It’s headed straight for his chest, but he’s already transforming back into the hawk. Instead, it explodes against the doorframe, leaving a singed black crater.

Raze swoops out the door, and half the room chases after. The other half holds back, clearly confused and trying to look like they aren’t.

We wait a moment for the chaos to peak, to make sure that Aris, who I’m pretty sure is their leader despite her age, is following Raze.

“Now!”

With our heads down, we quickly cross the room. I realize in a flash of panic that I have no idea where we’re going, but it’s too late to ask.

I glance back over my shoulder as we pass the smoking hole where one of the hinges used to be. It seems impossible that Olani, tall and striking as she is, has slipped by without notice, but no one seems to be looking at us.

Before that can change, we sprint to the stable.

“You two take Raze’s horse. You know how to ride, right?”

We hesitate. “Yes?” Isolde says.

Olani groans. “Doesn’t matter. We don’t have another ch—”

A ray of white brilliance blasts over her shoulder. Behind us, Aris and a pack of her accomplices are advancing quickly. I knew a simple getaway had been too good to be true.

“Too late,” Olani says, bolting uphill. “Run!”

“To the cliff?” I shout. “What about—?”

But I don’t have enough air in my lungs to argue. We fly past the stables and any hope of escape, behind the inn, until we’re out of space to run. The sea crashes against the rocks below.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to jump.” I back away from the edge nervously.

Olani quickly realizes it’s too far to fall without smashing into the rocks below. “Well, I’m not now!”

Then a flash of light blinds us all.

In the whiteness that follows, I hear my sister cry out like she’s been hit. My footsteps crunch in the dirt as I turn, trying to pinpoint where she is. Then a heavy, anonymous thump, and the upsettingly familiar sound of the breath being knocked from someone’s lungs.

My vision clears slowly, and I realize I’m facing the cliff, dangerously close to its edge in my temporary blindness.

“Show me the compass, and none of you have to get hurt!” Aris snarls.

I whirl, blinking away the zigzagging lights crawling in front of my eyes.

Isolde is several paces back, entangled in an extremely undignified schoolyard tussle with Aris, who is currently trying to pin her down. Aris is already sweaty and breathing hard, spent by the magic she’s used. Good. It’ll be at least a few minutes before she can fire off another spell. Dark hair blurs in the air as they punch and claw, trying to restrain each other.

“I have...no idea...what you’re talking about!” my sister grunts. The bandage on her head is starting to slip, gray dust staining the crisp white material.

Before my muddled mind can begin to make sense of it, before I can even launch into an attack, the rest of Aris’s crew catches up. One runs for me, drawing his sword. I have less than a second to act before I’m going to be sliced in half, and I have no idea what to do.