“If you don’t let me kiss it better, then I will go back to thinking you are a child. In which case, I’ll have to tell your mother what you’ve been doing. Not only did you come down here in the middle of the night and interrupt my reading, you also insisted on arm wrestling me. Not really the nicest way to treat a guest, is it?”

“Why are you being like this?” asked Lexy.

“I told you: I like you. I think you’re mature. Now I want you to show it by letting me kiss you better.”

Lexy took a deep breath. What harm could it really do? It was just one kiss on the hand. Grown-ups always wanted you to kiss them after all, and it was always horrible. At least this was nowhere near her face. Lexy would let him kiss her hand, and then she’d go upstairs and wash it in very hot water. Worse things had happened to her after all—much worse. She’d fought an evil man during an earthstorm. And she’d helped her friends defeat Skylurian Midzhar during a massive meteor shower. She’d agree to this one stupid request, but then she’d never let this happen again. She’d make sure.

“All right,” she said, sighing. “Here.”

Lexy held out her right hand. Jupiter Peacock took hold of it, turned it over, looked at it hard and then planted the most horrible, disgusting, slobbery kiss imaginable right in the center of the palm.

“Not so bad, was it?” he said when it was over.

Lexy didn’t say anything. She ran back upstairs, leaving her bag of crystals behind. She just had to wash her hand as soon as possible. And never, ever let Jupiter Peacock arm wrestle her, or shake her hand, or anything like that ever again.

Effie never cried. But she felt pretty close to tears now as Frank Greyday led her out of the door and back onto the street. Before Effie had been taken away, Dr. Wiseacre had tied her hands together and then smeared two large black streaks on either side of Effie’s face with something like charcoal. Effie didn’t have to wait long to find out what this meant.

“Galloglass,” people hissed as she walked past. “Island galloglass. Island trash. Send her back. Send her back!”

Where was Clothilde? Surely she’d rescue Effie as soon as she knew what was happening to her? This was, after all, just a massive, horrible mistake. She’d said she’d be back in an hour. Where was she?

Instead of following the narrow cobbled lane down into the town, the man roughly pushed Effie off to the left, where, after going up some steps and through a low stone arch, they came to a big wooden door that was studded all over with brass rivets.

“Please,” said Effie. “This is a huge mistake.”