I bit my lip, trying to think of what to say to comfort her. When I saw her like this, it made me angry. I knew that she’d have to deal with her memories from the Dark her whole life. It wasn’t like they would ever go away. The Lord of Shadows had to be stopped before he hurt more people. “You should stay here,” I told her. “We can’t risk walking into a trap. Someone needs to get help if we take too long to come back.”

“I’ll stay with you, Eleni,” Eli said, looking a little better than he had after holding off Carran’s attack. “I still can’t call my ghosts. My powers are depleted.”

“I’m going.” Winston turned to Tay and Candace. “You two stay with ghost boy and the fairy girl.”

“You really need to learn how to call people by their names.” Eli shook his head. “It’s the first step to not being a bully.”

Winston stormed past us, acting like he had a clue what was going on, which was typical. Zeran groaned, and Frankie shrugged as we caught up with him halfway down the hall.

“Be careful, Maya,” Eleni called after me.

“Always,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt.

Frankie and Zeran flanked me while Winston led the way. The air grew colder the closer we got to the library entrance. A low hissing sound spilled from inside the library and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Trust me, that’s really a thing that happens if you’re scared enough.

As we reached the library entrance, the bronze mermaids opened their eyes and turned their glowing gazes on us. We stopped in our tracks, and Winston stumbled back. “Did those things just move?” he squeaked.

“The library is no longer safe for you, little ones,” Pearl and Diamond said at the same time, their voices twins of each other—the same pitch, the same tone. It had the sound of a lullaby, and I had the strangest sensation of wanting to sleep. “Return to where it is safe.”

“And they can talk, too?” Winston added in disbelief. “Quit playing.”

I pushed back a yawn, fighting off the sudden sleepiness. “We have to go in there. Shangó, Ogun, and Principal Ollie are in trouble.”

“You cannot help them,” the mermaids lamented. “They are beyond this world.”

Frankie wrapped an arm around her waist as if to ward off the news. “What does that mean?”

“Obviously it means they’re dead,” Winston barked at her. “Thought you were supposed to be so smart.”