“I will take your memories of this moment,” she said, raising a hand, and Colonel Charles’s head glowed yellow. His mouth opened and closed without any sound coming out. “And I will take your memories of the books of Mind and Summoning magic.” His head glowed again. “But I will leave you with the memory of me holding your mind in my hands. And any time you even think of coming after me or my friends, you’ll remember this moment, how I could have wiped your mind completely. And you’ll know fear.”

Colonel Charles nodded over and over, breathing faster now. “I… promise… please—”

She lowered her hand, and the colonel’s head slammed back to the floor, not moving. Sierra’s glowing self also returned to the floor, and she fell exhaustedly against Fort, only to stumble right through him. He reached out for her, but just like in his dream, there was nothing he could do to help.

“Are… are you okay?” he asked, unable to hold back his fear.

“I… no,” she said, looking up at him with a scared expression that he knew matched his own. “What did I just do?!”

And then she collapsed to the floor and disappeared.

- ELEVEN -

SIERRA? FORT SHOUTED, LOOKING around the room uselessly. Sierra! Can you hear me? Are you okay? Talk to me!

YES, she said in his head, but didn’t reappear. I’M… I’M OKAY, I THINK. JUST SO EXHAUSTED ALL OF A SUDDEN. AND DAMIAN IS YELLING AT ME. I GUESS… THAT LIGHT IN THE OFFICE, IT… IT HAPPENED HERE, TOO. EVERYONE SAW. SECURITY’S LOOKING FOR US, AND DAMIAN SAW… A BUNCH OF AGENTS. AGENTS WITH AMULETS.

A chill went down Fort’s spine, but at least her voice was back to normal. This was the Sierra he knew. The power to tear apart the room seemed to be gone—for now. Where that had come from, he had no idea, but that mystery could wait until they were safe. You need to get out of there! he thought. Can you run?

WE’RE HIDING, she said. SO TIRED. CAN BARELY MOVE. BUT I CAN… I CAN GET YOU OUT OF THERE. BACK TO… RACHEL.

Next to him, Dr. Opps’s body slowly picked itself up from the floor, only to stumble, falling against the wall. Fort quickly went to help, giving the doctor his shoulder.

“Sierra?” Fort whispered, not sure who was in there.

“Obviously,” she said, standing up straight and pushing him away. “Grab the duffel bag with the books. I’ll carry it, for the security cameras. And don’t try to help, it’ll look suspicious.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Fort said, his worry for her overpowering any thought of the plan now. “Go back to Damian, and make sure no one finds you—”