I tilted my head to study the golden form before us. There didn’t seem to be any design to the shape. It was an amorphous, vaguely ovalish shape that looked like it had hardened that way by coincidence. Eddie’s intense look of concentration said he believed otherwise. After a few more moments of concentration, revelation lit his features. He pulled out his cell phone and tapped in something. With shoddy coverage in the park, it took a little while for the phone to find what Eddie needed, but when it did, he was triumphant.

“There, take a look.”

Ms. Terwilliger and I peered at his screen and found a map of the greater Palm Springs area. Instantly, I realized what he’d tuned into.

“It’s the Salton Sea,” I breathed. “Good recall, Eddie.”

The Salton Sea was a saline lake outside of Palm Springs, and the metal puddle before us was exactly the same shape as that body of water. Ms. Terwilliger shook her head and gave a snort of dismay.

“Wonderful. I left Palm Springs to warn you, got caught up in a magical scavenger hunt, and am now, after all that effort, simply taking you back home.”

“But why?” asked Eddie. “Has Jill been there the whole time? And who’s the one pulling the strings behind all—”

“Get back!” cried Ms. Terwilliger, holding her hands in a warding gesture.

Not even Eddie could move fast enough from what she’d spotted. The golden blob had begun to tremble, like it was suddenly filled with energy that needed to get out. I tried to cast a shielding spell, but even as the words formed on my lips, I knew I wasn’t going to be fast enough. The blob exploded into a hundred little golden razor blades that came flying toward us—and then stopped. They hit an invisible barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground.

I stared at where they lay, my heart pounding as I thought of the terrible damage they would have caused if Ms. Terwilliger hadn’t been fast enough. So it was a surprise to me when she said, “Excellent reflexes, Sydney. I couldn’t manage it in time.”

I jerked my gaze up from the blades. “You didn’t cast that?”

She frowned. “No. I thought you did.”

“I did,” a voice behind us said.

I spun around and gasped as, incredibly, Adrian emerged from the trees. Forgetting the tragedy that had nearly taken place, I ran into his arms, letting him lift me off my feet. “What are you doing here?” I exclaimed. “Never mind.” I kissed him hard, so overwhelmed that I didn’t even care that Eddie and Ms. Terwilliger were nearby. Being away from him these last couple of days had made my heart ache more than I’d expected, and I think we were both surprised when he was the one who finally broke the kiss off.