Sora took a deep breath. What lay ahead of them was going to be the most difficult task they had ever faced. She had to be prepared.

“We should start brainstorming our next steps,” Sora said.

“I’ll wake Fairy and Wolf.” Broomstick rose and headed to the back of the hall.

A few seconds later, he yelped.

Fear rose like an alarm in Sora’s chest as she sprinted to help him. Were they being attacked?

When she reached Broomstick, though, it was apparent he didn’t need help. At least, not in the way Sora had imagined.

Fairy was still next to Daemon, but he wasn’t a furry, electric-blue wolf anymore. He was six feet two inches of stark-naked, tautly muscled boy on a bed of tablecloths. The only hint of his wolfishness was his hair, which had lost its black taiga dye in his transformation and was now its natural midnight blue.

Sora’s jaw dropped, her pulse beating traitorously at double time.

“Good gods, you two!” Broomstick said. “I don’t normally care what you do on your own time, but here? When Spirit and I were twenty yards away?”

Both Fairy and Daemon seemed just as shocked as Broomstick and Sora, though. Daemon curled up into a ball and desperately heaped tablecloths on himself to cover up. Fairy had sprung to her feet and leaped away from him, her eyes wide.

“It’s n-not . . . ,” she said. “We didn’t . . .”

“When did I turn back into a human?” Daemon asked, curling more tightly into himself.

The four of them stood frozen for another moment, brains trying to catch up with the scene before them.

Suddenly, Broomstick snorted. “You had no idea he was naked, did you?” he said to Fairy.

“None.” She shook her head to emphasize the point.

The real evidence, though, was the hot rush of Daemon’s embarrassment through his and Sora’s gemina bond. He was absolutely mortified.

“Oh, Daemon.” Sora summoned her cloak from the other side of the room. It flew swiftly to him, and he yanked it to his body. Her poor gemina. He was possibly a demigod, but he was also still the boy she knew, self-conscious and uncertain in his magic. They didn’t know the extent of his powers or how to control them, and this surprise was an unfortunate result.

“We’ll find an extra set of clothes for you in the councilmembers’ rooms,” Sora said. “You can join us when you’re, uh, ready.”

“Thanks,” Daemon said, his embarrassment still burning through their bond.

Sora began to walk away, with Fairy and Broomstick right behind her. She almost expected a joke from one of them, Broomstick especially, about how teasing Fairy and Daemon was part of his sacred duty as a best friend.

But there wasn’t a single word. Their usual lighthearted banter was gone, as if the weight of Prince Gin’s fledgling reign was already taking its toll.