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Kylar greeted the others with hugs and handshakes, introducing himself halfway through to Joyce.

“And this is my annoying brother, Eugene,” Kylar said, settling a heavy hand on Eugene’s curly head. Eugene pushed it away with a scowl. Kylar added, “And this is Roman’s little brother, Paxton.” He flicked Paxton in the ear.

“Ow!” Paxton’s hand shot to his reddening ear.

“Darien said you have a lot to tell me,” Kylar continued, addressing all of them now. “I hope Travis is still alive?”

“Unfortunately,” Jack said, to which Ivy tsked.

Darien opened the back door of the truck. “We’re here for…a different reason,” he began.

Curiosity creased Kylar’s face as he took note of the girl lying in the back seat. “You brought a human girl?” he asked.

Darien said, “She’s the reason I’m here.”

“I’m going to simplify this as best as I can,” Darien began as he joined the others in the living room.

Everyone was seated on the couches and armchairs, but Darien made the decision to stay standing. Kylar, Paxton, and Eugene’s attention flickered between Darien and the girl in his arms—sleeping, for all they knew. It was hard to tell the difference if you weren’t already aware of what’d happened to her.

“This is my girlfriend, Loren. She’s in a coma. Her dad is Roark Bright, the Red Baron—he adopted her when she was a baby. He told me about the Caliginous Chambers—said there’s a chamber that puts magic into a person’s body instead of removing it. He thinks it’s worth a try, to see if it wakes her up.”

Silence choked the room for several long minutes. It had started raining again; the sound of the droplets pelting the big windows was the only sound for what felt like a lifetime.

Finally, Kylar spoke. “She’s human?”

“Yes, but she’s different.” So much shit had happened that Darien barely knew where to start explaining it. “Have you ever heard of the Arcanum Well?”

Kylar shifted, lacing his tatted fingers between his knees. “Isn’t that kind of like a fountain of youth? I heard stories of it when I was a kid.”

“Sort of. Her biological father is the creator of the Well. And he used it to create her.”

Kylar’s jaw slackened. “You shitting me?”

“No.”

“You and Roman aren’t playing some massive joke on me?” He looked at the others, who stared back at him with solemn expressions, a couple of them—Tanner, Joyce—shaking their heads.

“No,” Darien replied. “Ever heard of Spirit Terra?”

Kylar shook his head, but it wasn’t in reply to his question—it was in disbelief. “This just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?”

“Spirit Terra is real, and so is the Veil. The security breach in Angelthene—the one you saw on the news? That was the Veil nearly falling.”

Kylar rubbed his chin. “Shit.”

“Yeah: shit. And Loren is the reason it didn’t fall—she used her magic to seal a rip in the dimensions.”

“Her…magic,” Kylar repeated. “Did she get it from the Well?”

Jack, whose arm was slung across Ivy’s shoulders, pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “He catches on quickly.”

“Yes,” Darien said, answering Kylar’s question. “Her dad hid the Arcanum Well in Spirit Terra, but when he hid it he didn’t know his daughter would grow up to inherit its powers and could find and use the Well again if she wanted to. People have been hunting her ever since they dug up the history of the Well and its creators.” He glanced down at Loren’s face—so beautiful, even now, with her features slack, as if with an exhaustion she couldn’t shake.

“And Darien has been protecting her,” Ivy cut in, tossing a proud smile his way. “We’ve all been protecting her, but mostly him. And he’s done such a great job.” Darien appreciated his sister’s compliment, but with Loren in a coma, alive only because of that serum coursing through her blood, it no longer felt like he’d done a great job of protecting her.

Paxton said, “She’s like that sleeping lady from old fairytales.”

“Did you try kissing her?” Eugene’s question earned him a light slap on the back of the head from his brother.