He had no idea where he was. He ran blindly, hearing the dire wolf panting and Moloch howling. Then, just ahead, an entire segment of wall pivoted inward, and Kat stood in the opening, waving both arms frantically and yelling his name. Isaac slipped off the invisibility cuff and put on a burst of speed and dove through the opening as Kat shoved the door shut behind them, shutting out the howls and screams of Moloch and Daemon. She threw an iron bolt across the closed door.

Isaac, bending over and bracing, saw that they were in a dim, narrow passageway. “How did you know?” he asked between panted breaths.

Kat held up the scroll with the map of Rookskill. “Leo had a vision. I hope you don’t mind that I fetched the map from your room. Come on.” She led the way down the passage. They were somewhere behind or between walls.

“Amelie—” he began.

Kat interrupted, “I know. Leo saw that, too.” Tears welled in Kat’s eyes.

“Got her away. Willow did it.”

Kat grabbed Isaac’s arm. “Willow?” she said hopefully.

He nodded, finally catching his breath. “Do not know where she is, but she is safe for now from that monster. Where are we?”

“Inside one of the castle’s hidden passages. This map really helps.” She waved the scroll.

“We must get to the others. Must find Colin. Must stop Moloch.”

“I know,” Kat said, her face grim.

“Where’s Leo?” he asked.

“In the kitchen with Lark.”

“Let’s start there,” he said.

She nodded. “Right, then. This way.”

They ran down the passageway until they came to a small door, which turned out to be behind a wardrobe in one of the upper bedrooms. They shoved the wardrobe closed behind them.

They were making for the stairs when Kat grabbed Isaac’s arm and they both flattened against the wall, peering from around the corner and over the balcony.

Three dire wolves paced the entry hall, sniffing, padding from doorway to doorway, their eyes gleaming in the low light. Behind them, through the great front door now open to the outside, vines moved inward, twining around the doorframes, climbing the walls, snaking toward the parlors and libraries and stairs.

Isaac and Kat backed around the corner as quietly as they could, hardly breathing. They slipped inside one of the rooms, locking the door behind, and stared at each other, wide-eyed.

“Beastly wolves!” Kat exclaimed.

Isaac nodded. The window was completely covered by thorny vines. “The map,” he said.

They unrolled the scroll and set it on the floor. Kat ran one finger down an outside wall. The words that Isaac’s father had written were gone but not the symbols of people, animals, and Willow and Lark, and other moving creatures.

“What’s that?” Kat said, pointing to something on the lowest floor. It looked like a spider and was labeled MAGISTER.