When we reached the library entrance, I glanced over my shoulder. Three bright lights hovered in the air. I blinked back tears. Principal Ollie, Shangó, and Ogun had become pure energy, and still, the shadows were climbing inch by inch. They crawled up the bookshelves and the walls like oily, black snakes.

This was an absolute disaster, and it was partly my fault. If I hadn’t let the Lord of Shadows trick me into touching the amplifier, he wouldn’t have been able to damage the veil this much. I had to fix this. I knew I couldn’t do it alone, but there had to be a way. We might have retreated for now, but I wouldn’t give up.

By the time we passed beneath the mermaid guardians, I was out of breath. A whooshing sound filled my ears, and the dizziness hit me at once. I found the nearest wall to lean against and squeezed my eyes closed. My lungs ached.

Eleni was at my side in an instant, hovering like a mother hen, but I didn’t mind it. When I first found out that Papa had another family before Mama and me, I didn’t know how I felt about it. Even when Eleni came to live with us, I wasn’t sure we’d get along, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without her. “I shouldn’t have let you go,” she said. “I’m the oldest. It’s my job to protect you. I shouldn’t have been so scared.”

When I opened my eyes, Eleni squeezed me in a bear hug. “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid,” I told her. “As guardians of the veil, we have to face some scary stuff, but we’ll always have each other’s back, okay?”

Eleni sniffled as she pulled away. “You promise?”

“I promise,” I said.

General whined and rubbed his cold nose against my leg. He looked up at me with his three pairs of sad eyes. The mermaids had erected a solid wall in front of the entrance, as if the library had never had doors. The sign above the mermaids carved into the stone had changed.

“‘The dark eve is nearly upon us,’” Eleni said, reading the new inscription.

“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” Eli mumbled under his breath.

Zeran, Frankie, and I filled Eleni and him in on what happened in the library. Eleni scratched General’s neck, and he sat on his haunches. “It’ll be okay, boy,” she said, but she didn’t sound all that convinced.

More godlings poured into the hall. Winston had gotten most of his color back, and Candace and Tay were fussing over him. “The Lord of Shadows better be glad Zeran pulled me out,” he told his friends, clearly enjoying the attention. “If not, I would have defeated him on the spot.”