I clenched my teeth. Everest’s face with that long white hair lingered in my mind’s eye, so I closed mine and moved my body the way Jackson instructed. There was a slice and a whoosh, then he flew over my shoulder. I glanced back as he landed in a roll, pushing back up to his feet.

“I love how fast you pick this up.” He smiled, then his face fell. Those eyes stared at nothing. “Bettina would love this.”

My heart sank. “We’re going to figure this out. There has to be a way to cure them. Leyka’s note gave me hope⁠—”

“Hope.” His smile turned fractured. His eyes haunted. “Hope is not lost.”

There seemed to be more to that sentence than I understood, but before I could ask, the door to the training room opened. Constance and Timothy walked in like they were on a mission. We both turned to face them. I wiped my sweaty forehead on my arm.

“Everything okay?”

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

Both Leaders threw their hands up in surrender.

“Nothing is wrong. Nothing happened,” Constance said quickly in that comforting voice of hers. “I came here to collect Frankie.”

“Oh.” I scowled. “What did I do?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You need to see Professor Rigdon, remember?”

“The potions instructor. Right. Yes, thank you.” I looked to Jackson and held my hand up for a high-five. “That was great, Lancaster. Repeat later?”

He gave me a crooked smile and slapped his palm against mine. “Anytime. Good luck with the potions.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and waved, then hurried toward Constance, pausing only to give Tim a high-five. “Hey there, Jeep Wrangler.”

He stopped short and snorted. “What did you—Jeep Wrangler?”

I spun to walk backwards. “Yeah, ‘cause you wrangle all us crazies.”

As he cackled, I winked and spun back to face Constance. She eyed me. “What does that make me then?”

I pursed my lips and stopped in front of her. “Den mother, for sure.”

Her whole face lit up. One hand went to her belly. “That I can accept. C’mon, let’s see what we can do for your quest.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and it was more comforting than she probably realized.

As we walked out the door, I heard Tim yell out, “All right, son, let’s kick your ass.”

“Don’t quit ‘til I pass out, right?” Jackson chuckled. “I slept like shite last night.”

“One nap coming right up.”

Constance chuckled under her breath and pulled out her phone, then she pressed it to her ear. “Hey, Kessler. Yeah, I’m taking Frankie to Rigdon but just heard Jackson ask Tim to spar until he passes out—yeah, you heard that right. Exactly. Thanks. Oh, and have you seen Daniel and the girls—oh. Okay, right, I think he told me that. Pregnancy brain is apparently a real thing. See you in a bit.”