That Looking-Glass-reality feeling returned stronger than ever as Kayla followed the green fae that was Erica through the unnaturally quiet woods. While in many ways it strongly resembled a real environment, despite terrain occurring in unnatural little pockets and patches, there was one thing that took it into the surreal: the utter absence of bugs, birds, squirrels, any fauna at all other than the plump pigeons and big buzzy bumblebees and smaller honeybees. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what was keeping the former from breeding out of control.

They appeared to be moving from warmth and mature lush greenery with a few scattered flowers into chillier air and visibly younger leaves and more flowers. Theo had said that, with Des busy keeping an eye out for Riley, they'd be swinging by to collect Zach on the way. He was, in theory, confined as potentially dangerous in an area cool enough to keep him relatively sluggish; she hadn't expected that to mean that they were going to walk from early summer into spring.

But then, she was following a woman who apparently now breathed via her green-tinged skin and the leaves that made up her skirt and fluttered in her hair, leaving her effectively mute. Nothing about this situation made the slightest bit of sense. So, walking from one season into another, why not?

Erica laid a hand on her arm and pointed ahead of them; Kayla caught a glimpse of something shiny, which quickly resolved itself into a substantial shallow dome of silvery metallic bars in triangles.

“Zach?” Kayla murmured.

Erica nodded, then paused, apparently listening to something. She caught Kayla's hand—the green fae's hand felt just a bit too smooth and firm and cool, though certainly not wooden—and drew her quickly to one side. The ground rose somewhat, and finally gave them a vantage point from which most of the cage was visible.

The interior was largely just flat ground and knee-height grass, though there was a very large deep pile of straw in the centre, and a darker spot Kayla devoutly hoped was some version of sanitary facilities; a narrow stream looped inside the cage and then away.

Curled tightly in the straw, only half visible, was something or someone covered in fine violet scales.

Right. Theo is aquatic, Des is a cat, Erica's as much flora as fauna, and Zach's got scales and apparently not much of a rigid backbone. Just can't wait to see the other three...

Erica didn't move, and when Kayla started to ask why, she hushed her with a quick gesture. Kayla shrugged to herself, figured there must be a reason, and settled herself to wait.

That was hard, though. Now she actually had the possibility of action, everything in her screamed against sitting still.

She heard the man before she saw him.

“Feed the fucking livestock,” a male voice grumbled. “Big powerful wizards can't just magic it here. Still don't get how this is my job. Jesus, I wish she'd find a new zookeeper to hire.”

The owner of the voice was a rather scrawny man of middle height in worn jeans. He didn't look around at all as he strode up to the cage, though Kayla figured it was unlikely he'd see her, and Erica blended right in with her surroundings. He banged on the bars of the cage with the metal-bound stick in one hand, setting up a seriously annoying din. “Yo, wake up, lazy! Dinnertime! I don't know why the fuck they're wasting food on you instead of finding a better use for you that'll keep you from being a fucking hazard to life and limb and property anymore, but who'm I to argue with Their Mightinesses? C'mon, get up! I'm not allowed to leave until I actually see you eat something and you know it! Move it! I've still gotta go feed the siren who came with you.” He snickered, and Kayla didn't much like the sound of it. “The excuse to visit her every day is the only thing making this job worthwhile, and who cares about the water? Man, I hope they decide to let us keep her to play with. Not that you even remember who I'm talking about by now. Wake up, damn it!”

Kayla throttled a surge of anger, but not easily. Keep her to play with?

I really don't like what he's implying about 'visiting' Theo right now, even. If you've laid one fingertip on my best friend, you asshole, I'm going to castrate you with a kitchen knife.

A short way behind him, someone or something blindingly white and gold followed, drawing a large wooden cart. Kayla blinked, shook her head, and looked again. Porcelain-white skin blended smoothly into short moonlight-white fur, with mane-like hair and equine tail and lower-leg feathering all so golden it was pushing belief, but those legs were emphatically shaped like the hind legs of a horse and ended with broad dark blue hooves. Tall and powerfully-built, in an ultramarine harness that incorporated serious breast support and a sort of loincloth, that was nonetheless a fetish ponygirl image cranked up to about fifteen while crossing it with a 1980s teenaged girl's unicorn fantasies.

Despite that, having seen Erica and Des and Theo, she could somehow recognize Alison.

Take away that cart she's hitched to, and I bet she can seriously run...

Drawing the cart, which was in fact fastened to her harness and not being pulled by hand, seemed to take no effort at all despite the lack of a road. The four rubber tires of the cart were fairly large and wide and looked heavy-duty, and the cart itself, while made of wood painted white, looked sturdy and in decent repair. From here, Kayla could see inside it, but it seemed to contain only a tumble of plastic containers that were maybe empty, and maybe three or four more neatly stacked at the front.

The man with the stick turned away from the bars and chose one of the stacked dishes from the cart; he shoved it through the bars, used his stick to snag an empty container from inside and draw it closer so he could retrieve it, then banged on the cage a few more times. “C'mon, wake up! I'm not standing here all damned day!” The empty dish he tossed into the cart to join the others.

Slowly, Zach uncoiled and stretched, all four limbs and heavy snakelike tail. Unlike the others, who were emphatically female, Zach lacked any overt signs of sex at all as far as Kayla could see, all lean build and narrow hips and flat chest, and despite the complete lack of clothes, nothing was visible between his legs. The dense gold-highlighted violet scales made her think of armour—full body armour, right down to the clawlike violet fingernails and even more clawlike toes. Somehow, that seemed as appropriate for Zach as being feline for Des and part plant for Erica and equine for Alison. 'Siren' might well be a hint as to why Theo's new state was what it was. Evidence was piling up fast in favour of what Riley had said about deep inner nature coming to the surface and Theo's statement that it was part of who they were.

Much to the annoyance of the man outside the cage, Zach took his time about actually getting up and ambling over to pick up the bowl, then crouching down and peeling it open.

Kayla glanced at Erica, who was watching the proceedings with what looked very much like a smirk.

“Zach's messing with him?” Kayla whispered in Erica's ear; Erica nodded.

Still, being thought more sluggish and slow to respond than he actually was could be useful—beyond being a way to annoy a captor.

Currently, not much better for Kayla, but any sudden change in routine could set off alarms.

“That's Alison?” Another nod. “She's okay?” One more nod.

Alison, through all that, stood quietly still, golden tail swishing back and forth absently—not to drive off insects, since there were none to speak of besides the bees, who were more interested in their own business. She paid no more attention to Zach than to anything else her mildly inquisitive gaze fell on. In fact, a wandering pigeon seemed to be of greater interest. The straps of her harness, Kayla noticed, were actually doubled over her shoulders, one set that met between her large breasts, the other dropping outside them, both pairs merging into the very wide band just below her breasts. From there, a close-fitting web extended down her lower torso to the wide band that rested on her hips and even lower onto her upper thighs to secure it. The straps that buckled to the cart were low on her torso, but even with a larger load than the cart currently held, it looked likely that she'd be able to lean into it and keep it moving quite effectively.

That treating someone as a draught animal could be considered a form of degradation probably didn't matter to anyone who'd been willing to kidnap her to begin with.

Her expression did change, just once, when she looked directly at the rise Erica and Kayla were watching from: the placidity changed, just for a couple of heartbeats, to a smile and a wink. The dark blue of lips and eyelids made the gesture quite pronounced, visible clearly from farther than they otherwise might have been. Before the man near her could see, she shifted her weight casually so she was facing more away from them, and moved a few steps farther. Crouching looked complicated, but she did it smoothly, and straightened with a handful of green and pale pink stuff to nibble on.

Eventually, having investigated the contents of the bowl, completely ignoring the increasingly-impatient cursing of the man on the other side of the bars, Zach picked up a piece of whatever it was and tore off a bite.

“Finally. You're a big dragon-girl-thing, I'm sure you can finish by yourself. I've got two more stops and then a date with a sexy siren.”

There was no way Theo would voluntarily have sex with anyone but Max. She knew their relationship was based more on trust than specifically on monogamy, but she also knew that in all the time she'd known Theo, it had never gone past theory, or appreciative fantasy which was more often than not shared, or maybe a bit of playful friendly flirting. Under conditions like this, it was just not possible. Which meant coercion of some kind.

Which meant that she was going to find a way to make sure that everyone involved paid.

Erica laid a hand on her arm, and shook her head, visibly frustrated.

Zach swallowed with little chewing, looked at him vaguely, then shrugged and took another bite. The man just couldn't resist a vicious jab at Zach with the stick, but Zach eeled fluidly out of its path without ever looking like he'd even moved much.

Kayla wasn't sure what to call that expression, as Erica watched the man leave, other than hatred. But then, that was understandable, and she was inclined to agree. Alison went after him, still nibbling the last of her green stuff. Her gait was certainly unusual for a biped, but those hooves came down securely and rhythmically, and Kayla could see no reason to doubt that it was viable physiology when combined with what appeared to be humanoid hips and bottom. Nor could she think of any reason why the extension of one's spine into a tail would interfere.

Zach watched, too, still eating and still moving slowly, his own snakelike tail lying limp on the ground.

Then he looked right at Erica and Kayla and nodded.

Kayla wasn't sure how much had been in the large plastic bowl when it had been delivered, but by the time she and Erica made it down the slope and back around to the side of the cage, it was empty and Zach was licking his fingers clean. There was nothing particularly sluggish about his motions now.

Kayla eyed the cage, which had no visible break anywhere in the regular pattern. “Okay, how do we get you out of there?”

Zach beckoned, and he and Erica led her most of the way around the cage.

At one point, the ground had been disturbed, though Kayla thought that a quick glance would miss that fact. Sure enough, Zach and Erica each peeled back a ragged-edged chunk of grassy turf, readily enough that it was clearly not the first time those pieces had been removed. The soil beneath it was loose already and easily scooped out of the way from either end.

Nor did it have to be a very large gap under the cage for Zach to wriggle through, eerily serpentine.

“Kinda missed the obvious there, didn't they?” Kayla said drily.

“Overconfident,” Zach said. Aware of what Theo had said about shock collars, and about Zach being shocked frequently, Kayla saw the tension, poised on the edge of a wince. “They don't question. Certain we don't remember. Don't wonder how cold how long to make me how sleepy.” Sort of Zach's voice, in that it wasn't any higher and the inflections were the same, but the timbre was less clearly male, and could have been either.

“That's pretty friggin' stupid.”

“Fatal.” Zach paused, listening. “Theo and sex is complicated, don't jump to conclusions. Jace says your friend is okay but not happy. Doesn't believe Isabel. But very diplomatic.”

“Knew she was a smart girl. Wonder how long it'll take her to give up.”

Zach shrugged and tossed his head in what was clearly a follow-me signal.

Actually, it was Erica who chose the route, much more than Zach. They backtracked, sort of, from spring into more summery weather again. As the temperature rose, the way Zach moved changed, quicker and more fluid; though he'd been alert all along, Kayla now got the impression that he was tracking every hint of motion in their vicinity.

They stayed in summer, this time, with no more crossing of seasons. They did detour around a tiny lake or large pond similar to Theo's, giving it a wide berth.

“Dangerous?” Kayla asked.

“Water fae,” Zach said. “Don't want to see you. Daytime, probably asleep, but...” He shrugged.

“Right.”

Their surroundings grew less wild as they walked, more and more flat and park-like again, with more of the trees smaller ones Kayla thought might be fruit trees, and dotted increasingly with spiralled beds of obviously cultivated plants. Here, the two fae were even more wary, watching in all directions at once.

“Expecting trouble?” Kayla murmured.

“Always,” Zach said, and, a moment later, “Trouble.”

Erica gestured towards a bank of some sort of greenery, one of several running parallel, and veered to the opposite side herself. Zach looked at the far side, clawed fingers flexing and tail twitching, but he stayed with Kayla, largely out of the gardener's sight.

A very large man, tall and broad-shouldered, in jeans and a plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off, was working on one of the banks of plants with a pair of sturdy snips; a wheelbarrow of gardening tools waited nearby. He glanced up, spotted Erica, and his attention stayed on her. A considerable collection of small scabs marked his face and neck, and two fingers were taped together.

Zach, meanwhile, urged Kayla along behind what turned out to be a tangle of raspberry bushes, unripe berries among small prickles.

“Too bad you aren't as friendly as the siren,” the gardener muttered. “Well, you're no trouble and you're still useful, which is more than I can say about that damned cat. I don't suppose you feel like helping with this.”

Erica glanced at him only briefly, barely acknowledging his existence let alone his presence, and stopped to carefully break away a small dying branch, fussing over wilted leaves in the immediate vicinity.

“Green fae,” he grumbled. “No idea how you think. Or if you think.”

Erica dropped the branch and leaves next to a small pile of uprooted green stuff, and knelt beside the prickly hedge, digging her long bare fingers deeply into the soil.

Watching only her, he remained oblivious to Zach and Kayla behind him.

“She'll distract,” Zach whispered, close to Kayla's ear. “Until we're out of range.”

Kayla nodded. On ground like this, they'd be visible for a fair distance.

Just outside the gap in the walls, Zach drew her down to a crouch behind a bank of pleasant-smelling greenery Kayla didn't recognize.

“Wait,” he murmured. “Fae. Should not be here. Maybe felt Gate. Des'll distract.”

Des, Kayla saw clearly. It was hard to miss the dark tabby-striped skin and black fur and vividly yellow sarong. What was flickering in and out of sight, she was less sure, and this didn't seem like the time to pull out Riley's magic ring.

“Stable,” Zach said. “Out of sight until we're ready. Ali back soon.”

Stable?

That did seem like a plausible name for the building Zach indicated. Oddly, it seemed to have six sides, not four. One side adjoined a rail-fenced grassy pasture, a stream meandering through it near a single tree that might have been an apple. Both building and stable looked generous in size, and the stable was a surprisingly-pleasant warm finished wood with red brick pillars embedded into the angles and a substantial, though shuttered, window in each face of the ground floor.

“Door opposite pasture,” Zach added. “Fence is magic. Along left fence, around, in.”

“Got it.”

“Need to run. This close, could be seen. Ready? Now.”

They ran across the intervening space, partly sheltered by trees across some of the distance. The red brick wall didn't crowd right up to the pasture, but had a narrow gap on the left side, from which they were approaching, possibly with a much wider one on the other side. They circled the stable, close to the wall, to the door on the side opposite the pasture. A long wooden bar leaned against the wall, just the right size to fit in a couple of heavy brackets when the wide double doors were closed, but they were currently standing open. Zach pulled her inside and well away from the doorway.

Directly in front of the doors was a space in which the cart Kayla had seen would fit neatly, and she could see scuff marks on the wooden floor suggesting that the cart did in fact stay here when not in use. Kayla spotted a riding crop and a longer coach whip hanging on the wall, though at least they were there and not in use.

“Oh, it figures,” Kayla muttered.

Zach glanced at the crop and whip, then at the tracks on the floor that Kayla was looking at, and shrugged. “Doesn't bother her, exactly. Complicated.”

“Is there anything that isn't complicated right now?”

“One thing. They never do this to anyone else.”

“Agreed. So we're waiting for... what? Riley to leave? Erica to catch up? Where's everyone else in this plan of yours?”

“Coming.” Zach went up the ladder above the stall side of the stable with the agility of a gecko running up a wall—were geckos reptiles? Kayla wondered absently. She thought they probably were, since amphibians needed to stay wet. Rather less fluidly, she followed.

Along with odds and ends of leather and tools and junk less readily identified, there was a substantial heap of straw up here. Kayla wasn't sure she wanted to know why they expected to need to change it that often, although that was probably better than using the same straw so long it got broken and dusty. Zach curled up on it, tail wrapped around him, so tightly it made Kayla's back ache just thinking about it.

“Need a nap,” he said through a yawn. “Haven't had time to digest food.”

Kayla sighed. “Waiting. Crap. I hate waiting.”

“Me too, but have to.”

“Riley's okay?”

“Yes. Everyone is.” The final syllables were perceptibly slurred, which was all that kept her from asking, How many and which ones do I need to castrate with my utility knife for messing with any of you, not just Theo? She could take care of that later.

Kayla settled herself on the straw, leaning against the wall in one of the oblique corners. This really wasn't a good time to stop and think, there was just too much to consider, but there weren't currently any other options.

How on earth were they going to explain all this to the various significant others who still had no idea where their loved ones had been for less than a full day, or several weeks? How were they going to react, and how would their reactions affect the seven who had already gone through so much?

How were they all going to work around this major fundamental—and theoretically impossible—change? Changing simply from man to woman, not just physically but socially, had speed-bumps and potholes and downright roadblocks, along with moments of exhilarating triumph, and that was moving between recognized, if artificially-rigid, categories following at least a rough roadmap. Changes that were going to have to be kept secret from most of the world were going to be difficult.

But Theo had said it: It isn't something forced from outside, it's something inside all along that wakes up. It's part of what we are.

After half her life forced to be something she wasn't, not for anything was she going to let them be caught between what they were and what others thought of that.