Still Elizabeth’s house remained empty. Wherever she had taken Mateo, it wasn’t here. But wait—was that daylight outside? She’d been in the grip of a powerful enchantment; time could get lost during an enchantment, making hours seem like days, or years seem like minutes.

I can’t have been here all night. Please, no.

Nadia looked out the window and her heart sank. Not only was that daylight—it was late afternoon. No, evening. The sun would be setting any moment. She’d lost nearly twenty-four hours.

The Halloween carnival would already have begun.

She hadn’t prepared any more spells. Hadn’t thought any more about how to defeat Elizabeth’s plan of ripping away the entire magical framework of Captive’s Sound. She hadn’t even bathed or slept.

Didn’t matter. She was out of time.

Nadia saw a pair of Elizabeth’s shoes next to the door, simple flats, and quickly slipped them on. She could run in these if she had to, and she had to.

Just then she heard a chiming from her pocket—her phone ringing.

Dad! Nadia thought. Oh, crap, he’d probably tried to call or text a dozen times last night, and she hadn’t answered or even heard it over her own screams. Now he was no doubt on his way home to find out what the hell was going on.

But when she looked down at the screen, it was Verlaine’s face she saw smiling back. Was one of her dads calling from Verlaine’s phone? Please, she thought, please don’t let her have gotten worse. Don’t let her be— “Hello?”

“Hey, stranger.” The voice was hardly more than a whisper, but it was definitely Verlaine.

“Oh, my God. You’re okay!” Nadia could have wept. At least one thing had gone right. “What—where are you?”

“Still in the hospital. Can’t talk long.” Verlaine’s tremulous words made it clear she could hardly talk. “Couple hours ago—just woke up.”

“How?” Elizabeth wouldn’t have released Verlaine from the spell she’d used to attack her—

—unless she was already beginning. Bit by bit, she was undoing her own magic. A spell here, a spell there, until the great collapse came.

“Managed one thing,” Verlaine said. “My dads are here in Wakefield with me, not in Captive’s Sound. Tonight—you and Mateo—”

“Elizabeth has Mateo. I have to get to him, now. But I’m so glad you’re all right.” At least one of them got out okay. At least in this one small way, Elizabeth hadn’t won.

Or—had she? Verlaine’s survival, amazing and wonderful as it was, might be only a sign that Elizabeth’s final plan was under way, and the end was even closer than Nadia had feared.

But Verlaine was safe. Her dads were safe. Her own father and brother were safe. Gratitude for at least that much flooded through Nadia, giving her courage, pushing back the exhaustion until she knew she could run again.

Verlaine whispered, “Nadia, be careful.”

“Good-bye,” Nadia said, and hung up. She couldn’t have answered any other way. What she had to do now, to go against Elizabeth—careful couldn’t have anything to do with it.