I wiped the worst of the tears and snot from my face. The devourer wasn’t strong enough to counter so many spells at once. It struggled like a hooked fish.

I reached toward the closest of the prisoners and did something I never would have imagined: I tried to help the devourer. I joined its assault on the magic-dampers. Just as I’d destroyed the guards’ badges when we broke in, I worked to unravel the text poisoning the prisoners.

It was easier this time. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt like hell, and the gagging and coughing didn’t help, nor did the sensation of acid eating my throat and lungs from the inside. I retrieved Excalibur’s scabbard. “Everyone grab hold.”

The scabbard countered the worst of the physical damage, easing the burning sensation.

By the time the devourer faded into nothingness, I’d helped it to completely strip the magic-dampeners from nine of the prisoners, and weakened the rest. It would have to be good enough. Half of us were curled up on the floor, coughing and crying. Smudge was an angry ball on my shoulder, the bristles of his body glowing like matchsticks.

I traded Control Point for Neverwhere. “Who’s ready to get the hell out of here?”

I was the last one through. The prisoners had gone first, beginning with the nine who could escape without damaging the gateway I’d created. For the rest, I had to maintain and repair the portal as their weakened magic-dampers eroded it from within.

I sent Smudge through with Lena, waited for her and Deb to disappear, and then hurled myself out of the cell.

I fell facefirst onto a linoleum floor. I shut the book and destroyed the portal behind us. Some of the tear gas had followed us through, but the air here was much better. Most of our escapees were crowding around a drinking fountain, gulping and rinsing their eyes.

“Didn’t you say that book connects doorways that are similar in nature?” Lena asked hoarsely.

I nodded.

She glanced around at laminated posters and narrow, orange-painted lockers. “And you teleported us from a prison into a high school?”

“Looks that way.” We’d emerged through a pair of metal fire doors. It was the weekend, so the building should be relatively empty.

Relatively, but not completely. A teenaged boy emerged from the bathroom and stared at us. At Lena, mostly. She still looked more tree than human. Then there were the prisoners, dressed in their jumpsuits and looking as conspicuous and out of place as a moose on a motorcycle. He coughed and backed away. “Jesus. What have you guys been smoking out here?”

“Which way to the nearest exit?” asked Lena.

The kid pointed down the hall. “Are you here for the yearbook planning meeting?” he asked dubiously.