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“Do, Pandora, notdid,” Nero told me, his green eyes twinkling. “You still get into trouble.”

“I try my best,” I said, moving into the front lounge. “Actually, it kind of feels like I just survived the earthquake before the hurricane. The hurricane being our quest to save Bella.”

“And the earthquake?” Stash wondered.

“Saving Vertigo, of course.”

“Really? I thought the earthquake was General Silverstar when Damiel tried to tease him about his new girlfriend,” Aerilyn laughed.

“Definitely,” Tessa agreed.

“I don’t know,” Gin said, her face reflective. “I think General Silverstar is more of a tornado kind of guy. What do you think, Calli?” She smirked at our foster mother.

“I think this conversation is over,” Calli decided. “And I’m only going to say this once, girls: my boyfriend is not a natural disaster.”

Gin, Tessa, and Aerilyn snickered.

“Do you think you could keep an eye on Vertigo for me?” I asked Nero as I grabbed my warm winter jacket from the stand near the door. “I don’t want Faris to nab her while I’m away.”

“Actually, we’d like to take Vertigo with us,” Cadence told me.

“Really?” I frowned in confusion. “Why?”

“She’s proving to be an excellent babysitter.”

I followed Cadence’s gaze across the room to the sofa, where Vertigo had Sierra and Eira totally spellbound with a game of peek-a-boo.

“Huh,” I said, surprised. “Who would have guessed she was so good with kids? She even managed to coax them away from the cookies.”

“I think the cookies are all already inside of them,” said Damiel.

“And all over them,” I added, noting the crumbs in Sierra’s hair. I turned back to Cadence. “Sure, Vertigo can go with you if she wants. Just keep a close eye on her. Being a prisoner in Faris’s Orchestra really did a number on her. She’s not entirely sane.”

“I’m confident she will recover—even thrive—in the right environment,” replied Cadence.

She and Damiel left with Eira and Vertigo. Then it was Stash’s turn. Then Aerilyn. Bit by bit, the dinner guests said their goodbyes and took off, until it was just Calli, Zane, Tessa, Gin, and I.

“So, guys,” I said, turning to face my family. “Are you ready to save Bella?”

“Yes,” Zane said.

“Definitely,” Gin added.

“One hundred percent!” Tessa pumped her fist in the air.

“But first we need a plan,” Calli stated, sensible and responsible as always. “An actual plan, something a lot more detailed than ‘save Bella’.”

“I have an actual plan,” I told her. “I’m just not sure that you’re going to like it.”

CHAPTER 10

MIDNIGHT

The world of Midnight was as dark as, well, midnight. Yeah, so some people weren’t very creative when it came to naming things. But at least the name was accurate. It was so dark here that I had to wonder if this place ever saw the sun. And if not, how did all the trees survive?

“You ask weird questions, Leda,” Zane chuckled.

“I askpertinentquestions,” I told him. “Just look around. Right now, we’re hiking through a dense forest that blankets this world like a thick carpet. How do the trees grow without sunlight?”