Mei-Ling jumped off the couch and ran over to sit on the other side of me. “In the words of Newt Scamander, worrying means you suffer twice.”

Savannah laughed in a short burst. “You did not.”

Mei-Ling grinned and snatched the scroll from Savannah. “Look, you’ve never been the type of girl to sit and theorize when you could just read the damn scroll. So, read the damn scroll. See what this quest Vala—what’s her name⁠—”

“Valathame,” the rest of us whispered in unison.

“Right. Creepy when you do that.” Mei-Ling chuckled. “Valathame came here to personally hand this to you while dropping mad hints about breaking rules. Let’s see what it says.”

They were right. I knew they were. The others were all giving me supportive nods and smiles. Yet my gaze went right to Tegan and held. She and Tenn both stared at the scroll like it was a bomb and they were trying to remember which color cord to cut.

Finally, Tegan met my stare. On the outside, her face was tense and concerned. Then I heard her voice in my mind, “I will also break every single rule I have to. And I’ll be watching you every step of the way. Everest won’t let you fight. You think he’s letting you get out of his sight?”

I smiled and took the scroll from Mei-Ling.

Tegan continued speaking in my mind, “Valathame has never delivered a quest like this. It’s a sign of what’s to come and a message to you. She wants you to know she has your back. So, let’s see what that says, and I’ll help.”

“Right. Here goes nothing.” I unrolled the scroll, and my heart stopped. “Oh, Goddess, it’s so long. That can’t be a good sign.”

“Read it out loud,” Emersyn whispered. “Please.”