Agatha was long used to Sophie’s overblown monologues, but this one even left her pop-eyed.

“Sophie,” Agatha said, attempting to collect herself. “Their lives are at stake. All of our lives are at stake. The School Master is rewriting famous fairy tales so Evil wins. Every old story Evil makes new brings him and his army one step closer to Gavaldon. That’s where he’ll destroy Good once and for all.”

“Gavaldon? What does the School Master want with Gavaldon?” Sophie asked, picking at a plate of bacon on the floor. “Do you think I can trade this for a kale omelet?”

“Sophie!” Agatha seized her friend’s shoulders. “This is a boy who stabbed you through the heart, nearly hacked Tedros in half, came back from the grave, and has a school of two hundred undead villains fighting for him. It doesn’t matter what the School Master wants with Gavaldon. We don’t want to find out.”

Sophie gulped.

“So listen, poopsie. I’m going to get Excalibur and you’re going to smash that ring just like you promised,” Agatha said firmly. “Right here and now, with no one watching but me. Got it?” She grabbed the curtain to leave—

“I can’t.”

Agatha let go of the curtain.

“I can’t do it, Aggie,” Sophie whispered behind her. There was a steel to her voice, the frippery and friendliness gone.

Agatha slowly turned.

Sophie’s face was a strange, tense mask, as if she’d prepared for this moment but was struggling how to play it.

“This isn’t about manners, is it?” said Agatha.

Sweat beaded Sophie’s brow. “I have dreams, Aggie. Dreams of this . . . man. A devil-faced man who I’ve never seen before. But if I try to destroy the ring, he kills me.”

“Dreams? That’s what’s stopping you?” Agatha groaned in relief. She’d been sure it was something far worse.

“No, Aggie. This man in the dreams knows me. I can see it in his eyes,” Sophie said, her voice still unsteady. “He’s telling me I can’t destroy the ring. At least not yet.”

“It’s just a dream, Sophie. Dreams aren’t real.”

“Before I ever came to school, I dreamed a beautiful, frost-haired boy would love me and that was real. I dreamed of you as my Nemesis and that was real too,” said Sophie. “Dreams aren’t just dreams, Agatha. Not in this world.”

Agatha took in Sophie’s anguished face. “So what are you telling me, then.”

Sophie caressed the ring on her finger. “I know why the man stops me. He wants me to make sure it’s right. Just like you and I agreed to make sure it’s right back at school. Once I know it’s right, I can destroy the ring.”

“You’re blathering, Sophie,” said Agatha, exasperated. “Once you know what’s right—”

But now she saw Sophie wasn’t caressing the ring on her finger. Sophie was caressing the name tattooed beneath it.

TEDROS.

Tedros.

Tedros.

Slowly Agatha’s eyes widened, the rules of the game dawning on her.

Sophie would destroy the School Master’s ring only once she had the thing worth destroying it for.