There were no lights on inside my aunt's house when Tristan's birds flew away from my view. I shuddered, recalling the feel of their wings against me while he teleported us from the rooftop.

A moment later, smoke rose nearby and Brenon and Evangeline appeared. Part of the magic that had been suppressed was their ability to travel through teleportation. Tristan's Dark Fae magic looked very different than the other's smokey entrance. Now that the curse was broken, I had a feeling I was going to see a lot more magic from my companions.

"No car," I said. "Maybe they aren't even here." Last time the elders had come to visit my aunt, there'd been a car in the gravel driveway. This time, it was just us and the assorted children's toys I'd never asked about. I wondered if it was part of a rouse for any humans that might wonder about a house in the middle of nowhere.

"Look closer," Evangeline said, pointing to the house.

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the farmhouse, then I gasped. A faint purple color hugged the edges of the structure. The whole house was glowing. I needed to start paying better attention.

"What does that mean?" I asked, turning to look at the Fae behind me.

Tristan scowled. "Anti-fae charm."

"Does that mean we can't go inside?" I asked.

"Not until we break it," Brenon said.

"Unless..." Evangeline looked at me with a smile. Even without the curse, she maintained the mischievous look of a cat.

"Unless?" I raised my eyebrows, already knowing where she was going with this. She had to be wondering if I could enter. "Half-Sayge, yeah."

Without waiting for anyone to say anything more, I walked up to the house, where the purple glow extended over the stairs. Slowly, I reached my fingertips out toward the nearly invisible barrier. To my surprise, nothing happened when I extended my arm.

I looked back at the others. They weren't saying anything, so I took it a bit further and put my foot through, then climbed the steps. My heart hammered in my chest as I stood in front of the door. Apparently, being half-Sayge was enough to get through.

"That's enough," Tristan said. "We know you can get through."

"Don't do it, Ara," Brenon said. He moved closer to the stairs. "Come on, we need a plan first."

I shook my head. It didn't make any sense, but for some reason, I knew I had to do this alone. "I'm going in."

"You're not protecting anyone by doing this," Evangeline said.

She sounded like she was worried about me. "I can do this."

Before I could hear any other objections, I pushed the door open, then closed it behind me.

Inside, the temperature dropped as I entered the darkened living room. It was like walking into a giant refrigerator. I rubbed my hands on my arms, trying to warm myself. Clouds escaped my mouth as I took shallow breaths. Why was it so cold in here? And where was everyone?

The floor creaked, and I paused, frozen mid-step, then looked around. If someone was nearby, they should have heard that. There was no other sound in this house. Counting silently, I waited until I got to ten before I took another step. That's when I heard it. A high-pitched scream sounded from the basement. Aunt Kay.

Of course. The place where my aunt stored the one thing that could kill me instantly. Squeezing my hands into fists, I picked up the pace, jogging across the living room to the basement door. Another scream. This time it sounded like a male voice. Joe.

All worry about my safety was gone, I bolted down the stairs to the basement, emerging into a scene out of a horror movie.

In front of me, Joe and my Aunt Kay were suspended from the ceiling, bound by their arms and legs. They were both blindfolded and didn't seem to notice my arrival. Under each of them was a series of candles that floated inches above the ground as if by magic. I shook my head. It was magic. Despite knowing that it existed, it still wasn't something I was used to. One of the candles under Joe rose, the flame touching his bare stomach. He let out a scream of pain again.

"I'm here," I called out as I ran to him.

"Ara?" Joe moved his head around as if trying to see me.

I pulled off his blindfold, then moved to my aunt and removed hers.

Joe screamed again as one of the candles burned him again. Running back to him, I kicked it, trying to knock it over. Nothing happened.

"Magic," Joe said. He sounded exhausted. "Use Magic."

It made sense. If they were being controlled by magic, I had to make them go away with magic. Taking a deep breath, I thought about how I would get rid of a whole bunch of enchanted candles.

"Wind," Aunt Kay said.

"Thanks." I sucked in a breath and held it, focusing on filling my whole body with oxygen, imagining it building up inside me, expanding. Then, with a sweeping motion of my arms, I blew the breath out, releasing it from deep within. The candles flickered, then fell over, flames extinguished.

The basement was plunged into darkness, and I heard Aunt Kay whispering something. Then, her hands were glowing. "Untie us."

Being closer to Joe, I worked the knots loose around his ankles. "What is going on here? Why did they take you? Are you okay?"

Joe's feet hit the ground, and I went to work on the knots around his wrist.

"They want you to bring back the curse," Joe said, rubbing his now free wrists.

"That's insane, why would I do that?" I asked as I started untying knots on my aunt's ankles.

"They figured you'd do it to save us," Aunt Kay said.

"Where are they now?" I had to admit, I was getting a bit nervous about how easy this had been so far.

"Not sure," Joe said. "They set up the candles and haven't been back since."

"I think they went for help," Aunt Kay said. "I don't think you'll be strong enough to do the curse by yourself, but if they have a group of Sayges, it might work."

"Well, that is not happening." I got the last knot undone on my aunt's wrist. "We're leaving."

"Wait." Aunt Kay grabbed hold of my arm and pulled mine toward her. "Over here, I want to show you something."

"We really should go," I said. A prickle rose on the back of my neck. My intuition was kicking in again, and I wanted to leave this place.

"It's important," she said, practically dragging me.

"You have to see it," Joe said, walking in front of us.

Ignoring the feeling of my skin crawling, I followed them to the other side of the basement. Joe disappeared behind a stack of boxes and Aunt Kay nodded at me to follow.

I hesitated for a moment, then went around the boxes. As soon as I stepped behind them, my blood ran cold. Chained to the wall, unconscious, were two people who looked suspiciously like my aunt and Joe.

Spinning around, I tried to run, but I found myself staring face to face with one of the twins, probably Mercy.

"That was a test," she said.

The other twin, Pearl, the person I had thought was Joe, was now standing right next to me. "Congratulations, you passed."

"I don't understand," I said, turning back to look at the figures on the ground. "Why are you doing this?"

"We told you, we need you to re-curse the circus. With Terra out of the way, the only threat to our power is the Ringmaster and his band of misfits. We can't have them going back to Faerie and bringing their friends."

"You know I'm not going to do that," I said.

"We figured you'd feel that way," Mercy said.

"That's why we have them." Pearl inclined her head toward my aunt and best friend.

"What did you do to them?" I asked.

"They're visiting the in-between," Pearl said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It's a place between life and death." Mercy looked at her watch. "They have about an hour before they'll cross over."

"What? Are you crazy?" I pushed past Pearl to get to them but before I could reach them, she grabbed me with a strength I never would have imagined from a woman her age. For a moment, I saw her face change, revealing pale blue skin and red eyes, then it went back to normal.

The pieces were coming into view. If they were decades old Sayges with the power they were stealing from other magical creatures, they should be able to do the curse themselves. Something didn't add up. "What are you?"

Pearl smiled, showing jagged teeth. "You're perceptive. Much more so than that mother of yours."

The two women stood in front of me with matching sinister smiles and their faces melted away, revealing pale blue flesh that extended into a beak, pointed ears, and ruby irises that stared down at me. Bat wings stretched out behind them, then tucked in behind their backs. Their fingers were replaced by curled claws that looked like they would tear right through your flesh.

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. My whole body tensed, paralyzed with fear. I'd seen a lot since joining the Rose Circus, but never had I seen creatures like this.

Mercy wrapped long blue fingers with curled claws around my neck and moved in closer to me. Nose to nose, I stared into those red eyes. My pulse raced. These were the creatures I'd seen in the book. These were the Evils.

"You're going to re-curse that Circus, then, you're going to open the gate. We've been banished here for far too long." She turned to look at Pearl. "It's time to go home."

"And if I refuse?" I said.

"Then we let these two die while we hunt for your brother and kill every member of the Rose Circus one by one while you watch."

I could tell she was telling the truth. Whatever an Evil was, I had a feeling it was capable of killing the people I cared about. There was no way I was going to help them, but right now, I had no idea how to stop them. I needed to buy myself more time. "I don't know how to curse the Circus."

"You better figure it out soon," Pearl said, pointing behind her at Joe and Kay.