“That is a lot of chopped veggies,” Kayla observed. Every large vessel JC had been able to find, right down to pitchers, had been pressed into service to contain the abundance of vegetables Kayla and Theo had been cutting into bites. Erica continued to deliver baskets and buckets of produce, with no particular pattern that Kayla could see; when Kayla had asked what they were making, Theo had just smiled and shrugged and told her to trust JC.

JC herself had set up three large pots on the stove—a mismatched pair of stock pots and a slightly smaller more generic one—and had been busy frying meat in a pan and tossing water and spices and other things into all three pots, including specific vegetables. The oven was on, preheating for something she hadn’t gotten to yet. It was fascinating to watch her: every move was absolutely precise and efficient, with nothing spilled, nothing fumbled, and she never hesitated over what she was doing. It even distracted Kayla from the other thoughts that crept in now and then and that she refused to entertain under current conditions.

JC nodded. “Eight plus whoever Zach brings back plus whoever Ali brings back plus your new allies. Not all will eat stew or soup. I need to make something sweet and fruity for the wisps, and some supplemental meat for Zach, and all meat for Des. Hoping Theo can handle red meat.”

“I’m pretty sure I can,” Theo said cheerfully. “I didn’t actually give Des every last bite of meat I got, and I’m pretty sure I remember not all of it being fish even if I wasn’t paying much attention. Des got mad at me if I hadn’t clearly eaten at least a bit.”

“You were all shorting yourselves to feed Des?” Kayla said.

Theo shrugged. “Cats are obligate carnivores. That apparently includes faeling cats, ‘cause trying to eat vegetables in any quantity made Des sick when she tried. So I was saving everything I could, most of Zach’s meals were meat and he was sleeping a lot and is more omnivorous, Paz taught her how to collect eggs from the big wild chickens and that kind of thing, the house-fae collective have someone who can clean and cook pigeons and chickens and fish when someone brings it to them, on condition that they share, and they did their best to feed her, and JC kept sneaking her things from here. All combined, it kept her going, but she’s pretty active and I’m pretty sure she’s been a little hungry all the time anyway.”

“Felix was starting a pork tenderloin,” JC said. “Technically got hot enough inside to be cooked, barely, but I’d cook it a little longer for anyone else. It’s in the fridge.”

“Oh, that’ll make her happy.”

JC paused in mid-motion, attention turning towards the back door, and Theo set down her knife.

“Zach is back,” the siren said. “You got this, Jace?”

JC nodded. “Go meet them.”

“C’mon, Kayla. I haven’t actually met anyone from the house-fae collective yet but I’ve been hearing lots.”

“All right. I think I need to wash my hands first.”

“Laundry room. I can get wet again while we’re at it.”

Clean and, in Theo’s case, wet, they went towards the makeshift prison building.

As it turned out, Zach had returned with two companions.

One was a woman of medium height, whose slender torso and upper arms and legs were covered in feathers so pure that white seemed completely inadequate to describe it; even her exposed skin was brilliant. Her face was human and her light blue eyes were outlined with shimmering metallic gold, matching her lips—the only colour on her entire person. Her shoulder-length white hair fell in locks that suggested more feathers. A nondescript rectangular red plastic basket had had fabric handles added to it, one long enough to be looped over her shoulder while she steadied it with her hand, but it wasn’t clear what the basket actually held.

The other was of no clear sex—that build reminded Kayla of Zach’s, spare and lean with a vaguely serpentine tail, although this individual was overall perceptibly smaller than their dragon. There was no sign of scales, however, only mottled skin of several shades of red and orange.

The gaze of the feathered woman flickered to Kayla’s wrist, then up to her face.

“Zach asked me to come help. He told us an impossible story, that our captors have been overthrown. But apparently it’s true.” Her voice was rich and expressive, with a trace of an accent that Kayla thought might be from the UK, though she wouldn’t have wanted to go on record with that guess. It reminded her of the Thirteenth Doctor, that lovely blonde woman, hypersocial and hyperactive, who always made her think of Theo. Yorkshire or something, right?

“It’s true,” Kayla said. “The psychopaths who were holding you here and threatening you no longer have any power. In fact, they’re all locked up, except one who escaped and will be found.”

“Hm.” The feathered woman tilted her head to one side. “And if we simply asked to be sent back to the real world?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea how to do that. Right now, I’m stuck here too. But I’m expecting reinforcements to show up any time now who do know how to use the Gate thing. One of them has been JC’s friend for several years... JC is our house fae. One of them was hired to sort out the consequences of an old fae woman crashing our barbecue a few days ago, and she found me and was responsible for my getting here. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be appalled by all this. She’s from a big family of mediums who, from the sounds of it, are totally opposite to the psycho who was here, and I think they have some serious resources available but I don’t know what. I can’t currently make any promises, because I just don’t know. But I can tell you this for sure: if necessary, I’ll be fighting to the last breath to make sure that all of you get a say in your own futures and that you have futures other than being stuck here. I’m kinda a big believer in freedom.”

For a long moment the feathered woman said nothing, then she ducked her head. “For the moment, that’s a sensible answer. Not many have clear memories and family they might still be able to depend on, but there are a few outside the house fae. A few more might well prefer to escape and make their own way, without waiting for help. My friends and I will do what we can to help keep the peace while everything changes. But I doubt that will last as long as you might like it to.”

“I’ll take whatever we can get, honestly, and be grateful for whatever peaceful time we have to try to find some order among the chaos. And meanwhile, we’ll try our best to make sure everyone has everything they need. Possibly with some help from your house-fae friends.”

“If they have the ingredients they need, the things they can’t gather from the island like flour, oil, salt, that kind of thing, they can and will increase the amount of food they produce, and we should be able to arrange delivery to those who are unable to come get it for themselves.”

“We’ll look at ways to provide those, then. I don’t want anyone hungry.”

The feathered woman nodded. “For now, I believe you. My friends call me Callie. This is Sly, they don’t talk much. I gather you have injured. Possibly including the wisp flock.”

“One wisp with burned wings,” Kayla said. “And a green fae with some minor but uncomfortable fire damage. And a cat with a minor tail injury. We don’t know about the rest of the flock yet, our unicorn friend has gone to get them.”

“With Paz and Orfeo,” Zach said. “Back soon.”

Callie nodded again. “Take me to your injured friends.”

Kayla saw Callie shudder when they approached the round building that currently served as a prison. Suzi was inside, Erica in the doorway where she still got some direct sunlight.

Zach took over guard duty inside so both could come to Callie.

Kayla was starting to get the trick of keeping her focus somewhere other than directly on Suzi, just letting her gaze slide across the little wisp when she was speaking, not stopping. It didn’t always work, but she could hope that someone would intervene if she accidentally lingered too long and got lost in the luminous shifting ripples.

The feathered woman set the red basket on the ground, then took both of Suzi’s hands in hers. “Look into my eyes,” she said. “Don’t look away.”

Nothing happened for a few heartbeats.

Then, out of nowhere, enormous wings of blindingly-white feathers spread, wrapping around Callie and Suzi, jerking Kayla’s full attention in that direction. Even that ankle-length, feather-fringed tail was less dramatic than the wings. To Kayla’s alarm, the bottom edge of those bright feathers darkened to sooty black, the stain spreading rapidly along and upwards.

Des laid a hand on Kayla’s arm. “No’ in’erfere.” Theo, on her other side, watched with interest.

Callie’s wings folded back, though they remained. Her white face showed distinct signs of strain, metallic-gold lips pressed tightly together, as she reached out to her companion.

Sly laid both palms against Callie’s, and the red and orange patterns flared up, briefly resembling coals in a fireplace. Kayla felt a fleeting wave of heat, like opening the oven door.

Callie let her hands fall. Her wings were now nearly all white again, though shadows of discoloration lingered. She dropped to one knee to rummage around in her basket, and handed Suzi a small jar that looked like it might once have held jam. Now, the contents were opaque and faintly green. “Here. Rub this into the burns, just a thin layer is all you need. It will probably hurt a bit going on, but it’ll help it heal. Two or three times a day until it stops hurting. Fortunately, faelings heal more quickly than humans do.”

“Thank you,” Suzi said softly.

Kayla beckoned her over, keeping her gaze on Callie until she felt Suzi’s hand on her arm.

“Need some help, sweetie?” Kayla asked. “That doesn’t look easy to reach.”

“Um... please?” One slim multicoloured hand offered the jar from beside her. “But I’m going to have to spread my wings. Well, as much as I can.” Slowly and in brief uneven spurts, with her breath catching several times, Suzi unfurled her butterfly wings far enough to make the edges accessible. One of Theo’s tentacles coiled itself around her waist, keeping her anchored but not interfering.

“There are people present who can intervene,” Callie said. She turned to Erica, took a deep breath, and held out her hands palm-up. “I can’t always do much for green fae, I’m sorry, but I’ll try my best.”

Erica laid her long-fingered hands over Callie’s, and those bright wings wrapped around them.

“Should I ask how she does that?” Kayla asked, trying very hard to keep her attention focused very tightly on the narrow discoloured band along the edge of Suzi’s wings, while the little wisp hovered in the air. The damage wasn’t entirely healed, but the fearsome black border was both narrower and less dark than it had been. Suzi flinched at the contact, and did so repeatedly, but she did her best to hold still.

Theo shrugged. “No idea. I’m not up on kinds of fae.”

“Whole islan’ knows,” Des said. “Go see Callie if hur’. Think no one woul’ ever threa’en her. Will help any.”

“One-fae Red Cross. Got it.” The fluid shimmering colours of Suzi’s wings were fascinating—how did they move like that, anyway?

“Kayla?” Theo’s voice sounded far away. “Kayla, close your eyes.”

“Hm?” Maybe if she just watched...

A pearl-white bare arm interposed itself, interrupting Kayla’s line of sight. She started to protest, then realized that Theo had broken the hypnotic effect.

“Sorry,” Suzi said apologetically. “Maybe Theo can do it. This is too risky for you.”

“I’m okay,” Kayla said. “I just slipped for a second there.” She went back to gently applying ointment to Suzi’s wings.

Callie let her hands fall from Sly’s—distracted, Kayla hadn’t even noticed when she’d finished with Erica. “I only caught part of that. I’m a caladrius, for whatever a name is worth without definition, and I don’t have one to offer beyond my experiences. I can heal most things at least somewhat. I don’t have much basis for comparison of injury versus illness, or human versus faeling, since primarily what I do is patch up faeling injuries using whatever I can scavenge or invent and my ability to heal. Since as near as I can tell I absorb the damage from a patient into myself, Sly keeps me alive, because I can push it back out and they burn it off harmlessly.” She shrugged. “I was an emergency room nurse. There are similarities, and a lot of differences. You—water fae? What’s your name?”

“Theo,” Theo said obligingly.

“Good to meet you, I’ve heard of you and thought you might be. You need to get back in the water. Now.”

“But...”

“I’ll heal anyone, but if it was stupidly self-inflicted, it comes with a no-holds-barred lecture. Want to risk that?”

“I’ll, um, go for a swim,” Theo said meekly, and laid a webbed hand briefly on Kayla’s shoulder. “You know where I’ll be.” The tentacle around Suzi loosened with visible reluctance.

Callie nodded, expression satisfied. “Des? I assume that wisp silk on your tail isn’t a fashion statement.”

Des flattened her ears. “Barry. Axe.”

“Let me see.” Callie folded her wings back on her way to meet Des. To Kayla’s amusement, she gave Des an affectionate scritch behind her nearer ear before stepping around and reaching for her tail. Very gently, she unwrapped the silk. “Hm. That looks painful. Not dangerous, faelings rarely develop infections, but let’s see if I can help it. The same ointment I gave Suzi will help you too.”

Callie the caladrius. Had she forgotten her old name? Or abandoned it as no longer appropriate? It seemed unlikely that coincidence would have led to her parents naming her that.

“All done, Suze,” Kayla said. “What do you want to do with the jar?”

“Put some on Des once Callie’s done, then I’ll make a bag for it and keep it on me until we figure out a good place,” Suzi said. “Thanks. Between Callie and the ointment, that hurts a lot less.”

“Glad to hear it. Let me know any time.”

Callie let go of Des, turned to her fiery friend for a moment, then turned in a slow circle, wings half-spread, tail curved up so it was well-clear of the ground. “There are others nearby who are hurt.”

Suzi shrugged. “JC gave Felix some of the sleepy drug Isabel gave us. Possibly a lot. Zach found out he has a paralyzing sting in his tail. Felix and Barry both got that. Phrixos attacked Isabel and she’s unconscious. Lloyd has some shallow wounds. Nestor’s probably okay but all tied up.”

“Phrixos escaped, I gather. Gord?”

“Theo left him in a cave in her lake. We’ll get him soon.”

“If they’re the only ones here who might need a healer, then I’m done.” Callie folded her wings back tightly, and they disappeared, along with her tail. The sudden flat cold tone of her expressive voice was jarring, but perfectly understandable. “Everything I have ever believed and every value I have ever held tells me that I need to do my best to heal anyone in need. But after what they did, I will not. They can die slowly and miserably in a pool of their own assorted bodily fluids, and it will not even begin to atone for what they have done.”

“If you’re expecting me to try to change your mind on that, you’ll be waiting a while,” Kayla said. “I’ve only known for a few hours that they exist and they hurt people who matter to me, and I’m okay with that, compared to whatever you’ve been through that I am not going to ask about because it’s not my business.”

“Thank you. I’ll stay here long enough to see whether the wisps need help and to meet your allies, then I should go back.”

“You’re hungry af’er healing,” Des said. “JC cooking yummy noms.”

“Our own house fae,” Kayla said, “has taken over the kitchen and is preparing food like mad. I know she was working on soup or stew or something.”

“Is Jace,” Des said. “Maybe anything. Jace makes cookies of’en an’ easy.”

“Don’t tease me with cookies,” Callie said. “It’s been a very long time.”

“It’s probably not teasing,” Kayla said. “It probably depends mostly on what’s available in the pantry and what Jace decides is the best use of her time. Let’s go see.”

“I’ll stay here,” Suzi said. “I want to watch for Ali and the flock.” Erica nodded agreement.

“Okay. Yell when they get back. Or, mm, whatever.” Erica just rolled her eyes but smiled and repeated the nod.

“At some point,” Callie said to Erica, “I’ll teach you and your friends the American Sign Language alphabet. Full ASL takes time, but the alphabet won’t take long to learn—I’ve taught all the house fae and several faelings who have problems with spoken language for one reason or another. It will be some help, at least.”

Erica nodded quickly.

“We’d all be happy to learn it,” Suzi said. “It might help Des sometimes too.”

“I hope I’m invited to that class,” Kayla said. “But it’ll have to wait a day or two.”

“Once things calm down a little,” Callie agreed.

“Perfect, and thank you.” Kayla gestured invitingly to Callie and Sly. “Shall we?”

Callie gathered up her red basket and shared glances with Sly.