“I don’t think the Revinir will hurt Thisbe,” said Clementi. “That wouldn’t make sense. Thisbe wasn’t being a threat to her, and why would she come all the way out here just to put an end to someone who wasn’t bothering her? I think Thisbe’s plan is genius. I wish I’d thought of it.”

Fifer wrinkled her nose.

“It was definitely smart,” Ibrahim said to Clementi. “But dangerous. The Revinir wants to use her to further her purposes in Grimere. I just hope Thisbe doesn’t have to do anything too horrible before she sees a way for us to come and help.”

“I also hope Drock is okay,” Aaron said. “Let’s not forget he made a big sacrifice too.”

Everyone nodded. It was easier to think Drock could hold his own against a dragon-woman than Thisbe could, so they weren’t quite as worried about him.

“Thisbe is very powerful,” Sky reminded everyone, including herself. “Especially now that she has Artimé’s magic components and has been trained—it’ll be an entirely different situation for her than before. She’ll fight back if and when she needs to. I was shocked to hear what she did, but after thinking about it, I believe it was the smartest and most generous thing any of us could have done. She saved us.”

Fifer remained silent and frowning. She glanced back at Artimé and could make out Simber flying over the sea, no doubt realizing that the Revinir was retreating. All thanks to Thisbe. “I miss Simber,” she said with a sigh. “I hope Frieda Stubbs isn’t being too horrible to him.”

“He’ll be fine,” said Aaron gruffly. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing. But at least here on Karkinos, Aaron had fewer distractions and more time to develop magic that would be potent against the Revinir while they waited for Thisbe to summon them. “Let’s hope that now that some of the pressure’s off, we’ll be able to create some effective magic. This is far from over.”

“I’m worried about Thisbe,” Ibrahim said. “I wish we’d known what she was doing so we could have loaded her up with extra components.”

“Her pockets were full,” Aaron told them. “She left her vest here, though, because she knew the Revinir would recognize what it was and confiscate it.”

“That was smart,” Fifer admitted. At least Thisbe was making good decisions.

“Wouldn’t it be great if Thisbe could actually figure out how to break the Revinir’s spell?” said Sky. “I wonder if she can somehow reach your other black-eyed friend—what’s his name again?”

“Dev,” said Fifer. “I doubt it. He wouldn’t listen to me.”

“But those two worked so closely in the catacombs,” said Sky. “Maybe he’ll recognize her and listen.”

“I worked closely with him too,” said Fifer, a bit stiffly.