Raina’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head. “Rose knows?” “If the royal court questions Olivina, she’ll fight back hard and wand us into oblivion. Where will this end? We’ll never stop fighting with Olivina, and we’ll never get home!”

“Is that what you want?” Heath asks. “To go home and live our lives the way the fairy godmother sees fit? Watch Snow be manipulated by her along with the rest of the royal court?”

Raina purses her lips. “Of course not! But not everything Olivina proposes is bad. I like parties and superlatives and learning how to handle my duties as a royal.”

“And what duties are those?” Sasha fires back. “To wear a pretty crown while sitting on a throne of Olivina’s choosing? We should have a say in who we want to be. Olivina shouldn’t decide for us.”

“I think we should all cool off,” Corden says, and I nod in agreement. The others aren’t listening.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting some things to stay the same!” Raina disagrees.

Heath looks angry. “You mean like following the Royal Academy rules and going to balls? All of that stuff is useless, Raina!”

Raina pokes him in the chest. “Take that back!”

“Make me!” Heath folds his arms across his chest.

“That’s enough!” I squeeze between them. “We can’t turn on one another.”

“You’re right,” Heath says with a sigh. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Me either.” Raina plops down on a box, her beautiful blue silk skirt billowing around her. “But Heath is right,” she says, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes. “I was so busy watching the mirrors that I missed the quest. Not that I would have been much help anyway. I don’t know how to do this revolutionary stuff. I can’t help it if I was good at being a royal but I’m totally out of my element here in the woods. There aren’t any balls to attend or rankings to win. I don’t fit in anywhere.”

Heath puts a hand on her shoulder. “You belong here with us.”

“Not really,” she says sadly. “I’m here by default because I blabbed to Olivina, thinking it would get us out of a jam. I’m not brave like Sasha or quick on my feet like Devin or resourceful like Logan.” She looks up at her brother. “Even you are good with a map and a leading an expedition. But me? I don’t have anything to offer outside Royal Academy.” Her lower lip quivers.

“That’s not true,” I say gently. “You’re one of the kindest, most graceful people I’ve ever met. You can navigate any social situation with ease, and you command any room you walk into. I don’t know about you, but I think those are pretty useful skills.”

Raina looks up at me with a watery smile.

I hear a thump, and we all jump. Tara has landed back on the deck. “Shh!” she hisses. “We’ve got company!”

Chapter 12

Enchantasia’s Most Wanted

My skin starts to tingle. I feel Lily wiggling in my pocket and know she feels the same thing. Something is coming. I smell it before I can even see it in the growing darkness. It smells like pond water that has sat still too long, or a skunk who sprayed a squirrel during an argument. I crawl toward the railing of the tree house to get a better look.