Glimmer stood between them, still hiding behind her cloak and hood as she folded her arms and said to Lady Gisela, “You haven’t answered my question. Would you seriously go back on your word?”

Sophie tried to guess how Lady Gisela would answer—but it wasn’t an easy question.

A “no” canceled her threat.

But a “yes” would make Tam even angrier.

“The thing about being the leader of a movement,” Lady Gisela eventually told Glimmer, “is that you have to be willing to do anything to further the cause. Alliances. Bargains. These things only work as long as they’re useful. Once they’re not… you make the necessary adjustments.”

Another weighty silence followed.

And this time Tam was the one to break it.

“See what I mean now?” he asked Glimmer.

Glimmer nodded. “Yeah, I think I do.…”

Lady Gisela blew out a breath, shaking her head. “I’ll deal with you two later.”

And that seemed to be the end of it as Lady Gisela turned away to pace.

Until Glimmer called after her, “The thing is… I don’t think you will.”

Lady Gisela spun back, but Glimmer had already grabbed both of Tam’s wrists, and her palms flared with a golden light so bright, Sophie had to squeeze her eyes as tight as she could.

It took several blinks for her vision to focus—and then…

There was Tam.

Teeth clenched.

Arms raised.

Wrists bare.

His bonds lay broken at his feet—and the dwarf pinning Sophie lunged for him.

Glimmer whipped an orb of glaring blue light toward the dwarf, and the beast burrowed into the ground to shield his eyes.

And Lady Gisela was fumbling in her pockets, likely searching for a weapon—but a bolt of shadows crashed into her chest, sending her tumbling head over feet, again and again, until she slammed face-first against the wall.

“That one was for you, Keefe,” Tam said, turning to where Keefe still lay crumpled on the floor. “And this one’s for me.”

Everything went black.

And then there was only sound.

Crunching and cracking.

Snarls and skittering and rustling.

Grunts and huffs and footsteps.

And Sophie could only lie there, thrashing against her bonds and worrying every nearby noise was a dwarf, come to drag her away.

“Here,” Glimmer said, making Sophie shriek as she flashed a silver orb and appeared beside her, holding a dagger.

She reached for Sophie’s bonds, and Sophie had to remind herself, This is the girl who set Tam free, so she wouldn’t panic.

But… it was also the girl who’d turned Tam into Lady Gisela’s little Shade pet in the first place.

And the dagger Glimmer was using was probably the same one she’d used to threaten Flori.…

So Sophie felt a lot better once the bonds were gone and the knife was safely tucked away.

“Thank you,” she murmured, wishing she could throw back Glimmer’s hood and see who she was dealing with. For all she knew, this could be another trick—another trap. Someone pretending to be loyal and helpful and setting them up for a future betrayal. But her options were limited. The only choice right now was to take the risk and hope it wouldn’t blow up in their faces, because what mattered most was, “I need to get Keefe out of here.”

Glimmer nodded. “Tam’s making sure no dwarves carry him away. And I can help you get closer. But without a dwarf’s help, I’m not sure how to get you to the path we used.”

“Well… I guess I’ll have to take him through the King’s Path,” Sophie decided. “And run really, really fast.”

And find her way through the maze without anyone to guide her…

And fight through the nightmares and hallucinations without losing herself…

“I guess that’s the only option,” Glimmer agreed, sounding even less optimistic than Sophie was trying to be.

Glimmer snapped her fingers, and her silver orb drifted to Sophie, hovering over her shoulder like her own personal moon.

“Follow my light, and it will guide you through the safest path.”

“You’re not coming with me?” Sophie asked her.

Glimmer shook her head. “I’ll stay here and guard your friends until they’re conscious.”

Sophie flinched, wishing she hadn’t forgotten how many other people needed her.

And she didn’t love the idea of leaving everyone’s safety in the hands of a stranger wearing a Neverseen cloak.

But Sophie was in one problem at a time mode, and Keefe was her current project.

So she followed Glimmer’s light across the cracked floor, barely missing several dwarves who tried to tackle her along the way. And when she made it to Tam, he’d already hefted Keefe over his shoulder.

“We’ll do the teary friend-reunion thing later,” he told her as he transferred Keefe to her arms—and it took Sophie a few tries to find the best position to hold him and channel extra strength to her muscles.

“Going to try for the King’s Path?” Tam asked.

“Unless you have a better idea,” Sophie said, holding out one last hope.

But Tam shook his head. “I wish I did. Especially since I’m pretty sure King Enki’s waiting on the other side of the door. I keep hearing thumping—don’t you?”

She hadn’t noticed it before, with all the other chaos, but now that he’d mentioned it…

There was a noticeable THUMP!

“Great,” Sophie mumbled. “Well… I’ll try levitating over them.”

“That could work,” Tam agreed, neither of them wanting to admit how impossible the plan was. “And if he catches you, we can try trading you for Lady Gisela. Maybe he’d go along, since it sounded like she’d made him other promises.”

“So Keefe’s mom is still…?” she started to ask, not sure how to word it.

“She’s alive,” Tam told her. “For now.”

And there was really nothing else to say to that.

THUMP!

“Okay,” Sophie said, “time to take on an army of angry dwarves! This day just keeps getting better and better.”

“Glimmer’s going to blast them with light when you open the door. It should blind them for a few seconds. And yes, you can trust her,” he added before she could ask.

Sophie nodded, glad he was willing to acknowledge how shaky their alliance felt. “I’m guessing you know more about her? Like… why she was with the Neverseen?”

And why Lady Gisela had said that Glimmer was more loyal to their cause than anyone she’d ever met…

“I do,” Tam agreed. “I’ll tell you more later. For now, I’ll try to keep all the dwarves away from you as you head to the door.”

“Thank you.” Sophie glanced at the pale, unconscious guy in her arms, reminding herself why they were sticking with this disastrous plan.

Keefe’s eyes were still open, staring at nothing.

His chest was still rising and falling too fast.

THUMP!

“Okay, here goes!” she said, and took off for the door, trying to pace herself, knowing she had a long journey ahead.

And the first challenge turned out to be the door itself.