The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. —W. B. Yeats

FIRE

I entered a strange, bright room. The walls were undulating like beams of light on water. Held in a translucent prison, Rosalind hung suspended. She looked just like my vision of her, like her photographs: a woman with such force of personality she could've set the air around her burning.

I touched the undulating light between us, and a forbidding jolt of magic made me spring back.

"Sorry. Should've warned you."

A voice echoed, but only in my mind. I could see Rosalind's lips, and they weren't moving.

"Rosalind?" I whispered, just the same.

She replied, "I can only imagine how many questions you have for me."

Rosalind's voice in my mind was warm, but confident. It had been so long since I felt comforted. Hearing her almost brought a tear to my eyes.

"Just a few," I admitted.

"Well, I've only got one for you. Do you have any idea how special you are?"

I hadn't expected anything like that. Her question was rough, but sweet. Honest. The best part was, she seemed so utterly different from Ms.

Dowling.

I couldn't help a startled smile.

Playfully, Rosalind asked, "Wanna learn a new trick?"

"Right now?"

Was now the time for tricks?

"Access that flame inside you. Use the joy you're feeling, because you're about to get answers. Or how pissed off you are at me for leaving you in the First World without them. I won't be offended."

I closed my eyes, and felt all the tangled emotions in me spark and then catch fire.

Maybe now was exactly the right time for tricks.

Rosalind encouraged, "Here comes the fun part. That flame? Your instincts are telling you that it'll burn you. Your instincts are wrong. Grab on to it."

It felt as though the fire was enveloping me, but not consuming me. I gasped, feeling myself come alight with power. "Now. Touch the barrier again." I hesitated.

"Don't be a wuss," Rosalind told me. "You've got this. Do it."

Rosalind directed me with such easy authority, and it felt so natural to obey. I reached out and touched the barrier. This time, my hand wasn't blown back.

When my vision cleared, the barrier was gone. Standing in the center of the room was Rosalind.

She spoke out loud now. Her voice scratchy, but filled with personality. "Sixteen years. No mirror. No makeup. How great do I look right now?

Don't lie. Okay, lie a little."

She cracked an intensely disarming smile. Then, she took a step, and her legs gave out. I rushed to her.

"You need food. Water. Rest."

"No," said Rosalind. "I need magic."

EARTH

"Bloom has been in there a while," Terra fretted. "What could they be talking about?"

Stella gave her a disdainful look. "Once I heard you talk about dirt for two hours. Dirt. Two hours."

"Soil," Terra corrected sternly. Get it right, Stella! It was an important distinction. "And we left Beatrix lying there. I wanna make sure she's not awake, fashioning three shivs."

"Don't be ridiculous. She'd use one shiv three times. Stab stab stab," Musa said.

Oh, Terra loved Musa, but her roommate was not a reassuring person.

"Can we just go check?"

"Fine, but you're overreacting," said Stella with a lofty air.

Stella kept up the attitude all the way through the tunnels, right up until they reached the doorway and were confronted with the space in the floor where Beatrix used to be. Terra stared accusingly at Stella. Musa eyed the door.

Right! They had to regroup. Terra was making a plan. "I'd like my apology via scented handwritten note after we find her."

Musa murmured, "It gets worse ..."

At the door, Dowling stood with Aisha. And, far worse, with Terra's dad.

"You have no idea the trouble you've caused. You especially, Stella," said Dowling.

Oh no. Stella must be protected.

"We were just—" Terra began valiantly.

Her father interrupted. He'd never addressed Terra with his pure Professor-Harvey voice, but he was using it now. "Not another word. Come with me."

As Terra's dad led them out, Stella paused by Aisha.

"I hope the brownie points you're getting from this will keep you company when you have no friends," she said sweetly.

Once again, Terra found herself a little grateful for Stella's meanness.

MIND

Everyone was having too many loud, intense, awful feelings, and Musa hated them all.

She sat quietly beside Stella as Professor Harvey read them the riot act, and tried to sink through the floor. Terra was standing near the door, her every nerve jangling like wind chimes in Musa's head. Aisha sat across the room. Just watching.

Professor Harvey said, "Insubordination. Breaking and entering. Endangering the lives of your classmates. And releasing Rosalind? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

None of them said a word. Professor Harvey turned to address Terra specifically.

"I'd say I'm disappointed in you, but this goes far beyond that."

Harvey moved to leave, shaking his head. Terra's face was a mix of frustration and devastation. But then she glanced over at Stella. Stella nodded, encouraging the fury building in Terra like an avalanche, and Terra found her voice.

"You lied again!"

Musa wondered when people would stop underestimating Terra. She responded to every challenge like a bull yearning for a red flag.

"Excuse me?" said Professor Harvey.

"About Rosalind. About Aster Dell. About all of it. And now you're mad? At me?" Terra fixed her father with a stern and disappointed look. "You can't punish me for not knowing what you didn't tell me. That doesn't make any logical sense."

Professor Harvey clearly didn't have a comeback, so he pulled the parent-slash-professor card. "I think you all need to cool off."

He straight up left, closing the door firmly behind him. And when Terra grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, the door wouldn't budge.

"He used his magic to seal the door!" She rattled the doorknob furiously. "I caught him in a logic trap, and he used his magic to ground us!"

"That means you won," said Stella.

Terra didn't seem comforted by this information. Musa tried to soothe the frustration coming off Terra in waves.

"He's just overwhelmed."

But Terra wasn't listening. Aisha used this opportunity to try and slink to her room, which Musa thought was wise, but Stella intercepted her.

"And where are you going?" Stella demanded. "I knew you were a teacher's pet. I just didn't know the pet was a rat."

"I was planning on de-escalating the situation by removing myself from it, but if you want to escalate—"

Aisha stepped up to Stella, clearly ready for a fight. Oh no, teeth and feelings were going to fly everywhere! Musa looked desperately around.

"Can you wait thirty seconds, please? At least let me get my headphones," she begged, leaping to her feet and running into her room.

Musa closed the door behind her and took a breath, and then felt a tug at her magic, sensing something. This time, it made her smile.

She turned to see Sam. His smile was instant relief. She made an eloquently pained face at him, then went to hide her head in his chest. He pulled her in. He was her sanctuary.

"What the hell's going on out there?"

Sam could hear what was going on for himself. Beyond the door, Aisha and Stella were in a full-on fight. At least it seemed to be just yelling. So far.

"No matter what, you don't tattle," Stella raged. "Anybody over the age of five knows that. Even Terra knows that."

Terra's voice, the only one not yelling, said, "Hey. I mean, yeah, but ... hey."

Aisha shouted, her rage filling Musa's head, the door no barrier at all: "There are Burned Ones outside the Barrier. Bloom is being selfish. The last thing Ms. Dowling needs is to be worried about Rosalind!"

FIRE

I watched as Ms. Dowling entered the mystical space of the stone circle. She stood there for a moment, eyes searching the grass and stones, and then she began to walk away.

She couldn't see me or Rosalind standing right there, Rosalind's eyes glowing faintly in the gloom. As I watched Dowling depart, I wheeled on Rosalind.

"I thought you were weak? That you couldn't do magic? But you can make us invisible?"

"In the stone circle, I can draw on the magic of the land," said Rosalind.

"That's why I had you bring me here. So I could recharge the ol' batteries."

Rosalind placed her hand near one of the stones. Tendrils of magical light reached out, connecting hand and stone. She took a seat, with a long groan of relief.

"If you're strong enough to do magic, you can answer questions. I have risked so much to find you and get you out. Please, just tell me: What happened at Aster Dell?"

Even I was startled at how forceful my demand was. Rosalind seemed mildly impressed.

"Everything Farah told you is true. I lied to them. Said Aster Dell was evacuated. It wasn't."

Farah, I thought, and then realized she meant Ms. Dowling. It was almost impossible to imagine Ms. Dowling as having a first name. She tried so hard to be an authority figure, an adult for her students to rely on. For a moment, I wanted to run after Ms. Dowling and tell her everything I'd done.

Instead, I asked slowly, "You killed those innocent people?"

"That," said Rosalind, "is where it gets complicated."

Rosalind's eyes glowed for a passing instant. The moonlight seemed to respond to her, casting strange shadows. Six hooded figures drifted from outside the circle toward us.

"One of the fundamental tenets of the Otherworld is that only fairies can do magic. The settlers of Aster Dell were an exception. They were humans who drew on sacrifice and death the same way we draw on the elements: Blood Witches. It is lost magic. Dangerous magic. If anyone knew it was possible, it would shake the foundation of the Otherworld. So I lied to even my most trusted advisers. Those witches lived in the shadows for centuries. But their actions suggested they were getting bolder. It was only a matter of time before they made a move."

The figures stopped moving, and turned toward the center.

"So when the Burned Ones descended on them, I saw my opportunity.

A flock of birds, one powerful stone."

The figures vanished in a flash of light, and Rosalind's eyes returned to normal.

I did some mental math. "Wait. If the settlers of Aster Dell were witches, and my birth parents were fairies ..."

"She's quick," Rosalind said with approval. "Good. This will go faster.

You're right. Your parents aren't from Aster Dell. You were kidnapped.

Your fairy parents were nowhere to be found."

"So they could still be out there." My fairy parents could still be alive!

"Why didn't you try to find them?"

Rosalind's intense blue eyes were fixed on me, wholly absorbed by me, as though I was something wonderful. "You weren't safe in the Otherworld. The power inside you is too great. I knew it the second I laid eyes on you.

It's why the witches wanted you. To use your power. And why the Burned Ones outside the Barrier want you, too: to get rid of you before it can be used on them."

This wasn't wonderful at all.

Everyone said the Burned Ones hadn't been seen in sixteen years. Now suddenly they were here, near Alfea, killing people. Hurting Silva, who was like Sky's dad.

Would Sky hate me, if he knew it was all my fault? Would my friends be afraid to be near me? I'd believed that if I came to Alfea, I could keep my parents safe, but perhaps I brought danger everywhere I went. To everyone I loved.

I couldn't repress the chill coursing through me. "They've been after me the whole time?"

"Sucks to be special sometimes." Rosalind grinned. "But now you've got me. And that's gonna suck for the Burned Ones even more. Ready for trick number two?"

Rosalind smiled. It was oddly comforting. At least I wasn't in this alone. She would help me. She'd give me the answer I needed most: how to keep those I loved safe.

SPECIALIST

They were at the edge of the forest, in the dead of night, and Riven was pretty sure they were all going to die.

Sky and Silva were at the head of their little group, being joint fearless leaders. Riven was eavesdropping on them shamelessly.

Unfortunately, they were stoically surveying the pale shimmer of the Barrier, searching the woods beyond for signs of monsters. Still, Riven could tell they both wanted to break their manly reserve and spill secrets.

Silva had cleared his throat four times.

Eventually, Silva asked, "Should I be worried I had to learn from Aisha that Bloom drugged you?"

Aisha the sporty babe had turned up, thrown herself at Dowling in a burst of teacher's-pet love, and handed over some kind of super convenient magic listening device she'd been using to spy on Dowling. Then she'd confessed all about Bloom's delinquency, and she, Dowling, and Terra's dad had gone off to possibly arrest Bloom? Riven wasn't sure. He couldn't believe trusty friend Aisha had squealed and he, Riven, hadn't. He should definitely have squealed. He'd tried, but Dowling had already marched off to stop Bloom from freeing Beatrix, and Sky had elbowed him in the ribs when Riven started tattling to Silva.

"I don't know," Sky returned now, very quiet. "Should I be worried I had to learn from Bloom what happened at Aster Dell?"

Sky's tone was almost menacing. Okay, what had happened at Aster Dell? Riven wondered. Was Aster Dell, like, a fairy strip club Silva enjoyed visiting? Hilarious.

He knew it probably wasn't that, but he was thinking about their imminent deaths, and he wanted to cheer himself up.

Silva had braced himself and gone suspiciously still. Seemed like it was time for him to release the intel on the strip club.

"I think it's through here," murmured Kat.

Wow, Kat. Riven was trying to eavesdrop; why did she have to keep being an efficient super-soldier and focus on the getting-killed job?

"We'll discuss this later," Silva decided.

There was no later, they were getting murdered! Riven wanted to hear about the strip club now.

But Silva and Sky were already turning back toward the group, and Kat had focused her steely super-soldier gaze on Riven.

"Pull it up again."

Riven pulled out his phone, and then handed it to Kat.

"You do it."

Kat tossed him a scornful look.

Riven defended himself. It wasn't Riven's fault everybody else was a bloodthirsty lunatic!

"It's dark watching somebody die! Don't look at me like I'm a jerk for not wanting to see it."

Kat, a certified bloodthirsty lunatic, rolled her eyes as she took the phone. As she watched the screen, Riven heard screams. Flesh tearing. He repressed a shudder.

Kat reported, "I recognize that hollow. It's near the barn. Not far." "Let's move!" snapped Silva.

Riven had a better idea. Let's not!

"Wait. Without fairies? We counted at least six Burned Ones out there.

That's freakin' stupid."

Sky glared at Riven for making insubordinate statements of fact.

"It's an order, Riv," Sky told him without sympathy. "Suck it up."

Riven cringed. There were times in a guy's life when he had to ask himself the real questions. Why did I ever agree to wield a stupid sword, and why did I ever become friends with this censorious idiot?

Right. Because Alfea had left him with no other choice. And now Alfea's rules were telling him to go and die.

Silva addressed the whole team. "I understand this is scary. You've been lucky enough to grow up in an era of peace. But heading into a forest, against all odds, to fight a creature that chills your soul? That's what being a

Specialist is. And it's the minimum I expect from each of you."

Great speech, Riven thought, except for the fact it was dumb. Why not try to even out the odds so that—Riven was just spitballing here—they didn't have to all die?

Then there came a loud, terrible rasp, a sound of sandpaper that rang like thunder. They looked toward the forest, where their enemy should be, but there was something wrong here.

Sky was the one who realized first. "That's not coming from the forest.

It's coming from the school."

Silva snapped into action. "Split up. Get to the school. Find as many students as you can, and get them to the courtyard. Go. NOW."

There were people in that castle he cared about, thought Riven, then wondered: Who? The answer came to him almost at once. Beatrix. If

Bloom hadn't gotten her out, Beatrix was bound and helpless in that castle.

He found himself running just as fast as Sky.

EARTH

It was great that Sam and Musa were dating, Terra figured, because now they were her captive audience and she could share many thoughts with them. Outside her room, it was too scary. Everything had gone quiet, which meant Aisha and Stella had either headed for their rooms or killed each other. Terra didn't wish to know. She fussed with her plants and talked to Sam and Musa about Dad, and it made thinking of Dad hurt a little less.

"I used to think he was never wrong," she said sadly.

"Parents are still people, Ter. And people are flawed. The sooner you learn that, the better."

Musa was so wise. When Musa and Sam got married, Terra thought Musa would be a very calming influence on the family. Sam studied Musa. "You never talk about your parents." "There's a reason," Musa said briefly.

Her brother was annoying but also right. It was time to share all their horrible family secrets and bond. They could help Musa.

Terra offered, "You can, you know ... talk about them. Whatever happened. We're your friends. I mean, Sam is more than that, obviously, but for the sake of this discussion—"

"It's not a discussion," Musa said flatly.

Before Terra could push further, the lights flickered. On and off.

"That's weird," murmured Terra, and they moved to the door in a knot.

In the common room, the lights were flickering on and off as well. It felt as if the whole castle was blinking.

Stella and Aisha came out of their rooms, each with the same startled expression on their face. Yay, Terra was happy they hadn't killed each other.

But this was still very weird.

"Are we having a ... power outage?" asked Stella.

Aisha frowned. "How does that even happen here?"

Terra leaped to provide this information. "It shouldn't. Alfea is an outpost. The 'electricity' it runs on is magic. Beneath the school are energy wells that were designed by—"

"I'm gonna skip the history lesson and check it out," said Sam, who never appreciated when Terra shared fascinating information.

Her annoying brother moved through the front door of the suite with his magic. It seemed as though he was vanishing away into the gloom.

Brothers were so irritating. Off he went, for what reason? So he could find some other dudes and they could say it was weird the power was out? What they should do was analyze this situation, and take action to remedy it.

Terra continued her lecture. She had a lot to say. "The wells of course were designed in a spirit of cooperation between Water and Air Fairies. And when the wells fill with enough magic, it's like a battery—"

Sam burst back through the wall, and collapsed on the ground of the common room. There was blood all over him. There was so much blood.

The world seemed to spin as they ran to him.

"Sam," said Terra. Suddenly, his name seemed like the only word she knew.

Sam gasped, wetly, "There's a Burned One in the school." The lights went out completely, leaving them in darkness.

FIRE

I stood in the center of the stone circle, Rosalind at my side. The torches were smoldering all around us, and my magic was a banked fire inside me.

"Dig deeper than you have before," Rosalind urged. "What you did to free me is just a fraction of the magic you need."

The torches flared at her words. Rosalind's guidance grew sharper and sharper. When the torchlight hit her hair, it burned gold.

"More. Let the fire consume you."

I felt the same way I had once before, as though there was too much power inside me and it must spill out.

"Keep going."

The thing was, I wanted to. Power coursed through me, and it felt so sweet. But it had felt good to set my home alight, too. Until it hadn't. Until I hurt someone.

"What if I lose control?" I asked. "Control limits you!" "I'm scared," I whispered.

"Good," said Rosalind. "The moment you learn to enjoy that feeling is the moment the world unlocks for you. A wildfire burns within you, Bloom.

With the right people around you ..."

Good that I was scared? Good? Ms. Dowling had never wanted me to be scared. I let the rising magic drop, and turned to face Rosalind.

"You mean, you? With you around me? You want me to listen to you and trust you and let you guide me, but I just met you. You hid me from Ms. Dowling. You didn't even tell anyone I existed."

I hadn't thought about it this way before, but now I remembered the fire crackling through my parents' bedroom, and my mother on the floor. I was a danger to my parents, and Rosalind had put me there!

"I almost killed my parents because you left me in the First World with no guidance, and ..."

"The guidance you needed was love," Rosalind said sharply. "Farah could never give that to you. Vanessa and Michael could."

The mention of my parents' names knocked me back. Mom and Dad. I kept thinking of my parents, of my birth parents, of getting home. As though somehow, if I got all the answers, I could transport myself back to the time before I set my house on fire and put my mom in danger.

But parents wasn't just a label I could slap on a pair of people. Home wasn't just an idea. It was a real place. I knew who my parents were.

And so did Rosalind.

"You know their names," I said quietly.

"I chose them. I knew they were about to lose a daughter. I gave them a second chance. And gave you a hiding place from the monsters that wanted you dead." Rosalind's sharp, command-giving voice softened. "I will always look out for you, Bloom. And when this is over, we'll find your birth parents, together."

I wanted to believe in her promise so much. All the answers I got only served to make me more confused. As I tried to sort out the revelations in my whirling mind, my phone buzzed and I glanced at it absentmindedly, and then went still. It was a text from Stella, saying: Burned Ones inside school. Stuck in the suite.

"They're in the school?" I demanded of the night air. "How?"

I tried frantically to text back, but it was no use. My mind filled with visions of what might be happening to my friends at Alfea, I turned desperately to Rosalind.

"I just lost service ... I have to go. Are you charged? Can you help?"

"I can't," Rosalind answered. "But you don't need it."

There was no more time for questions or answers. No time for anything but action. I bolted toward the castle.

Running flat out, I'd almost reached the castle when I heard familiar whispers. At the far tree line, I saw a glowing light, brimming over as though the horizon was a cup, suffusing the whole skyline. What the hell?

My mad dash arrested, I moved toward that glow. A hand landed on my shoulder.

A voice said, "There you are."

I spun around with my heart in my throat.

"Sky," I said. "Hey."

It wasn't a battle to death with a monster. But it was a very awkward moment nonetheless.

"You seem ... okay?" I offered.

"I am. Whatever you gave me wore off a few hours ago." He proceeded, all business, "Come on, we have to go find everyone else."

As he walked off, I took another look back at the tree line, but whatever had been there was long gone.

SPECIALIST

Kat and Riven entered the castle in darkness. They carried torches, and as they moved cat-soft through the halls, Riven heard the creak of beams overhead. There was a flickering red light in the distance.

"Hello?" called Kat.

It was like Kat had never seen a horror movie in her life.

"The hell are you doing?" Riven hissed. "What if it's one of those things?"

A Fire Fairy Riven didn't know emerged from a corner, and then several fairies came stumbling toward the Specialists, toward rescue. Kat shot Riven a frankly offensive side-eye.

"This way, guys," she told them.

The Fire Fairy said, "I saw more students in the greenhouse."

Kat nodded. "I'm gonna bring them back. You grab the greenhouse stragglers."

"Wait—" Riven began.

He didn't want to split up—that was a one-way ticket to murder city! And he didn't want to be alone. But Kat was already moving down the hallway. Riven was dismissed.

Then he thought ... students in the greenhouse. Who else could it be?

Terra.

Riven went quietly into the greenhouse, shining his torch around the familiar space, the twining vines and blooming flowers, the carefully separated pots of dirt. No, soil. Terra got very stern about that. Riven liked it here. He felt charmed and comforted.

Until the spotlight of his torch illuminated the "stragglers."

On one of the tables, lying unconscious, was Beatrix. Standing over her like a mad scientist with a sword was Dane. In front of Dane were various herbs and beakers and other laboratory equipment.

With deep feeling, Riven said, "What the hell?"

Riven realized the expression on Dane's face was panic.

The words spilled out of Dane's mouth. "She triggered a trap in Dowling's office. Some kind of paralyzation thing. She gave me

instructions for a potion to fix it, but ..."

Riven considered the situation, and then made an executive decision.

"Sucks for her. Come on."

"I'm not leaving her!" said Dane.

Riven could have left Dane with Terra and not interfered. Dane would've been fine. He would've been happy. He'd be safe right now, and not desperate here in the dark. What had happened to Dane was Riven's fault. So Riven spoke with all the fury born from Beatrix's betrayal. He spoke to him as if Dane was Riven at the start of the year, arrogant and about to make a terrible mistake.

"Dane. She's not worth it."

"She cares about you, and I know you care about her. Don't act like you don't. Please," Dane was begging, looking at Riven as though he trusted

Riven could and would save him. "You have to help."

Riven glanced at the door. He didn't want to go out there alone and face monsters that ripped people limb from limb. He didn't want to be alone at all.

Did Beatrix care about him? Could Dane be right?

He looked back at Dane, with his puppy-dog eyes, and Beatrix lying there helpless. Where else was Riven gonna go? What else could he do?

Terra had said, Nobody would ever ask you for help. Dane was asking. Dane seemed sure Riven would do it, looking at Riven as though Riven mattered to him.

Riven wanted to believe Dane. And he didn't want to go back outside.

Already knowing this was a bad idea, Riven asked, "What did her instructions say?"

FIRE

Sky and I made our way toward the Winx suite. We had to push through the flood of students headed in the other direction, bent on escape. At first our quiet seemed like only the silence of urgency, but quickly, even in this frantic and terrible time, it was clear it was the silence of deep awkwardness.

I broke first. "Will you please say something?"

"What is there to say?" Sky asked distantly. "You kissed me and then you drugged me."

"Technically, I drugged you first," I joked.

Sky's face stayed stern. Tough crowd. Tough, roofied crowd. That was fair.

I tried being serious. "I didn't know we were gonna kiss when I dosed your drink. Then I got wrapped up in the moment, and—"

"A kiss seemed like a good way to distract me. Thanks for the recap."

No. That wasn't what it was. How could Sky think that? He must know how I felt about him.

"I wasn't trying to distract you!" I halted. "You would've stopped me,

Sky."

He stopped walking, too. I would've thought nothing could stop my soldier boy when he was on a mission. There was genuine pain and frustration on his face.

"I opened up to you. I told you stuff I've never told anyone, Bloom. I trusted you, and—"

"And you still would've stopped me," I finished. "So you can say you trust me, but you were still gonna treat me like some damsel who needed to

be protected from herself. Sorry. But that's not trust."

Sky said flatly, "You let a murderer out of jail to free a crazy exheadmistress."

Well, when he put it like that ... I had to show him a different point of view.

"And what if Rosalind isn't crazy? What if she had a reason to lie? The more I learn, the more I think maybe everyone did what they thought was right."

When Sky answered me, he was using his soldier voice again, seeing things only in black-and-white.

"Just because somebody thinks what they did was right, doesn't mean that it is."

He marched off.

EARTH

Stella was still trying to get a signal, wandering back and forth and past the center of the room where the rest of them huddled. Aisha and Musa were helping Terra hold Sam down as his body spasmed. Her brother's eyes were going black.

"The infection will shift soon. He'll turn erratic if he doesn't get

Zanbaq. We have to get out."

Terra leaped for the door, but then saw Musa shudder as Sam writhed.

"Musa, you okay?"

Musa whispered, "Somebody do something." Terra intended to.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door. Stella and Terra exchanged a wary look, and then backed up. There was more banging. If it was a Burned One, Terra thought, they had to fight it. She hoped Stella had her light show ready.

Just then, the wood splintered and the remains of the door swung open, revealing Sky, who'd kicked the door down. Bloom stood next to him.

There was a split second of tense silence when Sky and Stella came face-to-face. Bloom's gaze stuttered between them, but their quiet and Bloom's hesitance didn't last long.

Sky said softly, "Hi."

Stella said, "Hey."

Terra said, "We need to get help!"

Terra genuinely could not have cared less about their thing. Her brother was bleeding out, with poison in his veins.

That was when Bloom and Sky looked past Terra and Stella and saw Sam on the floor.

Bloom whispered, "Oh no."

Sky cursed, then said, "Let's get him to the courtyard. Everyone is there."

As they all headed out of the suite, Bloom lingered for a moment.

"What?" said Aisha. "Did you think you weren't going to have to face her?"

Terra didn't stay to hear what Bloom replied. She didn't care about the Aisha, Bloom, and Ms. Dowling teacher love triangle any more than she cared about Sky, Bloom, and Stella's thing. Terra was focused on her brother.

Hold on, Sam, she thought as they made their way down dark corridors with her brother's pained breath ragged in her ears. Just hold on until we get to Dad. He'll fix this. He'll make everything okay.

The courtyard was now the scene of a castle under siege. Bright wisps of magic conjured by Light Fairies wreathed the night air, giving them illumination enough to see what was happening, but what was happening was terrifying. Dowling was giving orders to Fire Fairies to weld the doors shut. Silva was issuing commands to Specialists, all arming themselves even more heavily and helping fairies into armor. Terra saw Kat oiling a sword, but she didn't see Riven anywhere. Typical.

Sam moaned. Musa made a little sound, as though his moan was a blow to her.

"Almost there," Terra murmured to Sam, and was glad she didn't have to lie to her brother.

The courtyard canteen where they ate lunch every day was now an assembly line for the dispensation of healing herbs. Fairies were pruning Zanbaq, and distilling oil, preparing bandages, and tending to patients. Her father was in their midst, wrapping a bandage around a Specialist's wound, and then turning and taking a breath before he addressed himself to another task. He looked every inch the professor he was, the soldier he had been. Utterly calm. In control.

Terra said, "Dad?"

Her father looked up to see Terra and Musa, with their arms around a barely conscious Sam. The color drained from his face. His mouth opened, and for a second no words came out. Terra's desperate confidence in him went shaky.

Her father turned to a fairy. "I need Zanbaq," her dad said. "Now."

As Terra and Musa gently laid Sam down on an empty table, her dad did a preliminary inspection. Sam was so pale. There was blood everywhere. Her dad flinched away from the sight of his son's wounds, and then turned to Terra. His snarl echoed against the stones of the courtyard, his familiar, trusted face as strange to her as her embattled school.

"He's lost so much blood! Why didn't you get him here sooner?"

Terra had still hoped they would be saved by the adults, that, despite all the evidence, her father was ultimately capable and invincible. Now the last of her hope drained away.

She met her father's accusing gaze without flinching. "We were grounded, Dad. Remember?"

FIRE

All the fairies in the courtyard applauded when Ms. Dowling made a speech announcing that Queen Luna was on her way with reinforcements. But I couldn't stand in the crowd. I had to find an opportunity to talk to her alone.

I seized my chance once the Water Fairy she was instructing departed.

Ms. Dowling gave me a look that heralded the next ice age.

"I know you're mad," I said.

"An understatement," Ms. Dowling responded.

Once I explained, she'd understand. Then we could all work together.

"Rosalind isn't the monster you think she is. She lied for a reason. The villagers at Aster Dell weren't innocent. They were Blood Witches. And my birth parents weren't even there."

My birth parents might be alive, and Ms. Dowling could have her mentor back! Surely Ms. Dowling would be glad.

Ms. Dowling gave me an assessing look. "She certainly has a way of winning people over, doesn't she?"

Her tone was a smidge condescending. Or more than a smidge.

"Is your ego so fragile that you can't even consider that you might be wrong about her?" I fired back.

She was silent for a moment, as though I'd struck a nerve. Still, when she answered me, her voice was measured.

"Rosalind gave you just enough information to string you along. She's manipulating you, Bloom. That's what she does."

"Then what the hell have you been doing?" I demanded. "You were the one who kept things from me. Not her."

"And why isn't she telling me this herself? Why isn't she by our side helping fight?" Ms. Dowling's demand cut through the air like a whip.

"Where is she?"

Ms. Dowling still didn't understand. I had to defend Rosalind. "She's still weak. Not charged up enough. But she said when she was—" "So you were in the stone circle?" Ms. Dowling asked sharply.

"She used her magic to hide us," I explained.

That took Ms. Dowling a minute to absorb, and once she did, I was stunned by the emotion that showed on her usually guarded face. I understood she was mad she'd been tricked, but the white-hot fury in her face and her voice knocked me back.

"The stone circle is a conduit to the magic of the land. That magic powers everything at Alfea. Like our electricity. And the Barrier."

It took me a second to put together what Ms. Dowling was saying. Tonight the castle had gone dark. The Barrier had gone down, and the Burned Ones had come through.

I almost couldn't force the words out. "Are you saying Rosalind is the reason the Barrier was weak enough for the Burned Ones to get through?" She was saying the Burned Ones had come for me, and I'd freed Rosalind and helped them do it. I'd done this. I'd ruined everything, twice over.

Dowling's silence was the only answer I needed. I barely had a chance to process before the terrible, bone-rattling rasp of a Burned One echoed outside the gates. A second rasp issued from outside the canteen. Two more from either side.

Dowling's expression turned into one I'd seen Sky wear often: a soldier's determination.

I had to tell her. "They're after me, you know."

"Yes. I didn't realize that at first. But I do now." Ms. Dowling turned the force of that soldierly determination onto me. "Which means it's my job to protect you."

I didn't want to be protected. I wanted to help. I gritted my teeth, looking around the castle. I could make this right.

"We're going to fight them, right? Rosalind told me how to fight them."

Ms. Dowling's lip curled. "Your actions are the reason the school is in danger, Bloom. I'd say you've done enough."

SPECIALIST

The rasps of Burned Ones echoed through the greenhouse. Riven clamped down on his rising panic as he distilled oils. Distilling had to be done with a steady hand. Terra would faint if she saw how badly Dane was grinding those herbs.

Riven confiscated Dane's pestle and mortar. He'd do it himself.

"Uh ... how are you so good with this?"

Dane sounded very surprised. Of course, Riven reflected. Dane didn't actually know a thing about him. He'd only seen what Riven was trying to be.

"Terra and I used to hang out a bunch here. I'll deny saying this, but ... she's not the worst," Riven admitted. I'm the worst. She was right about everything. "I might've led you astray this year."

He'd thought this would be his year. That he'd be cool, and skilled, and surrounded by admirers. No more doubting his place, no more insecurities.

Funny to think that Riven had actually been much happier last year. In the greenhouse, surrounded by stuff he was actually interested in, doing what he loved.

Yeah, that was real funny.

Riven poured the oil into the powder. Vapors rose, the correct color.

Terra would've been proud of him.

Oh wait, obviously she wouldn't, because he was an evil criminal.

Riven placed the concoction next to Beatrix's still, beautiful face.

When Riven glanced around, he saw Dane watching Beatrix inhale with worshipful intensity.

"You didn't," Dane breathed. "Beatrix is special."

Riven stared at Dane, confused more than anything. Was Dane gay, was he straight, was he just into awful people? If Dane liked girls, maybe Riven could find some way to deliver him to Terra. Dane would be safe then. Riven couldn't be saved. Nobody wanted him back, but perhaps Dane could be all right.

The world was upside down right now and monsters were coming to kill them all, and he wished he had even a shred of certainty.

Finally, he just asked who it was Dane wanted, and wasn't terribly surprised when Dane said, "Screw you."

He was very surprised when Beatrix said archly, "That sounds like an answer."

They both whipped around to see Beatrix stirring, and stretching as she sat up. It reminded Riven of the way she'd wake up in his bed, when he'd thought she was his girlfriend. When he was happy. And deluded.

"No need to fill me in. I could hear everything." She fixed them both with her dark eyes, unusually serious. "You two made the right choice.

When this is all over, you're going to want to be on our side."

Riven thought, panic fracturing his mind, I didn't make a choice! But he had, hadn't he? He'd helped Dane. He'd helped Beatrix. As usual, he'd made the wrong choice.

Wow, Terra should've tied Riven up with her vines when she had the chance.

MIND

Sam was pouring with sweat and shaking, black veins running under the surface of his skin. Musa watched, Terra beside her, as Professor Harvey injected the oil directly into Sam's forearm. The veins receded for only an instant, then returned like an oil-black tide.

"Why isn't the Zanbaq working?" Terra demanded.

Professor Harvey's brow was knit; Musa could feel his concentration and his worry. "It's a deep wound. There might be something else going on."

Harvey pulled bloody gauze from the wound. As he did, Sam screamed. His pain went through Musa's mind like a second scream, reinforcing the first.

"He's in pain. Help him."

"I'm doing all I can," said Professor Harvey.

He turned his attention on Musa. She felt the weight of his speculation, along with the weight of his eyes.

"But there is something you can do. You're a Mind Fairy. Feeling emotions is only a small part of your magic. You have a connection. You can take some of his pain."

"What?" Musa stammered. "How?"

"Instead of pushing it away? Bring it into you. Try it."

Musa reached out and took Sam's hand, focusing her magic on him. But then Sam screamed. Touching his mind was like touching a thorn. Musa pulled her magic instinctively away.

"I can't. I'm sorry."

Terra exclaimed, "You didn't even try."

"I said I can't, okay?" snarled Musa, overcome with shame, and terror for Sam, and dread for herself. She couldn't do it. She couldn't take it. She wished she could.

As Musa stumbled off, she saw Bloom watching with wide guilty eyes, like Bloom was the one who'd failed.

FIRE

The other Fire Fairies were assembled at the gates, saying that Queen Luna and her reinforcements wouldn't get here till tomorrow. Sam wouldn't last until tomorrow. If the gates didn't hold, none of us would last.

I'd been terribly wrong, but if Ms. Dowling thought I was going to stay still and do nothing when this was all my fault, she was wrong, too.

But I'd learned my lesson about one thing.

I headed away from the Fire Fairies and went to find Sky.

He was trying to carry a huge, heavy piece of timber alone, which was just like him. He paused at a barricaded door, lifting one side a little awkwardly, and I grabbed the other end to hold it in place. Time for truth. Time to be real.

"I should've told you what I was doing at the stone circle. I should've been honest with you like you were with me. I'm sorry."

Sky said, "Thank you."

We reinforced the barricade together. I took a deep breath. Time for even scarier honesty. "And that kiss? Sky, if you thought that was anything but genuine?"

"It's fine, Bloom. Whatever it was—"

He didn't finish. I didn't let him. Instead, I pulled him into another kiss. This one was warm until it was hot, burning like fire, real as magic. After we separated, I finally saw Sky's soldier-boy facade crack with a smile.

"If I say I still don't believe you ..." said Sky. "Will you do it again?"

I shared that smile and gloried at the feeling of connection restored between us. But that wasn't what I'd come to him for.

"What is it? You can tell me."

"Can I?"

It wasn't a real question, not this time. Right now, at this most desperate moment, all my painful doubts about who I could trust and who I should tell seemed resolved. Everything seemed so clear. Our smiles turned into mischievous grins, troublemakers in this together.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing," said Sky. "I'm here." But Sky wasn't the only mischief maker I needed in my life.

I went searching and found Aisha and Stella whispering in a corner of the courtyard together. They were talking about me.

"I know Bloom," said Aisha. "She won't sit around and do nothing.

Especially if she thinks all this is her fault." I grinned at Aisha's back. Hey, she did know me.

"If only her friend and roommate hadn't turned on her ..." Stella said with mournful malice.

"Really, you're still doing this?" Aisha snapped, and then sighed. "I feel bad, okay? Is that what you want me to say? I figured the fact that I was coming to you of all people would tell you that I'm sorry. What more do you want?"

Stella seemed to consider what she wanted.

"I suppose I was just enjoying the friendship high ground for once," she admitted. "It's not a view I normally get. All right, then. What do you think she's going to do?"

I decided to make my presence known. "Probably something reckless and a little crazy," I admitted.

The two of them turned to see me, standing in front of them. Not running off by myself.

"But for once," I told my friends, "I'm not gonna do it alone."

SPECIALIST

Sky engaged their lunch lady in conversation about herbal concoctions as Bloom, Aisha, and Stella sneaked by. He nodded at Bloom as she went, her hair the brightest thing in the dark night.

He hoped the nod conveyed, Good luck, girlfriend!

Well. Maybe girlfriend. He guessed they could determine the relationship if they survived the night.

He was thinking of how to excuse himself from the lunch lady when

Silva said, "Sky. A word."

Sky went over to where Silva was reinforcing a door, and quietly helped him. It had always felt reassuring to him, just being in Silva's presence, accomplishing tasks together. Everything was understood between them when they had to do their duty.

"You think it'll hold?" Sky asked.

"For a while," Silva said grimly. Then, in a voice so soft it sounded strange coming from him, "But I don't know how this night will end, Sky.

So ... I need you to know the truth about Aster Dell." "Bloom told me everything," Sky assured him.

"Aster Dell is where Andreas died," said Silva.

Okay, Bloom hadn't told him that. In fact, Bloom had never mentioned his father's name to him. Everyone else said it over and over again. Andreas of Eraklyon, the great hero.

But how could his father have died at Aster Dell? They'd ambushed their enemies at Aster Dell. Nobody would've had a chance to attack Andreas.

"How is that possible? You said my dad died in battle. Fighting."

"He did," said Silva. "I just didn't tell you who he was fighting."

Silva told him now, in this night of chaos and strange light. In a slow and halting voice, Silva told how he'd realized what Rosalind was doing at Aster Dell. That the people in it had to be evacuated. He'd needed to tell Ms. Dowling and Professor Harvey.

Andreas, loyal to Rosalind, had stood in Silva's way with a blade in hand. So Silva had cut him down.

Silva had believed he'd be able to warn the others in time. He'd thought wrong.

Sky tried not to let his voice tremble as he said, "You told me my dad was a hero."

Suddenly, he understood better how Bloom had felt, with all the adults around her lying.

Silva answered haltingly, "He saved countless lives before that day. Killed more Burned Ones than any of us. But he was ... flawed, Sky. We all are."

"Flawed?" Sky snarled. "That's the best you can do? He killed hundreds of people and you killed him. And all I get is that you're both flawed?"

"Sky ..."

"What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

Sky's entire world was collapsing around him. Who was he supposed to be, if he couldn't be his father, and he couldn't be Silva? There was nothing to be proud of and no solid place to stand.

That was why Silva had always mentored him so grimly. It hadn't ever been love, not for Sky, not for his dad. Silva had only raised him out of duty and guilt.

He'd never had anything close to a dad.

Silva's voice was sharp. "You grow up, and you accept it. And you focus on what matters."

As if in answer to Silva, there came another loud rasp, like a huge alligator's scales scraping against the granite walls of the castle. Then there came a slam to the door, with such shattering force Sky wondered if it would break down.

Silva said, "They're here."

EARTH

Musa was sitting alone in a corner of the courtyard, headphones on. Her back to the carnage. As Terra approached, she was reminded of how Musa used to ignore her in their own room, and she got even more furious.

"What the hell?" Terra demanded of Musa's back.

But Musa didn't turn, so Terra pulled her headphones off.

"You can't run away. He's in pain. And my dad is trying, but—" When Musa turned around, Terra saw the abject panic on her face.

"Please just leave me alone," Musa begged.

Seeing Musa's panic was like a slap in the face, reminding Terra that there were people and pain in the world besides Sam's. But would she really be helping Musa, if she just let her sit here in a corner ignoring the world?

Terra hesitated.

"I know you care about him," she began, gently.

Musa was shaking. "That's the problem! I can't feel it. I can't feel somebody I care about die. Not again."

"What? Musa ..."

"My mom died last year, Terra. And I was with her. I felt the moment it happened. Felt everything she felt." Musa was fighting back tears as she spoke. "It's why I can't talk about my family. And why I can't be with Sam now. I can't feel it again. Please don't make me feel it again."

Musa seemed on the verge of a full-fledged panic attack. Terra realized this was a dead end. All she could do was be kind to Musa, or not.

"Okay. It's okay," Terra promised.

Terra pulled the smaller girl into a hug, and felt Musa draw in a shaky breath, and then a calmer one.

Into Musa's hair, Terra made another promise. "And I'm not gonna let him die."

Her dad wasn't succeeding. Musa couldn't try. So Terra had to make a move of her own.

Terra patted Musa gently, gave her back her headphones, and then whirled and headed for the barricades where Silva and Sky stood. The castle doors were echoing with the impact of blows. Fairies across the courtyard were clutching their weapons. There was the sound of shattering glass from somewhere, far away.

Standing at the doors, Silva said, "They won't hold much longer."

Great, thought Terra. She had to get to the Burned One that had hurt her brother, and kill it so Sam would be well. She pulled at the barricade, trying to bring it down.

"Terra!"

Sky grabbed her by her shoulder.

Terra gave him a look of annoyance. "We're hiding when we should be fighting."

"We'll fight when we have to," Headmaster Silva snapped. "We can't put lives in jeopardy."

Terra had heard quite enough out of the adults today.

"They already are. The only way to help them is to kill those things." "That's not as easy as you might—"

Silva didn't get a chance to finish. He was interrupted by a part of the barricade falling inches from Terra's face.

Terra backed up a step and watched as the barricade came apart before their eyes.

All across the castle there were burned arms worming through cracks in the walls. Timber was falling to the ground. The awful rasping was loud as thunder. Through the broken barricades, there were glimpses of Burned Ones, snarling, reaching, their awful eyes glistening. A Burned One's arm burst through the wood, clawed, grasping for them.

There was a crash as the glass roof fell in, a Burned One hurtling from the sky. In another direction, flames cast by a defending Fire Fairy swept the floor in a destructive wave. The burned hand tried to seize Terra.

Then the Burned One's arm was withdrawn. Shadows skittered at the edges of their vision, and the night went quiet as the rasps stopped. Terra looked around, dazed.

"What just happened?"

A tense stillness settled over the space. Dowling walked to the center of the courtyard. The rasps had almost entirely died away. Silva went toward her, moving fast.

"They're leaving," Dowling told him. "Going outside."

"They're all moving together, like they're following something," Silva reported, his brow furrowed.

Their headmistress's cool control abruptly broke as realization struck.

"Where is Bloom?" Ms. Dowling demanded.

LIGHT

Stella, Aisha, and Bloom emerged from the passageway into the cold night air. It felt just like sneaking away from her mother, shivering and alone. One part of Stella wanted to go back to Ms. Dowling, or to wait for her mom and the army, or to cling to Sky, to ask someone, anyone, to protect her and solve her problems.

Only that didn't work.

It was a princess's duty to protect her people, and Stella wanted to be someone who helped and didn't hurt her friends. She wanted Alfea and those inside it to be safe. She wanted to be as brave as Bloom, who was so determined to protect everyone from the threat she might pose.

Bloom glanced back toward the lights of the school, and Stella wondered if Bloom's nerve would break. Stella wouldn't blame her if it did.

"Come on," Bloom told them, brave as a knight. "We have to make sure the Burned Ones are following me."

They headed on into the dark that Stella had always feared, but Stella didn't feel so afraid now. For the first time, Stella wasn't alone in the dark.

EARTH

If the Burned Ones were chasing Bloom, Terra had to go after them and hunt them down. That much was clear. Kat the Specialist grabbed a weapon and nodded to Terra. They moved forward together.

Her dad's voice behind her said: "Terra, do not go out there."

Terra steeled herself to resist his appeal. "I know you want to protect me, Dad, that you think I'm just a kid, but I'm not. I have to do something."

"You're right," her father said, and that made Terra turn, startled. "I need your help."

When Terra saw the fear in her father's eyes, she ran back with him.

It seemed only a handful of seconds before Terra was in a fight, but not the fight she'd anticipated. She was fighting for her brother's life. Sam was screaming in agony. Bloodied lumps of gauze littered the table. Her father picked up and wielded the forceps as Terra threw herself at Sam, desperate to stanch the bleeding.

"I found a splinter near his heart. A piece of the Burned One. That's why it's still spreading. If it gets much farther—" Her father clearly couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

"How do we get it out?" whispered Terra.

Her dad said, "I'm trying, but if I accidentally tap it ..."

Her father's hand trembled as he reached the forceps into the wound.

Terra bit her lip hard. Every time Sam screamed, her dad shook. Sam whimpered, "It hurts." "Dad," Terra urged.

"I need you to fight it, Sam," their dad begged. "Try and stay still for me."

Sam clenched his eyes shut, but even closing his eyes seemed to make pain rip through him.

"I can't!" Sam screamed.

Terra shouted over the screams, "Dad, we're gonna lose him."

She couldn't bear to look into Sam's face, so she was staring down at Sam's hand, clenching and unclenching desperately in the air. She kept worrying the hand would go limp.

Then another hand slipped into Sam's.

Suddenly, the thrashing stopped. Sam's eyes opened, and Terra saw his gaze had turned pure violet with mind magic. Musa stood over him, her own eyes glowing vividly. Tears were streaming down her face.

Sam said weakly, "Musa ..."

Musa murmured to him, "I think maybe it's your turn to get some peace from me."

Musa squeezed his hand, and then gasped in pain. They were sharing it, Terra realized, and shared between two people the pain might be bearable.

Enough to let her father do what he must.

"Are you okay?" whispered Terra, almost as terrified as she was relieved.

Musa, so controlled and aloof, was weeping openly. "Just do what you need to do."

With that, Dad dived back in. Sam and Musa seemed lost in their own private world of shared suffering. Terra could see Musa struggling, but she didn't break eye contact.

There was nobody for her dad to turn to, except Terra. He stared at her pleadingly.

"I can't get it," her dad said helplessly.

He sounded as young as Sam, as young and uncertain as she was. But Terra knew how to be certain for other people, when they needed her. "Yeah, Dad, you can," Terra told him. "I know you can."

Her father drew in a deep breath. His hands stopped. With one final attempt, Sam and Musa both gasped.

The black veins retreated as her father slid out the huge splinter. They all breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief couldn't last.

Her father said quietly, "He's okay for now. But it's still severe. He won't be out of the woods until the Burned One who attacked him is killed."

FIRE

Aisha and Stella and I made our stand behind the school, in the cleared-out Bastion area. Aisha eyed the shimmering surface of the waters.

"I can use the water from the pond," offered Aisha.

Stella was looking at me with what truly appeared to be concern. "My mom will be here soon. With an actual army. You don't have to do this,

Bloom."

This was my fault. My mind was made up.

"She won't be here in time, Stella."

I looked out into the darkness of the forest. A rasp echoed, under the leaves and drifting toward the sky.

"The Burned Ones are after me. They've always been after me."

In the depths of the forest, I thought I could see Burned Ones slipping between trees. Shadows, moving with terrible speed. Headed for their target.

"If I can connect with them like Rosalind said? I can stop them."

I tried to keep my voice steely. But underneath that, I knew both of them could sense my fear.

"But to do that ..." I swallowed. "I have to draw on more magic than I ever have before. I don't know what's going to happen when I do."

"It's okay," Aisha told me steadily. "I'll make sure we're safe. And that you are, too."

"You won't see us, but we'll be right here," murmured Stella.

Aisha took one of my hands. Stella took the other. Aisha, water to my fire. And Stella, who could hide Aisha away from our enemies.

I looked from one face to the other and found strength.

"Rosalind wants me to believe that she's the person I need to get through this. She's not."

Then, I took a breath and turned to the clearing. Aisha and Stella retreated away from me. When I turned back, by all appearances, they were gone.

I took a few steps into the clearing.

Let it come, then. Everything I was afraid of. Let me be everything I ever feared or desired.

Water swirled from the lake, Aisha's magic pulling it out in a silvery stream that moved in the air like a wind current. It encircled me in a curtain of water, a diamond-bright cocoon that wrapped around me, isolating me from the world. Suspended in there, I felt weightless, as though I could fly. Water and fire. Oddly, there at the end of my journey, I didn't think of Rosalind's words or even Ms. Dowling's. I thought of my mom, how we used to play pretend princesses in a castle, and how she would sing me peppy cheerleading songs.

Close your eyes and open your heart!

Okay, Mom. I closed my eyes.

I felt flames come to dancing life at the very tips of my fingers, encircling my hands.

I felt sparks coruscate up along my legs as my feet lifted off the ground.

And out of my back, I felt tendrils of fire escape, unfurling like a flower made of flame.

Finally, I opened my eyes. The water curtain evaporated in front of my gaze, raindrops melting in the air. I burned brightly and felt the night air ruffle my bright wings.

My feet touched down on the ground, and I turned my lambent gaze toward the forest.

The Burned Ones were coming for me. I lifted a finger to beckon them on, and saw a magenta flame spring from the fingertip. The flame seemed to summon an echo of fire in the Burned Ones' chests. I could see a light in each of them, a strange and terrible light. This must be what Professor Harvey had called a Cinder. But why could I see them? Why did the Burned Ones suddenly look so strange to me?

"What are you?" I whispered as they leaped through the trees at me. I ran to meet them.

The closest struck out at me, and I lifted my hand. The fire slipped from its chest to me, and as the Cinder left it, the Burned One's charred shape wavered and changed.

He was dead on the ground, and the other Burned Ones were attacking. They seemed almost slow-moving to me, as though they were out of their element and I was in mine. I lifted my hand and light called to light, the Cinders a trail of torches as their magic came to me.

The Burned Ones fell all around me, like leaves in the forest. Human bodies hit the ground, and at last I stood in a circle of the dead.

The Burned Ones were gone. My school was safe. I'd done it.

I turned and saw Ms. Dowling on the edge of the clearing. She was looking at me the way I'd always wanted her to: with pride.

"Well done, Bloom," she said.

I nodded. But then, faster than my magic had risen, the flames receded. Darkness began to flicker at the edges of my vision, and I felt my knees give way as I toppled over. Ms. Dowling ran across the clearing, and caught me in her arms.

Aisha and Stella rushed up out of the darkness.

"What's wrong?" Aisha demanded.

Stella's voice was fearful. "Is she ...?"

"She's okay. Just weak." Ms. Dowling looked from Aisha's face to

Stella's. "Maybe you girls want to help bring her back to her room?"

As they took my arms over their shoulders, I managed to look at each of them. Stella, beautiful and haughty. Aisha, tranquil and steadfast. Both of them right here, determined, and afraid for me. Holding me steady, as they had been all night.

"We did it," I whispered.

"Yeah." Aisha's voice as warm and strong as her shoulder supporting me. "We did."

MIND

Musa was sitting curled around Sam, feeling the agony batter at both of them like black waves trying to tear them apart, carry them away and drown them.

Then suddenly, the tide receded.

Musa blinked, trying to clear her vision. "His pain. It's leaving." She started to smile. "I think they got it."

Sam squeezed Musa's hand, gazing up at her. They locked eyes. There was no joking around between them right now. No banter. Just gratitude in Sam's eyes, deep and sweet as the beginning of something true.

"Thank you," he murmured.

Musa nodded, then looked at the Harvey family, feeling the waves of gratitude come at her from all sides. Tears welled in her eyes. Musa blinked hastily to hide them. She wasn't the emotional type. She never had been. It wasn't safe.

Professor Harvey turned to Terra, his face shining with pride.

He said, "Yes. Thank you, both."

Terra glowed, but it was too much for Musa. This felt like another sea trying to swallow her, too many feelings all around. She began to turn away, until Terra put her arm around her roommate, and stopped her.

She held Musa gently in place, for just long enough. The sea of emotions didn't drown Musa, as she'd feared. The relief and joy surrounding them didn't feel like struggling in dark waters at all, but like stepping out into the light.

"Nope," said Terra into her ear. "You have to feel the good stuff, too."

And to Musa's own astonishment, she relaxed into her best friend's arms, and did.

SPECIALIST

In these times of trouble and murder, Riven found consolation in one of his few constants: Messing with Dane's head was fun.

"So wait. 'Fighting like a girl'? 'Throwing like a girl'? 'Running like a girl'?"

"All. Problematic," Dane informed him.

And what about letting killers loose while holding grudges against an innocent girl who really liked you, Dane? Riven thought. Is that problematic?

But it was kind of sweet, what an earnest dumbass Dane could be.

From her position by the greenhouse window, Beatrix spoke up, her voice lazily amused. "He's messing with you, Dane. Riven understands contemporary gender linguistics much better than he lets on. A cute act, though."

Riven shot Beatrix a smile. She got him, he thought. Nobody else did, but she did. She thought he was smart, and that he was cute. That felt as if she liked him.

Then he transferred the smile to Dane. Yeah, they were kind of awful, but so was Riven. Their weird gang was reunited, and in the midst of horror, it felt pretty good.

When Beatrix spoke, her tone was warmer than usual. "This term ... It didn't suck, boys. Thanks for that."

The lights flickered on, and the conversation went silent. Riven glanced at Dane.

"We should get back," he said.

"We should," Dane said.

Nobody moved. If they left, it was over. Riven would be alone, with all his fear and all his regrets.

Only then Beatrix said, "Rosalind will be here soon. Hear her out. She and my dad have a plan. You two can be a part of it. This ... doesn't have to end."

This. So Beatrix thought there really was a "this." It hadn't all been an act. There was something between them. And that meant there was something to lose.

Dane said, in tones of revelation, "Hang on. Your dad was the one who sent you in here?"

"Technically, he's not my dad, but he'll know what to—"

Then, the door swung open. An older blonde woman stood at the greenhouse's main entrance. She was wearing an unsettling smile. Riven had been a Specialist long enough to recognize an air of command.

Beatrix breathed, "Rosalind."

Rosalind. Yay. The mastermind behind the no-doubt-evil plan Beatrix was talking about.

"You remember me," said Rosalind the mastermind. "Good."

She eyed Riven and Dane with a haughty air, all who the hell are they?

Riven eyed her back, like, who the hell are you, lady?

He didn't say it. This lady had intensely unbalanced vibes. Like if she was fifty years younger, Sky would try to date her. But then Beatrix said, "They're friends. Both of them." That sounded nice. It sounded real.

Rosalind's eyes glowed, and Riven felt her magic like a torch shining into all the darkest corners of his soul. Eventually Rosalind nodded, as though they passed muster.

Guess that meant Riven's soul was pretty dark.

"Always nice to have friends," said Rosalind. "I bet they wanna know what happens next?"

Rosalind smiled, a slow smile that seemed somehow both warm as sunshine and cold as a snake. Riven wasn't sure he wanted to know what came next at all.

FIRE

As Stella helped me into my room, Aisha pulled down my covers and pointed imperiously. I crawled into bed just in time for Terra to enter with soothing tea. Musa was following behind. She did not have soothing tea.

I had to double-check. "And you're sure Sam is okay?"

Terra beamed at me over the teacup. "Yep. Thanks to you and Musa."

Musa shot her a fond glance. "Please. You should've seen Terra. She'll be operating on all of us in a week. As practice. Even if we don't need it."

"I will say, I'm a bit disappointed I missed the wings," Terra admitted.

"They were like full-on, Tinker Bell–style?" "Much cooler than that."

High praise, coming from Stella.

"Cooler? I like Tinker Bell," Terra said wistfully.

"Of course you do," Stella murmured.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Mom and Dad.

"You rest," said Aisha. "I'll cover. It will be my one allocated lie of the month."

As Aisha grabbed the phone and walked out of the room, I heard her voice go peppy. Mom would like that.

"Mr. and Mrs. Peters, hey! What? No, Bloom's fine. Yeah, it's been a rough week. Exams are killer."

I looked around at my friends, all around me. Their faces smiling. They were happy and safe. They were with me. I wasn't alone.

I let my eyes drift shut.

SPECIALIST

Bloom had done it. Sky had known she could.

He just wished he knew what to do with himself.

He sat outside the school, in the grass before the main entrance. The stars moved. The sky lightened. The sun rose. The gold-touched castle standing against the blue sky was the same, he knew that, but it didn't feel the same. Alfea was the only home he'd ever known, but now it was tainted.

His hours-long daze was broken by Bloom's voice. "There you are."

She sat in the grass beside him and leaned in a bit. Letting her shoulder touch his. It would've been nice, if he hadn't felt a million miles away.

"I heard a rumor you went full fairy last night," he said.

"Was it a good rumor or a bad one?" Bloom mused. "Actually, I don't care. Whatever people think, it was the first time I felt like myself. Totally myself." She added, softly, "I belong here."

Sky looked over at her. Unlike his school, unlike the world, Bloom made sense to him. She didn't look lost anymore. She'd found herself, as he'd always been sure she would.

"You do," Sky murmured.

He just wasn't certain he could say the same thing about himself.

Bloom's voice went suddenly sharp. "Are you wearing the same clothes you were wearing last night?"

Her gaze stopped being dreamy. She focused on his face.

"Sky. What happened?"

She'd been so happy when she came out to meet him, glowing like the sunrise, feeling she belonged here. He didn't want to be the dark cloud on her horizon.

"I'm fine. I promise."

Then he motioned up the driveway, where Dowling stood. Providing the perfect excuse.

"Looks like somebody wants to chat." Personally, Sky was done talking.

FIRE

Another interview in Ms. Dowling's office. I'd slammed my way in here demanding truth so often, it was slightly weird now that we were trying to be polite to each other.

"How are you feeling?" asked Ms. Dowling.

"Bit rough. But I'll live."

Ms. Dowling nodded. "You drew on a great deal of magic. I'm sure you'll be drained for a few days, and—"

That was enough pretending. Maybe Ms. Dowling's punctilious soul would be horrified, but I had to get this out.

"I was a brat. I keep thinking about what I said to you last night."

Without Ms. Dowling, I wouldn't have Aisha or Sky or Terra or Musa or Stella. I wouldn't have Alfea or magic. I wrestled with my guilt at how I'd treated her. I knew now she'd been doing her best. I knew now how hard it was, to do your best.

"You've been incredible to me. You found me when I was lost. Brought me to a place I was safe. Gave me guidance. Surrounded me with good people. And I've been—"

I'd been so ungrateful.

Ms. Dowling looked a little like Rosalind, as though perhaps she'd modeled herself on Rosalind long ago. Maybe that was why I'd trusted Rosalind too fast, wanting her to be everything I'd decided Ms. Dowling couldn't be for me. Ms. Dowling's blonde hair was a shade darker than Rosalind's, her eyes dark instead of Rosalind's intense blue. She wasn't Rosalind, who glittered like costume jewelry. Ms. Dowling was real gold.

Ms. Dowling smiled, sudden and bright and true. As though from now on, we would be true to each other. "It's forgiven." I believed her.

"Do you ... can we ... hug?"

It just came out, an awkward and probably ridiculous request. Cool, aloof Headmistress Dowling would be horrified by me as she usually was.

Only Ms. Dowling nodded, stepped forward, and took me into her arms. The first time I'd seen Ms. Dowling she'd been surrounded by light. She'd looked like a revelation, but the light had been cold. This hug was warm. I put my arms around her and held on tight.

We would understand each other more, and get along better, from now on.

She would be my mentor, and Alfea would be where I belonged, from now on.

Except there was one thing I needed to do first.

FIRE

My home in California was in better shape than the last time I'd seen it.

Everything mended, with time.

My dad was very surprised to see me. All he could think to do was yell for my mom.

"Bloom," Mom said as soon as she saw me. "Why are you home? Are you in trouble?"

My mother had no idea of the trouble I'd been in, or the trouble I suspected I'd be getting into in the future.

"I'll explain everything," I declared. "I just need to ask one quick question."

I gestured to my friends.

"Hi," murmured Aisha.

"Hello," Stella intoned regally.

"So good to meet you!" Terra gushed.

"'Sup," drawled Musa.

My parents' eyes went wide.

"Can my friends crash here for the weekend?" I asked.

Mom's face was baffled, but brightening. I could see the my-daughterhas-gone-demented worry battling with the my-daughter-has-a-social-life! joy. "Um. Sure."

And then I asked my friends to go wait in my room, while I sat down with my parents and told them the truth. About what I was, and what I'd done to them. About their first daughter, whom they had lost without knowing it.

She would have been human, that first daughter. She would never have set fires, or set off for strange lands. But she couldn't possibly have loved them more than I did.

I was too scared to look at my mom. When I finally managed to do so, she was staring down at the burn scars on her arms.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as the tears spilled down my face.

I felt as though I'd been waiting for months to say that. To cry.

And just like every time in my whole childhood, when I cried, Mom was right there. She put her arms around me and held me tight, and I knew I was hers, and I knew I was home.

We talked for a lot longer. And my friends and I talked later, up in my room.

The next morning, I came downstairs, and my parents welcomed my friends properly. Mom let Dad order pizza that evening, and even ate some herself, since it was a special day. Mom had always wanted me to have enough friends to throw a pizza party.

I'd read in poems, back in my old school, that fairies granted wishes, and fairyland was called the Land of Heart's Desire.

All my wishes had come true, even though none had come true in a way I expected. Still, I got to go home, with my new friends. Now I'd embraced the truth of myself, I could have everything I'd always wanted.

Maybe fairyland was the Land of Heart's Desire after all.

SPECIALIST

Sky helped Silva carry weaponry through the shattered detritus of their school. The windows were smashed, the gates torn down, but at least the armory would be in order.

"Where's Riven?" asked Silva.

"Probably getting stoned somewhere with Dane."

That was all Riven did these days. Apparently, that was what he'd been doing on the night the Burned Ones attacked. Bloom and her friends were off being heroes, and what was Sky's friend doing?

On the other hand, Riven had seen how screwed up Alfea was way before Sky had. Perhaps Riven was the smart one.

Silva gave Sky a direct look. Sky had always thought that look of Silva's was so honest.

"One day I hope you see that everything I did was for your benefit. The world is not perfect, Sky. It's not black-and-white. Heroes and villains.

Good and evil."

Sky asked, despairing, "Then why did you spend my entire life convincing me otherwise?"

He wanted to ask, Did you ever love me at all, but he'd never said anything like that to Silva in his life. He didn't get the chance to ask now.

Down the driveway came a retinue of SUVs, and Queen Luna's Rolls.

Silva approached the vehicles with his brow furrowed. "They shouldn't be here. We told them the attack was over."

He strode toward Queen Luna's retinue, confident and fearless as always. Silva stopped dead when the queen's guards all aimed their bows, directly at him.

"What the hell is going on?" Sky demanded.

Queen Luna emerged from the Rolls. "Saúl Silva, it's with a heavy heart that I must place you under arrest."

Her heart might be heavy, but her voice was light as bells.

"For what?" Silva asked roughly.

"The attempted murder of Andreas of Eraklyon," Luna responded.

One word, and it was like a stone thrown at Sky's whole life.

Overturning everything.

"Attempted?" Sky repeated.

The door of a truck opened, and a man climbed out. Sky knew his face from a hundred pictures, knew him from a hundred stories Silva had told.

"Hello, Sky," said his father.

There wasn't much chance for an emotional family reunion. Luna ordered her soldiers to enter Alfea and put matters to rights.

One such matter was Silva. Sky's Specialist Headmaster seemed still in a daze when they snapped the handcuffs on his wrists, and Sky was ordered to stand down with the rest of the Specialists.

Sky had to watch as soldiers flooded his home, reorganizing everything.

He had to watch as they took Silva away in cuffs.

And the whole time his father stood there. His father was alive, and he'd never bothered to contact Sky once.

Beside Andreas, leaning in toward him as though Andreas was her father, stood Beatrix. The girl who'd killed someone and fled the school.

Now Beatrix was giving Riven and Dane a smug smile.

Though shock made everything seem very distant and unreal, Sky managed to think, Bloom. I'm so glad you're not here. Don't come back.

Alfea isn't safe. Not anymore.

Perhaps it never really had been.