Suddenly, we were back in Dragon Hall being blow-dried by vents somewhere in the walls. Somehow, our wristbands were gone. I rubbed my wrists and looked around me.
This was the place Mr. Yancy had dragged me to, on Yara’s orders, inside the invisible Council school on Dragon Mouth Island. We were in the Big House, in the long, arched hall lined with dragon doors of all kinds.
We stared at the doors. There were hundreds of them, dragons adorning each one, their eyes glinting in their own cold light. I could see the doors’ intricate workmanship: fierce dragons with yawning jaws, comical dragons with goofy grins, some 264holding orbs or clutching swords, each representing a different culture in the past or present, from all around the world.
The details were mesmerizing: complex texts hiding within the metalwork, symbols and inscriptions winding around the dragons’ wings. Every door was unique and beautiful. The carvings on each door had an ancient quality to them: designs worn by time, etched in gold.
However, my admiration for the doors’ beauty gave way to a nagging anxiety. What did those symbols mean? What secrets and places did they hold, like the ones we’d just survived? Most of all, what did the Council have waiting for us behind these closed doors? My heart pounded in my ears. I couldn’t take much more of this.
Out of nowhere, Cap’n Peg’s hologram appeared in mid-air. I jumped. Next to me, Adri straightened up with a sharp breath. The others rustled and were still. All I could think was, ‘Here it comes.’
Cap’n Peg had lost her trademark cackle and was looking at us with something like pity.
That could never be good.
“Well, ducklings,” she croaked, clearly referring to 265our recent swim. “Now that you light a fire under we backsides and nearly smoke me out, is time for your last and final test!”
She moved from one of us to the other with her red, robotic eye, swivelling it from side to side. The patches over her eyes looked like they belonged to a deranged and deadly pirate.
I held my breath, waiting to see what was coming next; scared to even look at the others around me.
Cap’n Peg dropped her voice until we leaned forward: “And speaking of last … or first. Whoever gets through the door at the end of this hall first, gets one wish fulfilled by the Council.”
Disbelief and hope ran through my body.
I could see the other children picturing themselves leaving this place and going home. I did the same. I could practically feel my Mum’s joy, coming back from Barbados to find me safe and sound, not even knowing what I had been through.
“Is this for real?” Luna burst out.
“Little girl, I look like I playing with you?” Cap’n Peg bristled. “That is what they tell me. That is the deal.” She tapped her robotic leg, “But there’s just one thing …” 266
Martí groaned, “¡Por supuesto!” while Shui Li and Bogle muttered angrily.
Cap’n Peg ignored them. “If you win the race, you get to choose. Either you make one wish for yourself that can’t be used for everyone here, or you ask for this whole group to pass today and graduate out of school.”
The room buzzed as what she was saying sank in.
Cap’n Peg’s robotic eye moved from one of us to the other like a laser.
“No more tests,” she grinned. “No chance of failing and being turned into …” she cut her eyes at me. “Well, you know what.”
I thought of Alice-Ann, the girl in Yara’s office, reduced to a white, furry pet.
Hope, mistrust, fear, and longing raced across our faces.
“So let me get this straight,” Esme interrupted with a nauseous look. “We could all graduate … today. Or the winner could wish to get out of here for themselves, and that’s it! The rest of us are stuck here?”
“Exactly.” Luna stared at Adri with a mixture of fear and distrust.
He was in his own world. I knew that he had only 267one thing on his mind. From the iron look on his face, it hadn’t changed. My stomach flipped. Despite everything we’d been through together, despite the memory that we were friends, one thing would always come first for him: freeing his parents from the Council.
I thought of trying to convince him that if we could get through this task together, all of us would help him find his parents and fight to free them. But I could tell there was zero chance of him listening. He didn’t even look at me. He was set on reaching the door first, no matter what.
I could feel the others sizing him up and coming to the same conclusion.
“Finally, you get it!” Cap’n Peg’s hologram chimed in. “You all a bit smarter than I thought.” She began to fade. “Now, on the count of three. One …”
Luna’s face hardened. Esme tensed. Marti cracked her knuckles. Shui Li stretched. Bogle scuffed one sneaker on the floor.
“Two …” Cap’n Peg intoned.
“Guys,” Kendi asked quietly. “Please don’t do this. Divide and conquer. Don’t you see what they’re trying to do?” 268
I got ready.
Cap’n Peg thundered, “Three!” and was gone.
Immediately, Adri was off. Everyone except Kendi raced after him down the hall, toward the giant door at the end. Kendi sat right where he was, curling his head in his hands.
It’s okay, I told myself. When I won, I’d choose for everyone to graduate. That helped Kendi too.
The problem was, Adri was pulling ahead.
“No!” I shouted.
If he got to the door first, we were all doomed. Who knew what Yara and the Council would do to us then? I saw flashes of Alice-Ann’s red hair fading to white fur; the horror as her ears grew twitchy and long. I wondered if her mind was a rabbit’s now. Or worse, if she was still herself inside, a girl trapped forever in a rabbit’s body.
“Adri, stop!” I screamed.
Everyone seemed to have the same idea. Bogle pulled out a device from inside one of his sleeves and aimed it at Adri’s head.
“A war this!” he shouted, as blinding flashes shot out of the device.
For a moment, none of us could see, but no one 269stopped. We kept running full speed down the corridor, bumping into each other along the way.
When I could see again, Adri was still ahead. Somehow, Bogle had missed him.
Meanwhile, Martí had transformed into a black hornet called a ‘marabunta’ in Trinidad. With a loud ‘Bzzz!’ she divebombed Adri’s face and arms, peppering him with vicious stings. He howled in pain as bumps reddened his skin, but he managed to protect his eyes and keep running.
Taking advantage of the distraction, we sprinted towards the door, trying to knock him out of the way.
Suddenly, Adri swung his arms and legs faster than I’d ever seen, like a fast-forwarded version of kung fu, knocking the marabunta Martí out of the air. She slammed against the other side of the corridor so hard that she was knocked back into her own shape. Her body was at an awkward angle; slumped against the wall with her eyes closed.
“Martí!” Shui Li cried, running to see if she was okay.
Bogle and Esme hesitated, looking back with concern, but I told myself that Martí was fine; that I’d seen her take worse hits than this.
Luna and I kept going, pressing toward Adri. He 270was so close to the door at the end now, just a few strides away, but I was close to him too.
I knew what I had to do. Despite everything Esme had shown me, despite everything she’d said, I needed to go into Adri’s memory. Once in there, I could bring back his memories of our time together, our friendship, all of it, and make him understand that we needed to work together to free ourselves first. Then we could help his parents.
I sprinted after him with Luna on my heels. I could feel a jackhammer in my chest, hear her ragged breath, and see the sweat pouring down Adri’s neck.
He looked back at me, still running. So close … I reached out my hand.
As I grabbed his arm, Adri pressed something in his hand. A net came shooting out. With a jolt of energy, it froze all of us in place, except him, just like it had when the suits captured us near the ostrich nest.
Adri smiled harshly at Luna but looked at me with regret.
“I’m sorry Zo, I have to do this.”
This was it. He was right there. He’d won.
But not yet … Before he could pull his arm out of mine, I leaped into Adri’s memory.