“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Sophie was starting to feel breathless with terror again. “What’s happened to my brother?” she asked. Static curled through her hair, and tendrils of her silver aura smoked off her skin. She began to shake, and Aoife stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly. When Aoife spoke, her voice echoed inside Sophie’s head, and even though she used the ancient Irish tongue of her youth, Sophie understood every word. “Breathe deeply, calm yourself… You need to be in control now. For your sake. For Josh’s sake.”

Sophie shook her head. “I can’t. You don’t know what it feels like…”

“Yes,” Aoife said in a fierce whisper. “Yes. I do.”

And when Sophie looked up, she found the warrior’s green eyes sparkling and bright with tears. “I lost my own twin,” Aoife said. “I know exactly how you’re feeling.”

Sophie nodded. She drew in a deep shuddering breath. “What did Niten tell you just now?” she asked.

“He said the car is missing.”

Before Sophie could ask anything else, the door opened and Perenelle stepped into the cottage, followed by Nicholas and Prometheus, making the small room seem even tinier. Niten came last, but he remained in the open doorway, facing out into the night.

“Gone?” Nicholas snapped in French.

“Missing,” Aoife agreed.

“Was he taken?” Perenelle asked.

“Nothing can get into this Shadowrealm without my knowledge,” Prometheus said.

Perenelle went to Sophie and opened her arms, but the girl made no move to close the distance. She remained with the warrior. The Sorceress took a step back and allowed her arms to drop to her sides. “So he went of his own accord?” she asked.

“There are no signs of a struggle,” Niten said from the doorway. “And only one set of footprints heading down the valley toward the car.”

“But the car was dead,” Nicholas answered, “the battery drained.”

Prometheus folded his arms across his massive chest. “Yes, but the boy has learned the Magic of Fire. All that raw energy is coursing through his aura right now. He could easily have sparked the car to life.”

“Where did he go?” Sophie asked. “I don’t understand. He wouldn’t have just left without telling me.” She looked at Prometheus. “Maybe something here took him? Maybe those mud people?”

Prometheus shook his head. “The First People will not approach the house. I agree with Perenelle: he went of his own accord.”

“But where has he gone?” Sophie asked again. “Home?” She shook her head. She had never, in all her life, been so confused or felt so lost. “He wouldn’t have left me.”

“Why is he gone, is the better question,” Aoife said.