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“Where is she?! What happened here?” Genie attempted to get some information out of the pixies, but Cynane and Spartacus couldn’t muster a word. The poor little creatures were terrified beyond reason, shaking so violently they had difficulty sitting still, let alone talking. They had managed to engage their neck muscles and lift their heads, but they were evidently weakened. It was as though something had drained the vitality out of them—I only had to observe their pallid coloring to know that.

“I’ve seen this before, I think,” I said, checking Boudicca over. She appeared to be the calmest of the three, but she was still rattled. She had her knees drawn up to her chin, hiding her head behind them. “Or have I? I’ve certainly read about it.”

Genie glanced up at me with desperate eyes. “What is it? Could it be linked to Persie?”

“It’s on the tip of my tongue.” A frustrated sigh escaped my throat. “I know that I know about this, but I can’t remember where I saw it.”

“Then think harder! Wipe your glasses or something—that always seems to work!” she urged.

I did just that, using the familiar motion to try and focus my mind. But the answer simply would not come. There was nothing more frustrating than knowledge that had grown fuzzy over time, drifting out of reach into the abyss of memory. The human brain was not an infallible piece of technology. Much like a computer, it had a tendency to glitch, and could lose files when you least expected. I had seen and studied a great deal, and, on occasion, the information muddled together in my mind, the neurons of my hippocampus unable to fire fast enough to bring the data I needed.

“I’m sorry, Genie. I… can’t remember.” I hated saying that, especially as I knew it would likely come back to me at the most inopportune time. I would be in the shower tomorrow, or eating breakfast, or drinking coffee, and it would pop into my head as though there had never been an issue.

Cynane managed to break out of her terrified silence for long enough to emit a low, disapproving whistle and mimed, with feeble hands, sawing open her skull and letting her brain fall out. She pretended to scoop it back up as she swayed about on Genie’s palm like a zombie, shaky arms outstretched. I would have to make a note that even when the pixies were at their lowest ebb, they still maintained a propensity for humor.

I gave a resigned sigh. “I do feel a little bit like that, Cynane. Thanks.”

She saluted and sank back against Genie’s hand, pulling up the sleeve of Genie’s sweater to cover her shivering body. Spartacus, clearly envious of the warmth, slithered down to join Cynane in the makeshift blanket. Looking down at Boudicca, I lifted the edge of my T-shirt and wrapped her in it. She burrowed adorably into the fabric and chirped with a little more energy, having a good old sniff of the T-shirt as she cocooned. The pixies were sensitive to smell, and Boudicca always seemed to appreciate my particular scent.

“Can you tell me where Persie is?” I asked Boudicca. I didn’t want to panic too soon, in case there was a reasonable explanation. Perhaps this was an unexpected side effect of Persie’s ability that we hadn’t seen yet. Maybe she’d run off out of guilt, or she’d gone into a Purge and the pixies had been caught in the crosshairs. She could be out there, somewhere, trying to catch up to whatever she’d Purged. I consoled myself with the thought that her absence didn’t necessarily mean something terrible had occurred.

Boudicca gestured again to the gorse bushes.

“Did someone attack her from there?” Genie jumped in, in full-blown detective mode.

Boudicca nodded, wriggling her hands out of my T-shirt. She raised them like menacing claws and growled, straining with her eyes, until they were pretty much bulging, to get some kind of image across. Persie was the one with the best interpretation skills; we would have to do our best to intuit what the pixies were saying.

We wouldn’t have to stretch our limits far, because I had a feeling I already understood what Boudicca was getting at. “A monster attacked her?” I said.

Boudicca chirped her confirmation and growled again, for good measure.

“Did Persie Purge the monster?” Genie pressed, panic evident in her strangled voice. This was her worst nightmare come true. I’d seen Persie go through it, fearing that her best friend might be lost forever, and now Genie was experiencing the same agony. I wanted to put my arm around her or hold her hand, but I didn’t think the timing was appropriate.

Cynane snorted, which sounded an awful lot like “no way.” To add to the implausibility, she disappeared down Genie’s sleeve before popping back out with her arms up, snarling cartoonishly.

“The monster took Persie by surprise?” I translated.

Cynane lowered her arms and nodded, her face relaxing into sadness. These three adored Persie. They must have been experiencing the same fear and worry that Genie was. I knew I had to be the one to stay calm and logical.

“Did this monster take Persie away?” I asked, rubbing Boudicca’s back gently, urging warmth into her.

She chirruped a sad “yes.”

“Do you know where?” I continued.

Boudicca scratched her chin in thought before shaking her head and miming herself passing out. That didn’t require much interpretation. Something had surprised Persie, had attacked her and had taken her away, but the pixies had been knocked unconscious before they could see where. Still, the pixies seemed to have a sixth sense for their creator. Even in their weakened state, they might be able to lead us to her.

“We need to look for her,” Genie gasped, breathing too fast and too shallow.

I nodded in agreement. “First, we need to call for backup. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here. Whatever took Persie is likely dangerous, and I don’t think it’s wise to proceed without letting Victoria know what’s going on. There is strength in numbers.”

“We can’t wait that long!” Genie shook her head, holding her free hand to her chest as though she was in pain. Recognizing the signs of an anxiety attack, I stood behind her, placing my arm around her waist.

“Breathe, Genie. Follow the rise and fall of my chest.”

She dropped her head and tried to relax, her hand closing over mine in a desperate grip. Her ragged breaths wheezed in and out as she did as I’d instructed, copying the slow intake and exhalation of my breathing. After a minute or so, we were perfectly in sync, her panicked breaths having slowed to a normal pace. In Genie’s sleeve, Cynane grabbed Spartacus and did an impression of what we were doing, which I chose to ignore.

Tentatively, Genie twisted to look up at me. “Call Victoria. You’re right—if Persie’s in danger, I want all hands on deck to get her back.” She looked to the pixies in her sleeve. “And you two can pack it in. This isn’t the time for jokes.”

I removed my arm from Genie’s waist and took out my phone, dialing the head huntswoman. I realized, as I did, that I wouldn’t be able to tell her about the pixies without getting myself, Persie, and the pixies themselves into a world of bother. I quickly formulated a lie to cover us.

Victoria picked up after two rings. “Nathan?”

“Victoria, we’ve got a problem.” I leapt right in. “I’m at the lookout point on the cliff path with Genie Vertis, and we’ve found evidence that Persie is in trouble. We can’t find her anywhere, just a piece of jewelry and signs of a scuffle. Do I have the go ahead to use a tracking spell on the jewelry?”

I heard a sharp inhale on the other end of the line. “No, do not proceed. Stay where you are and wait for back up. We can’t be sure what we’re contending with. I’ll dispatch a squad of hunters immediately.”

“Affirmative.” I hung up, knowing there was no use in arguing. Once Victoria made up her mind about something, she rarely changed it.

“What did she say?” Genie asked.

“You won’t like it,” I said grimly. “We’ve been told to wait for the cavalry.” Sure enough, her face twisted into a grimace, her hands subconsciously tightening around the pixies. They squealed and whacked her fingers, forcing her to loosen her grip.

“Are you kidding me? Every second counts, Nathan! If we wait and something worse happens to my best friend, I’ll raze the entire Institute to the ground!” I had no reason to doubt Genie. Persie meant the world to her, and Victoria’s instruction threatened Persie’s safety. Even so, I couldn’t change the order that had been given.

“It won’t take long for them to get here,” I promised, certain they would already be on their way. “But, pixies, you need to stay hidden. No one can know that you’re out of the Repository. And Genie, I might need to borrow that.” I gestured to the silver bracelet on her wrist.

She slid it off immediately and put it in my hand. “But it’ll lead back to me.”

“You can say Persie borrowed it, which is how you knew what it was,” I replied, focusing back on the trio of little monsters. “Pixies. Hide. Now!” I tucked my T-shirt into the waistband of my jeans and dropped Boudicca down the collar. I felt her tumble down to my waist and tried not to flinch as she tickled my abdomen and snuggled in close. Meanwhile, Cynane slithered deeper into Genie’s sleeve, kicking Spartacus out to find his own sleeve to hide in. He did so with pouty reluctance, fluttering over to Genie’s other arm and tucking himself inside.

Genie’s eyes met mine with a fierce defiance. “No, screw this. I’m not waiting. Persie wouldn’t wait if it was me.” She started walking, crashing through the gorse bushes. “If we find her before the hunters arrive, we can just send an update with our location. Say the monster came back and we chased it or something. This is Persie. That’s all I should have to say.”

I followed her, knowing she was right—Persie wouldn’t have waited. If she had heeded orders, both Genie and I would still be stuck in Fergus’s realm. And I didn’t want to find out what difference a few minutes might make now that she was the one in need of rescue.

I patted Boudicca gently. “Can you track her for us?”

A muffled squeak of agreement echoed back, and a sharp finger dug into the right-hand side of my stomach. I jumped in shock, but I got her message loud and clear.

“Genie, you’re going the wrong way!” I called out, and she reappeared through the gorse bushes. “My living compass has spoken. We’ve got to keep heading along the cliff.”

She tried to put on a brave smile, but it registered hollow. “You couldn’t have said that before I got thorns all over me?”

“Sorry. Boudicca was buffering.”

“Come on, then.” Genie grabbed my hand and, together, we took off along the path that would bring us closer to finding Persie.