Lani could do nothing but sit in this cave. She could see nothing but a sheet of black. And she couldn’t hear anything at all’no noise transmitted anywhere on the island. Not through voice, or friction, or shuffle of feet.

Not even through dripping tears or cracking hearts.

Heart Attack

Aaron went back to worrying over the weapons on the desk in Haluki’s office, having no stomach for food now. He sat in Haluki’s chair, elbows on the desk and face in his hands. He was in over his head and he knew it. He had four dozen fighters at most . . . at most! How could they possibly prevail against hundreds of Artiméans, even if the Restorers did have a little magic? Artimé had more. They always had more.

Besides that, he was not playing it out right at all. What was he doing, getting Eva so mad at him? But he could feel it’the control he so desperately desired, flitting just out of his grasp, and it made him crazy. He should just call the whole thing off. “It’s too soon,” he muttered, not for the first time that evening. He lifted his head and stared at the measly weaponry in front of him. And then he heard a noise.

When the closet on the wall across from him rattled, and the doors unlatched, he first thought that his stressed-out mind was playing tricks on him. But then the doors opened further, and before Aaron could make a sound Mr. Today emerged from the closet into the office through the enormous glass tube.

Mr. Today took a few steps before he noticed the strange weapons strewn over the top of Gunnar’s desk, and then he looked up and saw Aaron slowly rising to his feet.

They stood stock-still, both completely startled, facing each other just a few feet apart. Neither moved a muscle, and thoughts flooded both of their minds.

Mr. Today’s first instinct was to warn his daughter. But before he could do anything to stop Claire from coming through the tube, Aaron Stowe jerked out his arm and grabbed a handful of heart attack components from the desk.

Without hesitation, Mr. Today whipped a pen from his robe pocket and shot a blinding highlighter spell into Aaron’s eyes. But Aaron, unfazed and spurred on by Eva Fathom’s dare, didn’t need his eyes to know where the mage was. As he reeled backward, he flung all of the components at once toward the man, shouting, “Heart attack!”

Five clay hearts sprouted wings and flew at Mr. Today. The old mage tried to dodge them, but the components had locked in on their target. They slammed into his chest, knocking the mage to the floor as they found their mark.

Shocked by the impact, Mr. Today gasped and clutched his robe. The pain seared through him, from his chest outward in all directions, stopping his breath. He closed his eyes, sending one last message as the heart attack spells stabbed deep into him, five times the power and intensity of one. He writhed on the floor, shaking.

Aaron, blinded, called out to his team, unsure what had happened. “Help!” he called out. “I can’t see!”

A second later Aaron heard another noise from the cabinet. “Help!” he cried out again. “They’re attacking!” His housemates came thundering in. By the time Claire Morning stepped out of the closet and saw her father on the floor, Mr. Today had stopped shaking and lay completely still.

Crawledge and Bethesda seized Claire, and Liam clamped his hand over her mouth. He grabbed a rusty knife from the desk and held it to her throat. “Not one word,” he said.

Everyone stood transfixed by the strange, horrific situation as one by one they realized what Aaron had just done.

“What’s happening?” Aaron called out anxiously, but then his sight miraculously cleared. He scrambled to his feet, ready to attack, but everyone’s attention was diverted to the closet, where the strange glass tube faded away before the Restorers’ eyes.

From the Vast Ocean

Alex never loosened his grip on the wheel, and he urged the boat on faster and faster. Simber stayed steady, ahead and to the right, so he could look over his shoulder now and then and make sure Alex was okay.

And Alex kept looking down at Meghan, glad she was shielded from the wind, hoping she was still alive, still hanging on.

Regret and fear pounded through his body in waves. He wished he’d stopped his friends. He wished he’d known what they were about to do. How foolish! What were they thinking? But he remembered his first glance at the beautiful island, thinking how serene and lovely it appeared. “Why’d you do it, Meg?” he asked, knowing she couldn’t hear him.

It was what he couldn’t say that crushed him. He couldn’t even think it, it was too horrible to imagine. Lani.

And Samheed, too, but it was different with Lani. She was his . . . sort of . . . oh, this was all so horrible. He had to stop thinking about it. He glanced at their component vests, folded neatly on the seat next to him, the top one fluttering slightly whenever a gust of wind slipped under it. They’d had no protection. Why on earth would they take their vests off? They were smarter than that! Alex didn’t understand it.

And now he and Simber had left them there . . . wherever they were. Underground in a hole? That was crazy.

Maybe he should have had Simber carry Meghan and him home, and left the boat for Sam and Lani, just in case. He glanced over his shoulder and bit his lip, wishing he’d thought of that. Maybe they should turn back. But they were almost home now. In the dim light Alex could see the mansion all lit up. It was beautiful from this angle. He’d never noticed it like this before.

By the time they grew close to Artimé, Alex had decided it. He’d drop Meghan off in care of the nurses, and then he and Simber would go back to the island and leave the boat for Samheed and Lani, just in case. He doubted the natives of that island could know how to dismantle the anchor spell, so there was little worry of it being stolen. What if Samheed and Lani had watched him and Simber leave with the boat, and they’d been unable to make a sound, like Meghan? It tore Alex apart to think about it. He cursed the boat for not going faster, and Simber flapped onward, never tiring. Always there, faithfully at Alex’s side.




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