Edward Haid exited the arena through a tunnel. He snuck one last glance back at where the queen lowered onto her wood throne, and I recognized the look on his face—it was how I looked at Kaley, and Grandma, and even Winston.

Back in our log cells, I watched Zane play cutlery-catch with Lucas over the walls until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. While I slept, I heard the creatures of darkness laughing at this turn of events.

THE NINTH INTERRUPTION

THE NINTH INTERRUPTION

Kaley Bell’s thumbs danced in a twiddly circle, around and around and around and around and around and ar—

Lucas’s hand flashed out and smacked her thumbs with a look that indicated he was a mere pinch from turning madder than a calling wicket.

“Sorry,” Kaley mumbled, pulling her hands away from his and stuffing them into her pockets.

A fork hit a slat above their room and spiralled down, its prongs stabbing the snow. The spoon followed a moment later, and Lucas caught it before it would have pelted Kaley in her fair, pink mouth.

“Cohen’s aim is getting scotchy,” he said.

“Maybe he’s getting tired,” Kaley offered.

But Lucas’s smile appeared. “Cohen doesn’t get tired.” Though, the Patrolman’s topaz eyes lifted to the wall’s heights where the spoon had come from.

Before them, depictions of maps and clues were drawn into the bed of crunchy snow, the butterknives still wet from being used. Kaley nudged the edge of her most recent map drawing, filling in the border with a dollop of flakes to make it disappear. They would be forced to ruin their artwork soon, lest the Evergreen Host discover it and read its wisdom.

Lucas watched the toes of her boots drag.

“I’m ready for a nap, Trite. All this studying isn’t my cup of cocoa,” he said.

“I know.” Kaley’s eyes fell to the sketches. “But it’s important for you to memorize these maps.”

“Why is that? I haven’t the mind to replace you as the library-being if something happens to you.” He paused. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

“If we escape this mess, I need you to find something for me.”

The Patrolman raised a brow. “I knew you were hiding some big plans in that pretty head.”

“You can’t tell Helen,” Kaley said, forehead creasing. “She’s not herself.”

Lucas’s face twisted. “Gah!” He threw up his hands. “I hate keeping secrets.”

“I need you to find an island guarded by fairies. It’s called Orphan Island.”

Lucas sighed and snuggled in deeper against his seat. “Orphan Island, Trite? I hate to shush your pebble talk, but that island isn’t real. Even the pirates mapping the snowseas will tell you that.”

Kaley picked up a butterknife and began a new drawing. “It is real. I saw it on a few maps.”