Vera had wanted to be in Zerzura by now. Instead, she was on her way to visit a prisoner.

“I can’t believe you took her prisoner,” she told Mimi’s brothers. She wasn’t sure which was which. They looked identical to her.

“She wouldn’t stop coming into the meadow.”

“So keep sending her back out,” she said sharply. “Do the professors know she’s here?”

“Why would we tell them?”

Vera pressed fingers to her temples. “So no one calls the authorities and reports her missing. Because then they’ll send a bunch of people to investigate.”

“They would do that?”

“Yes!” Holy crap. “They might have already. How long has she been here?”

“Good thing we didn’t kill her like the Guardian suggested,” mumbled one brother.

Vera spun on them. “He did what?”

“He didn’t technically say kill her, but I understood what he meant.”

“No killing humans,” she said firmly. “At all.”

“What if they aren’t human?”

She’d never been so tired in all her life. “Ask me first.”

“You are gone a lot,” they pointed out.

“Then ask Mimi or Maiden,” she snapped.

“You mean Mother? Maiden never comes to the meadow. I think she’s overseeing Summartir.”

Vera kept forgetting that Maiden was Mother. And it was weird to think of Margory ruling their realm for her term. “How long has this girl been a prisoner?”

“Just since she showed up yesterday afternoon,” answered one of the brothers. “We found her drawing pictures of the gates and other creatures.”

“Probably so she could give it to humans as proof so they will raise an army to destroy us all,” said the other brother.

“No one is going to raise an army,” Vera assured. At least I hope not.

“How do you know?”

“No one would believe her,” Vera explained. “Humans would call her a looney.”

“What if someone came to investigate?”

Will these questions never end? “The meadow is warded, they wouldn’t find it.”

“She keeps finding it.”

“Have you asked how?” Vera asked.

“She won’t talk to us.”

“You probably scared her.” Let’s hope her mind isn’t broken.

They reached the end of the hall and one of the brothers knocked.

“Open the door,” the other barked through the barricade.

“No,” came a muffled voice.

Vera frowned. “I thought she was a prisoner. She’s locked herself in there?”

“We tried to lock her in a different room, but she kept getting out. She stays in there now.”

The other brother called, “It’s okay, I won’t let anyone hurt you. There’s someone here who wants to speak to you.”

A lock clicked, and the door cracked open. A familiar face peered out at the brothers and then she saw Vera. It was the artist girl. Jenna? No. Jemma. Jemma yanked opened the door.

“It’s you,” she said to Vera. “You should be dead. Like ten times over, but you keep living.”

“Yeah, that’s the story of my life,” Vera said. “Can we come in?”

Jemma considered the trio. “Not them.”

The brothers began to argue, but Vera cut them off. “Deal.”

It was Jemma’s room from before the meadow had fallen, but it looked different. She’d drawn all over the walls.

Jemma blushed. “I ran out of paper.”

That wasn’t why Vera was gaping, though. She recognized all the images—her and Addamas in a cyclop’s cage, the gorgon, Kale battling a ring of centaurs while she stood by with a blank expression on her face. And a dozen other scenes from the past months.

“Why did you draw these?”

“Ever since I met you, I keep having these scenes pop in my head, like short movies. I thought I was going crazy, but then I saw some of the creatures after the earthquake, and I knew I wasn’t crazy. They’re real, aren’t they? All this really happened, didn’t it?” Jemma talked rapid-fire.

“Yes, that all happened.” Vera felt uneasy. “Is that why you keep sneaking down here?”

“When I’m here, I can see better. Out there, all I get is flashes. It’s like a nightmare. I don’t know how it ends, but I have to know how it ends. Until there’s a happy ending, I can’t focus. I’m failing half my classes at this point.”

“You’re watching a movie of me in the back of your mind right now?”

“No, I don’t see it all the time. Mostly just when you’re in danger, I think. And then I watch until you aren’t.”

“Do you see anything else?” Vera asked.

“Sometimes. But I don’t know what I’m seeing. Sometimes there are people I don’t recognize. When I first met you and realized you were one of the people I see, it freaked me out.”

“Yeah, that would freak me out too.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Jemma asked, seeming to shrink inward.

“Maybe you’re an oracle,” Vera said.

“Like the oracles of Delphi?”

“You’re familiar with them.”

“Well, yeah.” She hesitated. “My family believes in that kind of thing—divination, crystal balls, that kind of stuff. It seems insane to think I could be an oracle, though. Then again, after the stuff I’ve seen recently, maybe not.”

“What have you seen?” demanded a brother as he shoved through the door.

Jemma cowered.

“Don’t worry about him.” The other pushed his way between Jemma and his brother. “He won’t touch you.”

Jemma hid behind the gentle brother. Vera wondered if Jemma would be so trusting if she knew what that man was.

“Have you seen anything else?” Vera asked to get the girl’s attention again. “All of these have already happened. I’d like to know what could still happen.”

“This is all I have. I’ve seen other people, but I didn’t draw them, because I wanted to save the space to draw your scenes.”

“We’ll get you some paper,” Vera promised. “And we’ll send you back to campus.”

“No.” Jemma shook her head. “I don’t want to go back. It’s like having a strobe in my head when I’m there.”

“Someone is going to notice you’re missing. Not to mention, you don’t want to fail your summer courses.”

“I only took those classes so I could stay here. I used to be miserable, getting flashes of things I couldn’t understand all the time, but ever since the earthquake, it’s better. Only, the farther away I go, the worse it gets again. I tried to go home at the beginning of the summer. Then I talked my parents into letting me enroll for the summer semester so I could come back. I told them there was a special course that was only available now. And I don’t have a roommate, so there’s no one to miss me.”

Geesh, the girl should consider going to auctioneer school with all the words she can cram into one breath. “Your parents won’t call you?”

“I brought my phone with me.” She held it up as proof.

“It won’t work here,” Vera said. “Satellite signals don’t make it through the wards.”

“Oh.” She stared at the screen like it had betrayed her. “I hope they haven’t been trying to call.”

“You and me both,” said Vera. “Do they worry a lot?”

“My dad does.”

“You should probably leave the meadow so they don’t lose their minds with worry,” Vera recommended.

Jemma started chewing a fingernail.

Vera made an executive decision. “Why don’t you stay in your old room here, but still leave long enough to go to class and check in with your family regularly.”

“I can come back between classes and at night?’

“It doesn’t seem like we can stop you,” grouched the unhappy brother.

“What if someone on the other side hurts her?” asked the other.

“Why would they do that?” Vera asked.

“She must have magic if she is an oracle—siphons cannot be oracles,” explained the brother.

“Perhaps she is the human oracle,” suggested grumpy brother.

“There’s only one oracle for each race, right?” Vera asked.

“Yes.”

“Then she’s not the human oracle because I met the human oracle in Acadia. Vera took a quick peep and confirmed that Jemma did in fact have magic. It was so faint that Vera couldn’t identify it. But it would grow stronger and could awaken a siphon if they weren’t careful.

“Then I will protect her. Earth is dangerous for people with magic.”

“Is it?” Jemma asked Vera.

“Unfortunately.” Vera wished she could tell her otherwise, but she couldn’t. “Most people don’t even know that they can hurt someone with magic, though.”

“I can go with her and make sure no one siphons her,” offered the sweet brother.

Vera scrutinized the man. “You’d be okay with that?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t,” he replied.

Grouchy pants folded his arms. “It’s too dangerous.”

Well, that sounds familiar.

“What other choice is there?” sweet brother asked. “She doesn’t even know what she needs to protect herself from.”

“I’ll go,” said Grouchy.

“You terrify her,” countered Sweetie

“I do not,” Grouchy said. “Do I?” he asked Jemma, like he was daring her to confirm Sweetie’s claim.

Jemma kept her mouth closed.

“See?” said Grouchy. “I am stronger anyway and can protect her better.”

Sweetie seemed to consider and finally said, “He’s right. He’d keep you safer than I could out there.”

“Then it is settled,” announced Grouchy. “I will make sure no one harms the girl and bring her back to the meadow after.”

“I’m just gonna say it,” Vera said to Grouchy. “I didn’t think you liked the idea of her being here, so why are you volunteering to watch out for her now?”

“She is an oracle, and they are sacred—even if she is from Earth.”

“Yes, my brother will keep her safe,” said Sweetie. “And when she is here, I will watch over her.”

“Are you okay with that?” Vera asked Jemma.

The girl looked between the two brothers like a cornered mouse and nodded. Vera felt for her, but knew the men would keep her safe as promised.

“So, are you good at art?” Vera asked Grouchy.

“No, why?”

“Jemma is an art major. If you’re gonna shadow her, you’ll have to enroll too.”

His forehead creased. “Enroll?”

“Become a student,” she clarified.

“At a human school?” he asked with dismay.

“At this point, I think there are more non-humans than humans on campus.”

“Still. Is that necessary?”

“Yep. We’ll have to get you registered and explain the situation to Dean Harris. I’ll let Addamas figure it all out, but you start school tomorrow.”

He sighed heavily, resigned to his fate.

“Jemma, why don’t you go call your family, so they know you're okay, and then show your new shadow around campus?”

“I need to pick up some sketchbooks from the store too,” Jemma said.

“I’m sure he’ll love a car ride,” Vera said.

“Car?”

Vera’s lips quirked. Poor grumpy man.

Addamas blew across the messenger’s wings. “I’m wanted,” he told Kale.

“I’ll keep an eye on the gates.” The way things were going, Kale didn’t expect they’d be heading to Zerzura for a while still.

“Watch the Penglai gate. Someone’s been working hard to get through those bindings. The High Mother’s been restitching them twice a day.”

“Not going to be able to hold the realms off much longer,” observed Kale.

“The whole coven is working on a spell that’s supposed to make the meadow appear like the old one—as long as no one gets too far from their gate. Once they finish, we can release the gates and reassure everyone that everything is okay.”

“By we, you mean me,” Kale concluded.

“You’re the one they’ll expect to see.”

“But not standing on four legs.”

“That’s part of the spell,” Addamas explained. “The witches have teamed up with a couple of kargadan to integrate glamour into the magic. It’ll make you look like the old you.”

Kale was surprised that the witches and kargadan were working together. A collaboration between realms hadn’t happened in a long time. But if that was the case, they shouldn’t need him for their spell to work. “Why not make anyone look like me? If the witches can make me look like I’m walking on two legs, they can make whoever is on duty look like me too.”

“Mimi said you’d be difficult.”

“I’m being logical. At some point, I will have to leave. Then what?”

“They’re working on a spell just like the one you described, but it’s more complicated. So until they figure it out, you have to keep your shit together.”

“If a wielder comes through a gate, they’ll see through the glamour,” Kale pointed out.

“Yeah, let’s hope no wielder gets curious and comes sniffing around.”

“If Mother has been working that hard to keep the Penglai gate bound and closed, chances are there’s an immortal on the other side.”

“We can hope it’s a kitsune.” Addamas rubbed the back of his neck. “But if we’re hoping for a kitsune, that means things are bad.”

Kale held back his agreement. Addamas began to pace. Apparently, verbalizing his doubts had agitated the satyr. I should’ve dropped it.

“Ferrox and I would enjoy a fight with a kitsune right about now,” Kale said.

Addamas nodded absently, staring at the dorm building across the parking lot. Kale knew that look. His friend was worrying about Mimi and everyone he cared about most.

“Everything will be fine,” Kale said, not believing it. “Go see what Mimi wants before she gets impatient.”

“She’s always impatient.”

Mimi and Kale had that in common. He was glad when Addamas trotted off. There were limits to how long he could pretend to be optimistic about their current situation. If the witches didn’t work fast, and if they couldn’t stop Suzie, the world was going to tear itself apart. And if he couldn’t keep it together, they’d have to fight him too. Split that many directions, they’d lose for sure. Kale walked the edge of the meadow, inspecting the doors with his limited abilities. Before, all he had to do was feel them out with his mind to make sure they would hold. Now he had to rely on his other senses, which were heightened thanks to the unnatural.

The gates to Saguenay, Atzlan, and Brasil seemed secure—no sounds or smells to be detected. Addamas was right about Penglai, though. Burning cinnamon stung his nose, and heat emanated from the door. Whoever was trying to get through had a fire-dog on their side. If that creature got through, there’d be no restraining it or putting it back. It would have to be put down. A fire-dog would not stop until it consumed all the lives here.

Vera searched for Mimi. She hadn’t seen her friend since she’d gotten back from Acadia. Her first stop was their shared room. She wasn’t in Addamas’s room either. Or in any of the commons areas. Or the cafeteria on the ground floor, where dozens of witches stirred cauldrons and leaned over drawings spread across the tables. None of them noticed Vera peek into the room, so she backed away.

She was walking past the computer lab when a messenger crawled out from under the door and flew off. With the lack of Internet, Vera hadn’t thought anyone would be in there. The door was locked, so she tapped a few times with the tips of her fingers. It opened soon after.

“Vera,” greeted Maiden-Mother, holding the door open for her to come in.

They’d moved the computers to the floor around the edge of the room. The long tables had been pushed together to form a makeshift conference table. Mimi, Kuwari, Nisaba’s Fetu, Professor Eldrid, and a couple of people Vera didn’t know were there too. Those she knew smiled and waved before returning to their huddled conversation. A woman with bronze skin had pointed ears sticking up through her dark hair and a long lion’s tail flicking near her ankles. In the center of the group was a middle-aged man, scribbling stuff into a spiral notebook while everyone talked. Mother leaned across the table to read what the man was adding to his notes. It seemed like Mimi hesitated before jumping up to hug her.

“I’m glad you’re home.” Mimi wouldn’t quite meet her gaze. “When Addamas came back alone, I was worried, but Jemma said you were alive. I told the boys to let you know about that new development as soon as you got here.”

“Yeah, they did. That’s weird, right—having someone watch Vera-tube in their head?”

“At least we had a way to know you were alive.” Mimi glanced over at the others.

“So this is your war room or something?” Vera asked, feeling like she’d just walked in on an exclusive club where she was not wanted.

“We’re drawing up a proposal for the foreign exchange program you suggested,” answered Kuwari. “If we can start bringing the realms together, perhaps we can head off a war.”

“To be fair, I didn’t actually suggest it,” Vera said. “But you think it could work?” Her heavy heart lifted at the possibility.

“If we can recruit a few more realms, it just might,” answered the scribe, who’d stopped to chew on the end of his pen.

“Oh, Vera, this is Lachlan, the wizard ambassador from Nibiru.” Maiden-Mother introduced the man.

“Nice to meet you.” Vera held out a hand. Almost everyone frowned collectively and stared at it in confusion. Mimi hid a smile, which loosened the knot in Vera’s chest from their strained greeting. Vera let her arm fall lamely, reminded that shaking hands was a human gesture.

“The guild heard much about you from our scorpion and kargadan neighbors.” Lachlan glanced at Fetu. “And our neighbors in the sea whom we were unaware existed. My people value knowledge above all else, so learning that some of our knowledge is not as accurate as we had believed… It has been challenging.”

“I can imagine,” said Vera.

“Lachlan will be taking over my position as a professor here,” said Professor Eldrid.

“You’re not going to be teaching?”

“I’ve been offered a new position at the school, as the off-realm liaison.”

“And student recruiter,” added the woman with a tail.

“Vera, this is Nadia, the leader of the sphinx community,” Mimi introduced.

Ahh, that explains the ears and tail. “Nice to meet you.”

Nadia nodded once.

“Wow, you guys have a lot on your plates, then,” observed Vera.

“And so do you, it seems,” said Maiden-Mother. “Braxas told me that you’re headed for Zerzura next.”

“Hopefully, we’ll finally figure out what Suzie was and how to fight back.”

“Be careful,” Mimi said with intensity.

The hair on the back of Vera’s neck prickled. “Is there anything, in particular, I should be worried about?”

“Knowing you, you’ll manage to get eaten by a zombie or something,” Mimi said, running a hand absently over the small swell of her stomach.

Vera snorted. “Yeah, good thing those aren’t real, or I’d lose my brain for sure.”

The room went eerily quiet.

“They don’t exist, right?” Vera asked with growing alarm. “I thought you were joking just now.”

“You do know what a soul-eater is, right?” asked Maiden-Mother.

“Someone who gets their power from spirits and can call on a spirit to get information about the past. So, ghosts?” Actually, Vera hadn’t thought about that until now. She’d already had to face ghosts on Mount Kyopili and hadn’t ever planned to do that again.

“Only until they’re in a body,” said Kuwari.

“They put them into bodies?” Vera tried and failed to keep her voice modulated.

“That’s how they keep the spirit around long enough to talk to,” explained Mimi with the hint of a smirk. She was finding this hilarious. Vera knew it.

“Spirits that don’t belong in the living world don’t stay unless they’re anchored,” said Maiden-Mother. “Which is why you ended up hosting a few spirits last year.”

Vera cringed. “Possession—always fun.”

“You won’t have to worry about that.” Mimi’s eyes gleamed. “They won’t stick a spirit in a living body.”

“They stick them in dead ones,” Vera guessed.

“Yup. Hopefully, someone who died recently.”

Vera was almost afraid to ask. “Why is that something to hope for?”

“Because if it’s been a while, then the body they have on hand might not be so fresh.”

“I cannot believe zombies are real.” Vera shivered. “Just wonderful.”

“They don’t eat brains, though,” offered Mimi.

“Well, that’s nice.”

“They’ll just try to steal what’s in there.” Mimi tapped Vera’s forehead.

“Come again?”

“You should be prepared,” cut in Maiden-Mother seriously. “If you ask a spirit to reveal a memory, they may want to trade for one of yours.”

“They take memories? Like, it’ll be gone?”

“Yes.”

“What if they take a memory I don’t want to give?”

“You’ll get to choose,” said Kuwari. “But if you offend them with a memory they don’t want, they’ll not share any information with you.”

“So I’ll have to give up a good memory?”

“Depends on the spirit,” said Mimi. “You know how some people like cheesy romances, and others like action or horror? It’s the same with spirits.” Mimi’s lips curled up into a full smile that reminded Vera of her old friend. Then she pumped her eyebrows. “Some like the naughty stuff.”

“As long as it’s nothing about playing with friends at the playground or being tucked in at night with a lullaby. I don’t have any memories like that.” Vera patted Mimi’s belly. “You, little man, are gonna have an awesome childhood.”

“You are not allowed to sing lullabies to my son,” Mimi protested.

“But I can sing so pretty now.”

“Your demas will call up a tsunami in the nursery and drown you both.”

“Good point. No singing. I’ll just tell him all sorts of awesome stories about his auntie Vera.”

“Which means you’d better get back here in one piece,” Mimi said firmly.

“That’s the plan.” Vera clapped her hands. “Okay, I’d better get going before I chicken out.”

Something must have occurred to Mimi, and she asked, “Has anyone mentioned Zerzura’s spi—”

But she never finished the sentence because someone screamed that a gate was on fire.