“I guess,” Sophie said, “but… why go through all that stress for this? It’s not like they’re going to run into a lot of gorgodons in the wild.”

“No,” Edaline agreed. “But I’m sure there’s a reason.”

“So… you’re okay with Wynn and Luna hanging out in the gorgodon’s enclosure, then?” Sophie had to ask.

“Absolutely not!” Grady said behind them, and Sophie wondered how long he’d been back inside. “The gnomes are wrapping the cage with a second layer of wire as we speak, following a new pattern to cover different spaces and gaps. And when they’re done with that, I asked them to add a third layer in a third pattern, all of which should close off whatever weak spot the twins used to slip through today. But just to be safe, I’ve also asked Bo and Flori to keep an eye on the area as much as they can, to make sure we’re not missing something. Silveny and Greyfell can be as permissive as they want to be—but I’m not letting anything happen to those babies on my watch.”

Sophie definitely agreed.

Which was why she dragged herself back outside and spent the rest of the first part of the afternoon trying to get Wynn and Luna to make a new “friend” with one of the other, safer creatures living in Havenfield’s pastures.

They weren’t interested in the verminions, which Sophie couldn’t blame them for. The giant purple rodents were particularly curmudgeonly—and had very large fangs.

And the mammoths and mastodons could far too easily trample the tiny alicorns, so Sophie steered them away from those.

She also didn’t introduce them to any of the creepy giant bug things, since they gave her the heebie-jeebies.

Which really only left her top choice: Verdi—Havenfield’s permanent resident. Sure, the neon green, fluffy T. rex struggled occasionally with her vegetarian diet. But Verdi and Sophie had been through enough together that Sophie knew Verdi would obey her command not to harm the alicorns. And Wynn and Luna did seem to enjoy swooping around Verdi’s head until she let out one of her mighty roars.

But as soon as Sophie left them alone to play, Wynn and Luna raced off, heading straight for the gorgodon’s enclosure.

“I know that look,” Marella’s familiar voice said from somewhere off to Sophie’s left. “That’s your I want to strangle someone look.”

“You’re not wrong,” Sophie admitted, turning to face her pale, pixielike friend, who stood smirking at her while playing with a couple of the braids scattered throughout her long blond hair.

And Marella wasn’t alone.

Linh was with her, looking fiercer than usual in a fitted orange tunic, with her shiny black hair pulled back into a severe bun. She’d wrapped the strands in a way that left her trademark silver-tipped ends fanned out around the base of her neck. And her silver-flecked eyes were rimmed in dark liner that winged up at the corners.

But it was the third girl who Sophie really hadn’t been expecting.

The last time she’d seen Maruca, her dark hair had been straightened. But now it hung in long, gorgeous dreadlocks, half of which were pulled into a complicated twist on top of her head. She still had a streak of blue in the middle, which made her turquoise eyes pop—though she’d also lined them with a shimmering gold liner that glowed perfectly against her rich brown skin. And her full lips were painted the same deep fuchsia as her silk tunic.

But Maruca didn’t smile when her gaze met Sophie’s. Instead, her jaw set with enough determination that Sophie tried to come up with somewhere else—anywhere else—she needed to be Right. That. Second.

Sophie hadn’t forgotten the promise she’d made to Wylie to keep his cousin out of the Black Swan.

She just also hadn’t been smart enough to plan what she’d say whenever Maruca turned up to make her request.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” Maruca asked, in a tone that was somehow both friendly and firm.

“Of course she does,” Marella answered before Sophie could respond, batting her huge ice blue eyes. “Sophie may not spend as much time with us as she spends with her other friends, but she’d never ignore us—especially when we’ve made the effort to stop by for a visit.”

“I wouldn’t,” Sophie agreed, raising her eyebrows in a way that hopefully made it clear to Marella that she meant it. “So… what do you guys need?”

“Oh, Linh and I are just here so Maruca doesn’t wimp out,” Marella told her, rolling up the sleeves of her white, lacy tunic—which was much crisper than Sophie would’ve expected. Everything Marella wore tended to look like it had spent a significant amount of time on the floor.

“And we wanted to cuddle the baby alicorns!” Linh added, her cheeks turning their usual soft pink tone as her gaze shifted toward the direction that Wynn and Luna had run off.

“Don’t be fooled by their cuteness,” Sophie warned. “They’re little, sparkly, flying monsters.”

“Is that why you look like you’ve been getting your butt kicked in tackle bramble for the last few hours?” Marella asked, and Sophie’s face burned as she realized she was still covered in grass and mud and who knew what else, thanks to her wrestle session with Wynn and Luna—which really wasn’t fair, considering how perfect and put together Marella, Linh, and Maruca all looked.

“Let’s just say that babysitting twin alicorns isn’t as fun as it sounds,” Sophie told them, making a few halfhearted swipes at the grime on her tunic. There really wasn’t much of a point—showering and changing would be the only actual solution. Best she could do was comb her fingers through the worst of the tangles in her hair.

“Well then, you deserve a break!” Linh told her. “I’ll take it from here!” She called Wynn’s and Luna’s names and ran off to find them.

“That girl sure loves animals,” Marella said, shaking her head as she watched Linh disappear around a bend. “I caught her talking to her murcat the other day—and not, like, ‘Are you hungry, Princess Purryfins?’ which I could sorta understand. It was like a full-on conversation.”

“Um. Hang on. She named her murcat Princess Purryfins?” Sophie had to ask.

“Don’t even get me started,” Marella grumbled. “Though I’m pretty sure she did it so Tam would have to say the words ‘Princess Purryfins’ on a regular basis—and I’m definitely all for that.”

Sophie tried to smile. But not only did the anecdote remind her that she should be focusing a lot harder on getting Tam back—it also made it painfully clear how much she’d been neglecting her friendship with Linh.

Marella sighed. “I know I’m good at giving you a hard time for not hanging out with everybody equally. But… I do get how much you’re dealing with, and how hard it has to be to keep up with all of it and occasionally sleep and eat and see your boyfriend.”

It was a miracle Sophie didn’t cringe at the last word.

Despite Fitz saying they’d “talk later,” she… hadn’t heard from him.

And she’d been too big of a wimp to reach out.

She was pretty sure that made her the worst girlfriend in the world—if she even was his girlfriend anymore.