“I cannot believe I’m breaking into my own throne room.” Mimi led Vera down a secret passageway that was supposedly only used by Heliopolis’s rulers.

“I cannot believe you sat on their book of names all this time.”

“If I’d had any idea that the reason they were trying so hard to take the throne from me was because of a book hidden inside that hunk of metal, I would’ve given it to them. And saved us all some frustration.”

“Too bad the morphs have a dark history of using the genies to do their bidding, or they may have considered that an option. Instead, they lost their crap the second a morph was sitting on the throne again.”

Mimi looked troubled. “I had no idea about any of that either.”

“It’s not like you grew up in a hub of people, what with your mother trying to hide your existence.”

“Yeah. But I feel like I’ve failed half of my people and had no idea. Why didn’t my tutors tell me that part of our history?”

“Based on what I’ve heard of previous rulers, I imagine they thought if they upset you, you’d remove their head or intestines.”

“If it were that easy to get me murderous, my tutors would’ve been gone ages ago. Back when they were putting me through etiquette training.”

“You’ve been trained in etiquette?” Vera teased.

Mimi growled. “And now I can be proper when I’m supposed to be.”

“Someday, you’ll have to show me.”

Mimi put a finger to her lips. On the other side of what looked like a thick curtain, a door opened and closed. A guard inspected the throne room. Once they left, Mimi poked her head out to look around and then waved Vera to follow.

“They make rounds every fifteen minutes, so we need to hurry.”

They moved quickly to the monstrosity of a throne. “Umm, Mimi, is this ‘hunk of metal’ by chance made of pure gold?”

“Stupid, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Vera said distractedly. “You know that little gold rose right there would buy me a loft in any city I want, right?”

“And my little throne-keeper would take off your arm if you tried to desecrate my throne.”

“That thing?” Vera leaned close and surveyed the golden beetle that sat in the center of the throne’s seat.

Mimi ran a finger across one wing. It came to life and scurried under the chair to hide. Vera shivered. “That’s disturbing.” She peered into the shadows under the throne. “It stays under there?”

“Until I leave the area. Then it will take up sentry position again.”

“That would wig me out to have it down there.”

“It’s kind of comforting. It has no loyalties except to the true ruler. If anyone gets too aggressive or unruly while I’m holding court, a hiss from down there will remind them that I am untouchable.

“Plus, your double-trouble brothers, who hide in the curtains.”

Mimi smiled fondly, prying at the seat and pulling on the arms of the chairs.

“I thought you said the bug would dismember anyone who desecrated the throne.”

“Anyone but me. And I’m not trying to desecrate it. I’m looking for a compartment that could be hiding a book.”

“You should probably hurry,” Vera urged. “Marianna said if we get caught this will all go to hell in a handbasket quick.”

“I noticed that she had no scruples against drugging Addamas, so he wouldn’t know she was marching her house across the realm tonight for this bit of B and E.”

“I’m pretty sure she has no scruples, period.”

“I think she means well,” said Mimi.

“Hitler thought he did too.” Vera shook her head. “Doesn’t mean they aren’t wrong and sick in the head.”

Mimi kicked the throne leg. “Are you going to help me?”

Vera raised both brows. “And get chewed on by a metal bug? No thanks.”

“I have no idea where it could be. Or if it’s really here.”

“It is,” Vera assured.

“Oh, he was telling the truth, was he?”

Vera flinched. “You know about that.”

“I figured it out.”

“Kale thought it was best if we not tell anyone. I don’t know why.”

“I think I do,” Mimi admitted. “Addamas and I have talked a lot about all the little things that fell into place to get us to this point. Stupid stuff mostly. But he told me that when the satyrs had him on the mountain, they kept asking about you and your abilities. He said he felt like they were trying to get something specific about you, but he didn’t know what it was.”

“Did they hurt him?”

“Nah, he was more confused than anything. He said one kept asking if you read minds and how you seemed to know things you shouldn’t. Addamas just said you were observant—he didn’t know.”

“Why would they want to know that about me? What would it matter to them when they were kicking my butt off their mountain anyway?” Vera wondered.

“I’ve wondered that too.” Mimi threw her hands up. “I give up. There’s nothing here.”

“Can you ask your beetle friend?”

“He doesn’t work that way.”

The clack of approaching steps reached Vera’s ears. “We’re out of time.”

Mimi ran her hands along the seam of the seat again and then growled. “Beetle-sweet, can you help me out here?”

Vera raised an eye at the endearment but kept her mouth shut. The big bug crawled from under the chair and onto the seat as if Mimi had summoned it. Its pinchers flexed for a moment. Vera had a strange feeling it was assessing them, and then it spread its wings. Underneath, was a small book, no bigger than the palm of Vera’s hand, but almost as thick as it was wide. The steps echoed louder through the empty halls. Mimi grabbed the book and stroked one of the pinchers. “Thank you, beetle-sweet.”

When they turned to leave, the beetle whined. Mimi turned back to shush it gently. “I’ll be back. I promise.” That seemed to satisfy the bug. It settled in the center of the throne, wings folded back into place.

“What do you mean she vanished from the meadow?” Kale bellowed at the twin moron brothers. Seb glared back defiantly, but Pili had the decency to look contrite. First, they’d let Mimi be taken, and then let the strange daayan girl run away.

Pili held out a sheet of paper with a gate drawn on it. “We thought you should see this.”

“She drew a gate,” Kale observed. “Any idea where the inspiration for this gate is located?”

“That’s what we were trying to tell you,” said Seb. “It’s in the meadow.”

“I’ve spent days staring at all the gates,” Kale informed him. “I’ve never seen that one.”

“That’s because it’s new.”

Kale tried to process that, but all he could think was, damn the Infernals, this cannot be good. “Show me.”

The brothers turned in unison and led Kale through the pandemonium in the meadow. He spotted flashes of red. Seamus’s clan was there, and that was probably part of the problem. He also spotted a nymph and witch fighting over rights to be under a willow tree near the dorm. Someone tossed a pack out a window. It landed with the sound of crushing glass and then the whole pack combusted as the sounds of arguing escalated above. A satyr was attempting to woo a centaur female. Based on the look of the male galloping at them from across the meadow, that would not end well.

“Where’s Mother?” Kale asked.

“Last I saw, trying to diffuse her coven. The alchemists showed up and took over the top floor, which the coven claims they had a prior claim to.”

“There are enough rooms for everyone,” Kale said. “Half of these beings will sleep in the trees and on the grounds tonight.”

“I don’t think anyone is comfortable being in such close quarters.” Pili stepped aside as the satyr from earlier barreled past with a centaur on his heels. “Should we stop that?”

“It’s not our problem,” Kale replied.

“Not to be disrespectful, but whose problem is it?” asked Pili.

Kale frowned. He’d figured Mother would keep everyone in control.

“There it is.” Seb pointed at the new gate.

Kale studied the drawing in his hand and then the door before him. They were the same—right down to the gargoyles perched along the top arch. He was sure he’d seen something like it before. Maybe in a photograph. “Where does it go?”

“That’s the thing. It doesn’t go anywhere.” Seb flung the door open and walked through. He appeared on the other side just as he should.

“And it just showed up?” Kale asked.

“Not on its own,” Seb said. “Jemma made it appear.”

“She’d been working on that drawing forever,” added Pili. “Everything was normal and then she did that thing with her nose. She does it when she has a vision. When we asked her what she’d seen, she tore that picture out of her sketchbook, threw it to the ground, and that door popped out of it.”

Seb finished, “She ran through the door, slammed it behind her, and was gone.”

Kale ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve never heard of a being that can make drawings come to life.”

“Neither have we.”

Seb jumped back, claws lengthening. “What in the gods’ names is that?”

Kale looked behind him and spotted a contingency of zombies and soul-eaters spilling into the field. “More of our army, it appears.”

“What, in Diyu?” Pili took up the position beside his brother when a massive bald head with ebony skin popped through the gate. The giant’s body followed.

“Is he wearing a blindfold?” asked Pili.

“That’s so he doesn’t blind the rest of us,” Kale explained. “Their eyes are as bright as the sun. But that’s no blindfold. That’s a spider’s webbing.”

The brothers began mumbling prayers under their breaths to their chosen gods.

“She just ate a couple days ago,” Kale assured them, and then reconsidered. “But I wouldn’t make her angry.”

Rhena made her way over. Her eighth leg stub no longer oozed.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she told Kale.

Kale flinched and shied away from talking about Vera. “I’m surprised your warden let you out.”

“I convinced him that if he came with me, he would still be protecting the world from me and saving it for me too.”

“The giant?” asked Seb. “But he cannot see.”

“Trust me, his sight is the least of his skill set,” Rhena told them.

“I heard the alchemists commandeered the top floor, even though they only need half the space,” Kale told Rhena. “If you’re looking for somewhere to set up a web, that might be a good place.”

Rhena considered her giant warden. “I think I’ll stick to the trees tonight. Any chance I’ll catch something? Vera mentioned something called a cow.”

“There won’t be any cows wandering around,” Kale said.

Rhena seemed disappointed.

Kale considered the growing chaos around them. “If you’ll contain all the leprechauns running around here, I’ll make sure a cow makes its way into the meadow tonight.”

Rhena smiled slyly, “Consider it done.”

She started to wander away when Kale added, “Don’t kill any.”

“As long as no one bites, I won’t bite back.”

That was good enough for him. The brothers looked aghast.

“I thought they tutored you guys on all the beings in the world,” he said to them.

“Seeing them in person is different from on a scroll,” Pili replied. “And they never told us that blind giants keep the spiders under control, or that they would catch leprechauns for you if you promised them a cow.”

“A lot has changed since your records were written,” Kale said. “No one knows anyone anymore.”

“But you’ve kept up with all the realms,” Pili observed.

“It was my job.” Kale frowned. “Hey,” he called to the soul-eater nearest him. “Keep those zombies away from the dorm. I don’t want any getting lost inside then starting a massacre trying to find you again.” A zombie that realized it was too far from a tiger would freak out, like a child who realized his mom wasn’t where he thought she was. Only, they would leave a swath of destruction until reunited. The soul-eater nodded, and a couple of tigers materialized and went to round up the zombies.

“Let’s find Mother and see if she’ll know something more about Jemma,” Kale said. They weaved through the tents that the kargadan had set up. “Moron,” Kale called. He was almost amused when Hutran looked up. The kargadan stood like an FBI agent behind Prince Ashur. “There’s a bag of something toxic laying outside the front door of the building. Care to clean it up before we’re all transformed into leeches or worse?”

Hutran balked, but Prince Ashur said something quietly to his guard. Part of his entourage broke off and headed around the building. Kale kept walking. The twin wonders kept quiet but followed. By the time Kale found Mother, she was trying to convince Braxas not to transform back into his dragon and cremate the entire building with everyone still inside it. The coven clustered nearby.

“Trouble in paradise?” Kale asked.

Braxas hissed.

“We’ve run out of rooms to put everyone, because the alchemists won’t let my coven return to their rooms.”

“They won’t even let us go up and collect our things,” called an angry crone.

“You’re the High Mother of Summartir,” Kale reminded her. “Command them.”

“My status doesn’t mean much in the meadow or among people other than my own.” She sighed. “At least I’ve managed to keep my witches from stitching all the alchemists to the walls.”

“I nearly got brained by a bag of potions,” Kale said.

Mother frowned at a young witch, whose face was red with anger. “He called me a—”

“Enough, Luce,” warned Mother. To Kale she said, “It was a casualty before I could intervene. And now the alchemists are really being difficult. I’ve even offered to send the Tablilu clan up instead, but they won’t have it.”

Why had Kale imagined that the army thing would be simple, and it would somehow magically be under control? “I’ll talk to them.”

When he made it up the stairs, a centaur barred his way.

“I promise you want to let me through or you’ll see why the world still fears unnaturals,” Kale warned.

“I recognize you,” snarled the soldier.

“But did you know his name is Kalesius?” Seamus asked from the landing below. “Maybe you know him by his title—Guardian.”

The centaur looked shaken but still didn’t let Kale pass. Instead, he said, “I’ll tell him you are here.”

Kale threw Seamus a look, and the leprechaun poofed away with a ridiculous grin. A few minutes later, Prince Cato appeared.

“Guardian.”

“Not the Guardian anymore,” Kale replied. “We’re out of rooms. Your people have to share this floor.”

“As I’ve explained to the witches, that is not possible. Our people—”

“You brought your sister, didn’t you?” Kale asked.

The prince opened his mouth as if he meant to argue and stopped. “When she learned what happened to Vera, my sister demanded that we come. But how did you know?”

“Vera said you were very protective of her.”

“I’m not the only one.” The prince’s lips pinched. “Some of her adoptive family came too.”

“So the reason you’re being difficult is that you don’t want anyone to know that you’re harboring humans and that your sister is a reformed siphon,” Kale concluded.

The prince stepped back defensively. Probably preparing to defend the entire floor if needed.

“Who cares?” called one of the Monroe men, who’d followed Seamus’s example. “Most of us are here to avenge Vera, who was a reformed siphon herself. And to save her realm of humans.”

“They…you all knew what Vera was?”

“She gave up her secret to save our family,” said Mitch. “To save my son. Siphon, human, whatever, your family is safe from us.”

The prince looked at Mother. “Your coven is rather open-minded.”

“Many of my people are hoping to come to Earth and study among the humans.”

“Study?” Cato said with interest.

“It’s a program we’re developing,” she explained. “If you let my witches back into their rooms, I’ll tell you all about it and see how your people can get involved if you’d like.”

And just like that, the witches had rooms. Kale was exhausted and wondered if anyone had taken over the carriage house. He’d be lucky if he could get down the blasted stairs without breaking a leg.

Ferrox?

The horse didn’t answer.

Ferrox, come on. I’m tired, and you are much better at navigating stairs. Care to take over?

You’ll manage, was all Ferrox answered.

Kale had no idea what was up with the demon. Except he seemed to be taking on a super dose of the unnatural urges and bottling them up. Kale should probably cut him some slack since it was helping him keep a level head.

Mimi’s brothers were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

“I forgot to ask about Jemma,” he told them.

“We’re not worried,” said Pili. “Jemma is alive and will come back when she can.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because that’s what she said before she vanished.”

“So you’re telling me your third wheel just needed a break from you, and you knew that was the case all along? Then why are you bothering me with your problems?”

“We hoped you’d know how she did what she did.”

“Why would I know, if you haven’t read it in those textbooks your tutors have?”

“You know things about all the different people that the books and scholars don’t.”

“I don’t know that much,” Kale argued. “I spent most of my time in the meadow.”

“You know enough to know how to put everything in order and get everyone working together.”

“Yeah, well, I just need everyone to hold it together until we get to Heliopolis.”

“And after you defeat the weaver, what happens to all of us then?” asked Pili.

“How should I know?” Kale pushed past the brothers.

“It’ll turn back into a mess,” Pili said. “They won’t be able to get along for long.”

“Mother and Mimi will have a handle on it,” Kale replied.

“They have enough struggle just trying to get a handle on their own people. And no one from any of the other realms is willing to listen to a morph Queen or a High Witch. No one trusts each other.”

“Then it sounds like you will all be up a creek.”

“The world needs you, Guardian,” Seb spoke up. “They trusted Vera because she was part of everyone, but she’s gone. Now they need you to be the Guardian.”

“I’m not the Guardian.”

“You may not be bound to the meadow, but your authority still rules. You could finish what Vera began.”

Kale startled at that.

“Doesn’t it bother you that the one thing she wanted—to make people get along and give each other a chance—is going to end?”

“Actually, as nice as she was,” began Pili. “I don’t think she could’ve done what you do. She brought all these people together, but she needed you to keep everyone in line.”

“She’s not here anymore,” Kale growled.

“And that sucks,” said Seb. “But you are here. You think the world doesn’t need you, but you’re wrong.”

“That’s what I told ye too, boss,” piped Seamus. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “My lads are trapped in a cocoon.”

“And they’ll stay there until I say otherwise,” Kale said. “They’ve been making a mess all over the meadow.”

“Oh, they don’t mind,” replied Seamus. “The spider is telling them stories. A couple have already asked to serve her.”

“What did she say to that?” Kale asked.

“That she’d rather suck them dry until their bodies are husks.”

Kale wondered if he should’ve warned Rhena that she’d only made things worse for herself with threats.

“Never thought I’d see the day when they’d follow a spider. You’re a sage leader, boss. Just came to let ye know that. Gotta go. Missing the best parts of the stories.”

When the leprechaun was gone, Pili persisted, “We’re just saying that you should think about it.”

Then they melted away to find the rest of their people. The morph packs were anxious to lead this band of circus sideshows into Heliopolis to get their queen back. Kale started for the carriage house, but based on the noise emanating from inside, he decided to go rustle up a cow instead.