“I don’t know which is worse,” said Effie. “Professor Forestfloor said that at least the tragic hero brings light to the rest of the world by sacrificing him or herself. And something about Primal Oneness, which sounded . . . I can’t put it into words, but something happened recently and I read a poem and . . .”

“Oh, you’ve had his Nietzsche class then,” Leander said, with a smile. “Interesting choice for eleven- and twelve-year-olds. But yeah, it worked on me, too. Live fast, die young? It’s a compelling message. But don’t forget that he’s the leading Diberi of his age. You don’t want to find yourself agreeing with anything he says, although I know it’s difficult. They all go on about Primal Oneness without ever acknowledging that it’s probably the same as the Flow, which they apparently despise. And all that stuff about going out in a blaze of selfish glory for the good of everyone else? Not what they are intending to do, I assure you.”

“Do you know about the Flow?” asked Effie.

“Only what I’ve read in books,” said Leander. “Ones I probably wasn’t supposed to read.”

“Do you know what the Diberi are intending to do?” asked Effie.

“No. Not exactly. I think it’s to do with Midwinter, but . . .” Leander shrugged. “No one’s got any further than that.”

“Yes, I think it’s all about Midwinter too,” said Effie. “In fact . . .”

The chapel door clicked and Maximilian, Wolf and Raven came in, followed by Pelham Longfellow, Dora Wright, Festus Grimm and Mrs. Beathag Hide.

“Good,” said Pelham Longfellow. “We’re all here. Well, almost. Let’s go to the meeting room. Effie, I believe you have news for us?”

No one had said that it was going to be a baby yeti, or that it would be so cute.

Urrrgh. Cute.

Tabitha Quinn had never used the word “cute” in her life. Well, unless it was about a dress. Maybe. But someone else’s dress, probably. And not a close friend’s, either. Tabitha—and her friends, who copied her—didn’t wear cute dresses. Tabitha wore elegant, sophisticated dresses, and she did elegant, sophisticated things. So quite why she had become a glorified—in fact, not even glorified—stable girl was quite a mystery to her. Getting involved with the Diberi was supposed to be her ticket to ultimate glamor, power and influence. It was supposed to be about casting evil spells and traveling to large castles in Europe where people wore diamond tiaras and hung out with real vampires. It was not about poo, hay or cat food, which was apparently what baby yetis liked to eat.