louds blew past us. The sky dipped from brilliant blue to gray. The temperature dropped. But while the world changed around me, everything within stayed static. I had a thousand things to think about, but my mind was blank.

My friends didn’t talk to me much on the way. Maybe they knew that’s what I wanted. Maybe they knew that’s what I needed.

After hours of flying, I looked down to see our realm’s capital, Century City. When my friends and I had arrived here last semester, I was awestruck by its architectural grandeur. Now it no longer impressed me. The intricately shaped skyscrapers seemed duller. The aromas wafting up from the bakeries and coffee shops didn’t smell as sweet. Even the people, who once bustled about with such animation and intrigue, no longer appeared interesting. They all looked like ants.

My friends and I steered our Pegasi toward the Capitol Building—a majestic-looking structure with a white cupola at the center of the city where government affairs were handled.

An immense gold statue of a dragon stood in the middle of a roundabout outside the Capitol. The statue was without equal in scale and scariness. Its hind legs were like sequoia trees on steroids. Its menacing eyes and massive face were frozen in an eternal state of rage. Its three-hundred-foot wingspan stretched over the surrounding streets.

We landed our steeds in front of the steps that led up to the Capitol Building. Several guards were waiting at the top to take them from us.

When we’d settled on our plans in Midveil, the Fairy Godmothers there had communicated via Mark Twos with several Godmothers stationed in Century City. Those Godmothers had informed the Capitol Building guards to receive our Pegasi on arrival. They would see to it that the steeds were returned safely to Midveil.

Once we’d handed over our rides, my friends and I walked away from the Capitol Building under the shadow of the enormous gold dragon.

I pushed the button on my Hole Tracker to check where we had to go. I kept my eyes on the watch and not the dragon as we crossed the street and passed beneath it. The statue had a weird effect on me every time I saw it. It was just so gigantic and sinister-looking that it made me feel off-balance.

On the other side of the street people were closing up their stalls in the outdoor marketplace. According to my Hole Tracker, we were very close to our destination. If I had to guess, the wormhole we sought would open near one of those shops. The silver circle that glowed fervently on my Tracker all but affirmed it.

There were twenty tiny, continuously moving circles on the face of my watch with multiple hands pointing to them. These circles flashed gold, silver, orange, or red, once in a while one turned black. I’d selected the silver circle that corresponded with our destination, and as a result it now took up the face of the watch and pulsed vividly.

“We’re close, but we’ve still got forty minutes until six o’clock,” I informed my friends.

“Since we have a little time before the wormhole opens, do you guys mind if I make a short stop somewhere?” Daniel asked suddenly.

“Where?” Jason asked.

“It’s a couple of blocks over. You don’t need to come with. I can go on my own.”

“Where?” I repeated.

“To visit a friend,” Daniel said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“We’ll go with you,” Blue offered.

“Again, that’s not necessary,” Daniel insisted.

“Maybe not for you, but for us that’s a different story,” Blue countered. “Come on, man. We all dig your whole mysterious, brooding, lone wolf deal. But friends oughta share a little something about their personal lives every now and again. Stop being so weird. Crisa just introduced us to her entire family. And after seeing them in action, trust me, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

I wasn’t sure if I should feel insulted by the remark. Daniel seemed annoyed and reluctant. He gave me a quick glance that I couldn’t quite read. Eventually he nodded, conceding to Blue’s demand. Refusal wasn’t typically an option with her.

“Fine,” he said. “Come on.”

Daniel led us through the city, taking a lot of shortcuts. He knew his way around like a local because he was. Before being chosen as a protagonist and being sent to Lord Channing’s, Century City had been his home. He’d lived here as a common all his life until he’d been accepted to Lord Channing’s only seven months ago.

Steam rose from a manhole, misting over a line of freshly laundered linen above me. I gazed up and saw more of these lines crisscrossing over the alley like a trapeze artist’s playground.

We turned and came upon a street of smaller houses sandwiched between much taller buildings. Daniel headed toward a pale yellow dwelling. When the five of us reached its rickety front porch, he stopped and faced us.

He gave me that same enigmatic expression as before, then addressed our whole group. “Just don’t make a big deal out of this, okay?”

We nodded at his cryptic tone. I had never seen Daniel so flustered, so nervous. He was normally unfazed by anything. What could possibly have him this on edge?

Daniel knocked on the door. A female voice called out, “Coming!”

A moment later the door swung open. A girl stood in front of us. She had beautiful wavy black hair. Her rich brown eyes were like chocolate truffles against her light olive skin. I recognized her instantly.

“Daniel!” she gasped.

He smiled bashfully as her eyes met his. “Hey, Kai.”

Kai was perched on the arm of the chair Daniel was sitting in. Her hand was absentmindedly running through his hair. It was weird to see someone be close to him and have him like it.

She’d ushered us into her home once Daniel had introduced each of us, but after our brief presentation and an abbreviated explanation as to the reason for our visit, she hadn’t taken her eyes off my friend. Nor had she allowed her body to migrate more than two feet from his.

I felt uncomfortable. The girl who Daniel had known his entire life, the girl he loved, the girl his prologue prophecy predicted I could undo—I was looking right at her. An odd combination of guilt and nausea washed over me as I watched her. Daniel may not have blamed me for what his prophecy said, but once a guy tells you that his girlfriend could come to a permanent end because of you, it’s hard to feel relaxed in her living room.

“So . . .” Blue broke the silence. “I’d like to say Daniel’s told us all about you, Kai. But who are we kidding. Until yesterday, I didn’t even know you existed.”

“I knew,” Jason commented. “Daniel told me about you a couple months ago.”

I didn’t chime in that I knew. Best to stay away from the topic.

Kai tore her eyes away from her boyfriend to smile at Jason. “Yes, well, Daniel’s never been one for sharing.”

“That’s an understatement,” Blue replied. “So tell us, girlfriend of Daniel, what’s your story?”

“Blue,” Daniel protested.

“It’s fine, Daniel,” Kai interceded. “Let’s see, my story . . .” She shrugged modestly while continuing to toy with Daniel’s hair. “It’s not that exciting, not like you protagonists, I’m sure. I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m an only child. My dad works the night shift for Capitol Building security. I like to bake. And I tutor the neighborhood kids in reading and arithmetic whenever I’m not working.”

“Where do you work?” Jason asked as he studied the collectible metal figurines on the fireplace mantle.

“I’m an assistant at one of the city’s forges,” she said as she settled in closer to Daniel. “I’ve been working there since I was twelve, but for the last few years the head bladesmith has taken me on as his official apprentice.”

“That’s awesome,” Jason responded. “Can you fight too?”

Kai nodded. “Mr. Torres says you can’t make a proper sword unless you understand the sword. He’s been giving me lessons since I started working with him. I’ve gotten pretty good.”

“Good? She’s amazing,” Daniel cut in, looking at her proudly. “She would give half the guys at Lord Channing’s a run for their money.”

My eyes narrowed. I was inexplicably annoyed by the exchange.

I wandered into the kitchen to refill the water glass Kai had given me upon arrival. As the tap water ran into the cup, I stared out the slightly dirty window. Over the tin roof of the adjacent dwelling I could make out the cupola of the Capitol Building. Its windows were dark. Its white stone grew more shadowy as twilight approached.

When my glass was full, I went out the back door. Kai was nice enough, but I needed some air. I sat in one of the beat-up lawn chairs outside, watching a Chartreux cat inspecting the contents of an overturned trashcan. My mind wandered for what felt like seconds, but it must’ve been longer. I was startled when the door behind me opened.

“Hey, it’s a quarter to six,” Jason said, his head peeking out. “We’re getting ready to go.”

“Um, okay. Coming.”

I got up to go back inside, but Jason blocked my way. “Crisa . . .” he said. “I get that what happened today was awful, and I understand why you would want to put it behind you. But I’m worried about you. Are you sure you’re okay to just charge on like this?”

A bit of emotion sent a tremor up my throat, but my resolve reined it in.

“I appreciate your concern, Jason. I really do,” I said. “But do you remember what you said to me this morning before the attack when I asked you how you were? You said you didn’t want me to keep asking if you were okay. That you weren’t, but you accepted that, and you wanted me to as well. The same goes for me. With what just happened with my home and my brother . . .”

My throat began to tighten.

I gulped down the surge and remained steady. “Look. It’s hard enough for me to have lived through it once. I don’t want to rehash it, especially when doing so could distract me from what’s important—finding Paige and stopping the antagonists. You should understand that better than anyone. I’ve been taking my cues from you and how you’ve handled yourself since I told you about my vision.”

Silence hung between us. A tin can rolled along the ground, chased by the cat.

Jason sighed. “Fair enough,” he said. “I’ll accept that and leave you be if that’s what you want.”

“It is,” I said semi-certainly. “And should any of the others bring up the subject, I’d appreciate it if you spread the word.”

Jason put his hand on my shoulder for a moment, then let me pass. I returned inside the house and set my glass down on the counter before we made our way back into the living room. Kai was giving Daniel a kiss goodbye. It wasn’t a peck either. It was a legitimate, vulnerable, deeply personal kiss.

I froze. My eyes darted to the ground. I’d never been a fan of public displays of affection. But this one in particular made my stomach lurch in a way that even today’s events hadn’t yet managed.

I followed SJ, Blue, and Jason out the door, where we waited until Daniel joined us a minute later, Kai at his side. We all thanked Kai for her hospitality and then turned to walk back the way we’d come. Daniel was behind me. At least, I thought he was. When I disembarked the steps I turned around and saw that he was still standing in the doorway, facing Kai with his back to me. His arms were around her waist. Her arms were around his neck as she whispered something in his ear. She pulled him close to her by his jacket collar, then gave him another kiss.

I grimaced.

Once she let go, she saw my staring and blushed awkwardly. “Best be on your way,” she said to Daniel, smiling. She glanced past his shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Crisa. Do me a favor and keep an eye on him for me. He can take care of himself just fine, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t benefit from someone else looking out for him too.”

“Sure. You bet,” I said, throwing in an awkward salute for some unknown reason.

Kai closed her front door. Blue and Jason began to lead us back to the city center, having memorized the path on our way here. Daniel and I were at the rear of the group.

“So . . .” Daniel said as we jaywalked across a busy street. “That happened.”

“Yup, sure did,” I muttered.

“Any comments?”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

It was barely five minutes to six when we returned to where we’d started. In the shadowy twilight the silhouette of the dragon statue was chilling. Again, I tried not to look at it more than I needed to.

All the vendors had left the marketplace with their wares, but the stalls themselves remained. Navy curtains swayed slightly in the early evening breeze. Hollowed out of goods and filled with shadows, they were pretty eerie.

The silver circle on the face of my Hole Tracker glowed brighter as we continued our search for the wormhole. The more it glowed, the closer I knew we were getting.

I turned on the proximity sensor, which activated a small holographic compass over the watch. As we wove through the marketplace, the compass displayed updates. One hundred feet away N/E. Fifty feet away N/E. Thirty feet away N.

We hurriedly followed the Hole Tracker’s guidance. When the clock struck six, the Tracker indicated we were ten feet away. We were standing on the sidewalk between an empty booth and an antiques shop—one of many in this part of the capital. The silver circle that represented the hole we were tracking burned so brightly I thought the entire watch might catch fire. I glanced around. Between the stalls I could still see the giant dragon statue in the roundabout, but nothing else caught my eye. Where was the wormhole?

“Maybe the hole is inside,” Jason said, gesturing to the antiques shop.

I approached the glass storefront and my Hole Tracker shone with enthusiasm. “I think you’re right,” I said.

“I got it,” Blue announced. Without being asked, she drew one of her throwing knives and bent down in front of the shop entrance to pick the lock.

“Blue, we are only a few a hundred yards away from the Capitol Building,” SJ griped in a hushed tone. “There are guards all over this city. You are going to get us shot or arrested before we have even begun our quest.”

“Relax, SJ,” Blue said, concentrating on the lock. “Century City is the safest place to live in the realm. No guard is going to waste time patrolling an empty marketplace.”

Blue wasn’t wrong. Ordinarily, the crime rate in Century City was so close to zero it might as well be a negative number. But with the recent commons rebellion attacks, I wondered if the silence in the streets wasn’t so much because the guards weren’t worried about crime, but because the civilians were worried about wandering out at night.

Blue cracked the lock and pushed the door open. We hurried inside, closing the door behind us. The antiques shop was packed with wooden spinning wheels, bronze clocks, and aged furniture. The aisles were so tight and cluttered I felt like if I made a wrong move and bumped into a lamp, one of the piles of junk would come crashing down in an avalanche and bury me. I shuddered. Antiques shops were super creepy. I never understood why Century City had so many of them. How much competition could there be in the old, smelly stuff industry?

My friends and I diligently searched the shop for the wormhole. My Hole Tracker began glowing crazily near the back. I stopped. I was standing in front of a floor-length antique mirror. I walked toward it.

Out of inexplicable instinct, I held out my hand to touch the cold surface of the mirror. My fingers passed right through it—disappearing from view and causing the mirror to ripple like unsettled water. I extended my hand farther to test the phenomenon; it sank through all the way up to my shoulder.

“Guys, I think I’ve got something.”

The others came over and were stunned to see what I’d discovered.

“I think this is it,” I said hesitantly.

“Why doesn’t it look like a portal, though?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe not all portals to the Wonderlands look the same. The one I first met Harry by was a giant silver hole in the ground beneath a tree.”

“That makes sense,” Blue said. “Think about the Alice in Wonderland stories. She went through a hole under a tree the first time, then a looking glass the second time. Maybe wormholes adapt to wherever they appear.”

“So . . . we’re just supposed to jump through?” Daniel asked.

I observed the reflection of our group in the mirror. My friends were uncertain and seemed to be looking to me for the final say-so.

“Let’s go,” I said.

And with no more delay, I took a literal and figurative leap of faith through the looking glass.