Chapter 16

The Final Countdown

I hear a sob escape Raina’s throat. Her right foot is caught under a fallen armoire. I can see the panic in her eyes as we make eye contact. Where’s Heath? I freak out. I spot him on the floor under a broken window. He’s not moving. My hands are shaking, but I tap my ear, trying to get Kira’s attention without alerting the fairy godmother to her. She’s silent. Was she thrown from my ear? I feel my dress pocket and realize it is also empty. Where is Lily? Frantically, I feel the floor around me even though it hurts to move. Lily is nowhere to be seen.

“Now, now, Devin, don’t be frightened.” Olivina’s voice is soothing as she walks over the broken glass and fallen mirrors to stand directly over me. “Yes, I know it’s you and your friends even though your appearances are masked. Such a clever boy, that Corden.” She glances at Raina who is struggling. “Such a smart move disguising yourself as a new student. I didn’t think you had it in you, Raina! Princess Scarlet would have been the perfect addition to RA. Alas, I knew it couldn’t be true. She was just too perfect, wasn’t she?”

Olivina inches closer, and I struggle to move away. Even though she’s under five feet tall, she seems like a giant thanks to her glass heels and her hair stacked high on her head. One of her heels steps on my skirt, pinning me to the floor. She shifts her weight onto that foot and looks at me over the folds of her satin skirt. “Take a deep breath, child. Your friends are fine.”

They don’t look fine. My head is pounding, Heath is unconscious, Raina is pinned to the floor, Lily and Kira are missing. And Logan and Sasha…

“Oh! There’s no need to worry about your other friends either.” It’s as if Olivina heard my thoughts, because with a wave of her wand, Logan and Sasha appear in a corner of the room. They’ve been bound and are sitting back-to-back. They look around in surprise, see me, and start talking at the same time.

“Devin! The gargoyles! They’re here!” Logan scrunches up his nose. “Their breath is worse than an ogre’s, if you can believe it!”

Sasha glares at Olivina as she holds her head. “I knew you were behind this!”

“Behind what?” Olivina asks. “I knew you wouldn’t come on your own so I brought you here. You were already trespassing on school grounds despite your banishment.” She looks back at me, and her smile is sinister. “I’m not going to hurt you, Devin. I’m not going to hurt any of you. I just want to talk. I hate how we left things last time.”

“Tara!” Sasha cries. “Don’t just stand there. Do something! Help us!”

Olivina laughs so hard she has to hold her stomach. “Yes, Tara, who do you want to help, dear?”

As she steps off my skirt and moves toward her desk, I scoot backward, finally free from her glass heel. Where are Lily and Kira—not to mention the jewel? As I scan the room, I think I see something move by Heath’s shirt, but I can’t be sure.