Only this time, she wasn’t alone.

So much for Agatha’s wish, she smiled bitterly.

So much for Agatha at all.

As the whole theater watched, Rafal magically lowered Evil’s crown onto Sophie’s head, before he gently fit it in place and kissed her on the forehead. His cold lips clashed with the iron at her temples, still warm from the chandelier flames, and she closed her eyes, imprinting the feeling and moment into her memory. When she opened her eyes, the young School Master was turned to his audience.

“Light fades over our Woods and darkness rises. And in darkness comes a queen,” he declared. “Like every true love, Sophie and I have gone through harsh trials to find and commit to each other. But doubt and pain have only made us stronger. Now we are as unshakable as any two Evers who loved for Good. But our love, bonded by Evil, is still not enough to win our Never After. For Evil to find its first happy ending in two hundred years, a happy ending that will bring forth a Golden Age of wickedness and sin . . .” He stepped to the edge of the stage. “We need each of you.”

The theater was dead quiet now.

“In seven days, the Woods will go dark,” said Rafal. “We must enter the Reader World before the seventh sunset or all our lives will be at an end. With the most famous heroes yet to be killed, Readers still cling to their faith in Good. But that will soon change. For now that my queen has returned, the forces of Good have no choice but to attack our castle. Killing me is the only way they can win. I assure you, then, that Merlin and his heroes will charge our School for Evil before the week is done. Our mission is to kill these old heroes and break the Readers’ last faith in Good. That is our path into their world where we will seal Evil’s victory once and for all. Until Merlin’s heroes arrive, however, every one of us—young and old, Ever and Never, Leaders, Henchmen, and Mogrifs of future and past—must work together to defend our school. Our Deans of Evil and teachers shall lead our preparations and you will obey them.”

He clasped Sophie’s hand. “In the past, Evil has lost every war because it had only something to fight against, rather than something to fight for. But now you have a queen who has given Evil a true chance at glory. A queen who once sat in the very seats in which you sit. A queen who will fight for you the way you fight for her.”

Rafal’s face hardened. “And if anyone dare question that queen, then they will suffer the fate of all those who have failed their allegiance to Evil . . .”

The stage began to rattle, as if shaken by an earthquake, and Sophie teetered against Rafal in surprise. All at once the stone stage tore apart at the crack, cold-blue mist spewing through the widening gap, until it cleared over a deep chasm and Sophie could see beneath the stage.