Helga marched past Michael before he could stop her. He thought for one terrible moment that she was going to attack Kaine, but instead she dropped to her knees in front of him. The Tangent never flinched.

“Please,” she said. “Spare this boy. I’m begging you, Kaine.”

“What is this?” He stepped away from her in disgust. “Some kind of tri—”

Before he could finish, Helga lashed out with a wire-thin rope hidden in her sleeve. Kaine had barely reacted before it wrapped around his neck, cinching tight. She gave it a hard pull and he crumpled to his knees. In an instant Helga had him facedown and she was tying his wrists behind him.

Michael watched in disbelief, not sure what to do. He took a step forward, but stopped when he saw Kaine’s face. Instead of the look of anger Michael expected to see, Kaine was perfectly calm, almost smiling.

“Really?” he asked, his speech muffled with his face pressed to the grass. “You really think some whip conjured from a cheap game is going to stop me? Here? In the place I built?”

Helga rapped a knuckle against his ear, just hard enough to garner a wince from the Tangent. “Nope,” she said. “But it distracted you enough for me to throw up a firewall to your communications. Go ahead and order your goons to slash my boy’s throat. Try it.”

To Michael’s shock, panic flashed across Kaine’s face.

“It won’t last very long, now, will it?” Kaine said. He puffed out his cheeks and everything around him suddenly blurred with motion. He flew off the ground and landed on his feet, while Helga was sent windmilling backward through the air until she slammed into a crumbling castle wall. She fell with a crash among the rocks and lay still on the grass.

She’s okay, Michael thought. It’s the Sleep. She’s okay.

He was still looking at her when she disappeared, fading from existence. It was a good sign. It meant she’d been Lifted out. This place was like a game, after all.

Michael turned his attention back to Kaine, who still looked troubled. Maybe Helga had pulled off a miracle that would last just long enough to give them the time they needed to fix this mess.

“Listen,” Michael said. Gabby and Bryson had moved closer, standing on either side of him. “I know you’re angry. But can we talk this through?”