ell, don’t you look poppin’!”

I spun around to see Blue standing in the bathroom doorway. She was dressed and ready for tonight’s ball, but she had this excited, surprised expression on her face that I didn’t quite understand.

“What’s that?” I asked as I finished fastening a clasp on the back of my dress.

“I said you look poppin’!” she repeated, crossing her arms. “Like, seriously Crisa. Wow.”

I blushed from the compliment. “Thanks,” I said. “You look nice too.”

“Wait, hold on. I don’t think you’re fully appreciating what I’m trying to say here,” Blue asserted as she walked over to me. “SJ, come out the bathroom for a sec, will ya?”

“Blue, what is it?” SJ said as she emerged from the door. “We must depart for the ball at exactly seven o’clock or I will be late to help Madame Lisbon set up. We do not have time for any of your shenanigans.”

Blue rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve only mentioned that like fifty times in the last five minutes. Now will you please take a look at Crisa and tell her what you think.”

SJ turned toward me, stopped short, and stared. The same stunned expression that had appeared on Blue’s face now crossed hers.

“Crisa, you look . . . absolutely wonderful. That is not to say that you do not always look nice. I only mean that this dress is utterly amazing on you. You look like . . . Well, there is no contest. Tonight, you will be the most stunning princess at the ball.”

“Um, thank you?” I replied awkwardly.

I didn’t understand why they were being so weird. Blue had on a strappy, rose gold dress with a swirly pattern that shone when it caught the light. Her dark blonde waves—which she’d grown out since last semester—accentuated the look in a natural but polished way.

SJ, meanwhile, wore a royal blue lace dress that had long, see-through sleeves and a slit up the skirt. Her suede stilettos were the same deep black shade as her hair, which was neatly done up in an elegant ballerina bun. Her dangling diamond earrings were understated but sparkled like runaway stars. Overall, she radiated pure elegance.

In other words, SJ and Blue both looked utterly amazing. I never appeared anywhere near as put together as they did. I usually just looked like me, which was a seven out of ten on the reg and maybe an eight out of ten on a good day.

I shrugged off their compliments as I made my way into the bathroom to run a brush through my hair. I made direct eye contact with the girl in the mirror and took in the dress that had set my friends agape.

The satin number was graceful, simple, and a formfitting mermaid style. The top was a dark shade of rosewood that grew lighter and brighter in color until it erupted into a kind of electric crimson at the skirt.

It was an intriguing design, and I liked it. What I was less sure about was the actual cut of the dress. It was a halter-top with a much lower back than I was used to, which was highlighted by my newly shortened hair.

At least the gown didn’t have a corset. I’d always hated those things, but after Mauvrey nearly killed me with a poisoned one last month, it was safe to say that my distaste for them had grown substantially.

Mauvrey . . .

While I tried not to think about her, looking at this dress—about to go to a ball like I had been the night she’d tried to kill me—I couldn’t help it.

Although I knew my school nemesis was a vicious, malice-driven girl, it was still hard to accept that she was genuinely wicked. Not only was she working with Nadia and the antagonists, she had a Shadow living inside of her like Arian did. Thinking about it gave me the shivers.

She, Arian, and other Shadow-compatible antagonists in Alderon were surrendering their souls so their bodies could serve as vessels for members of this dark species. In doing so—in becoming Shadow Guardians—they’d made themselves immune to certain types of magic. For example, they could easily pass through the weaker versions of In and Out Spells around Alderon and Lady Agnue’s. As a trade-off, the Shadows continuously fed off their hosts’ life energies—slowly consuming them by sucking them dry like leeches from the inside.

I shuddered again.

I wasn’t worried about Mauvrey. I was pretty sure it was impossible to muster concern for someone who’d spent months secretly plotting to eliminate you. What bothered me was that I couldn’t imagine what had possibly possessed her to choose such a fate. For years she had been a princess at the top of our class at Lady Agnue’s—totally set to become a great protagonist one day. Why in the realm would she have thrown all that away in favor of becoming a villain?

I had known her for most of my life. Our families (both being royal) had gotten together for events long before she and I started attending Lady Agnue’s. The saddest part was that we actually got on quite well when we were younger. She had been nice once. It wasn’t until we were about nine or ten that her personality had taken a curt turn for the toxic. And now, for whatever reason, she’d gone all antagonist.

Not that anyone at school outside of my immediate circle of friends and our headmistress knew any of this. When Mauvrey fled the grounds after attempting homicide with the poisoned corset, Lady Agnue did not tell the student body the truth about her disappearance. She couldn’t exactly explain anything accurate about Mauvrey’s fate without also revealing many of the other tightly concealed secrets she was keeping.

The headmistress simply resigned to telling everyone that Mauvrey had become ill and returned home—as big a lie as you could possibly put together.

Wherever Mauvrey had vanished to, it definitely wasn’t back to her own kingdom. For one, her newfound occupation as a Shadow-hosting super villainess wasn’t exactly the type of work you could do from home. And two, I seriously doubted Lady Agnue had told Mauvrey’s parents that their daughter was missing. Even now they probably thought she was here at school with the rest of us—blissfully unaware that their daughter had turned dark.

Geez, that was gonna be a rough conversation to have one day when they inevitably learned the truth. I could just imagine it:

“Sorry, your highnesses. We know you already suffered a lot in your day, but turns out you don’t get that happily ever after you thought you’d earned. Your only offspring has decided to turn evil and help a bunch of other crazy people overthrow the realm’s protagonists.”

Sheesh, I felt bad for them already.

On second thought, for now maybe it was for their own good that Lady Agnue hadn’t told Mauvrey’s parents the truth. It’s not like she would’ve been able to provide them with much information. Like I said, none of us knew where Mauvrey had run off to.

Hopefully this wouldn’t be the case for much longer. Before I’d blacked out from the poison of Mauvrey’s corset dress, I’d used my magic to activate a contingency plan. I’d given life to one of SJ’s glass figurines—a small Pegasus—and ordered it to follow Mauvrey until she reached her hideout, then report back to me once it could lead me there. The tiny winged creature had yet to return, but I had faith that it was only a matter of time before the Pegasus came back and took us right to my nemesis.

I blinked. Lost in thought, I’d been inadvertently staring at my reflection in the mirror for some time now. I swiftly abandoned the looking glass to join my friends. If we were gonna make it all the way across the school to the grand ballroom by seven o’clock, we had to get going.

Thank goodness for the combat boots I’m wearing beneath my dress.

At least there are some things that never change.

It was nearly nine and I felt uncharacteristically at peace.

My friends and I had made it with plenty of time to the grand ballroom to help Madame Lisbon finish setting up the festivities. Blue and I weren’t exactly thrilled about arriving so early or partaking in mundane tasks like candelabra lighting or ice-sculpture monitoring. But when your best friend was head of the ball planning committee and you wanted to be supportive, this was part of the deal.

Almost an hour into the dance, SJ was still scurrying about making sure everything was running smoothly. Meanwhile, Blue, Jason, Daniel, and I were hanging out at my favorite spot in the room—the fancy appetizer table—waiting for her to get off duty.

The two boys—gentlemen that they were—had complimented us on our appearances when we’d arrived. We, in turn, had flattered them about theirs. They really were dressed quite dapper. Jason’s suit was charcoal gray, and his tie was a bold shade of teal. Daniel wore a more classic look. His suit was pure black and was accented with a sharp black tie over his crisp white shirt.

It didn’t escape my notice that both boys paused for a second when they saw me. Even if it was for just an instant, they displayed the same surprised reaction that Blue and SJ had shown when they’d first seen my ensemble. I couldn’t help but think that this was either the greatest dress ever, or I had spinach in my teeth.

Regardless, I soon found myself enjoying the ball. The four of us (sometimes five if SJ could steal away from her responsibilities) hung out by the appetizer table having a perfectly pleasant time. We snacked on fancy finger food, talked about our classes, complained about homework, and laughed like we were a group of regular fairytale teenagers.

I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the whir of the orchestra and the sounds of chatter and clinking glasses that filled the room.

Balls used to annoy me a bit. In a lot of ways, they were unnecessary gatherings of pomp and circumstance with far too many rules to be fully enjoyed. However, after everything my friends and I had been through recently, I found myself relishing the normalcy. Even if it was only for a few hours, it was an escape from the real world. No magic training with Liza, no stares from teachers, no whispers from students, no hunters trying to kill me. For this brief intermission I was simply a girl in a dress in a room of small talk and tiny appetizers. That was something to be appreciated.

My sense of peace was interrupted when someone elbowed me in the arm. I opened my eyes and found Blue leaning against the table beside me.

“Whatcha thinking about?” she asked as she picked up a bacon-wrapped shrimp from one of the platters.

“Nothing.” I shrugged. “I’m just happy I guess.”

Blue munched on her snack and gazed around the ballroom. She swallowed and then tilted her head toward something. “Well, hold on to that thought.”

I turned to see what she was alluding to. From the opposite end of the ballroom Chance Darling was headed my way.

Prince Chance Darling—charming by birth and vocation—looked strapping in his perfectly fitted designer suit and deep burgundy tie.

I understood why so many girls at Lady Agnue’s went weak at the knees for him. His hypnotic sea foam green eyes shone with flecks of bronze. His expression always appeared determined. You could probably cut glass with that hard, chiseled jawline. And his hair had that naturally tousled look—although I highly suspected a fair amount of unnatural product went into making it appear that way.

Yet I was not taken with the prince like so many of my classmates were.

Why?

In a word, he was annoying. In a bunch of other words, he was also narcissistic, shallow, self-absorbed, self-entitled, and stuffier than the feta-stuffed grape leaves on the appetizer table.

Unfortunately, the prince was not as averse to me as I was to him.

I’d tried to make my feelings very clear, but his highness was relentless in his infatuation with me. Instead of simply picking a different girl to invest his time and energy in, he remained persistent, as demonstrated by the flowers and other gifts I’d received since my return to school.

I had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before he sought me out at the ball tonight. I’d hoped it would be later rather than sooner though.

“Crisa,” Jason leaned over the snack table, “do you want me to ask you to dance—help you dodge this one?”

I considered his tempting offer. Dancing with Jason would keep Chance from asking me. It was sort of a gentlemen-caller loophole within the mandatory statutes of conduct at a ball. Still, that would only buy me a ten-minute window of safety before those same rules dictated Chance could cut in.

My not-so-secret admirer would not give up easily, and eventually I would have to dance with him. I figured might as well get it over with. Aside from that, I’d decided earlier in the week to think of Chance’s advances as more exasperating than upsetting. I was craving normalcy, or at least something to take my mind off my multitude of actual problems. While I was quite fond of several changes that had occurred since last semester, sometimes I felt nostalgic for the types of benign, insignificant things that used to swirl around my mind before I had to trade my normal teenage worries for those of a person destined for far more responsibility.

“Thanks, Jason,” I said. “But I’m okay. I think I’ll throw him a bone.”

I looked over at Chance, who was closing in on twenty feet.

“But one of you boys better come and get me in ten minutes,” I added quickly, pointing to Jason and Daniel. “I’m charitable, but I’m not deaf. Even in my most tolerant state I don’t think I can listen to him blather on for more than that. Got it?”

The boys nodded in agreement and not a moment too soon. The pompous prince in question gallivanted over to our group. He bowed formally before me. “Crisanta.”

“Hi Chance,” I responded blandly. “Running a bit behind, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nearly nine and this is the first I’ve seen of you all night. Based on the constant flood of flowers and gold jewelry you keep sending, I’d have thought you would have sought me out the second the ball started. Don’t tell me your tardiness is due to the fact that you finally wised up and picked another girl?”

“Not exactly,” Chance replied. “It occurred to me that I might have been coming on too strong lately. Since you have yet to respond to any of my gifts of courtship, I thought it might be best to give you some space.”

“Smart boy,” I said. “But I take it your definition of ‘some space’ has an expiration of about fifty-five minutes, otherwise you wouldn’t be here bothering me now.”

Chance looked frustrated, and a tad embarrassed that my friends were witnessing our exchange. He stole a glance at their smirking expressions and his cheeks flushed slightly. He leaned closer to me, lowering his voice to try and make our conversation less public.

“Why must you always be so curt with me, Crisanta? You make my advances sound so unwarranted.”

I leaned in and lowered my voice to match his. “That’s because they are, Chance. When are you going to realize that?”

The prince and I locked eyes. It was the same kind of look Daniel and I gave each other when caught in a combative stalemate.

Chance took a step back and extended his hand. “Dance with me, Crisanta?”

Funny how he asks as if I had a choice.

I was enjoying our exchange and was about to respond with another cutting comment when Chance said something that completely surprised me.

“Crisanta, contrary to what you might believe, you should know that I am actually asking here. If you do not wish to dance, then I shall respect your decision and bid you adieu for the evening—no strings attached and no reporting you to your headmistress for breaking the rules. Honest.”

Hold up. Did he really just say that? Was his highness seriously offering me a choice? Ugh, what is going on with this week?

Big Girtha and Jade wanted to be my friends. Madame Alexanders asked me to be her TA. And now Chance—the fairest and most annoying of them all—was giving me a choice in whether or not I wanted to spend time with him.

So much for normalcy.

Too stunned to seize the opportunity I’d been given, I decided to stay the course. I’d already wrapped my mind around being forced to dance with Chance, so I might as well go through with it. Past that . . . I kind of wanted to see where this new behavior of his was coming from. And where it was going.

“All right. I’ll dance with you, Chance. But don’t get any ideas. This doesn’t change anything between us.”

Chance gave me a smile. Not his usual smug, pearly white one—a smile of relief. I placed my hand in his (as was the custom) and allowed him to lead me onto the dance floor. As we made our way, I quickly turned back to my friends.

“Ten minutes,” I mouthed.

I tensed a bit as I heard voices whispering my name as we passed. Chance and I entered the dance circle. He placed his hand upon my waist and I put mine on his shoulder.

The two of us smoothly migrated into the waltz. We box-stepped and swayed in silence for a minute, our movements so light and effortless we might as well have been dancing on air. This both pleased and surprised me.

Much to the shock of my classmates, my professors, and even myself, my dancing abilities had drastically improved this semester. I attributed the turnaround to the inadvertent high-stakes practice I’d received while fending for my life. My agility, footwork, and reflexes had sharpened immensely from frequent combat in so many unorthodox settings. Combined with my many years of dance training, I now moved with the princess-like grace that my mother had always hoped for.

Who would have thought violent fights could improve one’s dancing?

Go figure.

“I surprised you, didn’t I?” Chance asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up at him, confused.

“When I gave you a choice as to whether or not you wanted to dance with me,” he clarified. “I surprised you.”

“Well, yeah,” I admitted. “You’re known for a lot of things, Chance, but caring about someone else’s needs before your own isn’t one of them.”

A hurt look flashed across his face, and I wondered if maybe that comment had been too mean. Ordinarily Chance would have deserved the remark. Every conversation we’d ever exchanged had been tinged with his narcissism. Since he’d started trying to “win my heart” or whatever, he’d only further highlighted his obnoxious qualities. But right at this particular moment, I had to acknowledge that he was acting differently. And as long as he was being far less loathsome than usual, maybe my brash comebacks were not as warranted.

“Can I ask you something?” Chance said.

“I’m already dancing with you,” I responded. “What more do you want?”

“Specifically,” he cleared his throat, “I would genuinely like to know why you are so set against me, Crisanta. Why are you so adamantly invested in rejecting me at every possible turn?”

“Is that a serious question, Chance? First, you are the exact opposite of the type of person I care to spend time with. Second, you don’t even know me. So I have to assume that your reasons for chasing after me are purely superficial, right?”

“Maybe initially . . .” Chance replied slowly. “But what if I told you that while I did originally pursue you because of more . . . external factors, those are no longer the ones motivating me? That the reasons for my continued interest are actually based in something quite real. What would you say then, Crisanta Knight?”

“I would say that I don’t believe you,” I stated flatly.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re you.”

“Yes, but perhaps the version of me you are picturing is not an accurate representation of the truth.”

“Oh, yeah?” I countered. “Prove it.”

“All right, I shall.” Chance kept his gaze locked with mine with every step. As he talked, his sea foam eyes were so adamantly fixed on me that the room around us seemed to blur.

“One of the reasons you gave for your continuous spurning of my affections is that you claim my advances must all be superficial because I don’t know you,” Chance said. “Well, maybe I do not know you completely. But here is what I have come to know about you.

“In addition to being beautiful, you are also shrewdly intelligent and unafraid to speak your mind. You exude a confidence that most girls would try to bury beneath conformity. You do not back down, no matter the circumstance or opponent. Despite what some of the more traditional school staff members refuse to admit, you have the moral grace and compassion of true royalty. And moreover, you were brave enough to leave school and all that was familiar in order to pursue a mission of your very own. That, Crisanta Knight, is what I know about you. Given that, you must understand why I am so interested in learning more, why I am desperately trying to convince you to give me the opportunity.”

His seemingly thoughtful response swirled around my mind like a tornado that didn’t know which way to go. It was a lot to take in, and frankly I wasn’t sure if I believed him.

“Chance,” I responded with a sigh. “It’s no secret that you’re charming.” A small spark of satisfaction shone in Chance’s eyes until I flattened it. “That wasn’t intended to be a compliment. Charm is very different than sincerity, and the latter is not a quality I typically associate with you. How do I know that you’re not just saying what you think you should in order to get me to even consider not writing you off like I have been for the last few months?”

“Because I have changed,” he asserted. “Honestly, Crisanta, I am not the same person you knew before.”

He sighed, not in an overly dramatic kind of way, but in a genuine, pensive way that made his words sink in that much deeper.

“During your absence last semester and throughout our winter break, I found myself thinking a lot about you—more than I’d anticipated, and in a different way than I’d expected. I not only wanted to see you again, I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to hear you lecture me about my irritating levels of gallant behavior, or shrug off my advances, or counter something I said with your bold and cutting wit. It may sound foolish, but in not seeing you for so long I came to realize that maybe I had never really seen you at all. That I’d been so focused on the superficial aspects of you as a person that I never noticed that the substance beneath was infinitely more intriguing. Which brings us to the prince you see here and now—a changed man trying to fight for you. If you’ll let me, that is.”

I was speechless. All this talk about Chance changing, and thinking of me, and wanting to get to know me better—it was unfathomable, ridiculous, and totally bizarre.

“I don’t know, Chance,” I said.

“If you’d be willing to let me?” he asked.

“If I can really believe that you’ve changed,” I replied. “Like I said before, sincerity has never been one of your strong suits.”

“Then let me plea my case in another way—perhaps one that pertains to you more personally.”

I tilted my head at him. “All right.”

“If there is one general consensus going around our schools right now, it’s that you’ve changed. I’m not just talking about all the things you’ve done to make a name for yourself. Your demeanor is different. You’re more confident, calmer, and comfortable in who you are. The transformation is noticeable even in the way you carry yourself.”

“So what’s your point?”

“My point is the following: do you or do you not believe you have changed?”

“I do,” I agreed. “A lot more than I ever thought possible, to be honest. And I hope to continue changing for the better.”

Chance nodded. “Okay, well if you believe you can change, why do you have such trouble believing that I am capable of the same thing? Do we not all deserve the opportunity to try and better ourselves if we truly want to?”

“Yes, but Chance—”

“A chance,” he interrupted. “That is all I am asking for, Crisanta—a chance to prove to you that I, too, have changed, that my intentions are true, and that I am worthy of your time.”

I stared at him, shock and uncertainty all over my face.

“Look, I shall make you a deal,” he said. “From now on, no more flowers, no more jewelry, no more overt advances of any sort. Instead, I promise to leave you alone until I can think of some true way to show you that my feelings are genuine. All I ask in return is that you agree to keep an open mind about me until then. What do you say, Crisanta? Can you find it in your heart to find those terms acceptable?”

It was strange. I practically always had a plan. Whether I was facing magic hunters, antagonists, monsters, or hybrid actor-wolves, I consistently relied on my quick thinking and creativity to come up with an appropriate course of action. But as I studied Chance Darling with his apparent change of motivation and his heart on his sleeve, I truly didn’t know what to do.

I had asserted to Blue this week that I believed anyone could change, even Jade and Big Girtha. So why not Chance? Unlike my former lackey tormentors, he actually seemed to be willing to put in the work it required. Would it really be the worse thing in the world to give him the opportunity to rise to his best intentions?

“You know,” I said after a long pause, “even if I agree to this, and even if you have really changed, the odds that anything will ever happen between us are a million to one.”

Chance smiled. “I shall take those odds, Crisanta Knight. For you, I will gladly—”

“Move along?” Daniel said, suddenly appearing at my side. He gave my dance partner a stony but slightly amused expression. “Nice of you to offer. Makes my job easier.”

Had it really been ten minutes? It felt like the world had stopped.

Daniel looked at the prince. “Chance.”

Chance met his gaze. “Daniel,” he responded coldly.

“You don’t mind if I cut in, do you?”

I felt Chance’s grip tighten ever so slightly.

“Not at all,” he replied.

Chance glanced at me again and the ice in his irises softened with warmth and affection. “I shall speak with you again when the time is right, Crisanta. Until then, know my thoughts are with you.”

I nodded, but that was it. There were no more words exchanged between us. Chance bowed gracefully, kissed my hand (which I wasn’t sure how I felt about), and left.

Daniel proceeded to take his position in front of me and the two of us moved to the music. As we stepped along, I glanced over his shoulder and caught another sight of Chance as he headed back across the ballroom.

Hmm, curiouser and curiouser.

“You okay?” Daniel asked. “You look confused.”

“What? No,” I said, snapping back to the present. “I was just . . . caught off guard.”

“That’s a rare thing for you,” Daniel replied. “Something Chance said?”

“Sort of. I don’t know; he was acting different. And it was good different, but when you’ve come to expect a certain type of behavior from someone and they do the opposite, it sort of throws you, you know?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah, I felt the same way about your reaction to the magic hunter incident.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Care to expand on that?”

Daniel hesitated and gave me a pained look, which I readily recognized. He was trying to figure out the easiest way to tell me something without ticking me off.

“Do you remember the first time we danced together?” he asked.

“How could I not?” I replied. “We’d only just met and you’d already earned a top three spot on the list of people I’d like to throttle.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Right, and you were just the pinnacle of friendliness to me—not even the slightest hint of hostility if I remember correctly.”

“Okay, so neither of us would’ve won any awards for congeniality that day,” I admitted. “What’s your point?”

“I accused you of being weak, but you know I don’t see you that way now—that I think you’re the opposite.”

“But . . .” I prompted. I knew him well enough to sense when he was holding something back, especially when it was in regards to something that he knew might offend me.

“But,” Daniel responded, “what happened to you the other day? Between your magic and all our combined skills, the five of us would have had no problem taking care of a half dozen magic hunters, and we could’ve sent a message to any others who might’ve had the bright idea to come after you in the process. But you were too scared to go back into the forest and face them. You didn’t want any of us to go either. What was the deal with that? What happened to the girl who never backed down from a fight?”’

“She’s pacing herself,” I replied. “It’s kind of necessary when the actual number of fights headed toward her multiplies each day.”

My throat tightened a bit. Much as opening up to Daniel could be helpful, I felt a little hesitant. He and I hadn’t discussed anything about what happened between us during our quest to find the Author. We hadn’t cemented the strength of our bond since coming back, and that allowed the doubting gnats that lived in the corners of my mind to flit anxiously. Talking about personal stuff and being vulnerable with him now was a test. We were crossing into delicate territory for the first time since the genie lamp.

I shook my head and pushed away my old misgivings. This was a good thing. This was territory that had served us both well in the past. Daniel and I trusted each other. Whether or not we said it out loud, it truly did bring me great comfort to have someone to open up to, and I believed he felt the same way.

“I worry about you guys,” I admitted. “I know how strong we are as a team, but every person out there who wants to kill me would kill any of you to do it. So in regards to the hunters, I meant what I said about us being smart and not taking them on until we knew how big the threat is. But I’d be lying if I said that my old inclination to protect you guys didn’t play a part in the decision.”

Daniel nodded. “That’s fair. I think any of us would feel the same way if the situation were reversed. Just remember one thing.”

“What?”

“While your reasoning for staying out of the forest was smart, your friends are not stupid. We know how to protect ourselves. You have to trust that we’ll be able to keep from getting killed just as we trust that you can keep yourself alive.”

“Yeah. I know you’re right.” I sighed. Relief flooded over me. Like I said, being able to talk to Daniel was a good thing. I was glad we’d passed this initial test.

Apparently seeing the peace return to my face, Daniel changed the subject. “I have some big news. Jason and I wanted to make the announcement to the lot of you at the same time, but while you were with Chance we told SJ and Blue, and I figured I could just tell you now. Jason and I found another Wonderland.”

My eyes widened. “Shut up! You did not.”

Between Liza, Harry the White Rabbit, and our own reading, my friends and I knew about nine Wonderlands: Oz, Neverland, Camelot, Cloud Nine, Limbo, The Giants’ Keep, Toyland, the actual Wonderland from Alice in Wonderland, and, of course, Book. We were familiar with most of these in some way. Through our classes at school, we were exposed to a lot of other realm fairytale lore—case in point Le Morte d’Arthur was a book about Camelot. But the books we read were generally about protagonists. They were very limiting in terms of teaching us about the geography and dynamics of other realms. Furthermore, none of our lessons had ever taught us what Harry did, that all these places were connected like some magical club. All the Wonderlands were linked and accessible through wormholes that periodically appeared in the enchanted dimensional barriers that separated us. I didn’t think anyone beyond some of our realm’s higher-ups knew that.

Since we figured the antagonists and the Fairy Godmothers would have found Paige Tomkins at some point in the last ten years if she was still in our realm, and because Arian wasn’t searching for her in Book, we were planning on starting our quest for the woman in one of the other Wonderlands. The problem remained that there were now ten Wonderlands that we knew of—if Jason and Daniel’s discovery was true—and maps of these worlds did not exist. Again, the only information our schools provided on these places revolved around the adventures of specific protagonists.

As such, my friends and I were steadfastly investigating every old and obscure text we could find in the restricted section of our school libraries for any descriptive, geographical, or otherwise important information that could help us create our own maps from scratch. It was slow, difficult work, but it was our best plan for moving forward.

We’d divvied up the Wonderlands we knew about, making the most of Lord Channing’s and Lady Agnue’s unique collections. As we researched, we noted which books contained information about multiple worlds so that when we traded assignments toward the end of February, we’d have a place to start. SJ, Blue, and I were currently mapping Neverland, Camelot, Limbo, and Wonderland—though with my magic training taking up so much time, SJ and Blue were only letting me work on Neverland. The boys were researching Oz, Cloud Nine, The Giants’ Keep, and Toyland. When we eventually switched assignments, we’d work on the next group of realms for two months; then it would be early April and we’d leave to find Paige Tomkins with our completed maps at the start of spring break.

It was a risk to put off our search for so many months. Arian had likely already begun his exploration of the Wonderlands in search of the missing Fairy Godmother. But we needed more time. If we threw ourselves into unknown worlds without any idea of what to expect, let alone how to navigate them, our hope for locating Paige would be so low it might as well be a negative number. Plus, with Wonderlands being magical, unpredictable settings, who knew how many unexpected, enchanted things could and would kill us if we wandered out there like lost bunnies.

The fact that Jason and Daniel had discovered another Wonderland was both exciting and overwhelming. We were still so far from discovering where Paige was, and time was short.

“What is it?” I asked once I got over my shock. “The Wonderland you discovered?”

“It’s called the North Pole,” Daniel replied. “I was flipping through a book about holidays celebrated in other realms, and I found a reference to this thing called Christmas. It’s a holiday in December with a lot of different meanings and traditions. There are turtle doves and light-up trees, flying reindeer, this dude called Jesus plays a part, and apparently some guy named Saint Nicholas rules the wintery world and has an elf workforce dedicated solely to creating presents for the occasion.”

“Sounds awesome,” I said.

“Yeah, and Jason volunteered to map it. He got so stoked after we found it that he adjusted his research focus for the week and actually dug up a handful of other references to the realm in some of our library’s other sections.”

“More holiday books?”

“And books about elf culture.”

“Well, that is big news. And great news. Maybe for once we’ll have an edge on Arian when we embark on this quest.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and Arian will get murdered by an elf. They may be small, but I read that they’re great with tools and have big tempers.”

I smiled at the idea. Though I suspected Arian getting stabbed by an elf with a screwdriver was pretty unlikely, we could use every advantage we could get. He and his team of antagonists were good. We’d slowed them down last semester by destroying the enchanted objects they were going to use to aid their mission, but Arian was nothing if not persistent. He was also skilled, ruthless, and motivated—qualities that only emphasized the notion that if my friends and I were going to find Paige first, our clock was ticking.

Unfortunately, with winter break having ended two weeks ago, our mapmaking mission had gotten significantly more challenging. Clandestinely sneaking into the restricted section of our libraries was way easier when so many staff and students were away. Now that they were all back, we’d had to kick our covertness up a notch.

My eyes wandered to a grand clock on the far end of the ballroom. It was huge—the size of a large decorative fountain one might find at a shopping mall. The twisted, elegant construction was made of gold and rubies. The tick of the second hand seemed to momentarily drown out the noise of the ball.

We had a few months left to prep what we needed to find Paige. That may have seemed like a long time, but I knew it would pass quickly and that scared me. A lot was coming, and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

While I, by no means, intended to “pull a Paige” and run away and hide, I’d been slightly anxious about this next part of our adventure since I’d decided it was our group’s best course of action. After being hunted, captured, and nearly killed a half dozen ways the last time we’d left school, I wasn’t itching to reprise the experience.

History does tend to repeat itself, right?

I swallowed the inhibition. We had to find Paige. Though we didn’t know exactly what we would do once we found her, we knew that the five of us protecting her from Arian was better than leaving her out there on her own. Whatever he and the antagonists wanted her for could not be good. She was an important part of their plan; somehow she was meant to aid their mission of freeing the antagonists, killing the protagonists, and overthrowing the realm. My friends and I needed to do everything in our power to prevent our enemies from getting to her first.

As I thought on this, my heart blazed with a reminder. The world and the future were full of unknowns, but I knew one thing with absolute certainty, one thing that I’d known since the second I’d met Arian and learned of Nadia’s cruel intentions for the realm.

Stopping them was as much my responsibility as it would be my pleasure.

Arian, Nadia, Mauvrey, and the magic hunters could try to deter us. But like Daniel said, I was far from the type of girl who backed down from a fight. So, fight I would. Even if doing so might eventually be my downfall.

“You have that look on your face again.” Daniel’s voice drew me back. “You’re nervous about what’s coming.”

“Can you blame me?” I asked. “Getting shot at is good exercise, but it’s hardly a relaxing pastime. As determined as I am about facing what’s out there, thinking about how many people are going to be after us is a lot to digest.”

“Which is why you won’t be digesting it alone,” Daniel responded. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m nervous about what’s coming too. We all are. But knowing we’re in it together helps.”

I held his gaze and nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “It does.”

It seemed that my hesitance about us embracing the depth of our relationship had been for nothing. Trusting and talking to Daniel made me feel strong. I hoped that I could offer him the same type of support in return.

“You know, Daniel, I appreciate that I can talk to you like this. I don’t open up easily, but I’m glad I have a friend like you to bounce this stuff off of. So I want you to know that if you ever wanted to talk about your stuff, I’m here too.”

I hadn’t meant for it to—I thought we were on the same page—but my statement threw Daniel for such a loop that he tripped on the hem of my dress. A shadow of discomfort settled over his face.

I studied the wariness in his eyes, trying to size up how he was feeling. A touch of horror sunk in as I formed a conclusion. I had been wrong. I thought the way we’d been talking these last few minutes was an indicator that he finally accepted how close we’d become, just as I had. But it wasn’t so. It was clear from his reaction that we were not in a place where he felt comfortable acknowledging the depth of our friendship.

It was true that I’d had some reservations about it as well, but I’d gone out on a limb to try and cross that bridge. One look in his hard eyes and I immediately regretted the choice. Maybe we were better off avoiding the topic.

To save face for the both of us, I fell back on a tried-and-true failsafe—I dodged the subject. “Ooh, look. They’re putting out a fresh plate of bacon-wrapped shrimp. Come on, Daniel Daniels, let’s hit it.”