“We could definitely make a statement with Ol’ Tater,” Fifer remarked to Aaron when he started heading back to the hallway.

“That thought crossed my mind.” Aaron paused. “He’s so unpredictable, though.”

“True,” Fifer admitted. “He could come after us—that’s the last thing we need.”

They exited the museum to find Lani and the others finished in Alex’s living quarters and tiptoeing toward the balcony.

“Is anyone there?” Fifer whispered, catching up to Lani.

“Not lingering outside the hallway,” Lani said. “It looks like they’re all downstairs at the windows and doors, looking for us.”

“This is our best chance to surprise them,” said Aaron. “Let’s talk strategy.”

The group sketched out a plan of attack while Lani divvied up the spell components she’d gathered from Alex’s apartment. She handed Alex’s extra robe to Sky. “Can you bring this back to Florence?”

Sky took it. She shook out the wrinkles, then lovingly folded it. She held it to her chest and crossed her arms over it. “I wonder if the best place to keep this is in Florence’s quiver,” she mused. “That way we’ll always know where to find it, even if Florence gets frozen. And Frieda won’t think to look there.”

“That’s a brilliant idea,” Fifer said, and the others nodded.

Sky gave them an encouraging smile. “I’ll watch you all go, then head back to give Florence a report.”

Lani nodded and looked at Aaron. “Are you ready?”

Aaron nodded. “Is everyone clear on the plan?”

The group expressed their affirmation. Aaron and Fifer led them to the opening.

To Sky, it appeared like they were all standing up against a solid wall. But she’d been up here before, and she knew they didn’t see it—they could walk right through it as if it wasn’t there.

On Aaron’s command, with Fifer and Lani right beside, they slipped through the wall and disappeared. When everyone was gone, Sky pressed her ear to the wall, but she could hear nothing. Then she stepped away quickly, realizing anyone with the magical ability to see the hallway would be able to see her, too.

After a moment, she retreated to the kitchenette. Still carrying the robe and her now-bulging rucksack full of components, she entered the tube and pressed the button that would take her back to the jungle.

It would be quite some time before she and Florence discovered what happened next.

A Critical Mistake

Fifer, Aaron, and Lani burst through what looked like a mirror to most of the people on the other side of the not-really-a-secret-anymore hallway. The rest of their team was right behind, and before the dissenters could react, Fifer and the others began to fire spells over the bannister. After the first round left several dissenters flattened, frozen, or pinned to the wall, Fifer and Aaron charged halfway down the stairs yelling “Run!” and “Get out of the mansion, quickly!” to try to confuse Frieda’s followers. Some of them didn’t hesitate to leap out of the broken windows and through the doors.