“What is the purpose of all of this?” one said. “Are were supposed to stand here forever?”

“At least until Frieda gets rid of the Stowes,” said the other. “She’s mad we put Aaron in the library and destroyed the tube before she could get to him.”

“He’ll die in there soon enough. But about that—why does she hate them so much that she wants to kill them? I mean, Fifer’s screams are aggravating and dangerous, and Thisbe is obviously a threat to be around with her firepower and explosions. But Aaron isn’t even in control. He seemed happy to go back to the Island of Shipwrecks. Why not just let him go?”

The other one didn’t answer immediately. Then she said, “I think Frieda initially had something against their mother. But that has escalated, and she seems to be taking things to the extreme. It’s… making me uneasy.”

“Me too. I’m not sure about this.”

“Quiet—here comes whatshisname. Her new second-in-command.”

The two fell silent. With the invisibility spells ready to wear off Sky, Thisbe, Fifer, and Simber, they contemplated that conversation while moving slowly and carefully inside the mage’s quarters and continued through the apartment, to the door.

Fifer stopped there, and all four paused instinctively and looked around the room with heavy hearts. Would anyone worthy ever reside in this apartment again? Could anyone take Alex’s place? They all said a silent thank-you to whatever powers had made it impossible for Frieda to see the secret hallway, for if she had moved in here and sullied all of Alex’s things, they wouldn’t have been able to bear it.

“Let’s keep going,” said Thisbe after a moment. It was weird being invisible, unable to see anyone but knowing they were very close. Of all the ones in the room, Thisbe felt the most uncomfortable being there, for she had not yet come to terms with the way she and Alex had spent their time together and how they had parted. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to address the complex feelings she had about him. Knowing Fifer had been given the chance to make up and become friends with Alex wasn’t exactly sitting very well in Thisbe’s craw right now either.

And now was not the time to start dwelling on those dark thoughts. “Come on,” she whispered as their invisibility spells began to wear off. “We’ve got living people counting on us. We don’t need any more empty rooms like this one to deal with.”

One More Thing

They split up. Simber, Sky, and Fifer went to different sections in the Museum of Large library. Thisbe, still feeling out of sorts, went alone to check the tube in the kitchenette to see if it was working. To her great surprise, after having heard Fifer’s account of the main floor tubes being destroyed, the control panel on this tube seemed fine and ready to take its next passengers wherever they wanted to go. Unfortunately, this tube only led to places outside the mansion, not to the rooms where their friends were trapped.