Another middle worlder, a not-human man, stands beside the two with a staff that looks very much like Josefa’s in his hands. He moves to the front of a cage, raises the staff, and intones what sound like incantations. Nothing happens. After consulting with Baarish, he opens a cage and drags a child out. A girl. He takes out a dagger and I stop breathing. The need to march over and snatch the child from him almost overpowers me. I can’t make a move. Not yet. The man slices the girl’s arms, and she wails in pain. He anoints his lips with her blood and retries the incantations. Once again, nothing happens. With a scowl, he throws the girl back into the cage. She curls up in a corner and cries.

The Dar and his son exchange a few more words with the magic user before exiting the warehouse. They are soon driven away by the chauffeur of their imported car. Left behind are the magic user, the few guards, and the children. The middle worlders clearly don’t expect anyone to make trouble for them. They must have done this many times before; their actions are relaxed, betraying no guilt, horror, or caution.

I return to Widad, thankful that she had stayed behind.

“What did you see? What do we do?” she whispers as soon as she sees me.

If we scream while invisible, our screams will only affect the middle worlders. All right. Finally, something is going right.

“I will scream while you go to the park and send all humans you see in this direction. Tell them to call the people they know. Tell them to call the media. Can you do that?” I ask her.

“Why don’t we call the police?”

“They’re unreliable. Some of them have already been bribed to look the other way.”

“All right.” She glares at me. “Don’t take risks.”

“I would never.” I find a smile for her. “Go!”

Once she’s gone, I slip back inside the warehouse and find a particularly dark corner. I ready myself and take the biggest breath I can. I feel the scream swell up inside of me; it rushes up my throat, into my mouth, and out. My scream, heavy with magic and sharp with anger, pierces through the air and into the unwary ears of Baarish’s henchmen.

First, they will be surprised. Then, elated because their bodies are filling up with magic. Horror will come quickly, however, because their bodies will fill beyond capacity. Finally, they will feel pain. Pain as they’ve never felt before. Pain as they will never feel again. They won’t die. I refuse to give them that satisfaction. I have been a Wild One for a very long time, you see. Even Valentina’s scream cannot match the lethality of mine.