My breath caught when I recognized the forms of Destiny, Lara, and Lynn. Ara’s voice rang through the house as she shouted her sister’s name. For a moment, I’d nearly forgotten where I was.

Ara’s daggers gleamed in the flashes of lightning. Her desperate cries demanded vengeance. In an instant, I threw my arms beneath Ara’s arms and curled them inward. Tears streamed down her face as she fought against me.

“Unhand me!”

“Breathe!” I toyed around with the notion of trying to disarm her, but it was a miracle I’d managed to subdue her without losing a finger. Any further movement, and I was sure Ara would outmaneuver me to make an attempt on Celestia’s life. Not that I could blame her, but… “Check on them first!”

Celestia crossed her arms. “I must agree. Contain yourself.” She motioned with a flick of her head. “Tend to your sister.”

“She…she’s alive?” Ara’s struggles began to slow, the tension in her muscles relaxing. Somewhat, anyway.

“Of course they’re alive. They are of no use to me dead.”

I shot Celestia a glare before turning Ara back around to the hidden room. The air was so uncomfortable, so stilted, so unnatural. I loosened my grip and slowly uncoiled my arms.

Ara said nothing as she fell to her knees before the bodies of the three maids.

“What have you done to them?” Tristan growled.

Celestia’s eyes moved in his direction like a predator observing its meal. “I was rehabilitating them. Certain measures had to be taken to ensure they didn’t act out of line. They caused enough trouble as it is.” She motioned to the three still bodies with a sigh. “However, I had little success carving the truth of your disappearance. Fear not; they will wake. Felsi?”

The ice cream shop owner stepped forward.

“Wake them,” Celestia said with a wave of her hand.

“Stop!” Ceres and Ravyn cried in unison. They looked at each other, and then Ceres closed the distance between her and Felsi.

“Do not wake them,” Ceres said to Felsi. Ceres tilted her head and shot Celestia a glare. “Their waking would only cause panic and thus aggravate their wounds. It is a mercy to keep them asleep.”

The string of events that went down after we disappeared began to click into place.

“What did you do?” I asked, looking at Felsi.

The girl’s eyes widened briefly before her gaze drifted to a cracked pot in the corner. Whatever had been growing inside of it had wilted a long time ago.

“[Slumber],” Ravyn said simply. “Powerful magic. You have to touch someone for it to take effect, but it puts them to sleep for a while. A long while.”

“How long are we talking?”

The hint of a smile tugged at Celestia’s lips. When Ravyn didn’t say anything, I asked again, only to be met with more silence.

“Matt, maybe we should get them somewhere where they can relax,” said Cannoli, her hands bunched at her sides.

“Sir Matt, I must agree,” Ceres said barely audibly. “They need help.”

“How will any of us wake them if she’s under a spell?” I asked.

“There’s more than one way to break a spell,” Ravyn snarled, her glare turned to Celestia. “And more than one way to kill a rat.”

Portia opened the front door and gestured outside. “Come on, let’s go. We can talk later.”

Tristan stood before Celestia, looking her in the eye as he spoke. “We’ve said everything we need to. There won’t be any more room for discussion. If there’s anything more to talk about, it’ll be on our time. Is this understood?”

Celestia paused before delivering a curt nod.

“And if you harm another hair on anyone’s head, you will never see this school again,” he growled.

“Understood, young Master.” Celestia shifted uncomfortably, her eyes glittering with hate.

I wanted to let Ravyn set her aflame. Let Ara carve her like a Thanksgiving turkey. But this was Tristan’s island, and we had to let him handle it. Discussions about what would ultimately happen to Celestia and the entirety of Shi Island would be up to him.

As far as I saw it, there was no forgiving a person for what Celestia did.

“Good.” Tristan approached Destiny and motioned for me. “Matt, help me get her on my back.”

“Sure.”

I couldn’t imagine what nightmares Celestia had put them through. Judging from how they looked and the amount of venom seeping out of the headmistress’ mouth, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been there for days—hell, even weeks.

I helped Destiny onto Tristan’s back, and Ara insisted on carrying Lynn. Once Lynn was situated, that just left Lara.

With help from Ceres, we positioned Lara on my back so that her arms dangled over my shoulders while I held her securely by the legs. I winced each time I looked at the wounds. Part of me wondered if the pain was enough to knock them unconscious.

I buried the thought. Taking care of the girls was the best thing we could do now, and trusting that Tristan would keep his word should Celestia pull the same stunt with any of the other girls.

“Into the pouring rain, then?” asked Celestia. She gestured to a catgirl on her left, one of the girls I didn’t recognize from my first time here, and I watched as she ascended a staircase to the right of the front door. “She is retrieving umbrellas.”

“Thanks,” said Tristan.

The girl reappeared moments later, her arms filled with numerous multi-colored umbrellas. She approached us, and one by one, we each took one from her arms.

We shared no further words with Celestia. Portia was kind enough to shut the door behind us. We all stood on the porch and unfolded our umbrellas. Keke, Cannoli, and Ravyn had each taken two umbrellas—one for themselves and another for those tasked with carrying duties.

To my surprise, Keke had taken to Ara’s side—the two were discussing something quietly. Cannoli walked beside Tristan. Admittedly, she was probably the best person he could talk to. She had a gentle way of bringing calm to a storm.

That left me with Ravyn. She pinched the bridge of her nose, then moved the umbrella close enough to shield me from the pelting rain.

“How considerate. What is it going to cost me?” I teased.

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” She gritted her teeth, but it didn’t hide the red on her cheeks. “Focus on walking. These girls need our help.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe what Celestia did to them.”

“I can. She’s fucking insane.” A growl rumbled in her throat. “Should have let me torch the bitch.”

“I wanted to,” I admitted. “But we have to let Tristan take the lead on this.”

She grunted.

“Hey, everyone!” Keke waved her arm through the air. “We’re going to follow Ara since she knows a place we can recuperate!”

“Was it where we stayed before?” I called back.

Keke shook her head. “We want to avoid Celestia’s enchantments as much as possible.”

“Got it. Lead the way!”

Ravyn released Ball into the air to scout while Ara led us down the hill, straight into the middle of the town. The rain had a way of making every step feel like it took twice as long, but it was a short walk, all things considered. We approached the front door of one of the many uniform homes. A white picket fence surrounded the building, and a beautiful garden with flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors flanked the pathway leading up to the front door.

Keke reached into Ara’s skirt pocket and pulled out a small, silver key. She unlocked the door and held it open for the rest of us. I drew in a deep breath before entering.

The home was extremely well-kept. A red carpet spread before me, lining the hallway ahead. Beneath it was some of the most immaculately maintained wood flooring I’d ever laid my eyes on. A sweet fragrance for which I had no name filled the air and brought a sense of calm to my nerves.

“This way.” Ara gestured to the second floor and began to ascend the stairs, Tristan close behind.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to the other girls folding up their umbrellas. The floorboards creaked beneath my passenger and me with each step I took. As I rose, I noticed a thin film of dust had covered the wooden railing, and a few cobwebs dangled between the supports.

“Over here. In this room,” Ara said when I reached the second floor. She continued onward, opening another door with the end of her foot and motioning Tristan inside.

The light cast upon us by the storm was just enough to let me see through the house. Unlike the floor below, the entire second floor was covered in violet carpeting. Thick gold ropes drew a pair of lush curtains aside a window at the hall's end. Ornate lanterns hung beside the doorframe of each bedroom—I counted five.

I brought Lara to the room Ara had appointed for her and laid her gently on the bed. The longer I looked at her marks, the worse I felt. My blood boiled again, and I took a deep breath to quell the anger I was feeling.

When I exited, I shut the door behind me to see Ravyn coming up the stairs.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey, you.” She closed the distance between us and opened the door to Lara’s room.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Wait, you’re not going to let her rest?”

Ravyn paused. “I need to find out how long we have until the [Slumber] spell breaks.” She turned her head toward me.

“Can’t that wait? She needs her rest. You saw how she looked.”

“She’s not sleeping, Matt. Magical sleep isn’t like normal sleep. It’s stasis.”

I frowned. “Stasis? What do you mean?”

“It’s like being thrown into a fucking well and drowning.” Her hand clenched tighter around the doorknob. “It’s like every time you gasp for air, more water pours into your mouth. Like someone just froze you on the spot, and all you can do is watch.” She showed off one canine fang, hissing under her breath. “It can kill a person.”

“Then why didn’t we wake them if it’s so dangerous? I understand the pain will be awful, but—”

“They’ve suffered enough. Like Ceres said, we need to keep them from panicking as much as possible. Once I know how long we have, I’ll talk with Ceres and Cannoli, and we’ll make sure they come out of it alive.”

I looked down the hall where I saw Ara take Lynn. “Does Ara know?”

“Probably.” A moment of silence passed, and Ravyn batted my hand away. “I’ll just need a few minutes.”

After Ravyn shut the front door, I weighed up my options. Did I visit Tristan and Ara to check up on them? Or did I give them some space? I put my hand on the railing as I took a step down, glancing in Ara’s direction before descending.

Just when I’d thought we’d saved Lara, Destiny, and Lynn, their lives were back on the line.