Conner and his friends charged down the Calvin Coolidge Express tunnel as Rusty led them deeper through the abandoned subway. The homeless man ran so fast he could barely keep his flashlight steady, but even in the dark, Rusty knew the tunnel like the back of his hand. Eventually they arrived at the construction site of a small subway platform that had never been finished. Ladders, tools, and paint buckets had remained untouched since the project was halted in the 1920s.

“See that hatch above the platform?” Rusty asked, and aimed his flashlight at a circular door in the ceiling. “Climb through it and it’ll take you into the lower level of the library.”

“Thanks for bringing us here, Rusty,” Conner said. “If we’re able to save my sister, it’ll be all because of you. I wish I had something to repay you with.”

“It’s been a long time since I felt useful,” the homeless man said with a smile. “That’s all the thanks I need. Good luck finding your sister, kid.”

Conner and his friends shook Rusty’s hand and climbed onto the unfinished platform. Jack retrieved a ladder and positioned it directly below the hatch. He climbed up the ladder and attempted to open it, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“It’s stuck,” he called down.

“It’s been nearly a century since it was opened,” Rusty said. “It may need a good push.”

Taking his advice, Jack pressed his back against the hatch and pushed against it with all his might. The door opened with a loud crunch, and pieces of wood fell from the ceiling. Opening the hatch punched a large hole through the floorboards and carpet above it. Jack climbed through the hole and then helped the others through the floor of the library’s lower level.

The gang emerged inside a long room with colorful walls. It was filled with tiny bookshelves and miniature tables and chairs. Paintings and stuffed animals of classic literary characters smiled down at them from every corner.

“Oh my,” Red said. “I didn’t realize this was a library for dwarfs.”

“This is the children’s center,” Bree said. “There’s a lot more than this.”

“How big is the library?” Goldilocks asked.

“It’s 646,680 square feet, to be exact,” Bree said. “There are four levels with over forty rooms open to the public.”

Her friends were surprised she had the information so readily available.

“How do you know all that?” Red asked.

“The plane had Wi-Fi,” Bree said with a shrug.

Any knowledge about the structure was useful to them, but Conner’s stomach filled with knots once he heard how big the library was. Whoever had taken his sister had plenty of corners to lurk in.

“Should we split up and look for her?” Jack asked.

“No, let’s stay together,” Conner said. “I don’t want to give Alex’s kidnapper the chance to knock us off one by one—sorry, I’ve seen too many horror movies. We’ll search each level, one room at a time, until we find her.”

Conner’s friends nodded and followed him out of the children’s center. If they had any doubts about Alex’s whereabouts, they quickly subsided as they stepped into the hallway. All the walls and floors of the library were covered in thick vines and ivy. The plants were covered in vibrant flowers that bloomed as Conner and his friends passed them. Exotic butterflies fluttered through the air from blossom to blossom. In just a matter of hours, Alex had enchanted the national landmark so that it resembled an ancient temple in the middle of a jungle.

“Strange,” Jack observed. “It reminds me of when the Enchantress attacked the Eastern Kingdom and covered it in plants just like this.”

“Let’s pray that’s where the similarities end,” Goldilocks said.

They walked in a tight group as they explored the lower level of the library. Jack gripped his axe, Goldilocks drew her sword, and Red clung to her can of Febreze as they went. With all their eyes put together, there wasn’t an inch of the lower level they didn’t scan.

Once the lower level had been searched, they slowly moved up the stone staircase to the first floor. They searched behind every pillar and beneath each archway of the entrance hall. They looked through the aisles of merchandise in the gift shop and under all the desks in the state-of-the-art education center but found nothing out of the ordinary besides vines and ivy.

They journeyed to the next floor of the spacious structure and searched all the galleries, corridors, and research rooms. Once that level had been inspected, they climbed the stairs to the top level. They found portraits and murals, candelabras and statues, but not a trace of Alex anywhere. Soon there was only one room left to search. Conner and his friends gathered at the doors, and each took a deep breath before going inside—this was it.

The Rose Main Reading Room was the largest and most recognizable room in the New York Public Library. Although Conner and Bree had never seen it in person, they instantly remembered seeing it in movies and television. The room was filled with dozens of hanging chandeliers and two rows of wide tables. The high ceiling was made of beautiful wood carvings that framed painted murals of cloudy skies. The walls were lined with arched windows and two levels of bookshelves. However, all the shelves were empty because the books were floating magically through the air like a thousand balloons.

At the far end of the long room, between the rows of tables, they found Alex asleep on the floor. As soon as he laid eyes on her, Conner ran to his sister’s side and scooped her up in his arms. Her face was paler than he had ever seen it and her skin felt cold as ice.

“Alex, it’s me—it’s Conner!” he said. “We’ve found you and we’ve come to take you home!”

Conner brushed the hair out of her face, but Alex didn’t open her eyes.

“Alex, can you hear me?” he asked.

He gave her a gentle nudge, but his sister didn’t open her eyes or move a muscle. Conner listened to her chest to make sure she was breathing and then checked her pulse.

“She’s alive,” he said. “But barely.”

“Why isn’t she responding?” Bree asked.

“She must be under some sort of spell,” Conner said, and tapped the side of her face. “Alex, you have to fight this off so we can help you! Who’s doing this to you? Who’s making you enchant things and attack people?”

“She won’t wake up unless I tell her to wake up.”

Conner, Bree, Jack, Goldilocks, and Red turned to the other side of the room and discovered they weren’t alone. A woman in a long black cloak, with red lips and horns like a ram, appeared out of thin air.

“Morina!” Goldilocks said. “It’s you—you’re the one who’s behind all this!”

Just the sight of her filled Red with rage, and she charged toward the witch with her fists raised.

“You no-good, grass-eating, udder-sucking, hoof-stomping, wedding-crashing, friend-stealing piece of fertilizer!” she yelled. “How dare you take my fiancé AND my friend! I’m going to rip those hideous horns right off your—”

Morina waved her hand like she was swatting a fly, and Red went soaring across the room and landed on the second level of bookshelves. Red used the railing to get to her feet, but the metal bars magically wrapped around her body and held her in place. Morina waved her hands at the others, and they flew to the railing beside Red and were also restrained by its metal bars. Conner tried to hold on to his sister as he was forced through the air, but she slipped out of his arms and rolled back to the floor.

“I must say I’m impressed,” Morina said. “I figured you might follow us, but I never expected you to make it inside the building.”

“We know what you’re doing here!” Bree said. “We know all about the bridge between worlds and the witches’ plan to cross through it and conquer the Otherworld!”

“But you won’t get away with it!” Conner said. “You and the witches won’t stand a chance against this world!”

“Well, of course not,” Morina said. “That’s why we cursed your sister. Now that we’re in control of her powers, dominating the Otherworld will be much easier. By the way, Alex, it’s time to wake up now. Our guests will be arriving soon.”

Alex levitated off the floor and onto her feet. She opened her eyes and they began to glow like lightning. Her hair rose above her head and flickered like the flames of a slow-motion fire. Once she was awake, all the books floating through the air suddenly dropped and rained down on the reading room.

“What have you done to her?” Conner yelled.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Morina asked. “We cursed her just like we cursed the Enchantress.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “Ezmia wasn’t cursed! She became the Enchantress because she was greedy, selfish, and evil!”

“Every woman has an evil enchantress inside her—all it takes is a little curse to bring it out,” Morina said. “Your sister is no exception.”

“I don’t believe you,” Conner said. “What kind of magic could do such a thing?”

“Actually, it’s an interesting story,” Morina said. “You see, years and years ago, the Snow Queen and the Sea Witch discovered the Otherworld around the same time as the fairies. While the late Fairy Godmother and the Fairy Council traveled back and forth spreading stories and granting wishes in the Otherworld, the witches got together and formed a plan to conquer it. The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch weren’t powerful enough to do it on their own, so they cursed little Ezmia with dust made from the glass of an evil magic mirror. It got in Ezmia’s eyes and lungs and cursed her to feel anger, sorrow, and jealousy tenfold—turning her into the Enchantress we remember today. The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch were planning to use Ezmia as a weapon against the Otherworld—but sadly, Ezmia perished before they had the chance. Once the Enchantress was dead, the Snow Queen and the Sea Witch set their sights on Alex. After a couple of attempts to curse her, they realized how much stronger she was than Ezmia. It took over ten times the amount of dust for the curse to even stick.”

“That’s why Alex destroyed the Witches’ Brew and attacked the Fairy Council!” Conner said, understanding for the first time. “She wasn’t having difficulty controlling her powers because she was overwhelmed—she was being cursed!”

“Such a good little detective,” the witch said. “Luckily, the Snow Queen and the Sea Witch learned from their mistakes with Ezmia. This time, they hexed the dust so they’d have total control over whoever ingested it. Now your sister, one of the most powerful fairies ever to grace the known worlds, is a creature of rage, torment, and despair.”

Conner and his friends were livid. They fought against the metal bars restraining them, but it was no use.

“You still won’t win!” he shouted. “It’s going to take much more than my sister and a bunch of witches to take over the Otherworld! We have armies and weapons you can’t even dream of! They’ll wipe you out the moment you step outside this library!”

Morina rolled her eyes as if she had heard this spiel multiple times.

“Oh yes, I know all about those,” she said. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve planned accordingly. You see, the other witches have no idea what kind of world they’re about to walk into. The Otherworld was vastly different when the Snow Queen and the Sea Witch first discovered it—they don’t realize how advanced it’s become. The witches and your sister are merely pawns in my plan to weaken the armies of this world. Once they’ve been wounded, my own army will arrive and finish them off.”

“What army?” Conner asked.

The witch threw her head back and roared with laughter. “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that part out yet,” she said.

Goldilocks gasped. “Conner, she’s talking about the Literary Army! She’s going to bring them through the bridge, too! That’s why they were lingering around the Northern Palace—it wasn’t a scare tactic, they were waiting for her!”

Of all the possibilities Conner had predicted over the last week, this outcome had completely escaped him. Apparently, they wouldn’t need to travel into the fairy-tale world after all—the Literary Army was coming to them.

“It’s still not enough to defeat the Otherworld!” Conner said. “Both sides will just keep fighting until there’s nothing left!”

“And perhaps that’s been my plan all along,” Morina said. “The fairies have been turned into stone, soon all the witches will be slaughtered, the armies of the Otherworld will be defeated, and the Literary Army will be destroyed in the process. That leaves both worlds entirely defenseless and ready for new leadership—leadership from someone like me.”

Conner glared at her with the most hateful gaze he had ever sent anyone in his life. He couldn’t believe one person was capable of so much manipulation.

“Millions of innocent people are going to die because of you, and there won’t be a drop of blood on your hands,” he said. “I’d say you’re a monster, but that’s not fair to monsters.”

Morina was tickled by that notion, and a sinister smile spread across her face. “I may not be the most powerful enemy you’ve made, but I’m certainly the smartest—and that makes me the scariest of them all,” she said.

A small clock over the entryway struck midnight, and the Rose Main Reading Room began to vibrate.

“Well, it’s been such a thrill catching up, but I’m afraid you’ll all have to be quiet now,” Morina said. “I don’t want you spilling any secrets to our guests.”

The witch snapped her fingers, and the metal bars confining them snaked around their mouths. Conner and his friends looked at one another in panic, but there was nothing they could do. Whether they liked it or not, the bridge between worlds was about to appear.

What started off as a light rumbling sensation quickly escalated into a thunderous tremor. The room shook so violently that the windows shattered and the walls began to crack. The chandeliers swung like wrecking balls before crashing to the floor. The tables slid and slammed into one another like bumper cars, and many of the bookshelves collapsed.

Suddenly, an enormous ghostly orb descended from the ceiling. It glided through the air and landed at the far end of the room. The orb stretched into a wide oval and gained color and depth, as if invisible paintbrushes were painting it. With every passing second, the image of a vast forest became clearer and clearer. Soon the image was so vibrant it didn’t look like a painting of a forest, but a doorway to one.

The witches of the fairy-tale world peered through the opening and took their first steps into the Otherworld. Arboris, Tarantulene, Serpentina, Charcoaline, and Rat Mary led the charge and were followed by hundreds of other grotesque women. Some flew into the library on broomsticks, some galloped with hooved feet, and some crawled inside on all fours.

A wave of salty seawater spilled into the library and swirled around the room like a living serpent. The Sea Witch rode the wave into the Otherworld perched on her coral sleigh, which was pulled by a school of sharks. A sudden chill filled the air, and the Snow Queen emerged through the bridge aboard a sleigh pulled by two ferocious polar bears.

“Your Excellencies,” Morina said with a shallow bow. “I’m so glad you’ve both successfully made it through the bridge. Just as promised, I have found the Bailey girl and cursed her with the dust from the magic mirror. With her power at our disposal, the Otherworld will be ours in no time.”

The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch were shocked that Morina had pulled it off.

“Well done, Morina,” the Sea Witch said. “I have to admit, we’re pleasantly surprised by your competence.”

The witches were so excited to finally be in the Otherworld that they didn’t even notice the people tangled in the railing above them. Conner and his friends tried to warn the witches that they were walking into a trap, but they couldn’t form words with the metal bars around their mouths.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” the Snow Queen screeched. “We have a world to conquer!”