Tickety tap. Tickety tap. Tickety tap.

“Fine,” he told her after what might’ve been an eternity. “Make your unnecessary searches. Nubiti will take you around, answer any questions you have. But I want a report before you leave. And if you find nothing, this is the last I want to hear of this,” he added, shifting his focus to Bronte.

“Thank you,” Sophie told him, wishing her legs weren’t so shaky as she dipped a full curtsy.

And she could tell that Grady wanted to hug her when she stumbled back to her group—and she wanted to bury herself in his arms—but they both had to settle for a pat on the shoulder and a “good job.”

“That sounded fun,” Dex mumbled.

“Not now,” Nubiti told him. “He can still change his mind, and I want to show you where the other security adjustments occurred.”

“Wait!” Biana said as Nubiti stomped her foot and revealed a new tunnel for them to take. “Aren’t we going to search in here?”

“In the Grand Hall?” Nubiti shook her head. “That would be unnecessary.”

“But we’re here,” Biana argued. “And it was a pretty horrible journey. And we know the security has been altered—”

“It hasn’t actually,” Nubiti interrupted. “There’s nothing to alter in this room. The Grand Hall is defended by the King’s Path and the royal brigade—our strongest warriors, who remain ready to strike whenever necessary.” She pointed to the ground, and Sophie tried not to imagine an army of dwarves bursting out of the sand—it was a bit too close to her hallucinations.

“I still think we should look around before we go,” Biana insisted.

“I agree,” Dex jumped in. “Just in case there’s something we’re missing—especially since I’m pretty sure none of us want to have to come back here ever again.”

Everyone seemed to turn a shade of green.

“I don’t see how a quick look could hurt,” Grady told Nubiti. “Especially since King Enki said we could search anywhere.”

Nubiti heaved out a sigh. “Do what you must. But be quick. And quiet. And do not go near the throne. I’ll explain to King Enki what’s happening so he does not call for his guards—and if he tells us to leave, we will leave, understood?”

“I’ll go with you,” Bronte offered. “I need to have a few words with the king anyway.”

Nubiti didn’t look thrilled with that information, but she motioned for Bronte to join her as she made her way over to the throne.

“Let’s split up,” Sophie told her friends. “Dex, you and Biana start over there”—she pointed to the farthest part of the room—“and, Stina, you stay with Grady and start here, in the doorway. Wylie and I will take the middle.”

Shockingly no one argued—or made any jokes about Lady Fos-Boss—as they set to work searching the walls and floor.

If only Sophie had any idea what they should be looking for.

“Did you know Tiergan met with King Enki yesterday?” she whispered to Wylie.

“No—and you can bet I’ll be calling him on it,” Wylie assured her. He glanced over his shoulder to where Bronte and King Enki had moved to a spot of shadowy quiet for some sort of intense whispered conversation. “I thought we were about to get kicked out of here.”

“So did I,” Sophie admitted, tracing her hand along one of the swirly gold carvings, which curled around a glittering black stone. “Is this magsidian?”

“No,” Nubiti said behind her, making her jump. “That is onyx, for decoration. The only magsidian in this room is the throne.”

“You’re sure?” Sophie craned her neck to better see the abundance of black stones inlaid into the walls.

“All onyx,” Nubiti insisted. “Magsidian would hinder the pull of the throne.”

“Still seems smart to make sure,” Wylie decided. “I mean, we’re here, right?”

He snapped his fingers and a tiny sphere of pale white light hovered over his palm.

“Your light tricks have no place in our world!” King Enki shouted over to him.

“This will only take a second,” Wylie called back before turning to Nubiti. “Onyx will shimmer when the light hits it. Magsidian will do… who knows?”

Nubiti sighed. “You’re wasting your time.”

“Maybe,” Wylie agreed. “I guess we’ll find out.”

And for all of her stubbornness, Nubiti looked mildly curious as Wylie flicked his wrist and sent the glowing white sphere to the base of the wall, guiding it in wide, slow circles around the room and climbing higher with each rotation.

Sophie was pretty sure everyone was watching the way he lingered at each black stone, waiting for the telltale onyx shimmer. And with each confirmation, Nubiti grew smugger and smugger.

“I told you, there’s no magsi—”

Her word was drowned out by a crackling buzz as the white sphere disappeared with a shower of sparks into the stone that Wylie had been testing.

“Uh, what was—”

It was all Sophie managed to say before the light blasted back out like a bolt of white lightning, aimed at a stone directly across the room, which absorbed the light the same way—crackling and sparking before the light blasted toward a third stone that ricocheted it toward the ceiling, aimed right for—

“TAKE COVER!” Nubiti screamed, dragging Sophie and Wylie to the floor as the bolt hit the chandelier and made every jar of flame explode.

TWENTY-SIX

HOW DO WE STOP THIS?”

That was the first question everyone shouted as the shower of flames and jagged glass turned into full-fledged blazes—tearing across the Grand Hall’s floor, fueled by the spilled chandelier oil.

And there seemed to be no answer—except to evacuate immediately—until the fires drew close to King Enki’s throne and…

The flames vanished.

Sophie had never seen anything like it.

One second there was choking smoke and searing heat and her brain was screaming, NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!

And then…

Nothing.

Not a spark.

Or a wisp of smoke.

Or even a scorch mark to prove the flames had ever been there to begin with.

King Enki seemed just as stunned as they were by the development. He even burned his hand on the magsidian while he inspected his throne—which also miraculously turned out to be the largest injury anybody suffered that day.

Everything else was just cuts and scrapes from the broken glass and tiny blisters from the splattered oil.

And other than the shattered chandelier, the Grand Hall showed little sign of actual damage—though Sophie wondered if they’d find more once the room had better lighting again.

King Enki was understandably reluctant to bring in any more jars of flickering orange flames until he had a better understanding of what had actually happened to the chandelier. So the only illumination came from Sophie’s and her team’s glowing circlets.

Nubiti even had to borrow Sophie’s crown when she crawled up the wall to inspect the stones that Wylie had accidentally triggered. And she was able to confirm that the stones definitely were hidden pieces of magsidian—cut with a pattern of facets she’d never seen before.