“Not me, though,” Rohan chimed in, shoving his sleeves up and showing his bare arms. He’d removed all of his fake scales by now and was the most ordinary one of all of them by looks. “I haven’t taken in any of the dragon-bone broth. But I’ve had a bit more sword training than the others.”

“I’m impressed you’ve accomplished so much training in such a short time.” Florence checked the sun’s placement, which was fast approaching overhead. She wasn’t sure yet how this group was going to successfully form a cohesive army and take over the mansion. “I need some time to assess each new member of our team and think through our strategy,” she said. “We only have one chance to get this right. I know our friends are trapped, and those in the library will be feeling the discomfort of being without water by now. But if we fail in our takeover, they’ll never get out.” She hesitated, then continued. “If you’re willing, I’d like to give you a crash course in fighting defensively against mages. Maiven, will you and your team work with me? I assure you I have your safety in mind.”

“We’d be honored,” said Maiven. “That is why we came.” Rohan quickly translated Florence’s request to the others, and they eagerly stepped forward, in awe of the giant warrior.

“We’ll start by having you show me what your strengths are,” Florence said to them. “Please begin warming up while I talk to the Artiméans for a moment.”

The people from Grimere moved to an open area of the Quillitary grounds to prepare. Florence turned to address Thisbe, Fifer, Sky, and Simber. “You four… while I’m assessing the others, I’d like you to sneak into the mansion. I need some very specific books from the Museum of Large library.”

“Sneak in?” said Simber with a snort. “Me? How?”

Florence picked up one of the sacks of components that Sky had brought her from the previous trip. “Yes. You, Sky, and the twins will enter the mansion through Alex’s… um, I mean through the balcony off the head mage’s quarters. Get every book you can find on the mechanical workings of the mansion. We’re going to need them later. There are a couple of specific titles that you absolutely must find. I’ll write them down for you.” She took some of Fifer’s scrap paper and jotted down a few titles.

Fifer shifted uneasily. Earlier she hadn’t wanted to go into Alex’s apartment, but now it looked as though she wouldn’t have a choice. And she would do whatever she had to do to save the others. She steeled herself for it—this was too important a mission to let something like that prevent her from being her best.

But Simber was still puzzled. “How am I supposed to sneak in? I’m impossible to miss. You said they have guarrrds at everrry window. They’ll surrrely see us coming.”

Florence passed the sack of components to Fifer. “Invisibility paintbrushes,” she said. “Take extra with you for your return flight. There are plenty of those components in that bag, and that’s with assuming Simber will need three or four to completely cover him each time. We’ll have to work together to paint him quickly so the spell doesn’t wear off before you get there. You three can paint yourselves on the ride to save time.”