Island of Fire

“Then my costume is a success,” Alex said grandly.

They fell into step together, picking up Meghan as she exited the girls’ hallway. Alex linked his other arm with her’s, and the five descended the steps in elegant fashion. By the door, Florence wore a cheetah mask and Simber wore a simple black warrior-looking mask.

“Who do you suppose they are?” Meghan asked.

“Wow, I just can’t tell,” said Lani.

Florence opened the door for them and they swept out onto the lawn, which was glowing with light and color. Ms. Morning played in the band with the fox (and the kitten, who played a tiny triangle), and there was an enormous spread of food and drinks.

The five mingled together and apart, laughing and chatting with people they hadn’t had a chance to chat with in a while, and everyone made a point to be kind to the newest batch of Unwanteds, who wore looks ranging from shock to pure fright on their faces.

Alex said a few words of welcome to everyone but kept it short, which is what Meghan told him to do. After that the party continued late into the evening with dancing, everyone changing partners and having a blast.

And so it happened that when an enormous boom echoed in the sky, only those on the outskirts of the party and the very best music students could distinguish the fracturing noise from the kettledrum in the song the band was playing. But when flashes of fire lit up the air, it was hard to miss.

The music stopped immediately as a gasp rose up from the crowd.

“What was that?” Meghan asked. She grabbed Alex and Sky and they ran to the shore, straining their eyes to see in the darkness. There, amid a cloud of smoke, they saw a large piece of something falling from the sky. It whistled as it fell, and hit the water with a smack that rang out. Soon there was the raining sound of the splash coming back down before all was quiet again.

Half the Unwanteds ran into the mansion in fear, and the other half lined the shore as Alex ran to Simber to see if he could see or smell anything.

“Whateverrr it is, it’s floating on the waterrr,” Simber said, eyes narrowed. “It’s big. And I smell . . . something.”

“What do you smell?” Alex said, craning his neck uselessly, for it was too dark to see anything.

“It’s . . .” The cheetah sampled the air once more as if he wanted to be sure. “It’s death.” He rose up on his haunches.

Alex glanced at Sky. “I need to take a look,” he said, an apology in his eyes.

Simber glanced at them. “May as well have two of you.”

Alex looked at Sky, and then at himself. “We might have to go in,” he said. “Sim, we’re going to do a quick change of clothes and grab some lights, and we’ll be back in a flash. Less than a minute. Right, Sky?”

Sky nodded, excited, and the two of them raced into the mansion, Sky pulling her dress up a little so she could take the steps two at a time. “Unzip me!” she cried.

Alex fumbled with her zipper and yanked it down her back while running. “Meet back on the balcony!” he shouted, and they split at the top of the stairs and went down their respective hallways, stripping the formal clothes off as they flew into their rooms. Alex tossed his robe, jacket, tie, and mask on the bed, kicked his shoes at the wall, and slid into his normal day clothing. He fumbled with his sandals for several agonizing seconds, and then decided just to go barefoot. He whirled the robe over his shoulders once again, patting the inner pockets to make sure they were full, shuffled around trying find a component that would shed light, and then raced to his door and flung it open.

What he saw on the other side of the door stopped him cold.

A Visitor

What—how the—” Alex exploded. “How did you get in here?” Without a second thought, the High Priest Aaron Stowe threw a punch, hitting his brother square in the jaw. Alex reeled back into his room and caught himself on the bed, then scrambled back and charged at Aaron, slamming into him and knocking him flat in the hallway.

The two scrabbled on the floor until Alex gained the upper hand, thanks to his recent strenuous workouts, and pinned Aaron to the floor.

“What the world is wrong with you?” Alex shouted, breathing hard.

Aaron, who looked like he was in a state of shock, whimpered, “Don’t hit me.”

Alex stared at his brother through narrowed eyes. “Why not? I should kill you.”

“I didn’t mean to punch you,” Aaron said, regaining his composure. “It was a reaction. You practically exploded out of there. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Alex’s mouth hung open. “Why don’t you tell me just what you were expecting?”

Aaron struggled. “Will you let me up?”

“No!”

“All right,” Aaron said, his voice straining to remain calm.

“How did you get in here? Don’t make me ask you again,” Alex warned. “I could kill you approximately a hundred and fifty times with a flick of my finger if I wanted to.” It was a lie, but it was a good one.

Aaron tried to melt into the floor. His breathing grew ragged. “I came through that glass thing. From Haluki’s house.”

Alex’s expression didn’t change, but inside he was kicking himself. He’d meant to do something about that after he rescued Ms. Morning, knowing that the guards had probably figured out what the tube did. But there had been so much happening back then that it had slipped to the bottom of his list of things to do. And after his injury, the entire list had all but disappeared.