“I can tell.”

I shrug it off with sarcasm, but inside I feel a strange sensation of warmth. Compelled by some unknown reason, I lift my own arms and hug her back.

“I’m glad we got here in time,” Grace says, squeezing tight. “If we hadn’t . . .”

She lets her words trail off. She doesn’t need to finish the sentence. I was there, I’d accepted my fate. And then they’d— “Hey,” I say, pulling back as I remember the moment. “How did you guys get inside anyway? The loft’s security is military grade.”

“Oh.” She beams. “I guess my autoporting kicks in when I really need it.”

That solves the mystery of how the girls got inside, but not how the manticore snuck past the system. I’ll have to do a full inspection. There must be a hole somewhere, and I need to keep other monsters from showing up unexpectedly.

“Am I missing a group hug?” Greer asks.

“Come on.” Grace removes one arm and waves her close. “Gentle with Gretchen’s shoulder though.”

Greer kneels down next to us, and Grace and I each wrap an arm around her back while she does the same. I’ll worry about securing the perimeter later. Right now, I’m enjoying the moment. For once.

“Triplets,” Greer says, shaking her head.

“Who’d have thought?” I ask.

“Reunited,” Grace adds. “I can’t imagine a more perfect ending.

Strangely enough, neither can I.

Chapter 26

Gretchen

After I let the girls wash off their sweat and slime first, there is barely enough hot water left for me to grab a quick shower. But it’s enough. And with clean clothes on, I feel completely refreshed and revived. Even my shoulder feels practically normal.

Rubbing my hair dry with the towel, I head out into the loft to find them. They’re sitting at the dining table, hunched over one of the monster binders and giggling. With the balcony doors open wide, a fresh breeze blows in off the Bay. It feels like everything is fresh and new.

“Look at his feet,” Grace exclaims, pointing to an anatomical drawing of a nulus.

Greer makes a face. “Gross.”

“You should see the panotii,” Grace says. “They have ears the size of their bodies.”

“Have you memorized all the binders?” Greer asks.

“No.” Grace blushes. “I’ve digitized most of them, though, and the funnier images stand out.”

I’m impressed. That’s a lot of work she got done in not a lot of time. I bet she has the entire library scanned and catalogued in less than a month.

I keep back, not wanting to disturb their moment. It feels weird to have people, other than Ursula, making themselves at home in the loft. Before I brought Grace back here, no one else had ever been in the loft.

Still, as weird as it feels, it also feels completely right. Meant to be. Like the pieces of a puzzle I didn’t even know I had to solve have finally fallen into place.

Now, if only Ursula were safely back home—

Greer stands, knocking her chair back behind her.

I step into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Grace asks, a note of panic in her voice.

“I—” Greer holds her hands out as if to steady herself. “I don’t know. It’s just, all of a sudden, I got this really awful feeling.”

Grace looks at me, her face creased with concern.

“What kind of feeling?” I ask.

Greer turns to face me, drained of color. “Like something bad is about to happen.”

As if on command, my phone rings.

I dash into the kitchen, snatching my phone off the charger. I can’t help the tiny spark of hope that it’s my mentor on the other end of the line.

“Hello,” I gasp into the receiver. “Ursula, is that—?”

“Get out!” a male voice shouts.

“What?”

“Get out of the loft,” he screams. “Get out now!”

Something about the absolute terror in his voice stabs me right in the chest. Without stopping to think, I move, grabbing each of my sisters by the arm, and shout, “Run!”

Dragging them behind me, I race for the open door. At a dead run, we fly out onto the balcony. I launch my sisters over the railing and then follow them down into the Bay below.

Before we hit the water, the air above us explodes in a burst of heat and light, slamming us hard against the ice-cold waves. I lose track of my sisters as I’m propelled into the inky depths, short of breath and trying to orient myself to find my way back to the surface. Following my air bubbles, I break through into the night, gasping and choking.

I scan the area, relieved to see Grace and Greer treading water nearby. They seem whole and unhurt. They both have their eyes glued to the spot above me, to the loft. I can see flickering yellow-and-orange flames reflected in their glassy eyes. I think Grace might be crying.

Afraid of what I’ll see, I force myself to turn and look up.

I suck in a gasp.

The entire upper level is blown out, and the building is engulfed in flames. Smoke billows out of my home, glowing in the light of the fire inside. My face burns with the heat of the raging inferno. My mind is reeling, and the only coherent thought I can grasp is how very close we came to getting blown up with the loft.

“This is bad,” Greer says.

“Somebody tried to kill us,” Grace says, unnecessarily.

I look at her. “You think?”