She did,” Saya said. “Because the—”
“Shh.” Hope put a finger to her lips. “Later.”
Sure enough, a half-hour before lights out, Hope
knocked on my door holding a monarchal envelope. Ed was
with her. I let them in.
“I know why you’re here, so let’s open it already.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
Hope nodded, broke the wax seal, and set the letter on
the desk so we all could read it.
To my trusty Lieutenant, Under Born Mavis Rhiannon
Merlini, Sirin, and her most devoted companion, Master
Medium Edward Aion Redford, Avatar of Perpetuity, I give
good greeting.
The crop of knowledge you’ve gathered, sown, and
reaped has borne fruit. Both Her Majesty and I find it well
to our liking. In light of observations made by Captain
Dunstable, the Esteemed Miss Harcourt, and His Majesty
Cosmo of Aesop’s Island, we have decided to invite the
Master Medium back to our realm with one condition. That
he merge with his ghostly partner, Bianca Brighton, for the
full duration of each stay.
Captain Dunstable has the authority to either dismiss
Mr. Mendez from active duty or retain him at her pleasure.
The same goes for the rest of her crew with three
exceptions.
Along with the Alkonost, the Sirin and the Avatar of
Perpetuity must be fully committed to the Quest. All other
obligations, including those at your lodge of learning, are
secondary for the three of you. As soon as his health allows,
I hold Scout Merlini to the same standard. Her Majesty has
an item in mind that might untangle the complexity of his
condition.
I will put this plainly. Your Quest moves toward a crucial
point and will consume more of your time than it has
previously.
 Should any of the others find the burden of duty too
heavy, fulfill their obligation to us, or are otherwise unable
to go on, we will instruct you to choose replacements.
However, there are no replacements for the four named
above.
May the moon’s crescent be your dagger and its shadow
your cloak.
His Majesty, the Lord of Wilds and Willfulness.
“Diego’s going to be relieved,” Ed said.
“You’re not?” Hope raised her eyebrow.
“It still doesn’t feel like I’ve got real mastery over the
sphere, despite all the research.” He shook his head.
“Especially after Halloween. I know Mavis, you’re not
blaming me.”
“You’re blaming yourself too much already.” I took his
hand. “Nobody dictates how anyone should feel. Not even
faerie monarchs.”
“Touché.”
“However any of us feel about the letter, it’s given us
orders,” Hope said.
“Yeah, the king’s.” I gave them a half-smile. “At least we
have room to color outside the lines under them. All he
wants is for us to show up.”
“True.” He shook his head. “The bit about Crow is
interesting. It mentions an item, but I don’t see one here.”
“Since he mentioned it’s from the queen, she’ll probably
send it herself along with a letter from her,” Hope said. “I
didn’t get a package with this.”
“That explains why his name wasn’t on the envelope.”
“I’m not sure whether we should tell him the news yet or
not.” Hope leaned against the wardrobe. “To me, it seems
he’s pretty easy-going. Doesn’t seem like he’d freak out if
we waited until his letter came. His condition means he
can’t get on a bus to California tomorrow.”
“Oh, sure.” I sighed. “He won’t act bent out of shape.
But Crow’s had almost no say in what he wants to do for
most of his life. Last spring, this Quest delayed him again
when he lost his arm.”
“He’s had a lot of time to think about his future since
then,” Ed said. “He’s bound to act soon. He has to stay near
his doctors, but he could enroll at North Shore Community
college for the spring semester.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Hope said. “The letter
specifically mentions easing back on school commitments.
I’ll tell him about this first thing tomorrow morning. And
speak with Diego, find out what he wants to do.”
She headed toward the door. Before opening it, Hope
turned.
“You can talk to the ghosts about this if you want to. And
Diego, of course. Let’s keep it on the down-low with the
rest of the crew until we hear about that item.”
“Aye, Captain.” I nodded.
“Thanks for the insight. See you tomorrow.”
After Hope left, I sat with Ed, making wildly outrageous
guesses about what the queen’s mystery item might be.
None of them turned out to be correct.

Over the next week, we used most of our free time to study
or run lines from Kiara’s play for the showcase after exams.
A first year was playing the lead role, but Ed and I had
significant parts.
“I don’t like the optics on what you’re proposing here,
General.” I dropped a folder on the dryer as if it weighed
several pounds.
“Damn the optics!” Ed clenched his fists. “We know
they’re up there, about to come down. That’s a direct
threat to humanity. If you think otherwise, you’re too
foolish to run this country, Madam President.”
 “Better a fool than a murderer.” I put my hands on
either side of the folder and glared. “Which is what history
calls men who attack without provocation.”
“Say that again and watch what happens.” Ed’s lip
curled into a sneer.
Rob sailed through a nearby wall.
“Now kiss!” he called.
Nut barked, wagging her tail as she happily chased the
ghost in circles around the laundry room.
“No.” Ed groaned. “No kissing!”
“Who’s kissing?” Crow peered around the doorjamb with
his eyes narrowed. “Oh, okay. It’s only you two.”
“Only us two?” I blinked. “Is there, like, a kissing
problem in the laundry room?”
“It’s that player Puck. He always brings his dates down
here. Sid and I are on alert over it. Matron says it’s
something about hygiene where we wash clothes or
whatever.”
“Well, don’t worry about that on our account right now.”
Ed pulled the script out of the folder. “Our characters hate
each other.”
“Kiara’s making you stretch those acting muscles, then.”
Crow chuckled. “Can’t wait to see it.”
My phone chimed.
“Sorry, Ed.” I sighed. “Rehearsal break’s over for me.
Time to study.”
“I’ll go be the snack sherpa, I guess,” he said.
Upstairs, I went over lab practical cards with Cosmo,
Jaxon, and Jill. Wyatt sat reading Hope’s response to a
practice essay question about the Glamour Transparency
Act. Saya, Kiara, and Brandon worked on a multiple-choice
practice test.
Ed strode into the room pushing the snack cart.
Snackmaster rode on top of the coffee carafe, barking
orders at somebody behind him.
 Ben Endor walked gingerly with a tower each of paper
cups and lids. The latter tilted precariously. Magnus’s
translucent hand emerged from the door frame and
steadied them.
“He’s strong.” Horace whistled.
“Of course,” I said without thinking. “He’s a Merlini.”
At first, I didn’t think Ed noticed. When he brought me a
Power Bar and a beverage, I could tell he had by his grin.
“I hope you’ll go to Yule Ball with me. If you think I’m
strong enough for a Merlini.”
“Always, Ed. Always.”
The next day, we walked into State of Grace together.
Azrael’s face lit up when he saw us. Grace applauded
slowly.
“It’s about time, you two.”
She picked up her tape measure but shook her head
when I headed toward the measurement pedestal.
“I’ve got yours. Ed’s another story. I could tell right
away he grew again.”
“Okay.”
I went toward Azrael and started talking design.
“Oh, we already have one in mind for the two of you.”
He grinned.
“So we don’t get a choice, I guess.”
“You do.” He pulled a sample book open. “It’s all down
to fabrics, pretty much.”
I ran my fingers over swatches, enjoying the textures
and considering colors while he noted my maybes down. Ed
had a look after I finished.
“I’m totally clueless this year.” he said.
“Me too.” I sighed. “Maybe I’m having trouble imagining
anything after how awesome all the previous outfits were.”
“Don’t worry,” Azrael said. “I’ll put my head together
with Grace’s, and we’ll get it done. As long as you don’t
mind a little surprise.”
“Good surprises are always welcome.” I smiled.
 “Ditto.” Ed nodded.
“We’ll get your outfits delivered with the rest of them,
either day before or day of,” Grace said.
“Thank you.”
“Can’t wait to dance in it.” Ed smiled.

The outfits arrived on Grace’s cart the day before the

dance, but we were too busy studying to try anything on.
Kiara put mine in her room, and we pinky swore not to
peek at either of the gowns until after school the next day.
It wasn’t easy, but I kept that promise. At least sitting
for the written test and pacing the lab for the practical
pacified my curiosity. I finished soundly in the middle of the
pack for each exam, keeping an eye out for Cosmo, my
partner in SLD accommodations.
He finished last but with a sanguine expression both
times. I checked in with him over lunch to make sure he
was okay.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I triple-checked all my answers.
Gonna do the same thing for the practical, especially since
we have to imbue an object. Gotta make sure it takes.”
“Sounds like you have a strategy.”
“Yeah, Dr. Cormack says to use the leftover time to push
on the weakest link. As a mundane shifter, that’s imbuing.”
“You’ll crush it.”
“Crossing my claws I do.”
He gave me a thumbs-up after walking out of the lab.
That gesture ended the school day for me, more so than the
bell that rang a few seconds later.
Wyatt and Jill headed immediately to Engine House to
inhale pizza after exam stress. The rest of our friends
walked toward Dodge Street, with Saya stopping briefly to
take to-go beverage orders from Kiara and me.
 As for my former roommate, she power-walked back to
the boarding house with a gaggle of first years hurrying to
keep up with her. I brought up the rear, keeping a cautious
eye on the sky.
Mom hadn’t paid Marjorie’s bail. Or maybe that was
Bran’s decision. Either way, she was still incarcerated
pending her trial so I didn’t have to worry about her.
That wasn’t the case when it came to Barbara. I knew a
little more about her than Marge, mostly because Manny
used to invoke her name while being a terror around the
house. She was the inspiration for his random acts of
cruelty, including attacking by dropping out of the sky.
Nothing came out of the gray blanket between the earth
and the sun. I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the last
first year disappear into the stairwell and close the exterior
door. Horace followed.
I headed up to my room, got Nut, and brought her back
downstairs and out through the back door. After she
finished, I gave her the end of a soft-baked pretzel I’d saved
from lunch.
“Good girl!”
Magnus floated down from the ceiling. “Don’t you have a
dress to try on?”
“Oh, yeah.” I grinned. “I do!”
After that, my mood soared. I took the stairs lightly but
two at a time up, followed closely by an excited sha and two
ghosts. As I raised my hand to knock on Kiara’s door, she
opened it. I stood there blinking.
“I was just about to go get you.” She smiled.
Nut barked. Horace and Magnus grinned.
“We’re not the only ones excited, you know.”
“Horace too, I guess,” Kiara said.
“And Magnus.”
“Oh, wow!” She whistled. “This is his first dance,
technically.”
 “Tell her I already know the drill about not coming in
until you’re decent,” Magnus said.
I did.
“Good.” She stepped aside, making room for Nut and me
to enter the room. “I’d better glamour the door so we don’t
scare anyone.”
It was a good thing she did. We engaged in our now
traditional shrieking, which was totally justified.
Kiara’s dress was a rich plush white velour trimmed
with metallic gold lace. The draped sleeves were made
entirely of the same lace, with fringe at the ends. A white
choker in the same velour and a golden fascinator along
with gold shoes completed her look.
My gown had hundreds of silver cords twisted into a
chevron pattern over deep blue velvet. I must have spent
too much time running my fingers over the detailing
because Kiara asked if I was okay.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect something this intricate, especially
when I’m only going to wear it once.”
“Wear it again sometime, then.” Kiara twirled. “I might
save this to get married in someday.”
“I could totally see that.” I nodded. “Better actually put
mine on, then.”
Getting into the dress was much easier than I expected,
especially since it looked so complicated. After I stepped in
and pulled it up, the cords themselves did most of the work.
They went over my shoulders, crossed my back in an X
shape, and easily cinched by pulling on two midnight
tassels at my waist.
“Okay, I’m ready for some ghostly opinions.”
Kiara unglamoured the door, and I revealed Horace and
Magnus as they floated through it. She also angled the
wardrobe door so I could see myself in the mirror.
“Wow.” I blinked. “I still don’t know where Grace is
going with this, but it looks way cooler than I expected.”
 “It makes you look legendary,” Magnus said. “Like
you’re about to go out and change the world.”
“I know.” Horace nodded. “If Ed doesn’t get more
effusive than ‘you look nice,’ I’ll give him a piece of my
mind.”
“Should I go get Crow?” Magnus asked.
“Nah.” I shook my head. “He’s one of the chaperones, so
he’ll see this getup soon enough.”
“We still have to do our hair,” Kiara added.
“Fewmets, I wanted to grab a shower so it’ll dry before I
try putting it up.”
“Relax, we have time.”
We did. It turned out to be earlier than I thought when I
zipped the dress back into its bag and brought it down to
my room. Our friends hadn’t come back from around town
yet. With one exception.
Rob poked his head out of Ed’s room.
“Hi, he’s back?” I asked.
“Yes, but his room’s off-limits to you for the moment.”
The ghost glanced at the garment bag in my arms. “I see
you already tried yours on.”
I nodded.
“You’re awfully quiet, considering the usual fuss you and
Kiara make over the gowns.”
“That’s by design. Speaking of which.” I peered at Ed’s
door, wondering what he thought of his surprise attire.
“What did he end up with in that bag?”
“I’m not telling.” Rob chuckled. “Even if he keeps saying
he can’t wait.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t compel you. Do you mind passing a
message along?”
“Of course not.”
“Tell him I can’t wait, either.”
“I will.”
He moved away through the door again. I hung my dress
in my room, then took my time washing my hair. My
stomach was in more knots than my dress for some reason,
so I grabbed a sandwich and ate it in my room while
reading. Nut dozed contentedly at the foot of the bed.
My hair was almost dry when Crow made our special
knock on the door. I got up, opened it, and let him in.
“Everybody missed you at dinner.”
“Yeah, I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“Understandable.”
“How so?” I blinked.
“Last time you went to a dance, you died.”
“I’m not a coward.”
“Not calling you one. My guts get all bent out of shape
whenever I think about setting foot in the Under.”
“Okay, maybe that’s part of it.”
He leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Okay, maybe that’s all of it. I’m so afraid, Crow.”
“Does Ed know?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You used to tell that kid everything. The only thing
that’s changed is the two of you are going on dates now.”
“It’s not the only thing. I’m not inhabited by a ghost
anymore. I think maybe it was always Magnus who was
brave, not me.”
“Now you want me to validate your hunches about your
best friend instead of heading down the hall and asking him
yourself.” Crow rolled his eyes.
“Well, no. I hoped you’d argue with me about them.” I
cleared my throat. “The hunches, I mean. Like, talk me out
of them.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Listen. The minute you stop
talking through your issues in any relationship is the
minute things start tilting sideways. You march down the
hall and tell that boy the truth.”
I did the only thing I possibly could.
I went.
 I handed Crow Nut’s leash first, though. If he wanted to
give me orders, he could do doggie duty. On the way out, a
bathrobe-clad Cosmo went into the bathroom with his
garment bag and a shampoo bottle. At least I wouldn’t have
to ask him to leave.
Ed opened the door before I could knock twice. He took
one look at me and stepped aside, holding the door open
with a flourish. “It looks like I should sit.”
“Uh, not yet. Listen, then decide if you want me to get
out or whatever.”
“Go on.” He leaned on the inside of the door.
“Last time we went to a dance, I died.”
“Mavis.” He opened his arms. “I swear—”
“No.” I shook my head. “Wait before you promise
anything. Because Ed, you need to know the truth.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.” He lowered his
arms.
“Maybe not. Turns out I’m a common bird after all. Just
a garden-variety contrarian, running counter to what I’ve
been told for whatever reason.”
“But you’re also—”
“Please stop.” I sniffled.
He nodded.
“Don’t say I’m b-brave.” My voice thickened. Tears
rolled along the rims of my eyelids like the ocean under
The Odyssey. My voice lowered. “I never have been. Just a
rebel without a clue or even my own cause.”
“Tell me how.” Ed’s eyes reddened.
“Goading Hope. Thumbing my nose at Donna. Kicking
Mom’s hornet’s nest over and over. Worse than whistling in
the dark. I scream and attract the attention of dangerous
creatures. People keep getting hurt. If it’s you next time,
I’ll never forgive myself. Because nothing is worth that.”
“Mavis.” He shook his head. “I won’t tell you how to feel.
I just want you to know a couple of things. Is that okay?”
 The question’s magic enveloped me, soothing like a bath
at the perfect temperature. I nodded. The tears spilled.
“First of all, I’ve been in danger since starting grade
school, but I have never been stronger than this year.
Second, I love you, Mavis. Part of me always has since that
first night we met.”
“When I was crying into a refrigerator?”
“Yes. Maybe even because you were.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Listen. That feeling was just a spark for a long time, but
then it grew and grew until I couldn’t ignore it, or you,
anymore.”
“Everyone makes a big deal over how brave I am.
Stealing stuff from the Nest, working with Levi, testifying
against my family. But ever since the hospital, after Magnus
moved out, I’m afraid of everything. A coward.”
“Fear doesn’t make you a coward. Bravery has nothing
to do with why I love you.”
“Why?”
“It’s because you can see all the same things I do. The
potential, the difference we could make. So, I want us to
build together.”
“Build? What?”
“A better world.”
“That sounds like it’ll take forever.”
“It will. Long after we’ve finished living, been ghosts,
and moved on.”
I was about to ask, why bother? The eye inside my mind
cleared, while the ones on my face remained blurred with
ever-larger tears. And just like that, I couldn’t help but do it
again. See exactly what he meant.
“You only intend for us to start.”
“Yes.” One corner of his mouth turned up.
“We’re fixing something somebody else broke.”
“True.” The mouth flex became a definite half-grin.
“You want us to be shoulders. Giant ones.”
 “Bullseye.” His mouth didn’t move, but his eyes smiled.
“So, we build a foundation, and maybe we’re the clean-
up crew. The people it belonged to in the first place, we can
stand aside and give it to them. Let them be architects.
Shape it the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Touché.”
His face lit up. I stood and crossed the room.
“Ed.” I took both his hands.
“Go on.”
“I love you too.”
We embraced and lost track of time. Fortunately, we
moved from the door to sit on the bed because eventually
Cosmo stepped in and stood there in his bottle green
damask suit, mouth open like a turkey in the rain.
“Whoa!” he said. “Get dressed, or you’ll be late to the
ball!”
If we hadn’t scrambled after that, he would’ve been
right.

Ed and I finally saw each other dressed up at the bottom of

the basement stairs. The closed-in stony area only
enhanced the effect of his suit.
Thick sateen fabric held a pattern woven throughout,
but this was no ordinary damask. Interlocking shining
golden circles seemed to dance across the jacket, vest, and
pants, with the darker areas more of a muted brass.
His cravat had a pin adorned with a domed tiger's eye
stone, carved on top with a set of interlocking spherical
gears. They immediately reminded me of something
impossible. That wasn’t the first thing I wanted to say.
“How did Grace know?” I asked.
“She saw it while measuring me.” For once, Ed said the
irrelevant part out loud.
 “Not the sphere.” I ran my hands along his lapels. “That
you’d look incredible in this.”
“Oh, ah.” His face flushed. “Well, it’s several steps down
from you, Mavis. You’re like divinity made flesh.”
“Next you’re going to give me some corny Romeo and
Juliet line.”
“Never.” He locked gazes with me. “My mistress’ eyes
are nothing like the sun. Also, live a little, comfort a little;
cheer thyself a little.”
“Well, you’re such stuff as dreams are made on.” I took a
page out of Rob’s book and stuck my tongue out. “So
there.”
“Hurry up before it closes,” Sid said.
When we looked, we found that the throng of students
was gone. Only Crow, Sid, and the ghosts remained. We
linked arms and headed through into the already
glamoured gymnasium on the other side. The decorations
were winter as usual, but the theme was so familiar it
stopped me in my tracks. Crow spoke behind us.
“Before you make any wild guesses, this was the
matron’s idea. I talked about the cabin so much that she
wanted them to recreate it. Well, sort of. It was never this
pretty.”
“It’s perfect.” I clasped my hands in front of me. “Can
we go in?”
“Nah, that’d be too hard to chaperone so it’s got a fake
door. In every other way, it’s kind of like coming home.”
“I think we should check out the porch,” Ed said.
“Go on, that’s fine and dandy. Kiara even added swings.”
We went up. I sat dangling my legs on a swing for a few
novel moments, figuring out why Ed wanted to come up
here. I realized I already knew. He wanted to give me a
chance to mitigate the fear I’d admitted to earlier.
That wouldn’t happen with me sitting on a swing,
avoiding everything. The time was best spent surveying the
crowd, getting a clear picture of who was there and what
it’d be like to step off the porch. So I stood and joined Ed,
peering out at the whole scene.
The first thing I noticed was Paolo at the DJ table. Crow
made his chaperone station beside it, and even though it
was loud over there, they managed to communicate with
sign language. Now that I thought about it, Bar used to
know it. Had he learned it from Paolo and taught it to
Crow? Maybe.
I lost that train of thought because Grace had gone all
out for the third years.
Saya’s gown was a liquid satin with a plunging neckline
and mid-thigh slit, green as envy with coppery accents that
resembled scales. She wore a copper circlet on her head
and didn’t have a date. Everyone else who hadn’t brought
one asked her to dance, even in a group, just to be seen
hanging out with an obvious dragon princess. With one
exception.
Hope circulated through the room, greeting familiar folk
and introducing herself to strangers. Her pantsuit this time
was dusky pink with rose gold accents and made of a clingy
fabric, cut to emphasize her athletic frame. She didn’t
dance except for one song Cosmo requested, a closing
credits song from an anime about superheroes that he was
obsessed with.
I didn’t realize how similar the effect Grace had created
for Kiara and Brandon was to mine and Ed’s until I saw
them on the floor together. Their clothing was
complementary, too. Grace intended a celestial theme
featuring us as sun and moon but made an arctic one for
them with Kiara as sunlit ice and Brandon as the sea below.
She’d made holly and ivy out of Wyatt and Jill, with his
bowler hat resembling a bright berry and her asymmetrical
dress embroidered with beaded leaves that caught the light
and dazzled eyes.
I recognized Fiona’s and Hayden’s imagery as straight
out of Greensleeves. Her circle-skirted bell-sleeve green
dress had gathers tied in it to reveal a gold and white
petticoat. Hayden’s suit could’ve come from the wardrobe
department of a movie about the Globe Theater.
“Let’s go out there, be art with them,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s about time.”
The song we first stepped out to was one I only
recognized from my brother’s music player. Typically, he
favored heavier stuff than this radio-friendly track by
Shinedown, but it was on his playlist for chilling out.
“Crow must have requested it when he saw us coming,”
Ed said. “He’s got an in with the DJ.”
“Why?”
“Listen to those lyrics.” He sang along with ones that
mentioned ocean wake and The Odyssey.
“Whoa.” I shook my head. “He’s not wrong about us
being thick as thieves, either. I’d almost think you
requested it, but I know this isn’t one you’d pick.”
“Touché.” He grinned. “That’s coming later.”
We kept on dancing until Armour by VNV Nation played.
“This is yours.”
“Yup.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder, listening. “It’s
beautiful,” I said at the end.
“Reminds me of you.”
“Same. Because you’re beautiful.”
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I bet you say that to all the
guys who have crazy growth spurts.”
“It’s got nothing to do with that, silly.” I looked up at
him. “It’s the smile in your eyes. Did you know I’d never
seen anyone do that until you?”
“Had absolutely no idea.”
“Never stop.”
“I won’t as long as you’re around. Always a reason to
smile when I’m with you.”
Another couple swayed nearby. One-half of the pair
glanced up.
 “You’re giving me diabetes, Edweird.” Donna shook her
head.
“Cool it, babe,” Chainsaw said. “Let them be plain old
punch. Not everyone can be spiked like us.”
“We’re Snapple.” Ed chuckled. “Don’t you forget it.”
“Whatever.” Donna snorted.
“Speaking of punch,” I said.
“We should be drinking it,” he finished.
We headed toward the refreshments and had some.
Including a few cookies we’d baked together. It rounded
out a perfectly balanced evening.
There wasn’t any indication Barbara, Mom, or Branwen
had dared come anywhere near the school or the boarding
house.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER FOUR

Hawthorn Academy’s wooden halls bustled with activity.

The student body had exponentially grown since I started
school, which I’d guessed during Familiar Bonding this
summer. Even at the Harvest Moon dance, I hadn’t noticed
how much.
When our class section arrived at the gym to build the
wrestling ring, we found it nearly done already. Flash
Jordan, AKA Jordan Fisher led a gaggle of first years
through the setup. He jogged over to chat with Fiona, Jill,
and Wyatt.
“Sorry, Tiny,” he said. “Your crew can relax. Us ankle
biters have this handled.”
“Is that the entire first year?” Jill asked.
“Nah, just DeBeer’s class. They hired two more
professors, so there are four sections now.”
“Wow!” Fiona smiled. “Hawthorn’s really been growing
back, then.”
“Like a tree. Which it is!” He threw his head back and
laughed.
“What a goofball.” Wyatt gave Jordan’s shoulder a bro-
punch. “See you in the ring later, Flashy.”
“Later!”
“I guess we can head over to the auditorium.” Mr.
Hickson beckoned us out the door and down the hall. “Get
done in there with time to spare for lunch.”
Nut took off barking, dashing between our feet like she
ran an obstacle course. I wasn’t sure what had her so
excited until the auditorium doors opened to reveal Logan
Pierce and Aliyah Morgenstern. Mr. Hickson waved a brief
hello and continued into the auditorium with half of the
class following.
The dragonets on their shoulders swooped down to play
with Nut. A moment later, Hayden’s duck Howie waddled
over to join the fun. They made their way toward a corner
where other familiars played with a ball.
“That’s got them sorted, then,” Aliyah said. “Good.”
“I’m surprised to see you two here,” I said. “Did PPC let
you out early?”
“Well, all my exams were written, and I turned them in
early,” Logan said.
“I still have to go back on Wednesday for my last one,”
Aliyah said. “But that’s only a train ride. We’re here to see
Kiara’s play.”
“Not just see,” Logan said. “Uh, evaluate. For reasons.”
“Oh my God!” Kiara exclaimed. “This is about early
acceptance. I just know it!”
“It is,” Aliyah said. “We really can’t tell you any more
than that. Anyway, it looks like your teacher wants you over
there.” She gestured at the stage.
“Oh, yeah.” Kiara nodded. “Thanks for coming, you two.
See you later!”
Ed and I let her lead the way over to the stage. After
that, everyone helped arrange props and glamour bracelet
costumes or carted backdrop pieces around backstage after
Sid and Diego showed up.
We finished in time for lunch. This time, there wasn’t
room in either the cafeteria or the café off the lobby. I
cradled Nut under one arm and followed my classmates
reluctantly through the door off the campus and onto Essex
Street. The ghosts hovered, waiting for us.
 “You’re worried,” Ed said.
“Uh-huh.” I nodded.
“About your sister, Barbie,” he added.
“It’s Barbara or Babs. Never call her Barbie.”
“I’ll call her that.” Rob snorted. “Barbie Doll, even.”
“She won’t be able to hear you.” Magnus shook his
head. “Bravado city, man.”
Professor Luciano cleared his throat. From his shoulder,
Julia hooted.
“I believe it’s more important to let Miss Mavis know
that we’ve scouted a five-block radius to ensure none of her
family are in the vicinity. You’ll be unbothered during your
lunch.”
“Thanks, Professor.” I glanced around. “Where’s
Horace?”
“Over here.”
He waved from the door of The Witch’s Brew. I saw the
rest of our friends in the sandwich line through the plate
glass window. Ed and I went to join them.
After we finished lunch, we strolled in a throng down the
pedestrian walkway. We’d seen everything on Essex Street
before, of course. Even decked out for the winter holidays.
Still, we meandered slowly. We all knew this was the last
time we’d all be together here at this time of year, although
nobody spoke a word about that.
Mr. Hickson led us all back to Hawthorn Academy with
plenty of time to get ready for the showcase. Drama was up
first, with Kiara’s play, so we all went directly to the green
room in the auditorium.
We got to our places, and a few moments later before
the curtains, Ken monologued on how life on Earth would
change for everybody, starting with Leland Manning, a boy
out in his father’s cornfield.
The next scene had Diego and Rita as astrophysicists
detecting an alien spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. Their scene
went through the perfect progression of shock, wonder, and
excitement that flattened into dismay when they guessed
correctly how the people in power might react to their
astounding news.
That’s where the argument between Ed’s general and
my president came in. I felt like maybe I oversold things a
bit, but the audience reaction must have been exactly what
Kiara wanted. She hugged me the moment I stepped off
stage.
The curtain fell, making way for Ken to stand in a follow
spot as the reporter breaking the story, continuing the
narrative that opened the play. When it rose again, we saw
Leland, played by first year Dave Hanson. He turned out to
be a naturally gifted physical actor.
He barely had any lines in that scene but somehow still
conveyed a hopeful and open wonder when the aliens—
Jaxon and Chris made insectoid by glamour bracelets—
arrived.
The greeting he gave them knocked the teeth out of Ed’s
general, utterly deflated my presidential posturing, and
validated Diego’s and Rita’s scientists. Video screens set up
in the corners of the stage showed the audience our
characters’ reactions in real-time.
At the end, all that remained was Ken’s final spin on the
story—that rigidity only leads us backward. And that the
only way to continue as a species is with openness because
then change is merely another step in our growth.
“Dang, you’re gonna be a tough act to follow.” Puck
shook his head.
“String quartet?” Kiara said.
“Yeah.”
“Break a leg!”
“Thanks.”
Almost everyone in the cast and crew headed out into
the house to take our seats. I sat with Hope, who
congratulated us all on our performance.
 In addition to the string quartet performance, a
selection of dancers from cheer squad plus Jaxon did some
coordinated swing dancing to Queen’s Crazy Little Thing
Called Love.
Hope’s eyes were on Saya the entire time. When the
song ended, most of the audience gave a standing ovation,
but Hope lingered in her seat. When she finally got up, she
strode down the hall with purpose but no direction. During
the intermission between this part of showcase and the
stuff in the gym, I caught up with her.
“You seem off,” I told her.
“I am. You probably know why.”
“Yeah, so I don’t understand why you turned her down.”
“Duty. Plain and simple.”
“Ed’s got a duty to the universe, and it didn’t stop him.”
“Mom says smaller responsibilities can weigh more
when they’re dense.”
“Your dad thought otherwise.”
“So does Saya. Just because they’d agree doesn’t mean
she’s right.”
“You’ve both got wings, Hope. You’re powerful. What’s
heavy even mean to people like you and her?”
The question stopped her from walking so abruptly one
of her feet still hung in the air. It wasn’t only her motion,
either. Like thieves, my words had stolen her breath.
“If we ever can lift it, Mavis, you’ll be the first person to
know. But it’s next to impossible.”
“I refuse to imagine it is.”
“Keep believing. Somebody has to and I can’t. At least
for now.”
“Believing is easier than you think. Give it a try, maybe.”
She put her foot down.
“No. You’re better at it anyway, so I’m delegating to you.
That’s an order.”
“Aye, Captain.”
 In the gym on the bleachers, Ed tugged my sleeve. “Bold
move.”
“Learned from the best.” I scratched my head. “How did
you know? You were down the hall with Nut, Saya, and
Cos.”
“Sphere flex.”
“It gives you enhanced hearing now?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain. Unless—
you and Crow must have made string phones out of old
cans at some point.”
“With red plastic party cups, but yeah. We did.”
“It’s like that. Also a little like being aware of your body
when you’re out of it.”
“I’ll never forget what that’s like, even if I live a million
years.”
“Same.” He covered my hand with his. “You could’ve
run. I told you to. But you stayed.”
Before I could tell him how I was sure, back on that day,
that Levi was going to kill us or that I didn’t think twice
about staying with him anyway, entertainment wrestling
started.
As we watched Baby Shock trounce Tiny, Houndmaster
put She-Wolf down, and Flash Jordan fail spectacularly
against Big Red, I realized something.
From getting through school, navigating the choppy
waters of unstable families, to epic Quests with uncertain
outcomes, only one thing had led us to success.
The connections between us.
The marching band played on, led by Dr. Aranha.

The café served refreshments between the matches and the

rest of the showcase, a welcome change since last year. I
had a ham and Swiss croissant. Nut took a break from
playing with her friends to beg a few scraps, so I gave her
the end of it. Kiara came up to me, bouncing on her toes.
“Did you get it?” I asked.
“I don’t think they could say one way or another, but
Aliyah told me the play was awesome!” Kiara smiled.
“Logan got halfway through saying something about a
phone call, but she stopped him.”
“I bet you’ll get one soon, with good news.”
“Oh, I hope so.”
“I know so.”
“Thanks, Mavis.”
The lights flickered, Hawthorn’s signal for a change in
time. We headed back to the auditorium.
The entertainment resumed with Messing Academy’s
aerial silks performance. They always impressed me,
especially since none of the psychics at that school had
telekinesis or other physically enhancing talents.
Messing also did a poetry slam with an entire contingent
of students called the Dead Beatnik Society. They hadn’t
been in wrestling, silks, or either band group. One of these
was Allen, whose poem consisted of an increasingly
unfortunate series of predictions. By the end, the lines he
read were over-the-top absurd, and he got the most
audience response.
They closed it out with the ever-popular Hawthorn
Academy Familiars Parade. A half-cat-half-eagle gryphon
won best in show, and he certainly was impressive. My
favorite contestant was Howie, as usual. The silly duck did
a duet with his magus Hayden, who played Bad Habits by
Ed Sheeran on the kazoo.
With the evening out ending on such a high note, the
walk home was boisterous bordering on raucous. We left
laughter, cheers, and animated voices in our wake as we
went down Washington Street. Outside the boarding house,
Jill and Jax even howled at the waxing moon by way of
farewell to the rest of us residents.
 I should’ve known the fun would be short-lived when
Hope stayed outside to talk to them and Fiona. I clung to
ignorance long enough to get upstairs, change to pajamas,
and wash my face. She came into the bathroom while I was
in the middle of brushing my teeth.
“We have duty tomorrow.”
I pointed at my foamy mouth but finished up, spat, and
rinsed as she spoke again.
“It’s an island. Looks wrecked, and more recently than
the last one, too.”
“Fewmets,” I said. “Right before break, too.”
“I know.” Hope sighed. “We’ll be packing things for
break at the last second.”
“Maybe the ghosts can help. We have four of them now,
and they’re all strong enough for a task like that.”
“Good call, Lieutenant. I’ll talk to Ed about it when I
give him the duty news.”
Cosmo stepped out of the men’s toilet, the door muting a
flushing sound as it closed.
“Doody news?” His eyes narrowed. “Bathroom jokes
aren’t your usual thing, Hope.”
It took him a moment of us staring in silence, but he got
it eventually.
“Oh. Duty, not doody.”
“Tomorrow, zero seven hundred.” Hope nodded.
“See you then, I guess.” Cosmo sighed and headed out
the door to the hall.
Hope followed. After putting my toiletries away, I went
to my room and hit the sack. I’d want coffee at least an
hour before seven. So would Ed.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER FIVE

“Hopefully, we’ll find some people instead of clues.” I blew

over the top of the cup, watching ripples form on the
coffee’s dark surface.
“Even dead people.” Ed grimaced as he burned his
tongue.
“My money’s on undead people.”
“The vampire Tommy keeps reminding us about, yeah.
What I’d really like to find is an intact egg.”
“That’d be amazing. Considering everything LORA sent
back after the lecture-inspired research, I bet they hatched
by now.”
“Maybe not.” Saya stood by the cart, fixing her cup of
magical bean juice. “Hatchlings can try to wait out harsh or
dangerous conditions.”
“I thought there’s a limit on that,” I said.
“Yes. Other dragons can also affect hatching with their
emotions if they’re nearby. There’s no known time limit as
long as those two factors alternate.”
“I can’t imagine dragons want to hatch with Ludovico
around.” I shook my head. “He’s terrifying.”
“Nevertheless, some must have according to the shells
we found and your brother’s account.”
“I wish he was coming with us,” Ed said. “Wrecked
island with potential survivors, more than one scout would
be a good thing.”
“I’ll be flying the coast while Fiona wades it, with the
captain and the lieutenant going overland,” Saya said.
“With you and the ghosts plus Diego’s empathy added to
Jaxon’s nose on the ground, we’ll be in good shape.”
“I’ll ask Justin to help you if you want, Ed.”
“That’d be great, thanks.”
Cosmo came in with Jaxon, Fiona, and Diego, who all
joined us with hot beverages. Snackmaster put a tray of
egg and cheese sandwiches on the table. Hope came in and
helped herself. She showed us a hastily sketched map
illustrating the scouting plan Saya had mentioned. After
that, the conversation changed topics, moving to showcase
until only a few minutes remained.
In the basement, Horace said goodbye to Bianca
alongside Justin and Magnus engaged in a similar
exchange. Nut was already on the Under side with Kasa,
sitting behind Justin with her tail thumping against the
deck.
“If I could change the world in one little way,” Ed
murmured.
“You’d give them freedom?”
“From unliving like that, yes.”
“Time to move out,” Sid said. “You don’t have to go
home, but I can’t keep this portal here.”
“I don’t get it.” Jaxon shook his head, then walked
through with Diego.
“You can get used to it, though.” Cosmo grinned and
followed.
“Whatever keeps the boat afloat.” Fiona shrugged and
went along.
“After you.” Hope gestured at Saya and the portal.
Saya slipped her amulet over her head then went in.
Hope raised an eyebrow at Ed and me. We tried stepping
through shoulder-to-shoulder, but that wasn’t physically
possible now. So he went ahead of me without letting go of
my hand. Bianca merged with him immediately.
The air changed behind us as Sid let the portal close
behind Hope. The moon lit up a sky scaled with high,
shimmery clouds, the kind that only looked this good after
a particularly windy storm.
Pure faerie crewmembers stood ready with the packages
containing our uniforms. We touched them, letting the
magic exchange our clothing. Fiona opted for the King’s
Fleet this time and Diego the Queen’s Navy. A shade
handed me my extra equipment as well.
Although The Odyssey had dropped anchor and the
dinghies were ready, the sprites and shades weren’t in
them yet. Nut barked, and my hands tingled as I flexed
them in case I needed to conjure later. One look at the
ocean told me why.
A whale’s back protruded from the surf. I realized it
wasn't the creature itself setting off my undeath magic.
Instead, something on it was the culprit. Or someone.
I had no way of knowing which since I couldn't see
anything but glossy wet ocean mammal. At least not until
something splashed into the water, making more ripples
and leaving a wake behind it as it headed toward the
shore.
“Chase it!” Hope ordered as she shifted her wings out.
I followed suit. Saya leaped lightly onto the port side
railing and pushed off as soon as enough of her wings
emerged to keep her dragon form aloft.
Fiona vaulted over on the starboard side as she
enlarged. By the time she hit the water, it barely covered
her knees.
As I took off from the deck, Justin followed. I pointed at
Ed. He nodded and turned back. As I looked over my
shoulder, I saw everyone else already in dinghies.
Fiona stomped toward the watery evidence behind the
invisible swimmer. Despite her enormous stride, they still
outpaced her. Saya was another story.
She swooped down, talons raking the water. Her claws
came up empty, though. I could tell because I still sensed
undeath energy below instead of in Saya’s direction.
Sure enough, footprints and sprays of water appeared
on the beach. I half expected Hope to take up pursuit
herself. Instead, she pointed at the disturbance on the
beach and at me. I nodded and dove down.
Scooping up a being of unknown size and shape in your
arms is unwise when you’re not a dragon or a giant. I used
a tactic that combined my brother’s playbook and Professor
Luciano’s tutoring.
Magical tracking.
I’d begun practicing with Nut around the boarding
house, which wasn’t challenging enough due to the familiar
bond. I’d extended the exercises to include Matron Klein
during the summer and Dr. Cormack once school started. I
wasn’t sure how effective the self-taught technique was.
One thing became instantly clear, though.
Even imperfect practice paid off.
I managed to follow the runner, even after they reached
the cover of the tree line. Umbral magic blocked light,
obscured sight, and also muffled sound. I couldn’t see them
or hear their passage through the underbrush. Quivering
branches were another story.
I realized that Hope, Jaxon, and Cosmo had taken off in
different directions. The island had its fair share of fauna,
so if they meant to track by movement or disturbance, of
course, they’d follow false trails.
My magic element gave a distinct advantage in this
situation.
Undeath magic doesn’t have any flashy visual effects like
fire, water, or earth. I didn’t need that. The sense was
subtle and extra, like being aware of ghosts.
It wasn’t quite reflexive but close enough for me to
parse a few thoughts about the identity of my quarry.
 This could be Doctor Klein's sire. The vampire
with umbral affinity who'd buried Bianca over ten years
ago. If it was, I needed to talk to him. We all did. A friendly
approach might be more effective than rough handling.
How should I address a centuries-old vampire when I
couldn’t remember their name?
“Wait!” I called. “I only want to talk!”
The runner responded by increasing speed. I realized
they must be following an established trail or path that ran
under the canopy of the highest trees.
I scanned the forest for the nearest opening and
dropped altitude when I found one.
My hunch proved to be correct. It was a path, unpaved
but wide enough for a wagon. A faint haze of dust hung in
the air along it, likely kicked up only moments ago. I didn’t
sense anything undead up ahead.
I landed on the path, extending my left hand above my
head instead of in front of me, and called on my magic. The
branches rustled overhead.
“How dare you?” A vague yet still somehow thick French
accent rang through the words. “Do you not know who I
am?”
“Settle down, friend.” I flapped my wings a few times to
pull harder. “You might want to cool it on the questions.”
“A new Sirin!” The voice gasped. “I should’ve known.”
The speaker’s resistance stopped without warning. I fell
on my backside in the dust, peering up at nothing because
they were still cloaked, of course.
“I hoped maybe you'd come out from under that cloaking
spell,” I said.
“They’re shadows if you must know.” The speaker
chuckled. “Despite your sorely unexpected command of
undeath magic, it's clear you haven't had much formal
training on the subject.”
“Not about umbral specifically. My tutor was an
extramagus, poison and ice.”
 “You know Filberto Luciano. Color me impressed.
Although the curriculum at that overrated school must have
declined since he went there. Or perhaps old age has
occluded his mind.”
“He's a ghost now, no more aging for him. Or access to
Hawthorn Academy.”
“Well, tell him I said hello if you can manage to
remember me. And now, goodbye. I’m on a vital errand.
Release me from your spell.”
“Maybe I’ll help with said errand. If you don’t mind
showing your face and answering a few questions.”
“Promise you’ll help, and we have a deal.”
I did.
My new acquaintance faded into view as if someone had
slowly turned up a dimmer on his appearance. I hadn't seen
umbral magic in action before, so it was a novel thing to
watch.
Twinkling black eyes peered at me from under a
weathered wide-brimmed leather hat with bouffant feathers
tucked into the side. Twists of hair cascaded to his
shoulders beneath it, the same shade of reddish-brown as
his Van Dyke goatee and mustache.
His face was freckled and a lighter shade of brown than
Kiara’s but darker than Hal’s. His not entirely unfriendly
full-lipped smile revealed vampire fangs.
The long coat he wore was maroon and mauve. A frothy
black lace cravat spilled over the flowy purple shirt
beneath it.
Overall, the outfit was like the second cousin of my
uniform, with breeches and mid-calf boots. However, he
wore no recognizable rank or insignia, only a single golden
cord running under the collar of his long coat.
The limb he held out to me ended in a carved ebony
hook instead of a hand. I took it and let him help me to my
feet. After that, he set off down the path in the direction
he’d been heading before I intercepted him.
 We talked as we walked.
“You already know who I am,” I said. “So how about an
introduction, friend?”
“Whether we’re friends depends entirely on why the
king’s messenger is out here in the Uncharted Isles.”
“A Quest. To settle an imbalance in the Under.”
He glanced down at his hook, then nodded.
“Fair enough. Consider our acquaintance neutral until I
ask the same of the Alkonost.”
“She’ll have the same answer.”
“I’ll take her word for it and nothing less.”
“I grok it.” I held my hand out. “I’m Mavis Merlini.”
“Homero Campbell.”
All memories of our speculation about him came back.
“My, uh, guardian is related to you. Stephanie Klein.”
“The surname rings a bell. One with a medical degree.”
“That’s her mother. She’s a dhampyr.” I said. “Anyway, I
know that you also gave Bianca a proper burial. Thank you
for that.”
“The girl I found dead on that island is a ghost, then.”
He shook his head. “And trapped here.”
“Like I said, we’re working on that.”
“I was under the impression that the imbalance you’re
fixing out here is that chromatic menace.”
“Ludovico? Yeah, we’ve got bones to pick with him too.
He took my brother’s arm, among other things.”
“I suppose your brother is the Gamayun.”
“Nah, just a regular crow shifter.”
“You must truly be a force of nature if your unenhanced
kin fought that monster and lived.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Again, that depends.”
I didn’t get to ask on what. Homero turned left at an old
hollow tree. I almost ran into him on the other side, but I
managed to step around him instead and see what he saw.
 The back of the tree was entirely caved in, new splinters
prickling out of old wood and a stench like an abandoned
meat locker coming from inside.
“Scree!” Homero called.
Some indecipherable yet anguished reply echoed back.
The vampire jumped into the hole. I was about to follow,
but Ed, Nut, and the ghosts arrived.
“I found the runner. It’s Homero,” I said. “Promised to
help him.”
“Gotcha,” Ed said.
“I’m going in,” I told him. Nut barked so I picked her up.
Justin nodded at me. “We’re going in, I mean.”
“Us too, then. Bianca?”
To signal her agreement, they briefly emitted the same
purple glow I remembered from the battle at Key of
Crowns. I jumped first. I felt more than saw Justin and Kasa
float along behind me. Because it was dark inside until Ed
and Bianca made it down.
It used to be a subterranean treehouse, but the place
was as wrecked as the old ship we’d found on the last
island we visited. The main difference was the newness of
this devastation.
Curtains hung in ribbons, feathers clung to gory stains
on earthen walls. A once-solid table now resembled the pile
of kindling Crow once kept at his cabin. Across the low
stone bench that used to match it, I counted four long
furrows that continued into the otherwise bedrock solid
floor below.
A man lay in the far corner.
“Scree.” Homero’s voice shook. “What did he do to
you?”
“Gutted,” Scree managed.
In the glow coming off Ed-slash-Bianca, I finally saw the
state he was in and nearly lost my lunch.
His guts were indeed on the floor, not strewn about but
collected into a pile. Scree’s hands clutched the pink and
almost unmarred flesh of his abdomen. One spot, above and
to the left of his navel, remained open but only because he
had three of his fingers in it.
“Scree’s a shifter,” I whispered.
“I would’ve turned him if by now if he wasn’t,” Homero
confirmed.
“No wonder he’s in pain.” Kasa shook her head. “He’ll
starve slowly if that’s not fixed. Nasty way to go.”
“There’s nothing I can do.” Homero sighed. “Any more
injury and the shock will kill you, old friend.”
“He’s wrong.” Justin swallowed. “There’s one way.
Ghosts from Key of Crowns do it all the time when the
war’s on. But it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “I promised to help, so that’s that.”
“I’ll do the hard part.” Bianca-slash-Ed strode toward
the pair on the floor. “Hold him still. With your magic if you
have to.”
I nodded and followed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The vampire blinked.
“Saving his life,” Bianca-slash-Ed said. “Or repaying the
debt I owe you for that burial ten years ago. Take your
pick.”
“A medium!” Homero stepped aside. “This changes
things.”
It did, but I’ll never be quite sure how. Fortunately, I
can’t remember much of what we did except that it took a
lot out of me magically, even with Nut helping. That and the
fact that poor Scree wasn’t missing any body parts
afterward.
Also, sometime during the whole process, I’d revealed
the ghosts, and the rest of the crew had arrived. Only Hope
had come down, however. Good thing because she was the
only one left with enough sense and energy to get us all out
again.
“Fiona, a hand if you please!” She called.
“Sure thing!”
 She gave us one, literally, by enlarging and lowering it.
Homero gently hoisted the sleeping Scree into the giant
palm, which lifted him out at a sedate pace. A few more
times and we were all out and on the path.
“Lieutenant, report please,” Hope said.
I gave her the best one I could muster. Kasa and Justin
helped. Bianca-slash-Ed were too wiped out to say much.
“And you, Mr. Campbell.” Hope faced him. “Was this
venture down underground the extent of your errand?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Scree’s only one of my
compatriots who make their home on this island. I still seek
the rest of them.”
Hope looked away before speaking again.
“Scout Thorne, report.”
“My party found a total of four unfortunate
extrahumans. All met their ends in a violent fashion.”
“That’s an understatement.” Diego sighed. “Let’s add
cruel and unusual to that.”
“Were any of them vampires?” Homero asked.
“No, none were unliving,” Jaxon said. “Although I
smelled you and one other on them.”
“Noted,” Hope said.
“There should be three more,” Homero said. “Maybe
they escaped in the outrigger.”
“Ambassador Harcourt, report.” Hope sighed.
“I found a wrecked seagoing craft, torn in half on the
eastern shore. No sign of remains or scent of blood.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Campbell,” Hope said. “If only we’d
gotten here sooner.”
“I could say the same of myself.” He shook his head. “I
thought I was getting ahead of the bastard, enlisting ocean
fauna in my efforts to find his lair. Old Ludovico’s got a
secret. He’s holding himself together with sinew plucked
from an undead kraken. I happen to know at least one of
you has a way to track him now.”
“Yes.” I turned to face him. “I do. And I will.”
 “We have to go back to the mundane before then,
though.” Ed sighed. “We’ll forget all about Homero because
of his umbral affinity.”
“Not if he agrees to something first.”
The corners of my mouth turned up. I watched a faint
smile bloom in Ed’s eyes in response.
“Share your ideas with the rest of the crew, Lieutenant.”
The weariness weighing on Hope’s face lightened.
“I know we have a crew already, Captain. I was thinking
that we don’t have a pack. This feels like the perfect time to
make one.”
“Anyone who joins will remember Homero,” Ed said.
“Brilliant idea, Mavis.”
“Never would have thought of it without your stories
about Tinfoil Hat.” I chuckled. “I won’t form one unless it’s
okay with you, Captain.”
“Make your invitations, Lieutenant.” Hope nodded. “Just
bear in mind that anyone who joins will rank under Mavis
in terms of the crew’s command chain.”
“I invite any of you who wish to join.” I extended my
hand. “It’ll be a standard pack.”
“Let me be the first, then.” Homero stepped forward and
shook it. “Since you’re doing this on my account.”
“I’m game too, of course.” Cosmo shook my hand. “But
I’ve got to warn you, as far as beta’s concerned, I’m not it.”
“I have someone in mind for that already, don’t worry.”
“I’m in.” Jaxon stepped up, and we shook hands.
“And me,” Scree managed. “Can’t get up yet, though.”
“You don’t have to.” I went to him. He pressed my hand
between both of his.
“Not yet.” Saya sighed. “I promised mother I’d run any
pack membership by her first, but if she says yes I’m
joining.”
“That’s fine. We have time for that.”
“I’m sorry, Mavis.” Diego scuffed one foot in the dirt. “I
can lean on my talent to remember Mr. Campbell when we
come here. But considering the ban on my family—”
“Say no more.” I nodded. “I grok it.”
“I can’t, either.” Fiona sighed. “I want to graduate on
time, so if I lose untested, I’ll have to leave the crew. And
being in this pack is going to complicate that.”
“I totally understand, Fiona.”
“Well, we’re both in.” Justin jerked his thumb at Kasa,
who nodded.
“Awesome. Thanks, everyone.”
“Wait.” Ed extended his hand. “I just talked it over with
Bianca. She’s still Tinfoil Hat, so I worried that might stop
me because we’re partners. But I’m free to join.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I shook his hand.
“I have an idea for a name.” He smiled with his eyes.
“Me too.” I smiled back.
“Laertes’s Shroud,” we both said. Then, “It’s perfect!”
“Wish I knew what they were talking about.” Cosmo
scratched his head.
“It’s the excuse Penelope used to delay choosing a suitor
while Odysseus was away.” Diego laughed. “Weaving a
burial garment for her father-in-law. Can’t believe you don’t
know this, lion king. The ship y’all are crew on is called The
Odyssey. You should have read it by now, for crying out
loud.”
“Wow.” Cosmo glanced at me. “I hope Mavis doesn’t
make us all read it for homework.”
“I’m more curious about who’s going to be her beta,”
Diego said.
“Your brain works in mysterious ways, babe.” Jaxon
snorted. “It’ll be Crow, of course.”
“He still has to accept, but yes. That’s my intention.” I
nodded.
“Well, now that’s done, let’s bury the dead and get our
new friends settled on board,” Hope said. “We still have to
figure out how Mavis plans to navigate by tracking before
we’re done here.”
 Saya, Cosmo, and Jaxon handled the burials. Homero
showed them a clearing near the ruined treehouse. Bianca
went with them.
Once Homero got back on board, I asked if he and Scree
wanted to come back to the mundane with us.
“I’ve thrice-vowed to see the end of that monster before
leaving this realm, so no.” He sighed. “I do thank you for
the invitation. However, please bring Scree to the hospital.
I want to make sure he’s healed properly.”
“Hospitals are expensive where we’re from,” I said.
“If you give me some paper and something to write with,
I’ll take care of that.”
I did. He wrote a number and the words National
Commercial Bank, Jamaica.
“Give that to my childe, Stephanie’s mother. She’s
authorized to use the account.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Navigation ended up being easier than expected. Either
I’d had enough rest or forming the pack had energized me.
Or both. Getting a bearing to the east on undeath energy
like Levi’s or Homero’s took a half-hour. Plotting a course
took less than that.
I only needed ten minutes of sitting on the deck with
Nut in my lap, communing with Justin before Levi
answered our call. He agreed to monitor the energy and
send updates when the ghosts had their Sid-assisted
meetings with their loved ones in the mundane.
When we got back, the boarding house was vacation
quiet. One look around told us that all the other students
had gone home. I introduced Scree to Stephanie and gave
her Homero’s instructions along with the paper.
“I’ll get you to the hospital immediately, Mr. Scree,” she
said. “Then I’ll call my mother from the waiting room. Sid,
you hold down the fort.”
“Sure thing.” He nodded.
 They left. Outside, we saw the Harcourt limousine
standing at the curb with the ghost-packed suitcases
already in the trunk. Hope, Saya, and Cosmo piled in.
“Where’s Crow?” I asked Sid.
“He went to bed.” Sid snorted. “I’m gonna turn in soon,
too. It’s after eleven-thirty, you know.”
Jax’s parents arrived shortly after. They offered to drive
Diego home on the way back to their house.
Hayden was waiting for Fiona in the dining room with
tickets to the midnight showing of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along
Blog. They got up and hurried out of the boarding house
after waving goodbye.
“I don’t know how she has the energy to go out after all
the adventuring,” I said.
Ed yawned around a phrase that included the words
sleep and bed.
“Exactly.”
We slept so well we didn’t even care that zero dark
thirty coffee turned out to be brunch. When I told Crow
about Laertes’s Shroud, he offered to be beta.
“That was easy.” I laughed.
“Don’t get used to it.” He put his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ve got a feeling we’re heading for choppy seas.”
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER SIX

The next day, we made Yule dinner in the boarding house

kitchen. The ingredient quantities in the recipes Matron
Klein had left out for us were more copious than I
expected.
“How are we going to eat all these potatoes?” I waved
the one I’d been peeling at my brother.
“Crap, I forgot to tell you.” He put the carrots I’d
finished with earlier in a pan. “We’ll have guests.”
“Can’t fault you when I was on board yesterday.” I shook
my head. “Who, besides me, you, the matron, and Sid?”
“Well, we’re putting together a basket of food for Scree.
He’ll go back to the Under once he’s discharged from the
hospital in a couple of hours. And Ed.”
“Ed’s not this big a fan of tubers.” I dropped the potato
into the pot with the rest. “Scree’s an unknown, but I’d
guess iguana shifters like leafy greens better.”
“Also Pa—um. I mean, my father is coming to dinner.”
“It’s about time.” I grinned.
“Thank the gods you’re not upset.”
“No reason to be.” I shrugged. “The matron will be
happy to have him over, too. He’s good people.”
“Technically still tied to Mom through the old pack.”
“It’s okay. We have wards for that.”
 “Yeah. After everything, I wasn’t sure how confident you
were about those.”
“Way more than I was before I got stuck to the school
roof last spring.”
“I must have missed that.”
He had, so I told it to him through the rest of our
vegetable side-dish preparations.
“Odin’s beard, Mavis.” He shook his head. “I missed a
lot between the Under and all that time in the hospital. I’m
sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re here now. That’s what matters.”
We kept on working. Matron Klein came in when the
timer went off and took cookies out of an oven, then
adjusted the temperature and put a roast in. She peered at
the pan in another, then looked up.
“I’ve finished that bit of phone business,” she said. “I’ll
take the potatoes from here.”
“Thanks, ma’am,” Crow said.
“Yeah, thank you.” I nodded.
As we went into the hall, Ed stood by the front door,
brushing snow off his hat. The moment he saw us, he put
his laden hand behind his back. Nut scampered over to him
and stood pointing and sniffing at whatever he held behind
him.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hmm.” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not groceries.”
“You’re right. It’s a surprise.”
“Come on, Mavis.” Crow chuckled, then gestured at the
stairs to the basement. “You can help your one-armed
brother lug his laundry upstairs.”
I called Nut and helped with his laundry errand.
Afterward, I went into my room and used my school tablet
to read up on pack dynamics. I figured it’d be a good idea
before getting too far into running one.
Most of the practical literature was about all-shifter
packs. I did find some articles and entries about less
traditional ones, primarily historical or even scholarly,
about groups who’d done something significant.
The most recent one of these was Tinfoil Hat, which was
the first pack to include a vampire and werewolves since
The Reveal put them at odds.
I went down a rabbit hole reading about them. Until it
occurred to me that almost everything I might want to
know about them was a phone call to Newport away.
Finally free of that distraction, I looked farther back and
almost dropped my tablet.
“The Panzerkin?” I blinked at an image of a vehicle
almost exactly like the one in Irzyk Park. “World War Two?”
“Including liberation, if you’d like to be precise,”
Professor Luciano said. “Your great-uncle Ettore was beta
in that one.”
“I need to talk to him, then.”
“You’ll have plenty of time tomorrow.”
“Why not today?”
“Our dinner guests are arriving quite soon. Ed sent me
to inform you.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks, Professor.”
I freshened up in the bathroom before heading
downstairs. I got there with enough time to help set the
table, but the gremlins had already done that along with
decorations.
The table was covered with a festive red cloth,
enhancing the look of our regular white dishes and
napkins. It also had a centerpiece of a candle-studded log
surrounded by a circle of evergreen garlands intermixed
with berried holly sprigs.
Fabric covers draped the chairs, red again but printed
with pinecones. The doorways on both the kitchen and
hallway side were bordered with more garlands, held up at
the corners and in the center with bundles of sage and
mistletoe.
“How did Matron Klein know?”
 “She didn’t,” Magnus said. “This was all our big
brother.”
“Way fancier than he managed back at the cabin. Not for
lack of trying.”
“He’s nervous.”
“I would be too if I’d decorated.”
“Not about the decor.”
“Oh, right. It’s more general bio dad angst.”
“You gotta watch out for Ed on that.”
“Why?”
“Rob’s careful what he says when Horace is there, but
he’s a total blabbermouth around me and the professor.
He’s gone to see Mrs. R. alone a few times. He thinks
there’s some big family news in your favorite medium’s not-
too-distant future.”
“Oh, wow. Thanks for the heads-up, Magnus.”
“No problem.” He glanced at the kitchen door. “Would
you mind if I jumped in during the eating part of dinner? I
miss food, and this meal smells like heaven.”
“Look, Magnus. You don’t have to wait until you do me a
favor to ask for one, you know.”
“That’s, uh. Wow. I didn’t think about it that way. I feel
like a weirdo.”
“I did too when other people pointed it out. I still have to
check myself on it too, sometimes. It’s not that strange.”
“Thanks, Mavis. That’s good to know.”
Ed stepped through the doorway from the hall. I could
tell right away he’d merged with Rob.
“She knows a lot of good things,” they said.
“When in Rome.” I held my hand out to Magnus.
“Oh, wait.” He paused. “What if we get stuck again?”
“You won’t.” Rob-slash-Ed crossed the room to join us.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I’m sure you recall that I knew a former Sirin quite
well.”
“Oh, yeah.” I nodded. “You did.”
 “She had no trouble merging, but unmerging was always
a challenge until she nearly died,” they said. “It’ll be no
trouble for you now.”
“Well then, here goes nothing.”
Unlike all the times I’d tried with Horace before my
near-death experience, the merge simply happened as
naturally as breathing. Of course, that made perfect sense.
I’d lived almost my entire life in tandem with my twin, after
all.
Crow pushed past the doors from the kitchen, sprinted
through the dining room, and only slowed as he rounded
the corner. I noticed he wore a shirt and tie, dinner jacket,
and dress pants. The front doorbell chimed.
“Am I imagining things or has his hearing improved?” I
asked with Magnus.
“Think you’re right.” Ed-slash-Rob patted the sphere
through his shirt. “We knew Paolo was here, too.”
“Hmm.” My mouth opened, but Magnus didn’t get the
chance to speak with it.
Paolo limped into the room. Instead of the cane he used
to carry, he walked with two forearm crutches. He’d
wrapped tinsel garland around each of them. Bells hanging
from the backs of the cuffs jingled as he moved.
“Happy Yule,” he said.
“Happy Yule!” we replied.
More commotion from the kitchen ensued as Sid and
Matron Klein emerged with drinking glasses. After setting
them on the table, Sid went back in, and the matron
greeted Paolo.
“Welcome. Please, take a seat, and dinner will be out
momentarily.”
He did. It was a complicated process and was done
slowly because of his bad knees and hips. Paolo refused
Crow’s offer of help. Stephanie knew better and gave him
room before pulling another chair out to sit in it.
 Paolo looked confused for a moment and sat arranging
his napkin on his lap. I sat next to Crow and Ed got the seat
on the other side of me. I revealed Horace and the
Professor. Nut took her place under my chair. Sid walked
out of the kitchen and took the seat beside the matron.
“Steph,” Paolo said. “You can’t serve dinner from here.
Unless you developed a psychic talent somehow.”
“I’m not serving it.”
“Then who?” Paolo asked.
“Say hello to my little friends.” Sid chuckled.
“Plates away!” Snackmaster cried.
Gremlins popped halfway out of small portals, setting
platters down, dropping bread baskets, and filling glasses
with water or wine. Crow gave them a thumbs-up. Magnus
and I nodded and smiled. Rob and Ed applauded with a golf
clap.
Snackmaster ordered his minions back to the kitchen,
threw a salute at Sid, and left the dining room. We dished
food onto our plates and dug in. Then, of course, dinner
conversation began.
“Those little buggers are more useful than I would’ve
thought.” Paolo laughed. “Good job managing them, dude.
Practically every summoner I’ve met steers clear of
gremlins because they’re such a challenge.”
“The key is caring about them,” Sid said. “Yeah, they’re
a little chaotic. That’s part of their charm.”
“Wow.” Paolo whistled. “Guess Steph wasn’t lying about
your big heart.”
“You should’ve seen him when they got in trouble,”
Magnus said.
I slapped my hand over our mouth.
“Fewmets.” Our voice came out muffled behind it.
“It’s okay,” Matron Klein said. “He told me all about that
after Halloween. I wasn’t happy, but we’ve discussed it all.”
“Thank the gods,” we said. “I didn’t want to mess up yet
another Yule.”
 “You never messed Yule up in the first place, Mavis,”
Crow said. “No matter what anyone at the Nest ever said.
You too, Magnus. I know you’re merged right now.”
“I should’ve stepped in sooner,” Paolo said. “I’m sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known how bad it was.”
“Don’t make excuses for me, son. What I did know
should’ve been enough and doesn’t change the fact that us
old guard could’ve done better.”
“I forgive you. I wouldn’t have left that house without
Mavis anyway.”
“We’re still prying ourselves loose from there.” I sighed.
“Yeah, and trying to build something with all the pieces
we wrangle back.” Crow put his hand on my arm.
“Fixing your damage isn't impossible, but it's a lifelong
process,” Paolo said. “I'm still finding old hooks of
Morgan’s under my skin, and thanking the gods every day
I'm not alone in pulling them out.”
“Nobody ever is,” Horace said. “Even when they think
they are.”
“Big ghostly wisdom over here.” Paolo clapped. “I like
this guy.”
“We do, too.” Magnus and I smiled.
“Everybody does,” Rob-slash-Ed said. “But only after he
opens his big mouth. Don’t keep it shut for too long, Porous
Horace.”
Conversation took a lighter turn after that, including
Paolo being a good foster brother and ribbing Sid and the
matron about their dating life. At one point, I set my fork
down and sat there drinking in the atmosphere.
The only other healthy families I’d seen were in
Newport. The Harcourts were tight-knit but far too formal
for my comfort. The Dunstables carried themselves with an
air of fierce loyalty but took everything so seriously.
The group of us at dinner were only a family by the
loosest standards. Somehow, being with them felt more
natural and right than my other blood relatives.
 I sensed the same sentiment from Magnus. Still,
something was missing for both of us. An element we
couldn’t define enough to think about adding. Maybe it was
Justin’s absence. With him stuck in the Under, we hadn’t
been able to invite him.
One glance at Ed told me he felt the same way. Except
he wasn’t missing his father. He missed Bianca. Rob, with
his centuries of existence, probably missed many people we
didn’t know about.
In the end, that mattered more than I could’ve imagined.
After the cookies and plum pudding, we ended the
merges with our ghosts. Then everyone exchanged gifts.
Matron Klein got an apron from Sid. She gave him a set of
seat covers for his truck. Paolo had thumb drives full of
songs he thought each of us would like.
Crow gave me a phone case with a bird on it and Ed an
astrology book. I gave my brother a whittling kit. Ed
handed him exactly what I expected—Gibraltars from Ye
Olde Pepper Company.
“I know this isn’t your holiday, but it was supposed to be
your birthday present, and it got here late,” I told Ed.
“It’s squishy.”
He dug his fingers in, then tore off the wrapping paper
to reveal a black VNV Nation hoodie in size extra-large, like
the one he’d outgrown since last year. He put it on right
away.
“Oh wow! You must have looked everywhere for this.”
“Totally worth all the Internet sleuthing.” I smiled.
“I got you something too.” He handed me a wrapped
box.
It was heavy. When I took it, it shook a little as I
adjusted and made a noise.
“It clinks.”
“Go on,” he urged.
Under the paper was an entire case of peach Snapple.
The best part of that gift came later when we sat up late in
my room drinking some together, smiling at each other
with our eyes.

Some of winter break reminded me of summer, except for

the weather. We went to Dead Man’s Party with Jaxon,
Diego, Fiona, and Hayden. Ed took regular visits to see his
mom in Danvers.
Other things differed. I spent time at the VA instead of
the park, listening to great-uncle Ettore’s stories about his
time in the Panzerkin pack. I realized they were the reason
groups of shifters in Irzyk Park were called tanks by
everyone else.
On one of those VA days, Jill stopped by to see me. “Hey.
So, about your pack.”
“You’re not joining, either,” I said.
“That’s right.” She nodded. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” I grinned. “Always figured you’d be forming
your own in the not-too-distant future.”
“Totally.” She grinned too. “Been dreaming about it
pretty much my whole life.”
“You already have a name and everything, I bet.” I
winked.
“You win.” She chuckled. “We’ll be Ringmasters.”
“Wow, that sounds impressive.”
“Shroud is awesome, too. I know that’s the short
version, but still.”
“When are you starting it?”
“I was going to wait until we hear back about college.”
“Good call.” I nodded. “You might already know this, but
my great-uncle Ettore’s been telling me a lot about packs.
Maybe you want to come over here sometimes and listen,
share what you know, too.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
 We stuck with it through the rest of break, then on
Wednesday afternoons after that.
Crow went in for prosthetic maintenance for one full day
but was otherwise around. Matron Klein spent more time
with Sid out in the open. Magnus added a new dynamic to
life with the ghosts, one that felt more like a family than
ever.
Even if we only got to visit Justin and Bianca through a
portal.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER SEVEN

Mr. Endor showed up at the boarding house on the Sunday

morning before we went back to school, asking to speak
with Ed and me. We answered the door in our pajamas
since his knock interrupted us on the way to zero dark
thirty coffee.
“I’m doing some routine work in Boston this afternoon.
Usually, my parents do this because it’s more than one
medium can handle. But they’re on the West Coast and
can’t make it. There’s a stipend if you’re able.”
“Is this the Boston Internment Monument?” Ed raised an
eyebrow.
“Correct.”
“My brother has a packmate who lost kin in that. I’ll
help.”
“Me too,” I added.
“Excellent, I’ll pick you up at twelve-thirty,” he said.
“See you then.”
I headed back toward our coffee in the dining room. Ed
paused at the foot of the stairs.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Going to put together a ghost kit for you.” He looked
over his shoulder.
“Shouldn’t we have made something like that in
Mediumship, though?”
 “It’s in next semester’s syllabus.” He turned back. “Not
a priority. Nobody really needs that sort of thing here in
Salem, and we’re the only two mediums in the class. We’ll
do it a little later. Coffee and breakfast first.”
We finished our morning beverage then had some eggs
and toast before heading upstairs. Nut followed us, then
stood with one paw up in the doorway of Ed’s room to see
what the big deal was. I parked myself just inside, equally
curious but trying not to show it.
The first thing he did was get a box down from the top of
his wardrobe. Inside was a collection of insulated lunch
bags, all with clearance tags. He took one, tore the tags off,
then set it on his desk. After that, he turned back to the
wardrobe and opened it.
Each wardrobe had a drawer inside at the bottom,
ostensibly for shoes, though most of us put footwear under
our beds. Mine contained a collection of pretty but mostly
worthless random objects, fairly normal for a corvid shifter.
Ed’s bottom drawer resembled TV and film depictions of
an apothecary’s shop, except with scavenged materials. Old
Snapple bottles filled with salt stood against the left and
right sides. Beside them, repurposed dog food jars held
water.
A roll of what looked like oilcloth sheets sat along the
bottom. Plastic twist-ties hugged bundles wrapped in fabric
swatches, mostly in several shades of blue although some
were red, black, or green.
What caught my eye was a velvet-lined jeweler’s tray,
filled with necklaces tied down so they didn’t get tangled. I
recognized them as nickel-plated costume jewelry. At the
end of each dangled a variety of religious symbols, from
hamsa hands to crucifixes.
Ed knelt to make his selections. First, he unrolled the
oilcloth, a stack of square yard pieces. Next, he set two
bottles and three jars on the floor. After that, his hand
hovered over the cloth-wrapped bundles.
 He looked up at me and moved his hand clockwise three
times before reaching down and pulling one of them up. Ed
held it in front of his face, then glanced back up at me and
blinked.
“Not the color I expected you to end up with. For an
insurance amulet, it’ll do.”
I noticed its gray-blue matched his eyes, and my face
heated.
“I love that color more than you might expect. It’ll work.
Once I know how to use it.”
“It’s protective on its own. You don’t do anything but
carry it on you.”
“What’s in it?”
“Herbs, mostly. Parsley and oregano. Some resin that
goes with the color, so it’s best if you put it close to your
body because heat activates it.”
“What resin did you use for that one?”
“Damar. Exactly like the one I carry.” He put the bundle
between the bottles and the jars. “The last part of this is a
religious symbol. If you already have one, make sure you
wear it today. If not, I think we have to go into town and
find a Norse pagan one. Unless you think this pentacle
fits.”
“No, I have something.”
“Okay.” He closed the drawer, then stood.
I sensed Nut’s drowsiness before she expressed it. She
yawned, then trotted over to Cosmo’s desk chair and
leaped up into it for a nap. Since she wasn’t standing
across the threshold anymore, I closed the door to the hall.
“What’s the rest of the stuff for?” I asked.
“Well, you’ve seen me use salt before. Snapple bottles
make for a tidy pour. It works as a barrier, but water
dissolves it. That’s why we bring the oilcloth, in case the
floor or ground is wet.”
“Okay. What about the jars you’ve been nicking from the
trash after Nut’s dinner?”
 “It’s purified water. Those jars break if you throw them
hard enough, so they’re good in an emergency. If a ghost is
getting fixated on something traumatic, like their death, for
example, a splash of this might snap them out of it.”
“Like holy water?”
Ed stared for a moment, then laughed, hugging his
sides. It wasn’t quite infectious enough to break through
my puzzlement, but I still smiled. That faded the moment
he pulled open the top drawer of his dresser and reached
for his inhaler. I rushed to his side, knocking the bottle of
salt over in my haste.
“Are you okay?”
He looked from the blue plastic item to me, brow
furrowing. Ed shook the inhaler, sloshing the liquid inside it
around. He took a hesitant breath. When he didn’t wheeze,
he dropped the unneeded medication and looked me in the
eyes. The emotion in them was unsmiling and dead serious.
“What would you do if I wasn’t?”
I gazed back, knowing full well this question wasn’t
about Ed’s physical health. It was about trust. And
something else. Not love, we’d always had some form of
that.
He glanced at my lips, then away from my face. The
matter had a name now. Desire. Was he worried I only
wanted to be with him now that his asthma had lapsed?
I refused to let that idea stand.
“Help you, of course.” I stepped forward and put a hand
to Ed’s cheek, low along his jawbone. “Then something
else. After I was sure you were okay.”
“Something like what?”
His eyes widened, pulse racing against my touch.
“If I answer, you have to stop asking questions.”
He nodded, swallowed, and put his hand over mine.
“Kiss you until it’s all better,” I murmured. “Asthma or
no.”
 Then I did exactly that. He kissed back, and we didn’t
think about the half-prepared kit for a while.
Later, I leaned against Ed’s headboard, watching him
wedge the oilcloth into the lunch bag between the salt
bottles and water jars. He folded the top to close it with
Velcro, then tucked it into my satchel, which I’d retrieved
and put in his chair at some point.
“Thank you.” I grinned. “For making sure I’m prepared.
Among other things.”
“I haven’t remotely finished with any of that.” His
cheeks pinked but he smiled.
“What am I missing?”
“A few tips. One of them will sound obvious, but you’d be
surprised how many mediums don’t think of it. If all else
fails, merge with Horace.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “What else?”
“This isn’t ideal because you’re vulnerable to iron.
Getting inside an enclosure made of that can act like salt
on some ghosts.”
“Still useful to know, for directing allies or bystanders.
Go on.”
“The holy symbol. You hold it up and invoke who or
whatever it means to you. Some faiths use prayer, but for
others, the name of a deity suffices.”
“What do you use lately?”
“This.” He patted the sphere on its chain.
“Since when?”
“Since that day you helped me backstage.” He sat on the
bed beside me, holding out the blue amulet. “It gave me…I
don’t know, a new perspective. Motivation to change
things.”
“It was the day, wasn’t it?” I raised an eyebrow. “You
decided to ask me to the masquerade ball.”
“Yes.” He chuckled. “I almost did right then and there,
but thought to myself, ah, This Isn’t The Moment.”
 “Gods, Ed!” I giggled and threw a pillow at him. “That
joke’s cornier than gnome toes!”
“I try.” He smiled, then glanced at the clock on his desk.
“We should get out of pajamas and get ready to go before
lunch.”
“Okay.” I got up and stretched, then slung my satchel
over my shoulder and headed for the door. “Come on, Nut.”
She got up, jumped out of the chair, and followed me. I
dropped the satchel off in my room, then took her out back
to do her business. That contented her enough to relax in
my room while I took a quick shower.
After dressing in fleece-lined leggings and an oversized
gray and black sweater, I went to my jewelry box for my
holy symbol.
The valknut was a mysterious symbol, one associated
with Odin but also with death. For someone like me, a
raven shifter with undeath magic and two ghostly family
members, it felt right. It didn’t hurt that I had faith in both
them and Odin.
I’d had my sterling silver valknut necklace for so long I
couldn’t remember who’d given it to me. When I picked it
up, the only memories that came back to me were bits and
pieces of a song, too fragmented to identify.
I hadn’t worn it since being kicked from the Nest, so it
still hung from the delicate chain it came with. I moved it to
a longer and sturdier one before putting it on.
Once I got my satchel and called Nut, I was ready. I
headed downstairs to the dining room where Ed walked,
carrying a food bowl for Nut. No wonder he had so many
empty jars if he’d been dishing out her meals.
Crow joined us for a lunch of grilled ham and cheese
sandwiches with tomato soup. While eating, we chatted
about our job.
“Windfall city.” He grinned. “Wonder how much that
stipend is.”
“Any amount is fine by me,” I said.
 “Good way to look at it.” Crow nodded. “I can watch the
pup if you want.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. Ed knows what he’s
doing, but this is a learning excursion for me. I’ll need to
concentrate.”
My brother bent to pet the sha. We finished our meal
only moments before Mr. Endor arrived. We said goodbye
to Crow, Nut, Magnus, and Professor Luciano, then got our
coats and headed out. Horace and Rob went with us.

We pulled up to the Boston Internment Memorial park,

which was in South Boston’s City Point neighborhood. A
uniformed park worker had the area cordoned off and
waved us into a designated parking area.
We got out of the car and paced through the park.
Several ghosts were near the borders, mostly mingling as
though at an unusually mellow party.
Not a party. A funeral. They all wore solemn faces, and
although they interacted, their tone and gestures were
consolatory. Mr. Endor and Ed paused to offer condolences,
so I did the same.
This made a difference to the ghosts we acknowledged.
They thanked us and glided out of the park in peace. It took
a while to circulate through the entire gathering, but we
managed. It didn’t leave us the least bit fatigued.
Farther in, I immediately noticed the ghosts were not
okay. All their forms were more translucent, some of them
had jagged edges, and many wore expressions of deep grief
or despair.
Horace, Rob, and Zach took the lead this time, drifting
along to shake hands, pat shoulders, or occasionally hug a
mourning ghost. This left each of them paler and less
defined. We did the same, although some of the mourners
avoided us solids.
Ed didn’t let that stop him. I saw him put a hand to his
chest, over where the sphere hung as he sent some of his
energy to the avoidant ghosts. He caught me watching and
winked. As I watched, he sent some to Rob and Horace,
too. They both gave him a thumbs-up.
After that, he waited until both Mr. Endor and Zach
weren’t looking and sent a stream of energy at our
teacher’s ghost. Zach spun, slapping his neck as though
stung. Ed had moved on to helping another mourner so he
didn’t find anything.
Finally, we arrived at the courtyard where the
monument stood. I knew from Lecture that it was granite,
intricately and lovingly carved, and towering somewhat
more than fifty feet tall.
Maybe it was impressive or even awe-inspiring. I
couldn’t have said either way because ragged, wailing
ghosts covered the entire thing.
This was as close to a full-scale haunting as I’d ever
seen. Those were supposed to be terrifying. I wasn’t afraid.
Instead, my heart caught in my throat for a different
reason.
Sympathy. And a call to act.
I watched Mr. Endor. He’d merged with Zach, and
together they sent wave after wave of energy up at the
ghosts clinging to the monument.
“Let’s do this, Horace,” I said.
We did. It felt like playing The Witch in Into the Woods.
A stamina-taxing exercise in emotional expression. It was
like performing on stage in more than one way because I
wasn’t doing this alone.
When I tired, Horace was there. When he flagged, I had
his back. Although I’d had a medium’s powers for over two
years, this was my first time using them in a true act of
service.
 Once fortified, each ghost headed away, either down to
the ground and over it or through the air. Both routes
ultimately led them out of the park. The monument seemed
clear. I could finally see carvings on its surface, of people
and animals. Horace ended our merge.
I sat on a nearby bench, leaning back, tired but elated.
“You’re okay, I hope.” Ed stood, peering down at me.
“Better than that.” Even my face was tired, but I smiled
anyway. “Why didn’t you tell me? That a medium’s true
purpose is saving unlives every day? Or that it feels so
amazing to help so many?”
Ed’s mouth dropped open, and he blinked.
“I…guess I never thought if it that way,” he finally said.
“Wow. Queen of new perspectives, Mavis. That’s what you
are.”
“Don’t rest too long,” Mr. Endor said. “The ones at the
top are on their way down. They’re in the worst state.”
“You’re going to need to stand for this,” Ed warned.
“I hear you.” I stood, then opened my satchel and the
lunch bag.
I heard them before seeing them. The nearly wraithed-
out ghosts screeched as they descended the obelisk. There
were five. Three headed toward Ed right off the bat. Rob,
his colonial coat gone a glistening shade of red, got in front
of him and shrieked back.
One peeled off and rushed toward me. Horace stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with me.
“Water,” he said.
I reached into the bag and grabbed a jar of purified
water. I conjured a little of my magic at the same time then
threw, releasing the container just before my element.
The glass shattered, spraying the oncoming ghost with
droplets as glass shards tinkled harmlessly against
cobblestones. It froze, staring. I saw that both eyes were
tattered and figured this poor soul was blind.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We’re here to help you.”
 The ghost rushed me again, a harrowing sound
streaming from the jagged mouth. I reached for the chain
of my silver valknut and held it aloft with my left hand. I
held my right out in front of me.
“Stop!” I ordered. “In the name of Odin, hold still!”
The ghost stopped, tone of voice morphing from anger to
grief. Incorporeal tears streamed out of the jagged holes
where eyes once were. I focused, sending energy directly at
the ghost’s face.
My knees wobbled, but I stayed upright. When I spoke,
my voice sounded like it came from the other side of a
window. So did everything else. Still, I persisted.
“Come back to yourself now.”
“I’ve got you.” Horace stepped in.
The sound clarified and my stance steadied. Behind the
energy’s light, features rebuilt themselves. After a time, I
couldn’t give more and lowered my hand.
I stood face-to-face with the ghost, a tiny woman about
Mrs. Ambersmith’s age, with a fine-boned face, dark wavy
hair under a kerchief, and wide-set dark eyes that flashed
with defiance. She turned her gaze from my pendant to me.
“You’re no medium, Morgan Canto.”
“I’m Mavis, not Morgan.” I cleared my throat. “I’m her
seventh child. My father’s Justin Cormack.”
“The seventh?” She gasped. “Has it been so long?”
“Probably. Who are you?”
“Your grandmother.”
“My grandma survived the Internment.”
“Tell me her name.”
“Constance.”
“That busybody.” She snorted. “Must have taken my
daughter in after we passed. She was your grandfather’s
ex-girlfriend, never stopped carrying the torch for him. You
look less surprised than I expected.”
“Yours isn’t the first family secret I’ve unearthed, is all.”
 “You’re tough.” One corner of her mouth turned up.
Now, her face seemed familiar. As if she was a person dear
to me, but one whose name I couldn’t recall.
“So my friends tell me.”
“Good. I’m the woman who birthed your mother.
Bridget’s my name. Don’t forget, and look me up.”
“I won’t forget.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I think my time has come.”
“Wait. I have so many questions.”
“You’ll find answers.” The half-grin softened. “Just not
from me. My business is complete, and it’s about time, too.”
“What?” I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“She’s moving on,” Horace said. “All ghosts who don’t go
wraith have a chance at it.”
“Where’s she going? How do I help?”
“Nobody knows. Just be here with her now and see her
off.”
I nodded and waved, managing a smile. Bridget didn’t
fade like I always imagined ghosts moving on might.
Instead, she brightened and glowed gold and silver until
the light had filled her.
After that, her outline burst into beams like sunlight
through a cloud bank. I wasn’t sure whether they reached
up or if something above us held itself down toward her.
Three breaths later, she was gone.
That’s when I realized who she’d reminded me of. Not
Mom. Not even Crow. Branwen.
I looked to my right. Two ghosts sailed away from Ed
and out of the park. One followed them from Mr. Endor on
my left. The last ghost, a man with a bear's head, still stood
in front of our teacher.
“Good work, both of you,” Mr. Endor said. “I have to
bring this poor fellow back to Salem.”
Our teacher held up a Jewish star in his left hand and an
agate stone in his right. He funneled his energy into the
stone and through. On the other side, it formed a tight
beam that wrapped around the ghost’s arm.
Mr. Endor cut off the flow of energy into the stone.
Instead of fading, the beam on the other side snapped back
like a rubber band, drawing the ghost into the agate.
“That’s how you make a temporary anchor.” He tucked
the agate into a pocket under his jacket. “I’ll call him out
once we get back. Then bring him to the veteran’s center.
He served in Korea, you know.”
I stood astounded. We’d covered anchors in Lecture and
on paper. I’d seen and handled several permanent ones, but
I’d never gotten a clear look at how they worked.
Apparently, neither had Ed despite all his experience.
“It’s like a projection thread,” Ed said. “The way it
works along with how it looks. Isn’t it, Mr. Endor?”
“Very much so.” He put his pendant back under his
shirt. “I’ll gladly discuss its workings with both of you on
the ride back. We cover it in class later in spring semester.
For now, come along.”
We followed him back to the car, where he had a cooler
full of nutritional shakes and electrolyte drinks waiting.
Our bodies wanted those as much as our brains wanted the
lecture.
Between drinks, I entered Bridget Canto's name into a
list of research topics on my school tablet.
I didn’t remember to look her up until spring.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER EIGHT

On Christmas Day, we’d had dinner with Mrs. Redford

again. It was a lot like Thanksgiving with the mind-boggling
amount of food. She hadn’t said a word about Ed’s father,
though she’d packed leftovers for him.
That should’ve been the first warning.
Then, Ed got a call from Hope’s phone while we were
washing pans in the kitchen shortly before school started
again.
“It has to be about Scree,” he said. “Answer it, please.”
I did. It wasn’t Hope.
“Ed, there’s—”
“Hi, Cos,” I said. “It’s me. He’s got sudsy hands.”
“Oh, hello Mavis. Nice to hear your voice, but I kinda
need to talk to your other half.”
Ed set the clean pan on a towel, then got another to dry
his hands.
“For like, guy stuff?”
“Uh, well, no. It’s kind of a bigger deal than that.”
“I can take it now.” Ed reached for the phone, then sat
on a stool while holding it up to his ear.
I handed it over and dried the pan, trying to tune them
out. It was easy. Ed listened, and Cosmo talked so fast his
voice was garbled anyway. After Ed’s reaction to whatever
he’d heard, I knew I shouldn’t ignore it anymore.
 “He's doing what?” He stood so fast he knocked the
stool to the floor behind him.
“Moving into an apartment in Danvers.” Cosmo cleared
his throat. “Tomorrow.”
“He couldn't be bothered to tell me sooner, of course.”
“Settle down, Ed.” I imagined Cosmo holding both hands
up, palms out.
“No. This is too much. Just because I'm not a redcap or a
shifter I'm supposed to take everything easy, never get
emotional over being left out of the loop. Why couldn't he
call me instead of telling someone in Newport first, huh?”
He paused at the counter’s corner, breathing with his
nostrils flared. I'd seen him this adamant exactly once
before when Levi tasked him with wading out into a riptide
as a test of wits.
“The guy confronts monsters for the king on the regular.
Maybe he kept his mouth shut because he doesn’t want to
fight with his son.”
“I’m eighteen. If he doesn’t want a fight, he should treat
me like an adult. Some father he is.”
“At least yours loves you.”
“I’m sorry, Cos. I’m pissed at my dad, not you. You were
only trying to help. I’ll always love you like a brother.”
“I forgive you, Ed. I love you too. Talk to you later.”
“Yeah, later.”
They hung up, and Ed stood for a moment, staring at his
phone. Then he made it sleep and put it in his pocket.
Finally, he looked at me.
“I owe you an apology too, Mavis.” He sighed. “I flew off
the handle. Let me make it up to you somehow.”
“How about giving Neil a chance, then?” I asked. “It
seemed like you were going to after Key of Crowns. Or if
you can’t, at least tell me why.”
“You’re right. I thought it was possible last year. Now, I
don’t know if I can. Because I’m worried he thinks I’m the
kid he left behind years ago. I’m not the same person
anymore.”
“I like who you are now.” I held my arms out.
“I feel the same way about you.” He stepped into them.
“We’ve both been through a lot. Luckily, it made us better. I
have no idea whether I can say that about him. Because he
called me exactly once since he got back.”
“He was trapped on that island all that time, fighting a
war. Maybe he’s worried what you’ll think of him.”
“If only he’d call and tell me. About moving or his
feelings.”
“So you feel disrespected?” I rubbed his back.
“Forgotten.” He leaned his head against mine. “You’re
right, disrespected fits. It applies to more than me, too.
Like he can’t respect time marching on. Or how hard it was
for Mom while he was gone.”
“You told me he left right after the ghost she chose as a
partner betrayed her.”
“Yeah.” He pulled back and looked me in the face. His
eyes were red. “When he told me the king ordered him to
go, it made me feel better. But only for a while. Because
he’s been back a while now but not following through.”
“Your mom packed food for him. He’s moving to be close
to her. He’s trying at least a little.”
“Trying with her, at least.” Twin tears trailed from his
eyes.
“Not with you, is that it?” I reached up and wiped one
away.
“Maybe if he can’t be bothered with me, I don't want
him in my life.”
A slight popping sound came from behind me.
“Are you reneging on our agreement?” A creaky voice
said.
I looked over my shoulder to find the imp from last
winter, leaning on a wooden staff. The same one Ed made
his agreement with. We dropped our arms and faced the
faerie interloper.
The pit of my stomach fell like a stone. No. Like I had,
out of the air over the hospital.
“There are wards.” I blinked. “How did you get in here?
Nut!”
I heard my familiar come running from the dining room,
but started conjuring an orb ahead of her arrival.
“Mavis—”
Mediumship wouldn’t do me much good in a fight with
Barbara. Or worse, Mom. I let part of my attention focus on
summoning Horace anyway. A merge might give me a little
more endurance if they attacked with iron.
“Did someone come in after you?”
“Mavis!” Ed stepped in front of me. “Stop asking
questions.”
I closed my mouth. At my feet, Nut whined. Horace
zipped up and out through the floor, then raised an
eyebrow at the imp.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
“That depends,” Ed said. “Are the wards intact?”
“Yes. Sid opened a portal to The Odyssey because he
owed a favor to this imp.”
Their exchange gave me a chance to get out of panic
mode. I banished the undeath energy, drew a deep breath,
patted Nut, then stepped around Ed before addressing the
imp again.
“There must be a reason you’re here, then.”
“Yes, Sirin.” The imp faced Ed. “Master Medium, did you
not agree to forgive your father?”
“Fewmets.” Ed bowed his head. “This is all my fault. I’m
at risk of reneging.”
“This isn’t about forgiveness, friend imp,” I said. “It’s
about respect. And showing love.”
“I appreciate your perspective, Sirin. However, I need to
hear this from the Master Medium himself.”
 “She’s right,” Ed said. “I forgave Dad, but he’s still
screwing up. It doesn’t give him license to treat me like an
afterthought.”
“Ah, I see.” The imp nodded. “Well, if I don't have to flex
my ban muscles, I suppose I'll leave the two of you to work
through this. Farewell for now.”
The imp gave us each a shallow bow, then vanished with
a faint pop.
“That's disconcerting,” Magnus said.
“That’s imps for you.” Rob patted his shoulder. “Ed knew
what he was getting into. We all agreed to give our solids
privacy when they need it.”
“Yes,” Professor Luciano said. “Clearly, they do.”
“Now that there’s no emergency.” Horace nodded. “Let’s
go.”
They left the room the way they’d come in.
“At least with our ghosts and the imp, things are
straightforward.” Ed sighed. “Family, not so much.”
“I know what you mean.”
“You're probably the only person I know who does,
Mavis. I could tell you were terrified just now. Are you
okay?”
Ed reached out. I took his hand.
“At least I know this coward can mount a quick defense.”
I snorted and tugged his arm.
“Quick and powerful.” He pulled me closer. “You were
afraid but did it anyway. Opposite of cowardly in my
humble opinion. Me, on the other hand. I’m acting like a
garden-variety teenager.”
“Oh, no way. I can't believe you had to hear news that
big secondhand. Through poor Cosmo of all people.”
“I should’ve seen this coming. It makes sense he’d want
to give things another shot with Mom. I just didn't think
he’d do it practically behind my back. I guess the phone
works both ways. I could’ve called him, too.”
“No guarantee he would’ve told you even then.”
 “I agree but kept hoping for better. Then he does better,
by Mom anyway, and I get pissed. My whole life, I felt like
Mom and I were less important in the family than Dad and
Fred.”
I knew that wasn't true. Cosmo had gone out of his way
to tell me how Fred went into the Under and faced the
wrath of a frightening foe to save Ed from life in the Under
forever. He’d sealed the deal by tithing to the queen even
though his father’s loyalty was to the king.
Back then, it was pretty serious business to choose the
opposite court of close family members. Ed didn't need me
reminding him of all that. It didn't matter much anyway. Big
acts and grand gestures didn't always hold up over time. I
had to offer something better than that to Ed.
“Do you want backup? If you do, I’ll be here every time
until things are better with you two. However long it
takes.”
“Wow, Mavis.” He put his arms around me. “That’s
awesome. Almost as amazing as you are. Yes, please. On
one condition.”
“What?”
“I’m your backup.”
“I don’t want you fighting my family.” I sighed. “I don’t
want to fight them myself.”
“Not for fighting. Unless we have to.”
“Okay, then. We’ll have each other’s backs. I wish all this
family stuff was happening later. Whenever we finish with
this Quest or school. Or both. The timing’s been awful.”
“True story.”
We leaned together like that in the middle of the
kitchen, traces of citrus-scented dish soap slowly fading
from the air. An indeterminate amount of time passed, but
it had been substantial enough for the soap’s scent to
disappear entirely.
“So, your dad’s moving up here,” I finally said. “What
are the details on that?”
 “Cosmo didn’t have any. That's half of the problem. The
other is Dad not giving me a chance at an actual
conversation about it.”
“I’m going to tell you what Crow would say.” The corner
of my mouth tilted up. “Toss that orb in his court by calling
him.”
“Well, we both trust your brother with our lives.” Ed
nodded but didn't smile. “I’ll try it.”
We let go of each other. I picked up the fallen stool. He
got his phone out, then set it on the counter. We sat beside
each other. After that, he dialed and put the call on
speaker.
“Are you sure?” I said over the ring.
“Absotively.”
The line clicked, indicating someone had answered.
“Redford Repairs, Neil speaking.”
“Hello, Dad.” Ed drew a deep breath. “I heard you’re
moving up here.”
“Yes, Edward. Can I call you back?”
“You may not,” I said.
“Oh, hello Mavis,” Mr. Redford said. “I'm in the middle
of helping the movers.”
“This conversation is important and long overdue. I
might not outrank you in terms of the king’s court, but you
know I’m right.”
“Great garters.” Mr. Redford sighed. On the other end of
the line, I heard a door close. “Okay, what do you want to
know, Ed?”
Ed rattled off the entire sequence of concerns I never
would've guessed he had. Everything ranging from whether
he’d have to move out of the boarding house and commute
to school to what Neil’s intentions were toward Delilah. His
father responded to each of them until Ed stated the last
one.
“I don’t understand why I had to hear about this at the
last minute. Why did it come from Cosmo instead of you,
Dad?”
Even over the phone, I felt the magic hang in the air. It
must've been hard, growing up without being able to ask
his father more than two questions a day. No wonder Ed
barely ever slipped up that way. Although he’d kept it out of
his voice and phrasing, the weariness of perpetual caution
showed on his face.
“That's complicated.” Neil sighed. “Okay, maybe it isn’t.
Honestly Ed, I’m not sure why I didn’t tell you.”
“I can't believe this.” Ed shook his head, not caring that
his father couldn't see him do it. “I really am an
afterthought.”
“I'm lousy at communication, and it hasn't made me the
best father. I'm sorry for hurting you.”
“Here’s another apology with nothing to show you mean
it. You said almost the same thing last spring. We’re three
months short of a year later, and I haven’t heard a word
from you since. The monarchs are busy running faerie, and
I hear more from them. Sometimes I wonder if part of you
isn’t still stuck on that island.”
“Maybe you’re right. I was out there for ten years. The
world’s changed more than I expected and I’ve had to work
hard since I got back. Redford Renovations was gone, with
big projects dropped before it dissolved. I understand why
Fred had to sell it, but I lost my contracting license. Getting
it back wasn’t easy.”
“Coming up here won’t be easy, either. Our relationship
needs more than a few small repairs, Dad.”
“I understand, son. I’m not afraid of hard work.”
“Neither am I. I’ve got duties of my own, along with
school, to deal with.”
“I’ll work around that then.”
“If I make time for you and you don’t show up, you might
not get another chance.”
“I get it.” Mr. Redford's voice cracked slightly. “I love
you, son.”
 “I love you too.”
“Hey, sir,” a voice on the other end of the line said. “All
we’ve got left to load is the room you’re in.”
“Now I really have to go,” Neil said.
“Talk to you later.” Ed hung up. “Hopefully not too much
later.”
It wasn’t. Neil showed up at the boarding house the next
morning, asking Ed if he could get a tour. I had to go to The
Odyssey and make a few course adjustments but offered to
go later if Ed needed me. He said he didn’t, so I left them to
it.
When I returned, Ed told me they’d spent the entire day
together, talking about everything from our schedule to the
magical features on the premises. His mood struck me as
more relieved than hopeful.
I took that as a good sign.

On New Year's Eve, we went to Newport via portal with a

brief detour on The Odyssey for my navigation duties.
Scree was above decks, sitting in the sun and enjoying the
balmy day. Homero’s vampiric nature kept him in his
quarters, but Nut went down to see him anyway. Ed went
over to chat with Scree while Crow headed up the mast to
hang out with Kasa. As I worked at the helm, Justin told me
our guests had been well.
Once finished with my duties, I met my familiar, my
brother, and my boyfriend at the portal circle. We must
have been right on time, because it opened almost
immediately after we reached it.
After setting our bags down in the big guest room with
the bunk beds, we took our now customary long trek
through the halls to the cavernous dining room. Everyone
from our class section was in attendance.
 The Dunstables, Gitanos, and Redfords showed up, as
well as Blaine and Kim with their twins. I discovered a few
surprise guests in the form of the Endors along with
Petrichor, his butler Mr. Roche, and a stately older lady
with him who I didn’t recognize.
After dinner, Mr. Roche approached and introduced us.
“Miss Mavis, this is my mother, Ms. Celine Alizee-
Roche.”
“Oh, hello.” I gave a small curtsy. “It’s very nice to meet
you.”
“No need to project quite that much formality, Walter.”
She chuckled but curtsied back. “It’s nice to meet you, too.
I must say, I do appreciate how welcoming Saya’s friends
have been to our foundling.”
“He implied he was adopted when I saw him in
September.”
“I found his egg in a cave, hidden by mist.”
“You found him?” I blinked. “Wait, and you teach at Weir
Academy?”
“Yes to both questions.”
“So his egg was behind Niagara Falls?”
“Correct.”
“Why? How?”
“I’m unsure, but local legend says that a dragon mother
from ancient times once made her nest there. And that
sometimes, the remnants of her magic draws young
dragons to it at times of great need.”
“That’s a beautiful story.”
“I am sorry I don’t know more. Hertha has implied that
we might hear more. That there’s a possibility you might
find others like Petrichor on your travels.”
“I’m sure either the captain or Saya will have more
information than I do.”
“Perhaps. Hertha tells me you’re the navigator. I’m
particularly interested in the timing of your voyage for
obvious reasons.”
 “Right.” I nodded. “If you’re preparing to help in a
rescue or recovery effort, you want to know how much time
you have.”
“Exactly.”
“It’s a good thing I checked on it today, then. If we don’t
run into any major storms, my charts put us in proximity
about seven weeks out. We won’t land immediately after
arriving, though.”
“I already know. Hertha has informed me she’ll call a
meeting,” Celine said. “Thank you. I will adjust my
timetable accordingly.”
She inclined her head, then moved away. Mr. Roche
followed. I was about to head over to where Cosmo sat
showing a massive sketchbook to Ed when somebody
tugged on my sleeve.
“What’s up, Ben?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, Mavis.” He cleared his throat.
“Ed told me to talk to some new people, but I don’t know
any. And, well, it’s kind of weird being the only person here
who’s not in high school.”
“You know what?”
He shook his head.
“You’re not. Follow me.”
I introduced Benjamin to Petrichor, of course. I used my
acting skills to make them sound cooler than they might
have described themselves, but neither boy seemed to
mind. By the time I sauntered away, they’d engaged in rapt
conversation about Brickcrafter, a video game they both
played.
“Your work there is done.” Magnus chuckled. “Good call,
by the way.”
“I can’t believe nobody else thought of it.” I shook my
head. “I mean, they’ve been here hours longer than us.”
“It’s perspective. You’ve got it in abundance like Ed
says.”
“Thanks, Magnus.”
 “I was, uh, talking to Wilfred earlier.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He says he’d like to meet with Saya.”
“When?”
“Tonight. If you’re both available.”
“He needs me, too?”
“Only to reveal him. After that, not so much.”
“I grok it.”
I changed course from where Ed sat with Cosmo to
where Saya stood cradling one of her brother’s sleeping
twins. The other lay snoring in a crib. She was watching
them while their parents escorted Tony and a heavily
pregnant and sleepy Olivia out of the party. I waved and
waited quietly but a moment later, Saya shook her head.
“They’re past that purple crying phase.” She smiled.
“And into the sleep through almost anything one.”
“Oh, okay.” I drew a deep breath. “Maybe you want to
put the little one down. Or sit.”
“Hmm.” She lowered the child to rest beside their
sibling. “All right, I’m ready.”
“Your father wants to have a chat. Tonight. Privately.”
“Oh!” She pressed her hands together. “Yes. Tell me a
time and place. I’ll be there.”
“You look happy?” I blinked. The main thing Saya had in
common with Ed was a tendency to never forget.
“You’re assuming I’m angry at Father.” She glanced
across the room at Ed. “I’m not. I’ve had time to read his
journal and understand why he waited to show himself.”
I nodded. “Okay, that’s a relief.”
We decided on a time just after midnight in an empty
guest room, then had Magnus deliver the message. Blaine
and Kim returned to their children, so we headed over to
look at Cosmo’s artwork. By then, he’d put it away and
refused to show us.
“Wait until Rec Week,” he told us. “For now, let’s all go
have fun!”
 We did. So much of it that I tumbled into my bunk after
revealing Wilfred for Saya, asleep almost before my head
touched the pillow.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER NINE

We returned to school in various states of readiness, from

Kiara’s bullet journal-inspired confidence to Cosmo’s
controlled chaos brand of mania. For once, I fell squarely in
the middle.
“Like a normal high school student,” I mumbled around
my sandwich.
“Nothing normal about this high school,” Jill said.
“Thank God.” Jaxon grinned.
“Werewolf hearing.” I chuckled. “Can’t beat it.”
“Here’s the bell.” Cosmo covered his ears. “Cats win.”
I headed down the hall toward the auditorium with
Jaxon and Kiara.
“We’re going to see what the musical is,” she said.
“Can’t wait!”
“Me too.”
The door was propped open so we filed in. All the
extramural students were already there. Mr. Hickson sat on
the edge of the stage, holding the end of a string hanging
down from somewhere in the curtain’s vicinity.
After we were all seated, he pulled it. A blue banner
dropped, and after the bright silver spangles stopped
dazzling our eyes, we read it.
“Oh my God, Starmites!” Kiara jumped up.
“What’s a Starmite?” Diego asked.
 “Only the campiest sci-fantasy rock musical ever.”
Hayden laughed. “I’m going out for Shak Graa.”
“You’ll get it,” Rita said. “I’m all over Diva.”
“For those of us who aren’t in the know, do you have the
libretto?” I asked.
“Sure.” Mr. Hickson pointed at a box to his right. “The
soundtrack is in each school’s library if you want to either
borrow or download it, too. I’m playing it—” He tapped his
phone. “Right now.”
Music sounded on the speakers overhead. Kiara,
Hayden, and Rita danced and sang along. I sat with Ed,
listening. It was a rock musical score with what sounded
like a medium-sized cast.
“I’m pretty sure Mr. Hickson had you in mind for that
Spacepunk character,” I told him.
“I don’t think so,” Ed said. “Jax will nail it.”
“He’s got the same problem we both do, though.”
“Duty. Ken’s got tenor range, too.”
“At least there are a bunch of supporting characters.”
“I wish things were different.” Ed took my hand. “Then
again, we can always do theater after high school.”
I wondered about that. Whether we would even if we
could. Last year Crow told me I shouldn’t stop performing
as long as it made me happy. He was right. But what did
happiness look like outside high school?
I leaned my head on Ed’s shoulder, wondering if he had
any idea. When he leaned on me, I understood that it didn’t
matter whether we had the answers about life in general
yet or not.
We’d figure them out together.

School kept us busy and none of us dared slack on

classwork. Not even after Kiara got her early acceptance
letter from Providence Paranormal College. We all had our
morning Gym back, but our magiscience fair projects
consumed most of our thoughts. Even with tests coming
and Mrs. Ambersmith teaching to them.
“Be certain to remember each magical element,” she
said. “The test expects you to know them, even if you’re a
nonmagical shifter. While you’ll still graduate with an
average score, I am aware that many of you have applied at
schools with more stringent entrance requirements.”
The bell rang.
“Why does she have to remind us every time?” Jaxon
moaned.
“Emerson can’t be that hard to get into,” Jill said. “It
started as mundane, for Luna’s sake.”
“You’d think that, but you’d be wrong.” Jaxon tugged my
sleeve. “Say hi to Diego for me.”
“I will.” I nodded and headed toward the portal.
At Messing, I passed Jaxon’s message along. Allen
beckoned me over before the bell rang.
“You need to see this.” He passed me a folded piece of
printer paper. “No peeking at it until after school.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I didn’t peek. In fact, I forgot to look at Allen’s paper
after school. On the way back from the bathroom after
dinner, I found Wyatt standing outside my door.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Astrology in the lounge. I need to do something with
the charts for Aunt Tilda. If you still have yours.”
“Okay.” I opened the door. “See you downstairs a few
minutes from now?”
“Sure.”
I got the chart from a box under my bed, tucked it into
my satchel, and hurried down to the lounge. Everyone was
there, even the off-campus classmates. As the last one to
arrive, I closed the door then handed my chart over to
Wyatt.
 He had all the charts on the floor in a circle with Ed’s in
the middle, like our day in the gym last semester with the
parachute. It seemed like Wyatt didn’t know where to put
my chart.
Allen’s paper seesawed down to the floor. Horace
scooped it up and pointed at my bag. I opened the flap and
let him put it back. After I grabbed a seat between Hope
and Kiara, I looked at it.
He’d printed out a scan of what appeared to be a
polaroid picture of four Tarot cards. I knew better because
the cards had auras. Someone had taken this with Kirlian
photography like Old Grandpa Ambersmith had shown us in
first year Mediumship.
He’d laid out the cards on what looked like the tank at
Irzyk Park. The Devil crossed The World reversed between
the Two of Cups on the right and The Fool reversed on the
left. The World’s aura was gold, The Fool’s silver, and the
Two of Cups mixed the two. The Devil’s instantly reminded
me of undeath magic.
Hope sat peering at Wyatt’s chart arrangement. I leaned
closer to her and lowered my voice.
“Maybe we should call Allen in on this,” I said. “Get a
clairvoyant’s perspective.”
“I’d need a good reason to do that.”
“I think he gave me one this morning.” I held the paper
out to her.
“Tiamat’s scales.” She inhaled. “Show this to Wyatt.”
I got up and did exactly that. Hope stood beside me.
“Huh.” He blinked. “Kirlian photo. I want to talk to
whoever took it.”
“That tears it.” Hope looked up at Diego. “Call Allen. If
he can talk to us, put him on speaker.”
“Okay.” Diego nodded and got his phone out. “Hey, Allen
—You’re where? Hold on.” He tapped the speaker button.
“Say that again.”
“I’m outside the boarding house,” Allen said.
 “Cos, go let him in,” Hope directed.
A minute later, Allen stood in the room with us. He
looked down at the ring of charts, then spoke.
“You need it in 3D.”
“Great garters, you’re right.” Wyatt shook his head. “No
wonder I couldn’t get it lined up.”
He put Ed’s chart on the floor and held mine up over it.
“Cetus always goes in the water.” Allen pointed. “Switch
it with Ophiuchus.”
Once they’d moved the charts, Hope held the paper out.
“Did you take this?”
“I read them after the wind blew them like this. Old
Grandpa took the picture. He wouldn’t let me talk about
the reading or let me keep the original so I took a picture of
the picture with my phone.”
“You gave it to me, why?” I asked.
“I would have given it to the Alkonost, but I never get to
see her. It’s about your Quest.”
“Not again.” Cosmo put his hand over his face.
My chest ached with a squeezing sensation, and I
gasped. So did everyone else.
“There’s a ban,” Hope explained. “Don’t do the reading
or talk directly about it.”
“Okay.” Allen backed toward the door. “There’s a book,
Kirlian Tarot. Diego knows what I mean.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Abuelita wrote it. I’ll bring it over
tomorrow.”
“Sorry I can’t help,” Allen said.
“It’s not your fault,” Hope said. “Thanks for trying.”
After Diego returned from escorting Allen back out of
the building, Hope snapped a picture of Wyatt’s chart
layout with her phone and put it into LORA. Everyone must
have thought it was a good idea because we each took one
except for Jill who took a second one with Wyatt’s phone.
“So, what are your thoughts with all the charts?” Ed
asked.
 “I’ve been thinking about that parachute day all winter,”
Wyatt said. “It reminded me of the god Aion and the circle
of the zodiac. And I wanted to see if the charts add up to
something matching that.”
“Do they?” Saya asked.
“Almost, but not quite.” Wyatt pointed at three empty
spots. “We’re missing Pisces and Sagittarius because Mavis
and Ed are technically not those signs.”
“Libra’s empty too,” Cosmo said. “I know why. It’s
Ramon’s sign.”
“Mavis,” Horace said. “Reveal me.”
I did.
“Apparently, there’s a ghost side of this story,” I said.
“Go on, Horace.”
“I’m a Sagittarius,” he said. “Twice over because I was
born in that sign and died in it too.”
“Gods.” I blinked. “Maybe Magnus counts for Pisces the
same way.”
“He doesn’t. He’s Cetus like you,” Wyatt said. “Under
born and everything.”
“It’s Bianca,” Horace said. “She was born in Pisces but
didn’t die during her birth month.”
“I don’t think that makes a difference,” Wyatt said.
“Anyway, this crazy theory almost makes sense now. Except
for Ramon, unless one of the other ghosts is a Libra.”
“It’s our dad,” Magnus said. “Mine and Mavis’s, I mean.
Last time we talked he told me his birthday. It’s in October.
That’s Libra, right?”
“Mostly. What day?” Wyatt asked.
“The thirteenth.”
“Then yeah.” Wyatt nodded. “That’ll do it.”
“What does this mean for the Quest?” Ed asked. “And
the sphere?”
“I’m not totally sure.” Wyatt sighed. “I wish I could
draw.”
 “Let me see all the pictures everyone took,” Cosmo said.
“And give me a few days. I’ll make something that goes
with what you’re trying to explain.”
“This is crazy suspenseful,” Fiona said.
“I know, right?” Kiara sighed. “We’ll have to wait and
see.”
The lights flickered, which meant our off-campus friends
had to go home. I didn’t expect to get any sleep but didn’t
have trouble once I got under the covers. Still, I didn’t
exactly sleep well.
I dreamed of being trapped inside a giant snow globe
with my friends. We were all dressed in excruciatingly
uncomfortable costumes themed along our zodiac signs and
forced to dance until our feet bled.

Wyatt, Diego, and Ed teamed up to read the Kirlian Tarot

book while Cosmo worked on his drawing of the zodiac
wheel. I kept myself out of their hair by helping Kiara and
Jaxon choose audition pieces for Starmites.
“Rita’s doing Nobody’s Side from Chess,” I said. “I think
you should go opposite and do a ballad.”
“Good call.” Kiara nodded. “How about If You Knew from
Lizzie the Musical?”
“Oh, yes!” Jaxon smiled. “That’s awesome!”
“Jaxon, how about Corner of the Sky from Pippin?” I
asked.
“I’ll give it a try.”
“You need something too, Mavis,” Kiara said.
“I’m not going for anything specific so I’ll pick
something I like.”
“Maybe do a duet with Ed,” Jaxon suggested.
“I’ll talk to him about it.”
 “He’s so busy,” Kiara said. “I know what’s perfect for
you two, though.”
She went to the box of music and flipped through
musical titles until she got to the letter “H.” A moment
later, she pulled some pages out and handed them to me.
“This one could work.” I grinned. “We both know it.
Thanks, Kiara.”
“No problem!”
The research team took a break at Dead Man’s Party
with their significant others. Cosmo brought Hope. I
pitched the audition song idea to Ed.
“It’s perfect,” he said. “Thank Kiara for me.”
I did, of course, but only after our night out.
It took the rest of the week for them to finish
interpreting the charts, the Tarot reading, and for Cosmo to
incorporate all the notes and symbols into his artwork.
I might have gotten antsy waiting, but something came
up.
On Thursday, I picked up Nut from Dr. Cormack’s office
before Lab as usual. He stopped me before I left.
“Mavis, please take a seat. I know you have Lab in about
five minutes, but this will be quick.”
“Okay.” I sat. “What’s going on?”
“I’d like you to pay close attention to Mr. Hickson
tomorrow during Rec if you don’t mind.”
“Why?”
“This isn’t an easy time of year for him. He hasn’t talked
to me like he usually does.”
The truth in his words made my mind race. Last winter,
Mr. Hickson had stormed up to the roof, assuming I was
Mom. The one before, he’d gone to rule-bending lengths to
prevent me from giving up on school. I should’ve noticed
the pattern sooner and what it added up to.
Jedi Hickson’s loss. The one Dr. Aranha, Justin, and
Paolo had all mentioned but never specified. If he was
alone by the time he joined Mom’s pack, and his grief was
in winter, there was only one explanation.
“He lost his parents in the Boston Internment, didn’t
he?”
Dr. Cormack only nodded.
“Oh.” I blinked. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re the only person here who sees ghosts.”
“You think one’s haunting him? In Salem of all places?”
“No, in Boston.” He sighed. “Each winter he visits the
memorial to those lost during Boston Internment. I’ve
counseled him beforehand each time. This year, he didn’t
show up for our appointment. He’s going there this
afternoon.”
“There’s still time before school lets out. I can go back
to the auditorium and get him.”
“No, please don’t.” He shook his head. “We already
messaged. He missed it on purpose. Each year, I’ve put
wards on him before he leaves my office.”
“Because that monument’s haunted. Mr. Endor gave
almost a week’s worth of lectures on it. I understand now.
I’ll check Mr. Hickson for signs of haunting, don’t worry.”
“Thank you, Mavis.”
I left Dr. Cormack’s office without telling him when or
how I intended to do that, however.
After school, I asked Crow to walk Nut home, then
walked around the building toward the faculty parking lot.
Before getting there, I shifted. I had no illusions about
being able to follow my teacher’s car down the highway to
Boston. Besides, going in a straight line would get me to
the monument ahead of him in rush hour traffic.
Perched on the fence between the lot and a side street, I
waited. All the other faculty and staff left. Even Sid drove
away in his pickup truck. The last car remaining was a
fancy black Cadillac I wouldn’t have imagined my teacher
driving
 Nevertheless, Mr. Hickson finally came out of the
building and headed toward the vehicle. He stopped before
getting in, turning his back on the fence and me. That’s
when I noticed a stocky figure standing in the shadow of
the water-main shed. The voice sounded before the speaker
stepped out.
“Our boss sends her regards.”
My sister Barbara looked almost blue-collar respectable
in the utility blues, work helmet, and steel-toed boots. They
weren’t the real deal, of course. I knew better.
So did Mr. Hickson. “Are you handing out idle threats or
are you here to follow through on one, Barb?”
“Nothing’s idle about me, and you know it.”
“I’ve got someplace to be.” He shook his head. “Which
you and your mother Morgan already know. So, finish this
and let me go.”
“I already finished. Her regards are for your parents on
the anniversary of their death.”
“I suppose she expects some platitude in return.” He
snorted. “She’s not getting it. Go home, Barb. Or better yet,
go back to school.”
“When will you learn, teach? The boss only ever wanted
what’s best for you. Coyotes love their freedom, and she’s
had you chained up for a long time. Do as she says, and
she’ll let you go.”
“What if I don’t?”
I tensed, ready to fly at her and shift on a dime if she got
anywhere near him. She didn’t.
“You’ll end up in a cage.” Barbara put one fist on her
hip. “At some point in the future.”
“I suppose she’ll have you put me there instead of
getting her hands dirty doing it herself.” He sighed.
“I’m not stupid enough to give you any details.”
“You’ve got a cunning brain in your head. Use it, Barb.
Three of your siblings are already locked up. Your mother’s
using you like she has with all of you children.”
 “Still trying to give me a lecture.” She smirked. “Don’t
bother. I’ve got my orders, and if I follow them, she’ll
reward me.”
“The odds aren’t in your favor, unfortunately.” He
inclined his head and pressed a button on the key fob he
held in his hand. “May you follow your instincts instead.”
She let him leave. I would’ve followed her, but I’d
promised Dr. Cormack. Besides, she was probably going
back to the Nest to tell Mom that her last pack member had
refused her again.
I flew down to the monument near Boston Harbor with
Horace and Magnus for company. The whole time in the air,
I racked my brain trying to think of a way to keep hostile
ghosts away from my grieving teacher. Without college-
level training, I couldn’t set up a ghost-repelling ward. And
I hadn’t had time to get any salt.
My early arrival, mediumship talent, and ghostly
partners turned out to be enough. I worked with Horace,
and thanks to Mr. Endor I knew how to soothe the restless
ghosts in the area. We managed this task in time for me to
shift back into bird form and find a convenient perch.
Mr. Hickson walked through the small memorial park
with his head down, carrying two sprays of small yellow
flowers. He set them at the foot of the monument, that gray
stone obelisk carved with animals and people. He stood
staring up at it for a few minutes, then stepped back to a
bench and pulled out a handkerchief.
At first, I looked away as he wept because I figured that
the reason he made this trip alone in the first place was to
be alone with his grief.
Then, I thought about when I’d grieved. The only time I
wanted solitude was when I assumed nobody would want to
be around me if I was a downer. No, not a downer.
Honest. I owed him that, from one untrustworthy
trickster to another. So I flew down, landed beside him, and
shifted back.
 “I’m so sorry, Mr. Hickson. What do you need?”
“Let’s just sit,” he managed.
We did, but it was January in Boston, and the sun had
set. He shivered, rubbed his hands together, then stood up.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re not flying back alone in
the dark. Kyle’s car is in the garage across the street.
Follow me.”
On the drive back, he told me about his parents. Not
about what he’d felt after losing them, but about who
they’d been. Loving parents, doing honest work, taking the
highest-paying jobs they could get in Boston to save money
for their son’s college tuition. Moving house to save on
rent, but always making a home together.
Even after all this time, he loved them still. He’d needed
to talk about them. The fact I’d never known them didn’t
matter. Maybe that was a feature, not a bug.
He dropped me off at the boarding house with enough
time for me to get a quick dinner. Everyone else from my
year was already done and working on either school or
Quest things. I went upstairs and took a shower, then sat in
bed reading the Starmites script. I couldn’t focus on it.
“Why did he say all that to me?” I shook my head.
“Instead of Dr. Cormack?”
“It’s because you remind him of Dad,” Magnus said.
“Also, Kyle Cormack’s heard it all,” Horace added. “It
can help, talking to someone who hadn’t heard those
stories before.”
“What’s the difference?” I asked.
“Like Magnus said, you’re the daughter of his closest
friend,” Horace answered. “Maybe to him, you’re family,
too.”
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER TEN

I told Ed everything that happened after school with Mr.

Hickson over zero dark thirty coffee. He put his hand over
mine halfway through. At the end, he reached out and
wiped away a tear I wasn’t aware I’d shed.
“It’s a good thing we went there last week with Mr.
Endor, then,” he said. “You knew exactly what to do.”
“You’re not mad that I didn’t bring you? Or call?”
“No way.” He shook his head.
“Why?”
“Trust and knowledge.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Mavis, I believe in you. You know your limits, and you
did bring backup in Horace and Magnus. If you’d called, I
would’ve done whatever you wanted. I refuse to take that
you’re capable and brave as some sort of insult.”
“I could kiss you right now.”
“If you did, I’d kiss you back.”
As we leaned forward, Rob sailed through the doorway
whistling The Connecticut Peddler.
“Don’t stop on my account.” He floated right back out
again.
“Sorry he’s such a mood-killer.” Ed sighed.
“My mood’s just fine. How about yours?”
 He smiled. We kissed, but not for long. Food began
appearing on the tables, and shortly after, our classmates
sat for breakfast. Wyatt and Cosmo were the last ones in.
“What’s the status of the chart research?” Hope asked
them.
“Oh, we finished the research last night,” Wyatt said.
“I’m still working with Cosmo on the drawing, though.”
“Go, Team Appetite.” Cosmo’s stomach rumbled. “I’m
gonna inhale some pancakes now if you don’t mind,
Captain.”
“Ditto,” Wyatt said.
“Go on.” She nodded.
We finished breakfast. As we waited in the basement for
the portal, Ed nudged me.
“What’s up?”
“Listen, I’m going to campus early to see Dean Adelphi,”
he said. “I can tell her a ghost saw something without
mentioning Mr. Hickson, and she’ll beef up the security.”
“That’s a good idea.” I nodded. “I know Mr. Hickson can
handle himself, but I’m going to tell Principal Klein I saw
Barbara on the way out of school. I hope he already told
her, but if he didn’t, she should know.”
“Good call. If he did, it never hurts to make it clear there
were witnesses. Let me know how it went at Mediumship.”
“I will. See you then.”
I ended up with way more to tell him than either of us
could’ve imagined.

In the middle of morning Gym, Counselor Goldfarb’s voice

sounded over the loudspeaker, summoning me to the
guidance office. Uniformed police officers milled around in
the hall outside the front desk. I stopped, staring as
Detective Ambersmith escorted Dr. Cormack out from
behind it, his hands cuffed behind his back.
Counselor Goldfarb stood nearby, holding Nut in their
arms. My familiar whined, pointing her nose at my
unfortunate uncle. I hurried to their side.
“What’s going on?”
“Some anonymous tipster said he had unauthorized
controlled substances in his car,” Counselor Goldfarb said.
“Fewmets!” My hands curled into fists. “The Cadillac?”
“Yes, that’s what he drives.”
“There aren’t drugs in there.”
“They found evidence, Mavis.”
“He’s been framed,” I insisted.
“If you have something to say on that, we’ll arrange for
you to give a statement. For now, we’ll help most by staying
calm.”
“If you didn’t want me to help, why did you call?”
“Dr. Cormack can’t watch your familiar from the town
jail.”
“Oh.” I deflated a little. “Right.”
I held my arms out, and the counselor passed Nut to me.
After an exchange of thanks, I waited, watching as the
police went about the business of searching Dr. Cormack’s
office.
My heart sank as they emerged with sealed evidence
bags. Babs couldn’t have planted drugs inside the school,
let alone the office, which had no windows. So, anything
they found in here was on him.
“Back in a sec, checking something,” Magnus said.
He headed for the police officers with one hand out.
After touching each of the bags, he returned to me.
“None of that’s drugs. It’s all paperwork. Maybe they
want to see if it explains whatever was in the car.”
“Brilliant work, Magnus,” Horace said.
“Thanks, man.”
 The last officer emerged with Dr. Cormack’s laptop,
confirming my brother’s theory. I tried to let go of my
anguish but couldn’t entirely, with good reason.
Barbara had threatened Mr. Hickson and apparently
gotten the doctor by mistake. She’d be furious. He was still
in danger, so I had to stay vigilant and focused enough to
guess the means and timing before giving a statement.
“If Nut can’t sit through Lecture, I can call Headmaster
Hawkins and arrange a portal for her to stay there,”
Counselor Goldfarb offered.
“I think I can manage her. If not, I’ll bring her into a
chill-out chamber.”
“Clever idea, Mavis.”
The bell rang. I thanked the counselor again and headed
down the hall with my familiar and the ghosts. I needn’t
have worried about her.
Magnus and Horace stayed by Nut’s side throughout
Mrs. Ambersmith’s class period. The session was
fascinating because she talked more about the history of
World War Two.
“During liberation, extrahumans on the ground had their
hands full. When they arrived, fully half the SS forces in
charge of the camp lay dying from a rare magical attack.
The other half tried to escape through a portal to the
Under. Some gave chase, but the rest took steps to
maintain secrecy.”
She wrote words on the board.
The beginning of the end.
“They managed to cover up evidence of magic, but
barely. It cost some of them their lives, and others a ban
against three generations of their blood kin entering the
Under.” She caught my eye, and I understood immediately.
My grandfather and his brother had been there. What
she’d said explained why Mom got attacked while giving
birth to Crow and me.
 Mrs. Ambersmith continued, “Yet those sacrifices to
maintain secrecy might have been in vain if not for the
clandestine nature of the Cold War. Which we will go over
starting next week.”
The bell rang. Nut followed me out of the classroom,
flanked by the ghosts. Cosmo walked with us down the hall
toward the portal.
“My appointment with Dr. Cormack got switched to
Counselor Amaral,” he said. “Then I see Nut in lecture with
you. Something happened, and you know about it.”
“I’ll explain later, Cosmo. I have to go to Messing while
you all are in research. Then to see the principal before
Rec.”
“Don’t forget to eat.” He dug Power Bars out of his
trench coat pocket and held them out to me.
“Thanks, Cos. See you later.”
I didn’t think I’d be able to talk to Ed freely during
Mediumship, but Principal Adelphi wanted my side of Ed’s
story from that morning. He went with me. We told him
what happened on the way.
“Mr. Hickson was right, though,” Ed said. “Barbara
messed up. She thought that was his car, not Dr.
Cormack’s.”
“I think the only reason she made that mistake was
being in prison just before trying that trick.” I swallowed
past a sudden lump in my throat. “It doesn’t matter
whether Babs knew or not. The police won’t find supporting
evidence in Cormack’s office. The minute I tell anyone
about how Hickson borrowed the car—”
“They’ll be more than happy to pin the drugs on the
coyote.” Ed clenched his jaw so hard his teeth squeaked.
“And she’ll still get what she wanted. If she’s got someone
inside the prison to lean on him hard enough, he’ll leave
the pack. Morgan wins. I don’t know what to do to stop her,
either. Besides mentioning someone suspicious was at your
school yesterday without any other details.”
 “Neither do I.”
We got to the office, where I told her I’d seen a person in
work clothes lurking outside my school the afternoon
before. She didn’t press so I said nothing about Mr.
Hickson. After that she let us go back to class.
“I was thinking in there,” I said.
“You always are.” Ed gave me a faint smile. “Spill it.”
“Maybe we should trust Mr. Hickson. He didn’t seem
surprised to see my sister, and Dr. Cormack was cool as a
cucumber on the way out the door this morning.”
“You think they already have a plan, then.” Ed nodded.
“I wish there was someone else we could go to. Like a
backup adult who might know whether that’s true or not.”
“That sounds like a job for Dr. Aranha. I’ll talk to her
after Lab. We just have to get through Mediumship, lunch,
and Rec. Fewmets, we have auditions.”
“We’ll get it done.” He held the classroom door open for
me. “All of it.”
He was right.
All through Forum, I kept my hand down, using Nut’s
presence as an excuse for limiting my participation. In
truth, the questions I wanted to ask had nothing to do with
Lecture and might have been dangerous to ask, let alone
answer under the circumstances.
I did see the principal during part of lunch but not to
make any statements, which was the opposite of how I’d
acted that morning.
“Counselor Goldfarb said you wanted to see me.”
“I did.” I nodded. “Cosmo and I need maintenance on
our formolite bracelets. Without Dr. Cormack around,
how?”
“That’s an easy answer. If he isn’t back next week, I can
call Dr. Khan from Hawthorn. She has the credentials to
work with Nurse Wilson on your bracelets.”
“Okay, thanks Principal Klein.”
 “One moment, Mavis. It’s possible that Dr. Cormack will
be absent for a while. That could make a conundrum
around what to do with Nut.”
“Can she stay with Crow?” I asked. “He’s still working
with Sid so he’s on campus.”
“Good idea. I’ll discuss that with them later and see if
they can manage that. You may return to the cafeteria
unless there’s something else you’d like to discuss.”
“I thought I saw someone on my way out of school
yesterday.” I repeated what I’d said to Dean Adelphi.
“Dressed like a utility worker, but their clothes were
practically brand new.”
“You must have seen more than that.”
“They had a hat on. Anyway, that’s all I can tell you.
Auditions for the musical are today.”
“Break a leg, then.” She let me go, even though she
must have known I hadn’t said everything.
I had time for a quick sandwich and drink before Rec
started and made it to the auditorium door before the bell
rang. I wasn’t too nervous about going out for ensemble,
especially after last year.
I was disappointed, and I couldn’t blame fate, the gods,
or luck for it anymore. This feeling was mine, and I had no
choice but to own it.
Leaning beside the squeaky door as everybody else filed
in, I thought about that feeling. On closer inspection, it
didn’t come from Mom’s machinations, Dr. Cormack’s
mistakes, Mr. Hickson’s defiance, or Quest obligations
eating my time. It was older than that.
How long had I felt this way? Certainly since before high
school, although being here had kept the emotion at bay.
Moments later, I had the answer.
“When I was six.”
Somebody leaned beside me. I covered my mouth but
needn’t have bothered. It was Ed, of course.
 “Bet you were as precocious as me.” He bumped his
hand against mine.
“Maybe.” I took it. “I bet you were less disappointed
with your life back then.”
“No way.” He sighed. “Even with Hope around being her
bossy self all the time. Something big happened when you
were six. That was your ghost phase.”
“Yeah, including realizing that seeing ghosts was next to
impossible.” I turned my head to look at him. “Ed, how do
you kill disappointment?”
“You don’t.” He turned, too. “Mostly I find something
else to focus on until it goes away.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
The bell rang.
“The best advice I ever got about that came from Lane
Meyer.”
“The rock star?”
“Yeah.” Ed nodded.
“What did he say?”
“Sing it out of your heart.” He grinned. “Or maybe he
said wring. Either way, it works.”
“Wanna go in and help me test it out?”
“Always.”
I wrote our names and song down on the sheet.
Auditions started a few minutes later. Kiara and Jaxon both
gave excellent performances. Hayden sang You’ll Be Back
from Hamilton, fully hamming up the toxicity.
On our turn, Ed and I sang Seventeen from Heathers the
Musical. Lane was correct. Singing didn’t eliminate my
disappointment, but it helped.
I even got a chance to cry a little, right up there in front
of everybody, and the song's lyrics explained it away. Ed
did, too. At the end, we sat and watched the rest of the
auditions.
Rita went last and stopped the show. I hadn’t listened to
the Chess soundtrack before, but after her performance of
Nobody’s Side, I wanted to.
The lights went up, and Mr. Hickson got up on the stage.
“Excellent job, everyone. You’ll see the cast list on
Monday.”
“I’m going to be nervous all weekend,” Hayden said.
“Me too,” I agreed.
The weekend ended up being too busy with other things
for that.
After Lab, I packed my things up slowly. Dr. Aranha
noticed.
“I spoke to Mr. Hickson on the phone last night.” She
picked up my notebook and flipped it open.
“Oh?”
“Yes.” She closed the notebook and handed it back.
“What you did for him was very kind. It’s best not to
mention it again unless he brings it up, though.”
“I kind of figured.” I nodded. “He seems to have it all
under control. I wasn’t sure whether he would after I got to
school this morning.”
“I understand. The project is coming along as expected.
Be sure to look those notes over again soon. Maybe after
you get back to your room this afternoon.”
“I will, Dr. Aranha.” I opened the door but turned my
head before leaving. “Thanks.”
She only nodded. I hurried back to the boarding house
so quickly I caught up to my friends half a block from
school. I kept my pace and passed them, then went in and
ran up the stairs.
She’d left a message, hastily scrawled in what I thought
at first was strange ink. A moment later I realized the only
thing she’d had to write with was her silk. The letters
glimmered, and I needed to put it directly under my desk
lamp to read the four-word message.
Hang on. It’s covered.
A wave of relief profound enough to sting my eyes with
tears overcame me. The adults in my life might not be
infallible, but at least I didn’t feel compelled to handle this
crisis for them.
Even if it ended up being more dangerous than they
expected.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

On Saturday, Wyatt finished breakfast early. Cosmo got up

a few minutes later and told us to meet them in the lounge
when we got done.
Out in the hall, I found Diego trying to juggle his phone
while taking off his coat.
“I know cartomancy’s vague, my dude. But damn if it
isn’t inconvenient right about now.” He looked up. “Hold
on, Allen. She’s here.”
“He wants to talk to me?” I asked.
Diego nodded. I took the phone. He took it easy with his
outerwear after that.
“Hello.”
“It’s about your reading. I know it was vague. After Ed
told me what went down yesterday morning, I laid those
same cards out again and meditated. So now I have a new
interpretation.”
“Go on.”
“The Fool reversed might not be about you. It’s a
trickster at a disadvantage.”
“So you think it was about Dr. Cormack?”
“No, undeath magi aren’t usually represented by that
card. My gut says it’s Mr. Hickson.”
“So his plans are crossed by The Devil. Is that what the
reading means in this context?”
 “Two of Cups means his outcome is hazy unless he has
help.”
“What if I told you he already does?”
“I’d say the help has to come from you. Probably Ed, too.
Because that Cups card has always applied to Team
Medium.”
“Should’ve known.” I sighed. “Okay, All-Seeing Allen.
What should we do?”
“Put a ghost on him.”
“Like, twenty-four-seven?”
“That’s what I’d do.”
“So much for giving the man his privacy. How will we
know the danger’s passed?”
“When The Devil’s gone.”
“Well, who’s that?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Definitely got a feminine vibe
from it this time.”
“Old or young?”
“Neither.” He sighed. “Older than us, though.”
“Gotcha.” Something bothered me about what he’d said.
“What vibe did you get from it last time?”
“It was all mixed up. I chalk that up to it being
terrifying. More like a natural disaster than a person on the
first impression.”
“Okay, thanks, Allen.”
“No problem. Put Diego on again if you don’t mind.”
I handed over the phone. Diego said a few words about
Starmites auditions, then hung up. We headed toward the
lounge, and I stood aside for him at the door. Once he’d
entered, I went in.
Someone had hung Cosmo’s chalk and charcoal creation
on the wall. The paper was as tall as he was, a good thing
considering how much went into it. The zodiac wheel at the
center had astrological symbols, all color-coded with the
elements. Along the edges and connected to the wheel by
either gold or gray thread were his original depictions of
each sign. Above the wheel was a caduceus, and below a
sea creature with tendrils like a kraken and wings like a
penguin.
I stood in the doorway staring at it for so long that the
artist himself had to encourage me to get out of the way by
clearing his throat. I let him escort me to the chair beside
Ed’s.
“You outdid yourself, Cos.”
“Uh, thanks.” His cheeks pinked. “There’s an entire
explanation that goes with it, too.”
“Yeah, so.” Wyatt glanced around the room. “Is
everybody here?”
Diego peered at each of our faces, then shook his head.
“Just a second,” I said.
After I revealed the ghosts, he surveyed the room again
and nodded.
“By my count now, yes,” Diego said.
Wyatt nodded, then paced to the door and closed it.
After that, he stood by Cosmo’s illustration.
“I know he drew this so everyone could see what I’m
about to tell you. Before we start, a quick show of hands on
who thinks Cos should put it in the Rec Week art contest.”
Everyone held up a hand except for Cosmo.
“You owe me twenty bucks, lion king.” Wyatt chuckled.
“Also sending that in come March.”
“Yeah, fine, sure, whatever,” Cosmo muttered. “Anyway,
welcome to ‘This Is Your Sign,’ with your host, Wyatt ‘Big
Red’ Clayton.”
“I’ll start by saying that Horace was correct. Ghosts
figure in here more significantly than I thought at first. Ed
helped with some of the dates. We already knew about
Magnus, Justin, Bianca, and Horace. It turns out Kasa’s a
Capricorn and paired with Diego. The Professor’s a Gemini
like Jill and Jax. Rob, you’re Ophiuchus too, believe it or
not.”
 “Hmm.” The ghost’s face was inscrutable. “So, Cetus
isn’t doubled just to make a stronger base.”
“When you look at the illustration, you see that makes
perfect sense.” Wyatt pointed out a faint outline in the
shape of an hourglass. “As above, so below.”
“I notice more of the signs have doubled up than not
now,” Saya said. “What’s with the singular ones?”
“Good question.” He grinned. “We have an answer.
Twins are a theme here, one supported by Gemini being a
physical set and also the duality with Cetus in Pisces and
Ophiuchus in Sagittarius. None of the signs are singular.
We just don’t have information on all the counterparts yet.
So that means—”
“Homework!” Kiara smiled. “Us singletons have to
sleuth out who our astrology twin is.”
“Bingo!” Wyatt tapped his nose.
“I know one of them already,” Crow said. “Nut. Hal said
she was born in September.”
Nut sat up and panted, thumping her tail against the
floor.
“Can dogs count for this, though?” Cosmo scratched his
head. “Sorry, she’s a sha. But you know what I mean.”
“She’s bonded to Mavis,” Fiona said. “Familiars
absolutely matter in the scheme of things. Hayden’s
professor made that abundantly clear when somebody in
his class called Howie just a lame duck. The bond ties them
into everything, and their destinies stay tied to their
magus. So she might count.”
“Okay, so Nut’s a Virgo like Hope.” Wyatt marked
something down on his tablet. “Any other guesses?”
“What about Benjamin Endor?” I said. “He’s gotten
pretty entangled in our lives.”
“He’s not extrahuman,” Saya said. “At least not yet. It’d
be dangerous for him if he gets caught up in all this.”
“Well, when’s his birthday?” Wyatt asked. “If he was
born under a sign we’ve already got covered, no worries.”
 Nobody knew.
“I’ll ask at Sunday dinner,” Diego said. “My aunt’s his
teacher at the middle school.”
“Thanks, Diego,” Wyatt said. “Any other ideas?”
“That depends on whether our teachers count,” Brandon
said. “I don’t know any of their signs, though.”
“I have ways of getting that information.” Wyatt grinned.
“I think we’ll get this sorted out in time.”
“In time?” Hope raised her eyebrow. “What’s that
supposed to mean?”
“Take it away, Diego,” Wyatt said.
“When we started looking into all this, I got a vibe.”
Diego gestured at the illustration. “Like this entire thing is
a clock set to some future point. If we can decipher this
zodiac puzzle, we could get a clairvoyant to do a reading on
it before we make any big moves in the Under.”
“No wonder you’ve been working your tails off all week,”
Jaxon said. “Do you guys need more help?”
“You can help, Jax,” Hope said. “Some of us have duties
on board next Friday, so I’m pulling Ed off this project for
the time being, too. I want anyone who isn’t on Under crew
to help Wyatt’s team with whatever they need to finish
this.”
“Technically, I’m on Under crew too, Captain,” Diego
said.
“We’ll need mediums, airborne shifters, and navigators
on this next trip, so you, Jaxon, and Cos are off the hook for
now. I want you listening in with that earring just in case,
though.”
“If you need me, I can ask Dr. Meister to do my wound
care early,” Crow said.
“Not just yet, Crow,” Hope said.
“Right.” He nodded. “I guess I can help out around
campus instead then.”
“That’ll be super helpful.” Wyatt nodded. “Thanks, dude.
Come and find someone on Team Astrology if you think of
anything else. For now, I think we’re good.”
“Hold on.” I got my phone out. “Let’s all take pictures so
we can remember what to look for.”
We took turns snapping images of Cosmo’s artwork.
After that, we filed out of the lounge and separated into
smaller groups.
I went out to walk Nut with Crow. He kept pace with me
in silence for a while, a familiar type that I knew meant
he’d been mulling something over. Eventually, he gave
voice to his thoughts.
“I’m not sure about Diego’s clock idea.”
“He explained it pretty well, I thought.”
“No, I mean I’m not sure he was right.” Crow sighed.
“From where I sit, it’s more like a timer than a fixed future
point. My gut says it’s counting down. I could be wrong.
Maybe it’s because it feels like I’m on borrowed time
lately.”
“I tend to agree with your timer theory.”
“You don’t seem alarmed by the idea.”
“Of course not.” I grinned at him. “Whatever it’s
counting down to, we’ll face it together.”

On Monday morning, I sat across the desk from Counselor

Goldfarb trying not to squirm.
“It’s safe to show concern, Mavis,” they said. “Dr.
Cormack has done a lot to help you, even before he knew
he was your uncle.”
“Well, maybe I don’t feel like talking about it today.” I
swallowed. “Why are you going out of your way to say it’s
safe?”
“It wasn’t too long ago that your survival depended on
hiding how you felt when adults made mistakes. Bottling
fear when shaken up might result in explosions exactly
when you don’t need them.”
I wasn’t sure if I could tell the counselor that Mr.
Hickson’s survival might hinge on my silence. I knew the
advice was sound, which made my anxiety even worse.
Maybe I could express myself in this session without going
into too many details.
“Okay, counselor. You’ve got me. What if this has
something to do with Dr. Cormack’s past? He was in Mom’s
old pack, so I keep worrying she’s involved somehow. You
know, because he’s helping me. Maybe it’s paranoid, but
what if this is like what happened to Ramon?”
“That’s a valid fear, Mavis. I know your mother’s
reputation. I also know that adults make mistakes and
accidents happen. Maybe it’s got nothing at all to do with
you.”
“So you’re saying I should wait and see?” I shook my
head. “It feels like I’m on red alert.”
“Let’s talk about strategies to help you manage the
stress, then.”
We spent the rest of the appointment looking through
breathing exercises, meditation, and aromatherapy.
Counselor Goldfarb let me pick out a few scented candles.
After I’d selected some exercises and downloaded them to
my tablet, I got up to leave. The counselor left me with one
last thought.
“Don’t forget about venting. Expressing emotions
through art, even non-specifically, has helped you in the
past.”
“I’ll remember that, counselor.” I nodded. “Thanks.”
“See you next week.”
Through the rest of the morning, I realized I hadn’t
fooled Counselor Goldfarb. I felt better about the session
after that. Maybe full disclosure wasn’t supposed to be a
requirement for getting help. Hadn’t I said as much to
Magnus about favors?
 By lunch, I could’ve let Nut gnaw on the tension among
the Drama Club crew. After the bell rang, we hustled to the
auditorium door, getting there as Mr. Hickson stepped
away after taping up the cast list.
“Yes!” Rita waved over her head. “You’re looking at the
Diva! Even though I don’t look anywhere near old enough
to be Kiara’s mom. Congratulations on the lead role, by the
way.”
“The Queen of Innerspace doesn’t age like Earthlings
do.” Kiara smiled. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
“Prepare to get punked, Diego.” Jaxon snorted.
“Spacepunked that is, because that’s me.”
“Good thing I’m still your number one, Jax.” Diego
grinned. “Ack Ack Hackerax, second-in-command.”
“I’m—” Before Hayden could say anything else, Howie
let out the loudest quack ever.
“Guess I’m actually Quack Graa.” He shrugged.
Everybody laughed. Ed and I were ensemble as
requested, so we were happy. We spent Rec period getting
our scripts and music files, doing a read-through, and
listening to the soundtrack together.
After Lab, I lingered again. Dr. Aranha shook her head. I
headed out, managing to catch up with my friends before
they left campus. Jaxon tugged my sleeve.
“I’d like some advice if you don’t mind.”
“Okay.”
“Next month is Valentine’s Day. It’s on a Tuesday.”
“Oh!” I smiled. “Are you thinking of a double date?”
“Maybe. But I’d like to do it a little differently than just
going to Dead Man’s Party.” He told me his idea.
“That sounds like a plan. We’ll have to make sure not to
talk about it at Rec, though. Keep it secret.”
“Good idea.” He grinned. “This’ll be fun.”
“Can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”
We had to, of course. Maybe Jaxon also wanted
something to distract him from the Quest and the situation
with the adults, too.
Waiting was always easier with friends.

The next day, Wyatt said he’d added to his list of names and
dates. Surprisingly, he brought them to me alone at lunch.
When I asked why he said I’d figure it out soon enough.
Ben was a Virgo like Hope, but figuring out which of
them belonged in the chart wasn’t clear. Some of the adults
did end up matching our singletons.
“Dr. Aranha’s a Taurus like Fiona,” he said. “Mr.
Hickson’s an Aries like me. Paolo Micello’s in Leo with
Cosmo. Here’s the kicker.”
“It’s my uncle.” I sighed. “He’s a Libra, same as Justin.
Because they’re twins.”
“In my notes, I have Ramon filling that role.”
“He’s gone, Wyatt.” I shook my head. “You know it,
better than everyone else. Besides, twins have the same
birthdate. They’re going to be a better match because of
that. And you’re not psychic.”
“That’s why I got help. Aunt Tilda says Libra’s all about
balance. Justin’s on one end of the sign. Ramon’s on the
other. She thinks it could go either way.”
“Well, my uncle’s locked up.”
“His trial’s next month. I stand by what I said before. It
could go either way. Mostly, I wanted to give you a heads-
up.”
“Okay, then.” I nodded. “Who’s on Aquarius with Kiara?”
“That’s a good question.”
“It’s not Mrs. Ambersmith?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why her birthday
doesn’t line up. She’s blood-related to me and connected to
us as our teacher, but an Aries. Then I thought it’d be
Coach Tremain, but he’s Pisces. One of them should fit into
the pattern.”
“What pattern?”
“People connected to the group of us.” He scratched his
head. “Can’t figure out what I’m not seeing, and I’m all out
of teachers.”
“It can’t just be that.” I shook my head. “There’s got to
be more to it.”
“Could be seasonal.” He chuckled. “Aquarius is a winter
sign. So maybe it’s not supposed to be a teacher.”
“The other winters are ghosts.”
“But not the only ghosts, because of Justin in Libra.” He
snorted. “We’re missing another Cancer. That’s in summer.”
“Then there’s the Ben versus Nut question.” I put my
hand over my face. “It’s confusing.”
“Now you see why I wanted to run it by you first.”
“Did you put it in LORA?”
“Yeah, but it’s still analyzing.”
“What if it’s Matron Klein? Or maybe Sid.”
“I didn’t think they were old enough.” His mouth
dropped open. “I’ll check and get back to you.”
He grabbed his notes and made a beeline for the library.
Jill sat with a pair of sandwiches.
“You didn’t eat.”
“Thanks.” I jerked my chin down the hall at Wyatt’s
receding back. “Neither did he.”
“He stress ate a box of pop tarts while you were at
Messing during research.” She laughed. “Don’t worry
about the bottomless pit. The coaches always have protein
snacks on hand in the gym.”
“Okay, I won’t then.” I took a bite of the ham sandwich.
“He’s been driving you up the wall with all this?”
“Yeah. That’s why I told him to see what you thought.”
“It stumped me too.”
“Something you said made him take off, which is good.
It’s hard to get him to take breaks. But you probably have
more important things to do than exchange stubborn
boyfriend stories.”
“No, go on.” I grinned. “I have a few of my own.”
We chatted over lunch until the bell rang. With rehearsal
at Rec, it felt almost like a normal day. Until Lab, when
Wyatt headed over with news.
“You’re wrong about the Matron and Sid. It’s not them. I
thought of something else. Balance.”
“How do you mean?”
“The generations are spread around the zodiac wheel.
The counterparts all have an age difference unless they’re
literal twins, like Jax and Jill or you and Magnus. If the
remaining singletons don’t have older counterparts, they
must be younger.”
“So you need Petrichor’s hatch date?”
“Pretty much.” He sighed. “That still leaves us one
short.”
Inspiration flashed through my mind. For a flashbulb
moment, I saw Crow’s face in my mind, beside someone
else’s. It brightened further, bleaching the person’s identity
out of my mind as quickly as it came.
“When are you telling Hope about the new results?”
“Already asked for a moment of her time after dinner.”
In the lounge that night, Wyatt filled in the gaps for
everyone. Cosmo added the new names to his illustration,
and we all updated our photos. After that, Diego got copies
of our charts and the adults’ birthdates to send to his
cousin in Boston. Wyatt agreed to send the same to his
Aunt Tilda.
“You’ll have to keep searching for that last person,
Wyatt,” Hope said. “You’ve done an incredible job
connecting the dots so far. We have duty coming up soon,
so anyone not on board, keep helping him. Thanks,
everybody.”
Whether the offboard crew would finish their research in
time was anyone’s guess. All of us prepared to hurry up
and wait.
If only we’d known that a more urgent matter would
demand our attention before any of that—and end up
providing us with the answers we sought.
OceanofPDF.com
 C H A P T E R T W E LV E

I stood outside Ed’s room on Friday night.

“At least it’s not dark o’clock in the morning this time.”
Diego fastened one of the earrings. “You sure I can bunk
down in here?”
“Sure.” Ed leaned in front of the mirror to put the other
one on. “I’m not using that bed. Just don’t destroy my high
score on Mario Kart.”
“Don’t worry. I crash on the regular.” Diego raised an
eyebrow. “You’re not going to warn me about Cosmo
snoring?”
“He doesn’t snore at all in human form.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” Diego chuckled. “Onboard
as a lion he sounds like an earthquake.”
“True story.” Ed grinned.
“Hope will fly up here and drag us downstairs by the tail
feathers if we don’t get going,” I said. “See you tomorrow,
Diego.”
“Yeah, later.”
We waved at Cosmo as he left the bathroom after
brushing his teeth, then headed down the two flights of
stairs to the basement. Saya stood shaking her head at the
portal space where Sid was busy preparing to work.
“I don’t know why we have to do this as an overnight
trip.”
 “We’ve looked for ghosts during the day to no avail,”
Hope said. “It’s time to check at night. Besides, it’s
Saturday. You can all go to sleep when we get back.”
“You can’t,” Saya said. “You have Bishop’s Row practice
in the morning.”
“I’m the Alkonost, servant of the dawn.” Hope patted
Saya’s shoulder. “I’ll manage.”
“Portal’s up,” Sid said.
“Thanks!” Fiona smiled at him and headed through.
Nut trotted in after, wagging her tail. Saya yawned and
followed. I stepped through, then looked back over my
shoulder when I realized Hope and Ed were still on the
other side.
He said something. She shook her head. He jerked a
thumb at the portal. This time she nodded, then hung her
head. He put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face
away from the portal then hugged him. Bianca hovered
beside me.
“The captain never speaks for herself,” she said.
“Pretty much.” I looked at her. “Makes me thankful I’m
only a lieutenant.”
“You’re an alpha now, though.”
“I don’t have to run my pack the same way.”
“That’s a good thing, but duty’s heavy no matter how
you lead.”
“This isn’t about Hope or me. You’re talking about Ed.”
“Yes. Even if he’s doing an entirely different sort of
leading.”
“His heart’s in the right place,” I said. “Even if his
leadership is by example like it was for you.”
“Horace is right. You’re clever.” She grinned.
“Remember what I said. He’ll need you to remind him of all
that in the future.”
“I will.”
Bianca met Ed at the portal, and they merged
immediately. Hope followed. After the portal closed behind
them, the shades brought our uniforms. Then, we all got to
work.
Saya handed her amulet to Hope, then dove overboard.
A moment later, she was in dragon form, skimming back
over the water toward the ship. Bianca-slash-Ed stepped up
on the railing. When Saya got close enough, they leaped on
her back, and she turned away again, heading to the west.
Fiona took up Hope’s spyglass, then changed her height
and held the mast for balance facing north. She needed the
support because she hadn’t altered her size
proportionately. The usually voluptuous ogre now looked
like a giant spindly brownie, which must have felt stranger
to her than it looked to me.
I called on my wings, opened them, and took off toward
the east. Justin flew beside me. I didn’t have to look back to
know Hope headed off in a similar fashion with Kasa to the
north.
She and Fiona were covering directions off our course.
Ed and I worked along The Odyssey’s path between
Homero’s island and wherever the undeath path led.
Because that’s where ghosts with knowledge of either
place were most likely to be.
I didn’t expect to find anything ghostly out this far
except maybe a wraith. That’s why at first, I thought I’d
seen a whale. As I got closer, I corrected my thinking and
assumed it was a water dragon like Saya. I was wrong on
both counts.
Realization shocked me so utterly I froze. The updraft
gave way, and I almost fell into the sea before regaining my
composure. The sight in the water below was that horrific,
and I’d seen a thing or three since starting this voyage.
It was the ghost of a dragon. I’d mistaken them for a
whale because of their chilling maiming. Someone had torn
their wings off. Only one creature out here had that kind of
power and inclination.
Ludovico.
 I was looking at the incorporeal form of one of his
victims, killed recently enough to perhaps still have some of
their senses. After passing, I turned to lend whatever help I
could.
“Ahoy, friend dragon!” I called.
A lacerated head on a long, thin neck whipped out of the
water. The face’s scales hung in tatters. The eyes wept
translucent tears, distinct from the ocean’s spray.
“Got no friends,” the voice rasped. “Go away.”
I flapped high above the rolling waves, determined to
learn more about this ghost but not wanting to waterlog my
wings.
“Okay, we don’t have to be friends. I want to help.”
“Just leave me to die like he did.”
“I can’t do that, sorry.” I sniffled. “Because you did. Die,
I mean. I’m so sorry.”
“So how can anyone help?”
“You’re a ghost,” Justin explained. “Like me. My name is
Justin. What’s yours?”
“He only gave numbers to us males. Mine was five
thousand ninety-six.”
Now all of us were crying. Had Ludovico truly murdered
so many? Justin went on despite his tears.
“I’m not calling you that. What name would you like?”
“I don’t know.” He said. “It’s hard to think.”
“Of course. It’s dark and cold. How does flying away
from here with us sound?”
“He took my wings.” His voice thickened, and the tears
rolled faster. “I can’t fly like this.”
“I can’t undo that,” I said. “But ghosts are incorporeal.
You can move through the air with enough strength.”
“I’m too tired.”
“I can fix that.”
I held my hand out, remembering the times I’d seen Ed
share large portions of his energy. Channeling it in the
right direction across this distance wasn’t easy. I had a
much stronger connection with Justin so it wanted to go to
him. He’d been a ghost long enough to understand what to
do. He dove down to the dragon ghost’s side. After that, the
energy went to the one who needed it most.
A groggy feeling came over me. As it began moving
toward woozy, I felt a rush of air at my back. A moment
later, I looked down to see Saya in dragon form below me.
Just in time, too. I had to sit.
Ed-slash-Bianca made room in front. It was all I could do
to get on Saya’s back. Once I was seated, they put one arm
around my waist and channeled with the other. I nodded off
after that because the next thing I remember was opening
my eyes to see Justin leading our new acquaintance toward
The Odyssey.
We landed. I fell off Saya’s back into somebody’s arms. I
vaguely made out the shape of Hope’s face and tried to give
my report.
“Found a goat. Host. Ghost.”
“Lieutenant, you’re sleeping.”
“Eyes. Resting.”
“You’re sleeping for ten minutes before giving me a
report. That’s an order.”
“Aye, Cap—”
I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow on her
bunk.
Consciousness was a jumble of sounds and speech.
Boots paced the floor. “She’s still out. Give yours.” A quill
scratched ink into parchment. “—bigger than she should’ve
managed—” Closing door. Rustle of fabric. “—works
ringside—” Creak of wood. Slosh of flask.
Stinging ammonia. Canvas snagging my fingernails. A
sliver of light, bright orange, widening. Then a face, half-lit
by it.
“You’re back.” Fiona held what looked like a torn paper
straw. The sharp scent came from that.
“Smelling salts?” I wrinkled my nose, then coughed.
 “Yeah.” She offered me a wooden cup with her other
hand.
I took it and sipped. Bitter taste warred with a sweet
aroma.
“Weird tea.”
“It’s Earl Gray, cold,” Hope said. “You’ve been out long
enough for it to cool. If you’re alert enough, report.”
I told her everything I’d seen out there.
“That ghost you found was almost as bad off as Cyrus
and maybe four times his size. Ed and Bianca only had to
top him off a little bit. You’ve come a long way in the
medium department, Mavis.”
“He’s okay, I hope.” I sat up too fast and winced. “My
head hurts.”
“Wash these down with your tea.” Fiona shook two
tablets out of a bottle labeled CVS Headache Relief.
“Thanks.” I did.
“Ed and Bianca are translating so Saya can talk to him.
He said to tell you thanks and to call him Nimbus. He was
an air dragon. We already had Diego and Cosmo call
Hertha. She’s convening a dragon council.”
“When?” The question’s magic surged and prickled. “It
ought to be tonight.”
“As soon as possible, she says.” Hope sighed. “In dragon
terms, that’s anywhere from a couple of months to an
entire year.”
I watched the corners of her mouth turn down. The
smile had been out of her eyes since before I woke up.
“We don’t have that kind of time, Captain. We’re almost
into February. The charts say we’ll reach our destination
around Valentine’s Day.”
“I know.” She shook her head. “The dragons are too
slow. The monarchs move faster. If they give us orders
before Hertha’s meeting, we’re acting on them anyway. I’ve
been drafting a letter to them and would appreciate your
input.”
 “Let me see it.” I nodded.
I rose shakily then hobbled to the desk. After sitting in
the chair, I skimmed what she’d written so far. I looked up,
narrowing my eyes.
“You can’t ask the king and queen to release everyone
but us from duty, Hope. Not without making sure they want
to leave the crew.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying this.” Hope blinked.
“You’ve seen Ludovico. He almost killed Crow. And you
want to leave it up to them.”
“If you give me a choice, I’m staying,” Fiona said.
“Because that monster didn’t just almost kill Crow. He’s
already murdered thousands of dragon children like that
ghostly one upstairs. He’s not stopping until somebody
stops him permanently. Stuff like this is why I signed on in
the first place.”
“Understood, Fiona.” Hope jerked her chin at the door.
“Go and see how the others are doing.”
“Aye.” Fiona stepped out of the room and closed the
door behind her. She’d done both tasks so lightly she
could’ve been a ghost herself.
“I want to lower the risk, minimize losses,” Hope said.
“Then we don’t cut crew.” I had to lean with both hands
on the desk, but I managed to stand. “And we don’t let him
ambush us like last time.”
“I get what you’re saying.” Hope put her hands on her
hips. “With an enemy that powerful, we have to go harder.
So we could ask for reinforcements.”
“Maybe we don’t need that. Instead of going harder, we
could try trickier.”
“Explain.”
I did.
Hope’s smile returned before I finished. The monarchs
came back with their orders two days after she sent her
revised letter. The time for executing them depended on
the wind and sea.
I stood in the bathroom on the morning of Groundhog Day,
combing my hair. Hope walked in with her toothbrush.
“The dragons are meeting on February fourteenth,” she
said.
“Thank the gods. I think we’ll need to go to the Under a
few days after that, on Thursday or Friday.”
“Fewmets, that’s no good.” She squeezed too much
toothpaste on her brush. “It takes them at least that long to
get past declaring their titles.”
“Maybe they’ll be done in time.”
“I think we’ll have to go in without consulting them.”
Hope rinsed off her toothbrush and started again.
“Maybe Hertha can give us some ideas.”
“She can’t. Her position and status mean she’s honor-
bound to wait. Give me a minute to think.”
I finished combing my hair and put it into a braid as she
brushed her teeth. After rinsing, she straightened and
grinned.
“We’ll ask Blaine. He’ll be stuck attending, but maybe he
can help us make a line of communication to and from the
meeting.”
“I assume Saya’s off the hook because of her obligations
to us.”
“Correct.”
“Then it sounds like a plan to me.”
“I’ll send him a message before school.”
At dinner that night, Hope told me we were all set on
the dragon meeting front. Blaine would be able to take
breaks from the meeting to help Kim with the twins, so he
could give us updates then. We could send any urgent
information through him.
While I secretly hoped some ocean current’s quirk might
delay us a few days longer, we had a plan. At least The
Odyssey didn’t arrive before Valentine's and interfere with
the ones Jaxon and I had made to surprise Diego and Ed.

I stood in the dining room doorway on February fourteenth,

blocking Ed from entering.
“You shall not pass!”
“You’re way too pretty to be Gandalf.” He grinned. “And
I’m not a Balrog.”
“Well, maybe I’m a servant of the secret fire.” I stuck my
tongue out. “So there.”
“Uh, I get that it’s candy and flowers day, and you’re a
couple and all now,” Cosmo said. “I don’t want to think too
hard about whatever roleplay thing you have going on here.
But—” His stomach let out a long, loud rumble.
“You shall pass, lion king.” I bowed and let him through.
“Not you, large medium. I mean it.”
“Be careful, or I’ll ask you why.” He raised an eyebrow,
but I knew he wasn’t serious because his eyes sparkled.
“Let’s get ready to go out first.” I smiled and offered him
my arm.
“I’ll humor you for now.” He took it, and we headed
upstairs.
Once I’d sufficiently gothed out, I knocked on his door
and brought him back down. He looked puzzled when I
walked us past the dining room, but that passed after I
handed him his coat before putting mine on. His eyes lit up
with curiosity.
On the corner of Washington and Derby, we met up with
Jaxon and Diego. Although Jaxon’s poker face was almost
as good as mine, fooling psychics wasn’t easy.
Still, we got to the Bewitched statue in Lappin Park
before Diego figured it out.
“We’re having dinner at Koto.” He laughed.
 “Should’ve known.” Ed chuckled and shook his head.
We ordered noodle soup and bubble tea, which weren’t
the most romantic things to eat and drink. Slurping noodles
and chewing tapioca was more fun together than
otherwise.
Tommy sauntered over, held his right hand above his
shoulder, and his left a bit out from his right hip. A ghostly
guitar appeared. I revealed him so Diego and Jaxon could
hear him play Te Amo for us.
Old Grandpa surprised us by paying the bill, which Jaxon
and I had been saving up to do for a month. We thanked
him maybe too many times before the music started in the
back room. I revealed Christian along with his DJ table.
After dancing to a few songs, more of our friends
trickled in and some acquaintances too. Halfway through
the night, I stumbled flush-faced with Ed into the front
room for beverages. There sat Neil and Delilah Redford at a
table by the window, out on a date of their own.
Instead of soup and tea, their plates were laden with
sushi, and their cups filled with a more adult beverage that
flamed until they blew it out. Ed took my hand, and I stood
with him watching them clink glasses.
Even though I knew Neil had been calling and visiting
regularly, along with Ed’s brother Fred, I wasn’t willing to
assume.
“You okay?” I turned my head to look at him.
His gaze met mine, smiling and bright-eyed.
“Never better.”
We went back to dance for as much of the night as
possible.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

On the Thursday after Valentine’s Day, a bomb cyclone

rolled in. Matron Klein had no choice but to cancel school.
The turn of fortune favored us because a gremlin appeared
to tell us that The Odyssey sighted land while Ed and I
were having zero dark thirty coffee.
“How are Fiona, Jaxon, and Diego getting here, then?” I
blinked. “The snow’s up to my eyeballs out there.”
“I don’t know, but we’d better tell Hope.”
We stood and refilled our coffee before heading out of
the dining room. Hope was already in the hall with Saya
and Cosmo. She paced with her phone to her ear.
“Well, that’s convenient.” She grinned. “Take your time
getting here, though. Be careful on the walk over. A lot of
our strategy hinges on you three.”
She hung up then headed toward her room. I stopped
her.
“I can’t believe they have to walk over in this.” I
gestured at the window at the end of the hall. “On any
other day, maybe it’d be no problem. But it’s almost ten
blocks in five feet of snow.”
“They’re bound and determined,” Hope said. “Fiona says
she’s got it covered.”
“Okay, now this I’ve got to see.” Cosmo got a chair from
his room and dragged it over to the window. “Gonna camp
out and watch them come in. Don’t bother trying to stop me
either.”
“They’re not leaving for another half-hour, though,”
Hope said. “Get breakfast first.”
“Oh.” He gave us all a sheepish grin. “Well, I guess I
have time to fetch a bacon, egg, and cheese.”
He headed downstairs with the rest of us. Food was
already out, but not any sandwiches. Cosmo was stuck with
French toast like the rest of us. That didn’t stop him. He
wrapped a stack in a napkin and headed back up.
After glancing around the table at each other, we all
hurried through our meal. Before we finished, Wyatt,
Brandon, and Kiara walked in and sat.
“What’s the rush?” she asked.
Saya explained. They took their toast to go also.
Upstairs, we crowded behind Cosmo, peering through
the window and the haze of snow beyond. After a while, I
made out a shape moving toward us. It would’ve been
impossibly tall if we weren’t expecting an ogre. The figure
was far bulkier than our friend, though.
As they got closer, I realized that it was her, bundled up
in a coat. That made sense. The amulet Fiona wore let her
clothing change size to match her body.
Her hair streamed out from under the knitted cap,
fluttering over her left shoulder. Diego sat there, waving it
away with one hand as he clung to Fiona’s collar with the
other.
“Where’s Jaxon?” Cosmo stood and peered out.
“There.” Hope pointed. “In wolf form, of course.”
He hopped along after them, moving that way from one
of her footprints to the next. Jill bounded after.
“This gives me a lot of relief about later,” Hope
murmured.
“Seriously,” Ed agreed.
“Told you.” I winked at them.
 “Jill didn’t have to come out in this.” Saya waved
vaguely at the snow outside.
“She, uh.” Wyatt cleared his throat. “Kinda insisted. For
reasons.”
“You’re still working on the charts?” Cosmo asked. “I
thought we were still in wait mode with those.”
“Uh—” Wyatt’s face nearly matched the color of his cap.
“Cos!” Saya elbowed him. “Honestly, you’ve got no tact
about some things.”
“They’re almost here,” he said. “Gonna go let them in.”
Cosmo managed to weave and duck through the crowd
of us without bumping anyone. After that, he hurried down
the stairs. With catlike grace, of course, as the rest of us
stomped after.
The off-campus crew shook the snow off their coats,
hats, and fur. Despite the absorbent mat, a puddle formed
on the foyer’s marble floor. Brandon and Saya used their
magic to banish it. Jaxon and Jill shifted back into their
humanoid forms. Hope praised them.
“The last things we need are concussions or worse,
broken bones.” She turned to the new arrivals. “Do any of
you need food? Breakfast is still out.”
“Totally.” Jill nodded. “I burned a lot of calories keeping
warm out there, even with the fur coat.”
“Same,” Jaxon said.
“And coffee,” Diego added.
“Let’s go.” Fiona led them toward the dining room but
looked back over her shoulder at Hope. “Bet you’ll want us
downstairs in ten minutes.”
“Take your time.” Saya scrolled through something on
her phone. “I still have to set up messaging with Blaine
before his meeting starts.”
“Much appreciated,” Jill said. “I could eat a dragon-sized
meal after all that.”
“Some of you dorm kids didn’t exactly eat enough.” I
tapped my foot and did my best impression of Matron
Klein’s mom face. “If that’s you, go keep them company.”
“I smell bacon.” Cosmo pointed with both of his index
fingers at the dining room. “I’m not missing out on that.”
“Ditto,” Ed agreed.
“Second breakfast?” Wyatt chuckled. “Don’t mind if I
do.”
“Redcaps.” Saya grinned. “Inspiring the rest of us to
greater caloric intake since forever. I suppose I can text
and eat at the same time.”
Brandon’s stomach rumbled.
“Guess banishing water made me hungry.” He held out
his hand. “Come on, Kiara.”
They went in.
“Captain.” I put one hand on my hip and wagged my
other index finger at her. “Eating like a bird before a
mission this intensive is not an option.”
“Only if you cut it with the Matron Mavis stuff.” Hope
smiled. “It’s way too absurd.”
“Maybe I want to run a boarding house for wayward
extrahumans someday.” I dropped my hands and shrugged.
“If that’s what you want. I think Crow’s more suited to
that career than you are.”
“Whatever you say, Captain.”
Despite doing as she asked, I wondered why she’d said
that. We didn’t have time to dance around the topic without
asking each other direct questions.
I went into the dining room with my friends, sending a
silent prayer to the gods that this wouldn’t be our last
second breakfast together.

“Why isn’t the portal open, Sid?” Hope asked.

“I’m waiting on Lane Meyer.”
“He’s coming here?” She blinked.
 “With a couple of other folks. He’s making a second
portal between here and Newport, so I can conserve my
energy.”
Before she could ask who was coming and why, the
bricks shimmered with green light, went translucent, then
vanished as Lane’s portal opened. I made out a few familiar
faces on the other side.
Dr. Klein stepped through, carrying a pair of old-
fashioned black medical bags. She stood to one side to
make way for the other two people and the burden they
carried.
Ben walked through first. A strap across his chest
supported a bundle of four wooden poles. Nevertheless, he
had one arm wrapped around them.
Petrichor held up the other end in a similar fashion.
Because of his shorter stature, this wasn’t easy. Ben
realized this because as soon as they’d cleared the opening,
he gave a count of three before setting the bundle down.
Finally, Lane himself came through. He turned back
toward the portal, put his hand against the frame around it,
and said a few words that sounded like Latin. It closed.
“You need help with setting up your rig?” Sid asked.
“Nah.” He shook his head, then jerked his thumb at the
boys. “Got some helpers.”
“Okay.” Sid snapped his fingers.
Snackmaster appeared. “What?”
“Go get Nurse Wilson. Tell her it’s time to set up.”
Snackmaster nodded and vanished.
“Where should we go?” Dr. Klein asked.
“Laundry room.” Sid pointed it out.
“What’s going on?” Fiona asked.
“This is my brother’s doing,” Saya said. “His way of
making sure we have backup even though Mother’s
meeting is still in session.”
“What do we have?”
 “Since this is a rescue, we’ll need a second summoner to
move anyone we find to a more secure location.”
“And a doctor to work with our nurse on an emergency
medical team if any are injured.” Fiona nodded. “That
makes sense. What about the boys?”
“Petie’s a dragon who looks and smells safe enough to
put skittish hatchlings at ease,” Saya said. “Mother hired
Mr. Endor so my father’s ghost could participate in the
meeting and he brought Ben along. Blaine says that Lane
asked him to come and help us, although he didn’t say
why.”
“So that’s what he’s doing,” Fiona said. “Setting up a
portable portal.”
We all turned toward him to watch.
Lane had chosen a span of wall to the left of the stairs.
He unwrapped the ties from the poles and handed one to
Ben and another to Petrichor. They stood where he told
them to, holding them upright and flush against the wall.
After that, he put the third pole horizontally atop the
vertical ones.
“We’re ready, Foggy,” he said.
A pixie clad in a tunic made of what looked like shark
skin jumped down from his shoulder. Moments later, the fae
held the last pole against the floor at the bottom of the
structure.
Lane nodded, then sang a little ditty.
And a one, and a two, and a three and a four
If you don’t mind, we’ve done this before
Brownies make a chain so we can have a door
I promise later on there’s a reward in store.
So, the poles weren’t plain old wood or even enchanted.
They were brownies, some of the pure fae who worked with
Lane. They joined at the corners, making a square a head
taller than the vampire summoner.
Ben wrinkled his nose and rubbed his hands on the front
of his sweater. Petrichor beamed, eyes dancing with an
inquisitive light. Then he asked a slew of questions,
reminding me of Kiara on the first day we met.
“Mr. Meyer, are those all your brownies? How long did it
take you to learn portable marks? Do you do this while on
tour with Night Creatures? Are you sure dragons can’t be
summoners?”
“Call me Lane, kid.” He chuckled. “Pledged fae are
partners with rights and contracts, not bonded like a
magus’s familiar. It was one of the first things I learned
because I wanted to use portals on tour. I’ve never heard of
a dragon summoner, but that doesn’t mean it can’t ever
happen.”
“Wow.” Petrichor turned back to admire the brownie-
bordered summoning square.
I strapped on ballistae, mostly as a preventative
measure. My team’s task would be intense and magically
taxing. Ben tapped my shoulder.
“Do you want to borrow a book?” I asked. “There’s still
time.”
“No.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Just curious about something.”
“Go on.”
“Summoners. I wonder if they have anything like
mediums do with near-death experiences. Something that
happens before figuring out they’re summoners, I mean.”
“I’m not sure. I only take your brother Sam’s class at
Messing.” I nudged Ed and asked him the same question.
“Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “In summoning class, we
learned they have to encounter pure fae. Or go to the
Under. Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Well, ah.” Ed ran a hand over his hair. “For a long time,
everybody thought being around pure fae triggered the
talent. Since the Reveal, more people realized they were
summoners than ever. It could be because access to the
Under got easier. Our near-death experience activates a
channel. So a newer theory says summoners are like
mediums. But there’s no agreement yet on whether it’s
contact with pure fae or a trip to the Under that opens it.”
“Which do you think it is?” Ben asked. “Like, the Under
trip or just, I don’t know, working with faeries?”
“I am firmly in the Under camp,” Ed replied. “I already
know Lane agrees. He’d been a vampire for years, seen all
kinds of faeries. He wasn’t a summoner until he helped my
brother with his quest in the Under.”
“Okay.” Ben perked up a little. “Thanks.”
“Hey Ben, check it out!” Petrichor gestured at
something in the laundry room. “You won’t believe all the
cool stuff the medical team’s setting up in here!”
“See you. Good luck,” Ben said. Then he hurried over to
his friend.
Cosmo cleared his throat and roared. The crew stopped
milling around the room and focused on Hope.
“It’s time,” she said.
Jill and Wyatt circulated through the room, giving fist
bumps to everybody. She stopped to hug Jaxon, then Diego.
“Take care of each other out there.”
Kiara went around giving high-fives. She pulled Ed and
me into a group hug. “Break all the legs. You’ve got this.”
Brandon shook everyone’s hands. To my complete
surprise, he headed into the laundry room once he’d
finished. The second I realized my mouth was hanging
open, I closed it. Kiara had noticed anyway.
“Future doctor over there,” she said.
“Not you?” I blinked.
“Oh no.” She laughed. “Magic Theory forever!”
“Couple of brains is what they are.” Ed grinned. “Power
neuron couple.”
“Back at you with the power couple thing.” Kiara
winked. “See you later.”
“She’s not wrong.” Magnus chuckled.
“Reminds me of another pair, years ago,” Horace said.
 “Told you so.” Rob snorted.
“Best of luck to you.” Professor Luciano said. Julia
hooted for good measure. “Tell me how the wards worked
when you return.”
Sid opened the portal. I brought up the rear with Nut in
my arms as we filed through. Saya was in front of me, so I
was the only person besides Sid who heard what she said to
Hope.
“It’ll be all work as soon as I step through, so I’d better
say this now. You already know how I feel. Please, before
we face whatever’s out there, say what’s in your heart. Or
isn’t, if that’s the case.”
She put a hand on Hope’s shoulder. Hope shook her
head.
“I’m the captain and can’t, either way. Not until after
I’ve seen this through.”
“As you wish.”
Saya stepped through the portal. I didn’t peer through
to watch her shift. Instead, I looked Hope in the eye.
“You deserve to be happy, Captain.”
“All of you deserve a leader with unclouded judgment,
Lieutenant.”
“There’s more than one way to muddy the waters,
Hope.”
“All the more reason for me to avoid them, Mavis.”
“You’re too deep in this with her, so that’s impossible.
Unless you decide to never move again.”
I walked through and immediately got to work so Hope
couldn’t have refuted me if she’d wanted to. Not that she
wasn’t busy with her tasks. They included outfitting Jaxon,
Cosmo, and Saya with the netted slings the shades and
sprites had been making along the way. Fiona had gone
overboard and enlarged herself, enabling her to double the
number the landing party could carry.
I went up by the helm where Homero, Diego, and the
ghosts waited. I sat on the deck, then patted the
floorboards until they got the message and joined me in a
circle.
Ed and Bianca had merged and were there too, but they
stood staring across the small cove at the shoreline. That
was fine. They had a less stationary role.
“As you know, Saya is leading the main group ashore to
do the actual rescue. Without us, they can’t land.”
“Support efforts are sometimes the most crucial.”
Homero nodded.
“Go on,” Diego said.
“Okay, we’re Team Barrier.” I pulled a diagram out of my
satchel and stuck it to the deck with tape. “We’ll make this
ward Professor Luciano and Tommy Mendez designed. It
features umbral cloaking courtesy of Captain Campbell,
empathic sensing thanks to Diego, and a big bad repulsing
coating of undeath energy channeled by yours truly.”
“Conjured by more than you and your little dog,
hopefully.” Homero raised an eyebrow.
“Our kraken ally is behind us, helping us boost the
power.”
“Thought the ghosts were helping, somehow,” Diego
said.
“They’re scouts, arranged along the barrier. They’ll be
able to send me messages through it. I can direct all that.”
“I don’t know how any one person could do so many
tasks.” Homero shook his head.
“ADHD brain is good for some things.” I held up my
wrist and snorted. “I’m letting my dopamine-seeking self
run wild without any formolite. Multitasking for the win.”
“I know why the shifters aren’t scouting,” Diego said.
“They’ll be ashore, carrying eggs and hatchlings.”
“Bingo,” Ed-slash-Bianca said. “We’re out bolstering and
gathering any more dragon ghosts in the vicinity.”
“Which will add to our scout crew as you go.” I smiled.
“Any more comments or concerns?”
“No.” Diego shook his head. “I’m good.”
 “Let’s get started,” I said. “Everybody concentrate on
the diagram’s structure, then channel and go.”
Nut got in my lap, and we joined hands. Levi sent a
tendril up over the side to wrap around my wrist. I looked
up at Ed-slash-Bianca. They already sat astride the ghost of
Nimbus, the wingless dragon.
“Once it’s up, lead them out.”
“Aye, Lieutenant.”
I managed not to laugh aloud at how strange my rank
sounded in Ed’s mouth. Concentrating on the diagram
helped with that. In moments, my brain went into
hyperfocus mode, and the barrier’s domed structure filled
my mind.
After calling on my magic, it filled my senses, too.
Almost like it was an extension of a body I shared with Levi,
Nut, Diego, and Homero.
For a time, all I knew was sea, sky, mediumship, and
magic.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Unity
Saya

I’d already shifted, and Fiona had hoisted the lion and the
wolf under her arms. Hope hovered above on an updraft,
far enough away to avoid any further conversation with me.
We disembarked a moment after Mavis’s barrier team
made their masterpiece. The magipsychic dome stretched
overhead, faintly shimmering, at least to my dragonish
eyes. None of the others could see how beautiful the wards
were, although surely they sensed the love and friendship
that had gone into them.
Maybe I was wrong. Overestimating other people’s
emotions was a bad but unbreakable habit, just like
assuming better than expected intentions. At least I knew
how to avoid showing those vulnerable spots to the world.
We landed on the beach. At the dry head of the shore,
we found a wide enough for dragons trail made of what
looked like gold.
It had a green border and carefully sculpted trees. Since
it led away from the water, Fiona set the boys down, and
we went directly up to it. My talons made contact with the
unknown metallic substance and identified it instantly.
Fool’s gold. Of course.
 “Be on your guard.” Hope gestured at the path’s
tidiness. “We have no idea who made this.”
“We have wards, though.” Fiona pointed up in their
general direction.
“Very good ones.” Hope nodded. “But our intelligence on
the number of inhabitants here is dated, along with
whether any hatchlings might be brainwashed or hostile.”
We each nodded and went farther up the path and into
my grandfather’s lair. I always imagined any place he’d
made for himself would be imposing or grotesque or
perhaps a mixture of both.
Instead, it was opulent, from the trees hung with
phosphorescent moss down to the fauna, including insects.
Maybe even exceeding mother’s mansion. And beautiful.
Seductively so.
Before we’d left the ship, Hope had reminded us to be
wary of everything we saw. But how could any of us remain
vigilant in such lush surroundings? Cosmo’s whiskers
already twitched at every passing lightning bug, and I
caught Jaxon’s tail wagging more than once as we went on.
After cresting a small ridge, we looked down not on
some fang-pointed Gothic fortress but a bucolic village with
a tidy square. One cavernous Germanic-style longhouse
dominated the area with two smaller structures on either
side.
The wooden walls of each building seemed to grow out
of the ground. The branches angled gracefully into peaks
where amber leaves resembled quaint thatched roofs. I
spied red, yellow, and green fruits nestled among them.
The wind changed from being at our backs to down in
front. Sweet scents of baked treats and dulcet strains of
music rose to meet us along with the scent of several
female dragon hatchlings like me. Jaxon pawed at the
ground, whining.
“It sounds like they’re having a party?” Fiona blinked.
 “Maybe not.” Hope shook her head. “I’m getting a vibe I
don’t like.”
“Like the one on the afternoon of my hatching day.” I
nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m guessing it wasn’t a good one.” Fiona sighed. “Well,
either way, we have to go down there and investigate.”
“True enough.” Hope nodded. “Since this the opposite of
what we expected to find, maybe more common forms are
ideal.”
Hope put her wings away, then slipped Cosmo’s and
Jaxon’s amulets on so they could shift back. Fiona remained
enlarged until after she’d gathered their slings and set
them at the path's edge.
I hesitated. They all stopped, turned, and waited.
Despite my confidence in the barrier our defense team had
erected, I felt less vulnerable as a dragon.
“That building is more than large enough for me, after
all,” I said. “I’ll shift if the situation inside merits it.”
Nobody contradicted me, so I went the rest of the way in
dragon form. Once we arrived in the square, I heard the
patter of feet. A moment later, a girl maybe Petrichor’s age
stepped out of the main building’s door.
She wore a silvery-white dress. Combined with her mane
of brassy blonde hair, it reminded me of birch trees. She set
her hands against the door’s frame, and I watched warm
amber light flow into it from her. I realized that she’d either
made the houses or currently maintained them. I had to
stop her from shutting me out.
“Maiden of wood, hear this maiden of water!”
“M-maiden?” She stammered. “N-not male?”
“No, I am Saya Harcourt, an unmated maiden hatchling
like you, only older. I seek audience with the most senior of
your number.”
She stopped conjuring, took her hands off the door, and
stood staring.
 “Those two are male.” She pointed at Cosmo, then
Jaxon. “What of them?”
“The wolf loves only men, and the lion seeks no mate. I
swear it on the shards of my egg.”
“My name is Linden, Highness.” She curtsied. “Pardon
me while I fetch Zillah.” She turned tail and hurried back
into the building.
“Highness?” Jaxon raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, she is technically a princess, Jax.” Cosmo
smirked. “Thought you knew.”
“I thought it was a nickname.” He shook his head. “That
Linden girl didn’t act like it’s a technicality.”
“It isn’t.” I sighed. “Some of the crew already knows but
I suppose it’s about time everybody did. I’m Ludovico’s
granddaughter.”
Fiona blinked, and Jaxon put a hand to his chest. They
recovered from the surprise rapidly, as I expected. Both of
them had proven resilient in the past.
“Well, it looks like he’s brainwashed them.” Hope
sighed. “And like our enemy’s mentioned you.”
“Let’s not get too hasty and assume they’ll be violent,”
Fiona said. “Or on his side. We managed as much for
Mavis, after all.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Cosmo agreed.
“Good call, Fiona.” Jaxon nodded.
Linden returned with two others around her age, clad in
a similar style. The one dressed in yellow had curly red hair
and freckles. I identified her element as fire. The other,
dressed in chalky pink, clearly resonated as an earth
dragon. Her hair was like a sheet of espresso-colored silk,
complementing her warm golden skin.
“Zillah has asked that we escort you and your
companions inside, Highness.” Linden’s curtsy was deeper
this time. “She humbly requests that you approach in minor
form not to alarm the youngest.”
 “I humbly oblige.” I inclined my head at Linden as a sign
of respect.
I focused on my body, willing away the scales, fins,
claws, and wings. I kept my eyes dragonish. My
grandfather had built a lair of lies, and I intended to see
through as many of them as possible.
Once I shifted, Linden nodded, then turned and led us
through the enormous door. Her pace was processional and
simple enough for Hope and the rest of us to follow. To take
my mind off the precarious situation, I worried about the
others.
Fiona did fine, a testament to her sense of timing and
athletic prowess. Cosmo had to focus but managed
passably due to long years of practice at my family’s formal
events. I should’ve paid more attention to Drama Club
before getting concerned.
Jaxon almost outdid me by mimicking my every move.
I imagine he would have proceeded perfectly if he’d
seen this before. Since he hadn’t, each step he took was a
breath later than mine. He’d have no trouble getting into
any performance art program he desired with talent like
that.
We turned right through the doors but moved slowly
enough for me to notice a closed-off section with smaller
doors to the left. The entire construction was quite similar
to what I’d seen of Hawthorn Academy, shaped from living
wood.
The rest of the building was open, with an expanse the
size of the back lawn in Newport. At the far end, I made out
a dais complete with a throne, which put me in mind of the
queen’s throne room. I wasn’t about to let these factors add
up to an unwarranted sense of ease.
Her Majesty’s castle, like her king’s lodge, was created
part and parcel along with the Under itself. Hawthorn’s
campus was a dream made real by a refugee from genocide
and the child of an enslaved person.
 My grandfather’s lair was none of these things. It wasn’t
even akin to the one I’d grown up in.
Mother had paid generous wages to the artisans who’d
built our home. I stood to inherit it but intended to fill the
rooms and hallways with extrahumans in need.
I walked through a folly at best and a perversion at
worst, a combination of magically shaped wood
construction built by child labor, with designs stolen from a
faerie monarch. Ludovico and I might share blood, but the
hearts that moved us were utterly opposite.
This was a monument to a tyrant who slaughtered any
child who wasn’t useful enough and subjugated the ones
who were.
All these thoughts raced through my mind. I glanced at
my friends, relieved to notice Cosmo’s listening face and
Jaxon’s nostrils flaring. Maybe they’d notice something I
missed as we paced across the living wooden floor.
Somehow it was the perfect texture for dancing.
That was the most noticeable ongoing activity.
Girls as young as six twisted, twirled, ducked, and
leaped. The dances they practiced were formal, perhaps
more like a father-daughter dance without the paternal
element.
The slightly older ones held pebbles, lit candles, cups of
water, or twigs. I recognized their efforts at manipulating
existing objects with their elements. They worked harder
than typical for carefree unsupervised children, even those
with a passion for magic.
A handful of hatchlings too young to shift into human
form perched on convenient branches, practicing their
breath conjuring.
None of this was as innocent as it seemed.
Through my still shifted eyes, I saw the wards binding
them—mind magic, a set of individual and intricately
designed enchantments. Hope had her spyglass out,
making a show of wiping the lens. When our eyes met, I
knew she’d seen the same thing through it.
If we wanted to rescue any of these children—or, I
suspected, the still unhatched eggs—we’d have to break
them. I couldn’t think about that. We’d reached the dais,
and I had social threads to follow.
Zillah was a girl of indeterminate preteen age, dressed
in a lavender garment different from the ones worn by the
other girls. It was something like the chitons seen on
Grecian urns. Her dusky skin and deep purple hair sparked
a flare of recognition. This was the same child Crow had
seen astride my grandfather’s back.
She didn’t sit in the chair, of course. I hadn’t expected
her to. Instead, she stood at the edge of the dais, the tips of
her toes hanging off in a singular act of childlike behavior.
Everything else about her was as grave as a funeral,
including her voice.
“To Her Highness Saya Harcourt, I give respect and
greeting.” She bowed at the waist.
Was that an act of defiance along with the hanging toes
and unisex dress? I clung to that hope as she continued.
“Above all else, welcome to this, the home of your
grandsire Emperor Ludovico, the Green of the Black
Forest.”
“Hail and well met, Zillah, eldest hatchling of this lair.” I
addressed her in gender-neutral terms, pushing on my
hunch. “I have come to appraise this lair and humbly
request a tour and introduction.”
“You are too kind, Highness,” Zillah said. “I will gladly
escort you and your minions through the grounds and
buildings. However, introducing servants like ourselves to
such a one as you is not important. And perhaps an
impropriety since our value to your grandsire is less than
the longhouse we stand in.”
“How do you mean, eldest hatchling?” I asked. “Such a
concept is unspoken where I’m from.”
 I tried to restrain the rage threatening to boil over. Even
a pair of these girls were of infinite value to my people back
in the mundane. The old despot raising them had convinced
them they were on par with the property?
“I intended no offense in the mention and will honor
your wishes regardless. I merely meant to inform you on
the state of affairs here.” Zillah bowed again. “If you wish,
consider it part of the tour.”
“Then please do introduce any of your cohorts that we
meet along the way.”
“Yes, Highness.”
She stepped off the dais and led us back along the
length of the longhouse, at the side of the dance floor this
time. On the way, she pointed and named each hatchling
we passed but didn’t let us get close. It was just as well
since our presence made the youngsters nervous.
I politely nodded as Zillah explained the other buildings
and what they were for. Dormitories, of course, one for the
youngest hatchlings and the other for the ones old enough
to shift.
She also told us that “the Emperor” was prone to long
absences, presumably to bring back catches from the sea
or other islands for their sustenance. And also that over the
last few years, she’d gone with him leaving Linden in
charge.
“For what purpose?” I asked. “You must have a unique
skill.”
“I’m umbral.” She glanced past me at Hope. “With
affinity. If it’s not an imposition, why do you ask,
Highness?”
“Because I have many allies who sail the Uncharted
Seas,” I answered. “Perhaps you’ve met them.”
“Oh no, Highness.” Zillah’s eyes widened. “I’ve never
been in a position to make acquaintances out there. Anyone
who happens to see me couldn’t remember me. Nobody can
without strong enchantments.”
 “One of them does. Cornelius Merlini, a simple crow
shifter and the brother of a dear friend. I believe you would
remember him for his special talent, a partial shift of his
wings.”
“He’s dead, Highness.” She swallowed. “And no friend of
your family. He fought the Emperor, and I saw this
Cornelius fall.”
“He lives. It’s about time you knew this. I am not here to
join forces with my grandfather.”
Zillah gasped. “Then you’re here to take revenge.” She
dropped to her knees at my feet and hung her head, but not
before I saw the tears in her eyes.
“Please, Highness.” She sobbed. “If you must punish
someone, let it be only me. It was I who helped him track
and ambush your friend’s ship. Spare the others. If you put
me to death, he can’t hide from you.”
“Zillah.” I held out my hand. “You are in no danger.”
She looked up, trembling. The poor girl seemed too
terrified to speak.
“We didn’t come for revenge.” I locked gazes with her.
“We’ve come to free you all.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Please, I am asking for your help. The others need you.
So stand.”
She did, and in more ways than one before our time was
up. That made the biggest difference.
But not quite all of it.

We sat on magically shaped stone benches around a bronze

statue of Ludovico in the courtyard. Zillah told us how he
always knew when an egg would hatch, along with what
the mind magic enchantments did.
 They prevented the youngsters from leaving and made
them use their elements either at my grandfather’s whim or
to his benefit. That explained the statue, houses, and
meticulous landscaping.
These girls couldn’t act on their own, be magical in any
way that wasn’t pleasing to their captor, or feel safe or free
to be themselves. Thousands of unhatched eggs awaited
the same fate.
I let the sea of emotion rage within me, channeling its
energy into finding a solution for them.
“So, Zillah. The mind magic wards, how do we break
them?” Cosmo scratched his head. “How do we get you off
the island?”
“You can only carry eggs off. He always brings them
someplace else before they hatch.” She sighed. “I’m not
entirely sure how to break the wards, but none of us under
one can leave this island without the Emp—I mean
Ludovico. It’s possible to resist his magic sometimes,
though.”
“How do you know?” Fiona asked. “Has it happened
before?”
“Yes, once.” She held her hands open, staring at them. “I
called on an imp. Not even an hour after I hatched.”
“Hang on a moment.” Hope got her spyglass out,
pointed it at Zillah, and looked at her through it. “Your
ward isn’t as tight-woven as the others I looked at.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“I can,” I said. “You say you defied Ludovico very early
on. Did it happen to be before he warded you?”
“It’s a bit hazy, but that’s possible.”
“Too bad there aren’t any older dragons who might have
been there to see.”
“I’ll be back.” Hope opened her wings. “Going to ask
Nimbus a question.”
“Who’s Nimbus?” Zillah asked.
 I explained. “Anyway, he was an air dragon and only one
of thousands who shared his fate over the years.”
“I remember him!” She put a hand to her cheek. “He’s
why I called the imp to rescue my nestmate eleven years
ago. Ludovico told us he sent the males away to guard the
island from afar. After I saw him wearing that poor male’s
wings, I knew the truth.”
“Your nestmate was male?” Cosmo’s eyes widened as he
counted on his fingers. “You’re around eleven years old.
Was he a lightning dragon? Was his name Petrichor?”
“We aren’t allowed to choose our names here. Yes, he
was a storm dragon. I have no idea where the imp sent him.
Every night I lie awake for a time, wondering whether my
nestmate is safe.”
“Zillah.” Jaxon reached out and patted her shoulder. “We
know. A family found his egg, let Petrichor choose his
name, and adopted him. In fact, he’s on the other side of
the portal we came through to get here.”
She covered her face with her hands and fell against
Jaxon, sobbing. We let Zillah shed what seemed like a
decade’s worth of tears, taking turns comforting her.
Hope landed shortly after. As I sat holding the still
crying girl against my shoulder, we formulated part of a
plan.
“It’ll be easy enough to rescue all the eggs,” Fiona said.
“Put them into the slings and baskets, take them to the
ship, and call for a portal.”
“That alone will make a world of difference for dragons
in general.” Cosmo nodded. “I absolutely think we should
do it. But what about these particular hatchlings? We can’t
just leave them here.”
“We won’t,” I said. “All enchantments have a breaking
point. It’s only a matter of finding it.”
“In time.” Hope sighed. “Ed was with Nimbus. He thinks
Team Barrier can keep things going for maybe another
hour. After that, it’s anybody’s guess when Ludovico
returns.”
“Well then,” I said. “We’d better solve the enchantment
problem quickly. Hopefully, Nimbus had some information
about that.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “He says his broke just before he got
dropped in the ocean.”
“Did Ludovico say or do anything right before?”
“Nimbus remembered the exact words. They were
‘power is my love.’ That’s when the ward broke.”
“What about Zillah? Was he there when she hatched?”
“Yes. He helped carry the eggs to that wrecked island
we found Zillah’s shells on. According to him, Ludovico
warded her immediately after hatching. That debunks your
theory, Saya.”
“That’s a good thing.” The corners of my mouth turned
up. “It means she weakened it this much all on her own.”
“Yeah, over ten years.” Cosmo frowned. “We’ve got sixty
minutes.”
“I still think we can do it,” I said. “I’ve been paying
attention to the magic on the island in general and Zillah’s
situation in particular.”
“You figured it out already!” Fiona smiled. “I think I did
too, mostly because I’m as sappy as you are, Saya. The
counter to this enchantment is love.”
“Exactly so.” I smiled too. “I believe with every fiber of
my being that Zillah loves each child on this island, as
though they were her family. The words my grandfather
said over Nimbus are so important. I think if we rearrange
them, she can use them in a way he wouldn’t have
anticipated.”
Zillah looked up. Her face was blotchy and her eyes
puffy, but still she dared to smile. My heart swelled with
pride at her bravery and love, as if she were my sister.
“My friends will take the eggs to safety,” I told her. “Will
you help me rescue the others?”
 “I’m afraid.” I felt her tremble.
“So am I.” I pulled a perhaps too lacy handkerchief out
of my pocket and handed it to her. “I think I can be brave if
we do this together.”
“Then I’ll try, Highness.”
She climbed out of my lap and wiped her face. When she
tried to give it back, I shook my head. She tucked it into the
front of her garment.
I stood and gestured for the others to do the same.
Fiona, Cosmo, and Jaxon went back for the harnesses.
They’d take as many trips as needed to get the eggs from
the island to the portal on board.
Hope and I walked Zillah back to the main longhouse.
We could tell by listening that the hatchlings were all still
there.
Before we reached the door, I stopped. “I want you to do
me a small favor before we begin.”
“Anything.”
“Please, call me Saya.”
“I don’t deserve—”
“Zillah, where I’m from actions define us. You’re about
to help save dragonkind. We’re peers. Please address me as
such.”
“I will.” She nodded. “How do I do this, Saya?”
“What you’ll do is call them over or go to them, one at a
time. Give a gesture of affection, concentrate on how you
care for each. Then say the words.”
“Power is my love?”
“No.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “Instead you say, my
love is power.”
“What if it doesn’t work? If my love’s not enough?”
“Love is always enough, Zillah.” I looked into her eyes.
“I’ll show you.”
I leaned forward and put my arms around her. A decade-
old memory burned bright as the sun through my heart and
mind. Of a much younger Hope’s arms around me and her
desperate plea to Nobu. The one that saved my life. It was
my turn to pay that generosity forward.
“My love is power.”
The memory’s energy rang through those words. More
of it came to me. Nobu’s silk falling away from us, like
dandelion down on a western breeze.
The wards binding Zillah twisted and fell away from her.
At the same time, I sensed a constricting force building
around me. As I’d suspected, but a fair exchange.
“It worked.” She blinked. “I’m free.”
“Are you still afraid?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’ll help them anyway.”
Zillah stepped up to the doorway, draping her toes past
the threshold as she’d done while standing on the dais. She
smoothed her chiton, closed her eyes, drew a breath, then
opened them.
“Linden!” she called.
The golden-haired hatchling approached slowly, with the
other two who’d accompanied her before stopping at a safe
distance. Zillah tucked a stray lock of hair behind Linden’s
ear and smiled before speaking.
“My love is power.”
Linden’s mouth dropped open, and twin tears spilled
from her widening eyes. Her eyes shifted, turning green
with a vertical pupil. After staring at her hand, she flung
her arms around Zillah.
“Thank you!” She sniffled.
They burst into tears together, shaking with laughter at
the same time. Most of all, I sensed relief from them. Mirth
had overtaken it by the time they collected themselves.
“Come and help me free them,” Zillah said. “If we all do
this together, we’ll be heroes.”
They ran across the threshold, stopping to call, embrace,
and free the fire and earth hatchlings. I took Zillah’s former
place in the doorway, observing as they darted around the
cavernous longhouse. Watching perhaps the first
expression of true joy on this island.
I didn’t realize I’d wept until Hope stepped up beside me
to offer her handkerchief. I noticed when she turned her
spyglass on me.
“Saya.” She blinked rapidly. “All these enchantments.
You didn’t break them. They only transferred to you.”
“I thought you’d figured that part out before.”
“No.” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Would have
stopped you if I had.”
“I suppose this isn’t such a bad place to be trapped in.” I
gestured at the bucolic square with the damp hanky.
“You think Ludovico will let you live after this?” Hope
raised an eyebrow.
“It’s unlikely.” I folded the handkerchief and tucked it
into one of her uniform pockets.
“You can’t throw your life away like this, Saya.” She took
my hand. “You’re too important.”
“Because I’m the last female hatchling?” My smile
released more tears. “Not anymore. I did my duty, saved my
people.”
“No. Because you’re too important to—” she cleared her
throat. “Everyone.”
“It’s lovely to know they all care. But I’m still only one
person in the scheme of things.”
Before she could say anything else, Fiona returned to
tell us Jaxon was carrying the last egg to the boat. She was
delighted to hear that we’d broken the enchantments on
the hatchlings. Hope ordered her to let the littlest ones ride
in her basket while leading the older children back to
shore.
Then she told Fiona to ask Homero to cloak the ship.
Also, a command for the crew to raise anchor and hoist
sail. We could easily fly back, no matter how far The
Odyssey had gone from shore.
 “I’ll see you both back there.” She nodded. “Don’t wait
too long. The sun’s almost up so the barrier’s coming down
soon.”
I merely nodded, then stood there watching them walk
up the hill, over it, and out of sight.
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Hope asked. “That you have
to stay.”
“You can tell the crew later. Tell Mother. Get Mavis to
help with telling Father. And remember me.”
“I couldn’t ever forget you, Saya.” Her face screwed up.
“Not even if the Alkonost feather lets me live a thousand
years.”
“Likewise. After all, if it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have
done any of this.”
“Are you sure there’s no way out of it?”
“None. Unless my grandfather decides to show mercy
and let me live.”
“Or if we come right back with the rest of the crew.
Maybe all of the adults.” Her eyes shone, not only with
tears but the light of strategic inspiration. “We can stay in
the cove, wait, and ambush him.”
“You know as well as I, that won’t work. We don’t have
time to amass a force like that.”
As if in response to my words, the barrier overhead
melted away. I knew better, of course. So did Hope. It was
time for her to leave. True to her unquenchable nature, she
remained defiant.
“I’ll stay here with you. No matter what happens.”
“This isn’t your Quest, Hope.” I put a hand on her
shoulder.
“You’re supposed to be on it with me.” Her jaw
clenched. “Until the end.”
“You’ll make it. I’ll never stop believing in you.”
She put her hand over mine, lifted it, and studied my
knuckles. A brief shadow flitted across the light of the
dawning sun.
 “I’ve loved you from the moment my egg cracked open,
Captain Hope Tolland Dunstable. And I’ll only ever stop
after taking my last breath.”
“That’s it.” She blinked away the last remnants of her
tears. “This ship’s coming to shore because I love you too,
Saya. Since the day I laid eyes on you.”
She dropped my hand, stepped forward, and put hers on
my waist. I’d imagined this moment for years and never
thought it’d happen. She tilted her head and pressed her
lips to mine.
The moment grasped me so completely I couldn’t turn
my head to see whose feet crunched against pyrite gravel.
Was it Ludovico? Even Hope didn’t know. Like every other
crucial moment I’d seen her face, that didn’t stop her from
acting.
“Our love is power.”
A million tiny shimmering shards like crushed spun glass
surrounded us. They faded on the wind along with the last
echo of Hope’s words in my ears. Although the
enchantment’s end was ephemeral, the moment stretched
as long as the new sunrise’s shadows.
A familiar voice broke the silence as soundly as Hope
had broken the enchantment.
“Freya’s Chariot! It’s about damn time!”
Mavis stood beaming with her hands twined together in
front of her chest. She bounced on her toes.
“Shall we?” Hope gestured at the open sky.
A moment later, the three of us soared across it, toward
the portal home.
OceanofPDF.com
 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Mavis

The ship was almost fifty leagues out so it took us a while

to fly back. When we arrived, I practically dropped to the
deck but managed to sit and pretend I’d intended to cuddle
Nut instead. Maybe that’s because I flew almost twenty
leagues to check on Hope and Saya before returning.
I was too happy for them to speak a single word of
complaint even if it took ten minutes to get a portal.
Instead of Sid in Salem, it was Lane in Newport on the
other side. Behind him was the guest room with all the
bunk beds. We stepped into the crowd of our friends, the
nurse and doctor, and of course, dragons.
The scene was like something out of a movie about
summer camp, except the girls wore dresses instead of t-
shirts and shorts. They whispered, giggled, and hung
upside-down from top bunks. Nut darted among them,
barking and wagging her tail.
Some of the girls were wary of my familiar, but others
laughed and capered with her. One of them even did a
cartwheel. Another, a child with nut-brown hair,
approached.
“Are you one of—”
 “Wait, I’m fae,” I interrupted. “My name is Mavis. I’m
from the part of the crew that stayed on the boat and made
the wards.”
“Oh!” She put a hand to her cheek. “I was looking for
Saya. I have something for her.”
“Hmm.” I turned and glanced around the room, then
shrugged. “I don’t see her. Thought she was right behind
me.”
“That’s because they called her to the meeting,” Hope
said. “She had to go, sorry.”
“You’re Saya’s captain,” the girl said. “You can give her
this.”
“I can.” Hope nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Brackish.” She held a piece of purple construction
paper, folded around something.
“It’s from you?”
“No, Captain.” Brackish fidgeted with the paper. “Thing
is, I can’t remember who it’s from. But it’s got Saya’s name
on it.”
“I was on your island that whole time and can’t
remember who might have had a message for Saya.” Hope
scratched her head.
“I lived there my whole life and I can’t either.” Brackish
sighed.
“That’s odd.”
“It’s not,” I countered. “Maybe this is a Homero
situation.”
“Umbral affinity.” Hope rolled her eyes. “Again. Now we
have to go through this whole room, asking who it’s from.”
“No, we don’t.”
I plucked the makeshift paper parcel from her hand,
then marched over to the currently covered firepit and
stepped up on it. After that, I stomped on the cover. It made
a clanging hollow sound and got everyone’s attention.
“Listen up!” I held up the paper. “My name’s Mavis,
lieutenant on The Odyssey. I want to talk to whoever made
this so I can make sure it gets where it needs to go.”
A hand went up on a top bunk to my right. I stepped
down without taking my eyes off it and headed over. Then, I
stood on the bottom bunk to talk to the dusky-skinned,
purple-haired stranger in the top one. After introducing
ourselves, I got right to the point.
“Hey, I heard you all were under an enchantment up
until a little while ago.”
“Yes.” She pointed at the object in my hand. “You
wanted to talk about that. Saya let me borrow something,
and I have to make sure she gets it back.”
I didn’t look away from her. With umbral affinity, I’d only
forget who she was and why I was there. I nodded.
“In a minute. First, you have an unexpected problem,
don’t you?”
“Sort of. It’s just that girls who remembered me since
they hatched don’t anymore. Even close friends, like
Linden. Unless they keep looking at me like you’re doing
now.”
“I’ve heard you know about your powers. So you must
have expected this.”
“I hoped it wasn’t the enchantment.”
“It’s okay if it was because there are other ways to be
remembered. Like joining a pack. Just don’t ask me how or
any other questions.”
“You’re a faerie, like the captain. And that dear friend
Saya mentioned. The one whose brother is Crow Merlini.”
“You’re a smart cookie.” I grinned. “So, I’d like to invite
you to join my pack.”
“I shouldn’t.” She looked away. “It’s my fault your
brother lost his arm.”
“Because Ludovico made you hide him?” I shook my
head. “I don’t think so.”
“He might. Since you’re his sister, he’s probably your
packmate too.”
“Do you want me to ask him?”
 “I’m afraid of that.” She drew a deep breath. “But go
ahead.”
“Wow.” I grinned. “Hey, Magnus?”
A moment later, he was at my side.
“I can’t take my eyes off Zillah here, so could you
beckon Crow over, please?”
“On it.”
“Who were you talking to?”
“My other brother.” I leaned closer and lowered my
voice. “He’s incorporeal.”
“I’m sorry.” Her eyes softened. “That means he’s a
ghost.”
“Yes. But I can do medium stuff.”
“Mediums can’t run packs.”
“Started as a shifter, a lion gave me a magic feather, and
now I see ghosts. It’s a good thing because some of my best
friends have no body.”
Zillah’s nose and mouth twitched. I might not have seen
that expression too many times, but I’d certainly felt it.
Trying not to laugh in front of adults because they were
unpredictable.
So I revealed Horace, who was still chuckling.
Zillah blinked and leaned back at first. Then she glanced
from him to me as though we were playing ping-pong.
Finally, she faced him. “Are you real?”
“No, I’m Horace.” He grinned. “Sometimes known as
Porous Horace. Because I can do things like this.”
He went under the top bunk, then slowly moved upward
through it. His bowler hat appeared first, then his face. He
made a face that might have impressed Rob. Finally, it
happened.
Zillah laughed.
When Crow came over, she still apologized. He accepted
it and her like anyone else he’d met since his time at
Danvers Sanitarium. With that, she joined the Shroud.
When I told her the name, she made that face again.
 “I want in on this joke.” I grinned. “Bet it’s a good one.”
“Oh yeah,” Crow agreed. “Sounds like a doozy.”
“Just.” A titter escaped with each pause. “I’m umbral. In
a pack. Called the Shroud!”
We all laughed this time. Finally, I held up the
construction paper packet again.
“I kind of lied,” I said. “I can’t get this to Saya because
she’s in a meeting for dragons only. But you can.”
“Mr. Meyer said we didn’t need to be there.”
“That’s true. You don’t. But you can be there, especially
for the time it takes to hand this over. We’ll even remember
you when you get back.”
“Thanks!” Zillah looked excited for the first time since I
met her.
She vaulted down from the bunk and wove through the
crowd to get to the door, then through it. Relieved, I
stepped down from the bunk and almost crashed into
Jaxon. He jumped back and twisted his torso out of the way.
“Uh, Mavis.” He cradled something in his arms,
wrapped in a towel. “We have a little problem.”
“Is somebody hurt?”
Diego made a beeline for us from across the room.
“No.” The towel chirped. “It’s a problem for me, mostly.”
“Spill it.”
“No!” Jaxon blinked and held the bundle closer.
“Not literally, just let me see,” I said.
Diego reached us and stopped in his tracks. “Oh no.
That last egg hatched and the dragon impressed on you.”
“Little problem, like I said.” Jaxon grinned sheepishly,
rocking the baby hatchling. “Not for long, right? Just need
to introduce him to an adult dragon, right?”
“That’s not how this works.” Crow raised his hands,
palms up. “That’s not how any of this works. Didn’t you pay
attention when they covered magical shifters last year?”
Blaine sauntered over.
 “Uh, yeah. But hatching dragons are so rare they didn’t
—”
“You’re stuck,” Crow said. “At least they can’t go
humanoid until they’re old enough to be out of diapers. But
forget college.”
“He’ll be off the hook before that,” Blaine said.
“Impression only lasts three months.”
“Three months?” Diego staggered backward, fortunately
against a bedpost. “Are you going to do Under missions
with a baby sling?”
“Well, I thought you could help, maybe.”
“I absolutely will, babe,” Diego said. “In a support way
because the kid’s not going to let me. He’ll only want you
twenty-four-seven.”
“What about school? I mean, can I still finish on time?”
“Maybe,” Blaine said. “Let me have a look at the little
man.”
Jaxon finally uncovered the baby. We all stared down at a
small rounded snout with a ridge of tiny spikes between the
eyes. His scales were deep red-brown like mahogany.
“Well, he’s either earth or wood so you’re in luck,”
Blaine said. “They’re stable elements, earth especially.
Dragons with that element sleep for a good portion of the
day in their first year.”
“What if he’s wood?” Jaxon asked.
“Then he’ll be peaceful as long as there are plants
around. Until he starts teething in month four, but that’s
not a concern in your case.”
“At least impression’s over before graduation.” Jax
sighed. “We’ll get through it either way, Bruno.”
“That’s the name he told you?” Blaine raised an
eyebrow.
“Yeah, why?” Jax blinked. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, it’s just that we’re trying to find out where
everyone came from. Maybe reunite them with their
families. Because all these girls didn’t get to choose their
names, they have no clues. At least Bruno here does.”
“Can’t Doctor Klein do blood tests on them?” Crow
asked.
“She can.” Blaine glanced around and nodded. “It takes
time to get results back, though. In the meantime, I’ll set
the three of you up in another room, one with a bassinet.”
Diego and Jaxon went with Blaine, already picking his
brain about early dragon childhood. I leaned against the
bunk with Crow.
“That’s something he doesn’t want to say in front of the
children, perhaps,” he said. “Maybe talk to Wilfred about
it.”
“Maybe,” I said. “We’ll see.”
The girls tired themselves out and went to bed less than
ten minutes later. Zillah returned, rubbing her eyes. We
helped her back up into her bunk.
The crew and the rest of the adults milled around in the
hall. I noticed Ben was with us, but Petrichor wasn’t. I
inquired as to his whereabouts.
“He went into the meeting just as the rescue effort
ended,” Ben said. “Brought them the final tally. He texted
saying he was about to come back when Saya got there and
asked him to stay.”
His phone beeped. He checked it.
“Well, he told me not to wait up for him so I’m turning
in.” He grinned. “Congrats on the successful mission. See
you later.”
“Yeah, later.”
I hoped the meeting wouldn’t take up all the time. We
had to get a handle on what to do next in the Under, which
partially hinged on Wyatt’s project back in Salem. Maybe
Hertha would let the crew get a moment.
It was a long weekend, so as I got settled in the bottom
bunk nearest the door, I hoped for the best. Before I fell
asleep, I felt Ed behind me, leaning in to leave a goodnight
kiss on my cheek.
The bunk at the foot of mine creaked, and I finally
nodded off, comforted by his presence.

A child’s shrill scream woke me. I leaped out of the low

bunk and crashed into Cosmo, who’d vaulted down from
the top, and Ed, who’d sprung out of the next bunk. We
crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
One glance around the room told me all the other
hatchlings had gone back to sleep. The child screamed
another short blast. The others stirred, then rolled back
over. I couldn’t do anything. Neither could Ed or Cos
because we still hadn’t righted ourselves.
Crow strode across the room toward Zillah’s bunk. A
moment later, he’d scooped the still sleeping girl up and
carried her toward the cushions around the fire pit in the
middle of the room. She screamed again, right in his ear,
but he didn’t flinch. Instead, he sat, cradling her. The three
of us hurried over and knelt nearby.
Crow stroked Zillah’s hair and hummed a hauntingly
familiar tune. It floated in a vague fog of memory, and no
matter how hard I tried I couldn’t identify it. Ed did. I knew
because he sang along, softly of course.
“Moulin Rouge?” Cosmo blinked. “That’s One Day I’ll Fly
Away.”
“Shh.” I put a finger to my lips.
As I listened to the words Ed sang, I remembered more.
Someone used to sing this to me. Not Crow, either. He was
only three when I was a baby. So that meant he’d learned it
from whoever did, but only vaguely.
I concentrated. The voice echoing Ed’s in my mind was
female, but not my mother’s. A sister, then. Not Marge or
Barbara. That left only one possibility.
Branwen.
I shivered. Cosmo grabbed a throw from behind us and
draped it over my back. I held it around me, watching
Zillah’s face relax and her breathing even out. Finally, she
opened her eyes. When she saw my brother’s face, she
burst into tears. Her voice hitched with sobs.
“S-s-sorry—”
“Forgiven.” Crow’s voice cracked.
“B-but.” Zillah stared at his prosthetic arm and sniffled.
“That.”
“Gonna forgive you all day every day if that’s what it
takes.” He patted her back. “You’re safe now. We both are.”
Moments later, she dropped off again. He brought her
back to her bunk and tucked her back in. Nut followed
them, whining, so I lifted her, and she curled up at the foot
of the bed.
“You should go back to sleep, too,” he told us.
“Not after that.” Cosmo shook his head. “Why didn’t the
other kids wake up?”
“Umbral affinity,” Ed said. “They’re not in the pack so
they don’t remember the scream long enough for it to wake
them fully.”
“Seems more like a curse than a special ability.” Crow
shook his head. “That girl’s going to need help getting a
handle on that.”
“You rose to that occasion like a champion.” I grinned.
“Just being a big brother.”
“Mine couldn’t have pulled that off,” Ed said.
“Same.” Cosmo shook his head. “Mavis wins the big bro
lottery.”
“Don’t forget, I busted my ass to get here.” Crow
crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “A few years ago
and she’d be agreeing with you.”
“Sorry, sir.” Cosmo hung his head.
 “You outrank me, lion king.” Crow chuckled, then raised
an eyebrow at Ed.
“I’m not sorry,” Ed said. “Fred’s salt-of-the-earth and I
love him to pieces, but comforting people is not one of his
talents.”
“Fair enough.”
“You know what might not be fair, though.” I sighed.
“Having Zillah in our pack. Now that I’ve had the chance to
think about it.”
“Because she’s still cut off from all these other
hatchlings, you mean,” Ed said. “That’s a good point.
Maybe we should talk to Blaine, see if there’s a place for
her in Tinfoil Hat instead. Or maybe Saya can make a pack
out of the kids here.”
“No way,” Crow said. “Look, I wanted to run this by you
alone first, Mavis. Since the topic’s up, I’ve got to tell you
that’s a bad idea.”
“How?” I tilted my head.
“I’m not sure, exactly.” He sighed. “All these hatchlings
have trauma. They were kept as slaves and used. Ludovico
put Zillah in charge of them, then dragged her around to do
gods know what. He made her an accomplice. I guarantee
that’s not her first nightmare and it won’t be her last.”
“I grok it. She has challenges the others won’t
understand. Things you do.”
“That’s the size of it.” He sighed. “She’s so much
younger than I was, though.”
“Not that much.” I reached out and took his hand. “Only
a year or three. Nobody should have to go through that.”
“I agree,” Ed said. “But she did. So we need to consider
that as her packmates.”
“I think we should keep her,” Cosmo said. “Like, at the
boarding house. It’s safe there, and she could get
counseling.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” I nodded. “But there’s a
problem. We can’t send her to the primary school with the
state she’s in.”
“That’s easy.” Cosmo grinned. “I know all about
remedial everything. I’ll tutor her. I bet Kiara will help,
too.”
“What about social time, though.” Ed rubbed his eyes.
“She’ll have no kids her age around. That’s important, too.”
“I have an idea.” I yawned. “It’ll have to wait until
tomorrow when I can talk to a few people. Let’s get some
shut-eye.”
Ed, Cosmo, and I stood. Crow didn’t. After a closer look,
I realized he’d fallen asleep on the cushions. He looked so
peaceful that I didn’t wake him. I draped the blanket from
my shoulders over him before heading to my bunk.

The dragon meeting dragged on all night. I checked on

Zillah and Nut, found them still sleeping, and went to get
coffee in the rec room with Ed. It was only a bit later than
our usual zero dark thirty time.
On the way to the dining room, I sent a message to
Matron Klein, then fixed a cup of coffee. As I was about to
start texting the rest of my list of people, one of them
walked into the room.
“Mr. Roche, good morning,” I said.
“A good morning to you too, Miss Mavis.”
He dropped a tea bag into a cup and pressed the lever
on the boiling water decanter. I passed him the sugar, and
he put two lumps into the cup.
“Thank you.” He nodded.
“Come and sit with us,” I invited. “If you don’t mind
answering a few questions.”
“I’d be happy to.” He sat.
“How has Petrichor been getting along lately?” I asked.
“At school and the like. I notice he’s been back and forth
between here and Salem a good deal of the time.”
“He’s quite far ahead in his studies. In fact, he’s
completed eighth grade.”
“How?” I scratched my head.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Crow pour a cup of coffee.
I didn’t see him leave.
“Weir Academy annex is a self-paced learning
environment. We’ve told him to take time off to not outpace
his age by too much. He chooses to spend most of it as
you’ve seen.”
“So, he’s got maybe a year off?”
“Goodness, no.” Mr. Roche chuckled. “Almost three.”
“That’s perfect.” I smiled.
“You’ve got something specific in mind.”
“A set of someones.” Ed grinned. “Or rather, a pack.”
“Whose?”
“Mine,” I said. “One of the hatchlings is umbral with
affinity, so she joined. She’s the youngest member, and as
you know, all of the girls grew up in unconventional
circumstances. Petrichor could help her get caught up
academically and keep her company as well.”
“We weren’t expecting him to get such an offer quite
this soon.” Mr. Roche blinked. “I’ll have to discuss this with
Ms. Celine before even broaching the subject with the
young master.”
“Of course,” I said. “Since they’re both in the meeting, I
didn’t expect an instant answer.”
“Since we’ve got time, I might add that most young
hatchlings have either a relative or assistant nearby at all
times. Perhaps you know if she’s got any sort of helper.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. My brother was.
“Zillah’s got me.” Crow stepped forward. “Although you
ought to know I’m new to being a hatchling’s assistant.”
“I know I’ve seen you, sir.” Mr. Roche stood. “We’ve
never been formally introduced.”
I stood. Ed got up, too.
 “Mr. Roche, I present my brother and pack beta, Under
Born Scout Cornelius Merlini, mundane shifter son of Sir
Paolo Micello, informally known as Crow.”
Ed cleared his throat.
“Crow, I introduce Mr. Peter Roche, earth magus, and
son of Ms. Celine Alizee-Roche.”
“Well met, Scout Cornelius.” Mr. Roche bowed his head.
“Experience is less important for this endeavor than a
strong will and earnestness.”
“Good to meet you too, Mr. Roche.” Crow bowed back.
“Also good to know about the assistant job. Please, call me
Crow.”
“Let’s have a chat about our common ground.” Mr.
Roche gestured at the table. “Since you’re the pack beta as
well, perhaps we could have a conversation about its name,
mission, and merits.”
“Mavis,” Crow said. “Cosmo’s still back at the guest
room, but—”
“I know. He’ll be starving in a minute.” I nodded. “I’ll
leave you two gentlemen to it.”
I tossed the remainder of my coffee back and collected
my phone. I could always send my texts and make any calls
from there. Ed went through similar motions and followed
me into the hall. As we walked, he spoke.
“I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
“Wow.” I winked. “That’s a good omen.”
“Because I almost never say that.” He chuckled.
“Touché.”
We laughed the rest of the way back to the guest room,
dragon-sized hallways and all. Cosmo had just closed the
door when we got there, so we told him about my idea.
“Tiamat’s scales!” His eyes saucered. “I can’t believe
somebody didn’t tell you!”
“Didn’t tell me what?” I blinked.
“Petrichor.” He shook his head. “You heard how Celine
found his egg under Niagara Falls.”
 “Yeah, I did.”
“Well. we found out an imp put it there. On account of
Zillah making a bargain.”
“Good omens.” I chuckled. “Like I said.”
“Don’t say anything about it yet, though,” Ed cautioned.
“It’s not a done deal by a long shot.”
“Gonna be a shorter shot than you think if Saya and
Hope mentioned that in the meeting, though.” Cosmo
grinned. “I don’t know everything about dragon politics,
but they might not be able to refuse letting Petrichor help
the savior of his life if he says he wants to do it.”
“Pray the gods he does and that you’re right,” I said.
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 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Matron Klein texted back that Zillah could have the fifth-
floor room to the right of Crow’s before lunch. Also that
Petrichor could have the one to the left if the rest of my
machinations worked out. A few minutes later, Nurse
Wilson showed up at the guest room door to give my
youngest packmate a physical exam.
Kiara called, saying she’d be happy to collect the old box
of books from under my bed and put them in Zillah’s room.
Brandon fetched her a full set of personal care items from
the bathroom closet, putting them in a bag he wasn’t using.
The meeting didn’t end until Sunday afternoon, but they
let Petrichor out before then. I walked into the small dining
room on Saturday to ensure there was enough room for all
the hatchlings and he was there. He stood by a cart of
beverages, talking to Blaine. The moment he saw me, he
darted over.
“Mavis, I want to join your pack.”
I looked around for Mr. Roche but didn’t see him.
“Look, I don’t care about getting permission,” he said.
“Pet—”
“I heard everything Saya and Hope said about the lair.
This girl’s free but cut off from everyone she cares about.
I’m helping.”
Blaine strode over.
 “Petrichor.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Did Saya say
anything else? About Zillah?”
“About who?” He blinked.
“Oh boy, umbral affinity strikes again.” I sighed. “I need
to get somebody in my pack into that meeting.”
“Let me join, and that’ll happen,” Petrichor said.
“Listen, kid.” Blaine blew a pair of smoke rings. “I’m
standing in for Mr. Roche while he gets some shut-eye. You
shouldn’t be joining packs at your age without a good
reason and proper permission. Much less a trickster pack.”
“Why can’t I join a trickster pack?”
“You’re about as straight a shooter as ever shot a, er,
shot,” Blaine said. “That’s why.”
“I’ve got Kiara, and she’s the same way,” I said. “I might
be a trickster, but that’s not how Shroud’s structured,
Blaine. We’re a standard pack.”
“I stand corrected.” He sighed. “Still, Ms. Celine hasn’t
made her decision yet.”
“Why?” I asked.
“There doesn’t seem to be a good reason. We know
about your hatchling’s plight, but being in a pack comes
with privilege and responsibility. It’s up to Petrichor’s
guardian to decide whether he’s up to it.”
“What if I told you she saved his life?”
“That’d be an entirely different story,” Blaine said. “I
don’t remember anything like that in either account of
events.”
“Well, Cosmo was there too. Have they heard from
him?”
“He’s only a lion shifter, though.”
“No, he’s not,” I insisted. “He’s monarch of Aesop’s
Island, remember?”
“Oh.” Blaine blinked. “Well, I could suggest it and put it
exactly that way.”
“How long’s that going to take?” Petrichor asked.
“Because if this is true, I should start repaying this girl for
her heroic deed as soon as possible.”
“Half a moment, to start.” Blaine got his phone out and
sent a message. After it beeped, he sent another. “They’ll
hear Cosmo’s account. He’s leaving the guest room now,
although not happy about delaying dinner.”
“Thanks, Blaine,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“Thank me later.” He pointed at the brownies setting
food on the table. “I’m famished. Ta-ta for now.”
He turned on his heel and headed for the nearest seat.
“Do you think they’ll let me join?”
“Let’s get some grub to kill time until we hear one way
or another.” I woke my phone up. “Right after I send word
that there’s room for everyone in here.”
I tapped out the message and went to the table. Minutes
later, I heard them coming up the hall. The girls darted
around the room, figuring out where to sit. Diego and Jaxon
paced through the door like sleepwalkers, with circles
under their eyes and pushing the newly hatched dragon in
a pram.
Zillah walked behind them with Crow. They took seats
near Petrichor and me. I was slightly surprised that there
wasn’t a heartwarming or tearful reunion. With all the
research we’d done about hatchlings whose eggs matured
in the same nest, I’d hoped otherwise.
According to records in this very house’s library, most in
such a situation recognized each other instantly. Zillah and
Petrichor didn’t. Maybe because of the umbral affinity,
although that didn’t explain her side of things. I suspected
she intentionally held her feelings close to her chest. It
made me a bit melancholy.
Ben brought a book to the table called Simple
Enchantments to Amuse Your Friends. He paged through it,
holding it up between bites of breakfast to show the ones
he liked.
Even though he couldn’t do any of them, his enthusiasm
bolstered Zillah’s reserved mood. She tried one of them,
making her water look like ink by conjuring shadows over
its surface. Moments after the boys marveled at what she’d
shown them, they looked away and forgot entirely.
“Don’t worry, kid,” Crow said. “It’ll get. better, I
promise.”
She nodded and kept trying.
Halfway through dinner, Cosmo stood in the doorway,
beckoning. I grabbed a basket of rolls and headed over. He
tore one in half, stuffed it in his mouth, chewed thrice, then
spoke.
“Thanks. I’ve got news.”
He reached for the basket. I handed it over, prepared to
decipher his speech around crusty carby goodness. He
didn’t disappoint.
“Hope’s going to add Zillah to the crew. So that
increases the number of people who’ll remember her.”
“When?”
“She started making a formal exit before I left.”
“What about Petrichor?”
“Ms. Celine had Mr. Roche call Matron Klein, so I think
it’s a yes.”
“Good job, Cos.” I glanced down at the now empty bread
basket, then gestured at the table. “Thank you. Go balance
out that meal, now.”
We took seats. Dessert and coffee had come out when
Hope arrived. She stared at a piece of paper in her hand,
then raised it to keep it in her field of vision as she scanned
the room. Once she caught sight of Zillah, she fixed her
gaze on the girl and headed over.
“Would you like to join my crew?” she asked.
“I don’t want to go back to the Under.” Zillah sighed.
“You don’t have to unless you want to,” Hope told her. “I
have crew members doing work in the mundane, and they
could use some help.”
“Then, I accept.”
 The now-familiar prickling tingle of magic buzzed along
my skin. A glance up told me the rest of the crew felt it too
—even those in Shroud, like Ed, Jaxon, and Diego.
“Welcome to the crew, Zillah.”
“Thank you, Captain Dunstable.”
The roster change’s effects weren’t limited to this room.
Ripples extended to Salem and the Under too, although I
didn’t discover the effects until later.
After finishing dessert, my phone rang. Jill called to say
her mom would send over a bedding set and a night light
for Zillah. Wyatt took the phone to confirm he was ready to
add her birthdate into his calculations. Then he paused.
“Spit it out, Wyatt,” I said.
“Look, I wouldn’t have said anything. Kiara and Jill were
squealing about Zillah when he called and everyone at his
house overheard.”
“Who called?”
“Ramon.” Wyatt waited. “It was about chart stuff. For
whatever reason, he put me on speaker.”
“Go on.”
“His parents had some friends over, another vampire
couple. One of them’s this goth dude and the other I can’t
remember. Anyway, the dude heard the words umbral
affinity and butted right in. Straight up asked Ramon to put
me on the phone. So he’s sending something down to help
the new kid. Says it ought to be there by Monday.”
“Can you message him back a thank you?”
“Already did that over the call.”
“Whatever they’re sending, I’m glad. Thanks, Wyatt.”
“No problem. If you don’t mind handing me over to the
new kid, I should get her information.”
“Of course.”
I showed Zillah how to hold the phone and let them talk.
She asked Wyatt several times how far away he was,
grinning every time he repeated the answer. She also
answered his questions.
 I heard the bloop of the call ending.
“He says goodbye, Mavis.” She handed the phone back.
“The talk box is a marvel!”
“It totally is.” I grinned. “I’m not usually sentimental
about items, but my brother got this for me so I kind of love
it.”
Before I put it away, the phone rang. I answered it.
“Hello, this is Mavis.”
“Miss Mavis, this is Mr. Roche. We’re still in the meeting
and will be for quite some time. I wanted to inform you that
the young master has my mother’s permission to join your
pack. He and I will return to Salem on Monday and keep
accommodations in the apartment building next door to
your boarding house.”
“That’s where the Endors live. Is that why you chose a
place there?”
“One reason. Mr. Endor is calling his brother with the
other as we speak.”
“That’s great, Mr. Roche.”
“Feel free to give him the news and invite him at your
earliest convenience.”
“Thank you. He’s going to be thrilled.”
We said goodbye and hung up.
“Zillah, you’re getting a tutor on Monday. Someone your
age.”
“Oh!” She clasped her hands. “Thank goodness. I mean
no offense.”
“None taken.” I grinned. “Now, what do you want to do
next?”
She glanced down the hall and saw the other girls
heading toward the game room. She rubbed her eyes and
shook her head.
“Take a bath, I think. Get ready for bed. I’m tired.”
“Go tell Crow we’re leaving the dining room, then.”
“I’ll do that.”
 I flagged Petrichor down. “Are you still interested in
joining the Shroud?”
“Of course.”
“Are you willing to tutor a packmate academically?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then welcome.” I smiled. “You have permission and
also a place to stay as of Monday. It’s next door to Ben’s
apartment.”
“Tiamat’s scales!” His smile flashed like lightning. “This
is lit like the fire of a thousand suns.”
“Glad to hear it.” I chuckled. “See you on Monday
afternoon.”
I saw my brother with Zillah at the door, so I headed
over to join them for the walk back. Once at the guest
room, we set her up with towels and a nightgown from the
closet. Then, I told him everything.
The good news landed well. Crow laughed over
Petrichor’s reaction and said he’d have to find a way to
thank Kiara, Brandon, and Jill. Then he asked me to repeat
the things Wyatt said.
“My concerns don’t all have answers,” he said. “But I
can live with that for now.”
“Me too.”

As I sat on the edge of my bunk resting, Ben came to see

me. I reached for my satchel to offer him the only book I
had with me, but he shook his head.
“Sam said I had to talk to you.” He glanced to the side.
“Came to join up. If you’ll have me.”
“I’m looking for folks who want to be here, Ben. So
you’ve got to level with me. Are you here for you, or
because your brother said so?”
 “I’m here for Petie.” He met my gaze. “He’s my best
friend.”
“That’s an excellent reason.”
Ben nodded and looked away again. I needed the truth
from him. So I told him a lie.
“I don’t understand why you sound so down on yourself
about this.”
His voice got small. “I bothered Ed. Stole from you. I’m
a pest. I’m mundane. And ordinary.”
“You might not be an extrahuman, Ben. Yet. From what
I’ve seen you’re pretty extraordinary.”
“Makes no sense to me, but you’re the Sirin. Can’t
argue.”
“If you won’t, then I’ll argue.” I grinned. “In your favor.
Guts enough to pick my pocket, helpful enough to test
experimental magitech, big-hearted enough to befriend a
storm dragon. And humble enough to call himself ordinary.”
“I don’t see any of that. Just a kid, always in the way.”
“I can agree with that because you are a kid, Ben. I was
a pest and in the way at your age, too. Thing about kids is,
we grow up.”
“But you’re, like, a big damn hero.”
I threw back my head and laughed. He turned away, but
I put my hands on his shoulders.
“Gods, Ben. Thank you. But I almost never feel that way.
My counselor calls it impostor syndrome.”
“Can’t believe you go to counseling.”
“Most of us in the pack have at one time or another, at
least. A lot of us still do. I can think of more than one
starting therapy soon. So I guess the real question is, do
you want to be in a pack with a bunch of misfits?”
“With my best friend, yeah, I do.”
“That’s good because the power of friendship is sort of a
thing for us. Welcome to the Shroud, Ben.”
“That name has a coolness factor of eleven.” He smiled.
“Thanks, Mavis. I’ll do my best.”
 “That’s all I’ve ever asked of the rest of them. You’ll do
great.”
We said goodnight. Later on, I dreamed of sailing toward
a golden tower in the middle of the ocean. Its intricate
beauty didn’t hide the fact that something was gravely
wrong with it.
The wind carried a low, throbbing noise. At first I
thought it was machinery, but Levi’s voice sang through my
mind to tell me I’d misheard it. So I listened again, and the
answer occurred right before I woke up.
It was a heavenly voice. But it was weeping.
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 J OYO U S B LI S S

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 P R OV I D E N C E PA R A N O R M A L C O LLEG E

Available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited

A charmed life can tumble down in an avalanche of

problems.
Bobby Tremain’s the first in his family to attend college,
and also the first to see snow. A massive magical blizzard
makes this not-so-average bear want to sleep all winter, but
he needs to pass exams or risk flunking out of Providence
Paranormal College.
 Lynn Frampton’s got a brain of epic proportions and an
even smarter mouth. She went to college on the other side
of the country to escape the town where everybody knows
and fears her intellect. At college, Lynn's barely able to
make friends, let alone influence people. At least she’s at
the top of her class.
Bobby needs Lynn’s help to stay awake and pass his
exams. She might just need his companionship, too. Can
Lynn and Bobby find new hope together, or will their
failures send them both packing?

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 THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading! If you loved this book, please leave
a review. You can find my other work by clicking the links
below, going to my website or visiting my Author Central
page.

Providence Paranormal College Volume 1

Providence Paranormal College Volume 2
A Change In Crime
Wiser Guys
The Longest Night Watch
Stardust, Always
Supernatural Vigilante Society
Challenge of Vircon
Poetry Collections

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 A L S O B Y D. R . P E R R Y

Providence Paranormal College

Bearly Awake (Book 1)
Fangs for the Memories (Book 2)
Of Wolf and Peace (Book 3)
Dragon My Heart Around (Book 4)
Djinn and Bear It (Book 5)
Roundtable Redcap (Book 6)
Better Off Undead (Book 7)
Ghost of a Chance (Book 8)
Nine Lives (Book 9)
Fan or Fan Knot (Book 10)

Hawthorn Academy
Familiar Strangers (Book 1)
Acting in Kindness (Book 2)
Fire of Justice (Book 3)
Learning to Give (Book 4)
Light of Equality (Book 5)
Worthy Lives (Book 6)
Mind of Distinction (Book 7)
Speaking with Care (Book 8)
True Dedication (Book 9)

Gallows Hill Academy

Night of Sorrow (Book 1)
Chance at Joy (Book 2)
About a Girl (Book 3)
About a Boy (Book 4)
Wrapped in Silver (Book 5)
Striking Gold (Book 6)
 Untold Wish (Book 7)
Secret Kiss (Book 8)
Joyous Bliss (Book 9)

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