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M y legs were still shaking twenty minutes later as we crept toward the well.

“Remember the rune I showed you if there’s trouble,” Liam said for the third time. He’d agreed immediately to help me. No questions asked.

“Got it.”

“And remind me once more why I can’t go down with you?”

So much for no questions.

I shook my head. “She doesn’t trust people. The fewer the better. Besides, I need you out here to fish me out if it goes tits up.”

“I’ve been studying all sorts of new healing runes. I won’t fail you, Harlow,” Ellie said, gaze solemn as she stared at me like she was trying to commit my face to memory one last time, which wasn’t exactly confidence-boosting.

I stopped a few yards short of our target and then turned to face them.

“I’ll go on my own from here. See you shortly.”

Every single one of them looked like they were attending a funeral, but I hadn’t come this far to fail them now.

The storm that had been threatening all night chose that moment to break, and the rain didn’t start with a gentle patter.

Nope, it opened up like someone was emptying out their eternal bucket on our heads.

If I believed in omens, this would not be a great one.

I muttered as I slogged toward the nature-made wall of thorns and vines where Calypso’s well was hidden.

Only now, a fresh and more complex shielding spell helped conceal it, likely courtesy of Tarquinius after my last adventure.

We’d prepared for that, though. I closed my eyes and traced the rune Liam had taught me, shuddering with a mix of relief and dread as the cobbled stones of the well shimmered into view.

Only this time, I didn’t need to dive in. There was a heavy splash and then Calypso pulled herself up to sit on the edge.

My jaw dropped as I took in her face and form.

She was as terrifying as the last time. Her lower body was a thickly muscled tail, the scales catching the faint light around us, flashing iridescent green and silver.

Her upper body was bare, her ribs clearly visible, and her breasts covered by the bones of someone’s hands.

Her long dark hair clung to her shoulders, falling all the way to her waist. Yellow, predatory orbs narrowed on me.

She flashed a wide smile at me, all her teeth on display.

Only at least now, she was on my turf and my friends were –

“They can’t hear or see either one of us behind my own shielding spell, so don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re safe, child. But I have to admit, I’m curious. You have ten seconds to tell me why you’re here ... a second time.”

I wet my lips and reeled off my request as I pulled out a sack of gold coins that Liam had given me for just this purpose. “I would like to give you this offering of gold. In exchange, I would ask that you break a binding spell for me.”

Her expression didn’t change as she studied me in silence. The rain continued to pelt at me and streamed down my face as I waited.

“Who are you bound to?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Doyen Typhon Moreno.”

Her yellow eyes widened and she drew back in surprise. “Now that is interesting ... What will you do once the bond is broken? And don’t lie, child, or I’ll know it.”

“I will leave Neverthorn with the rest of my house and grow our magic so we can defeat Nocta.”

Calypso laughed, her head thrown back as a sharp snap of lightning cut across the sky, right above us.

“Pity. That Typhon is a looker, so I can hardly blame you. All dark and broody. I’d have laid with him too, but I surely would not have let my heart get tangled up.

He’s basically a fucking vampire, isn’t he? ”

The boom of thunder that hit next felt like it was right inside my chest. “What ... do you mean?”

Calypso leaned forward, laying across the top of the well, propped up on her elbows like we were girlfriends dishing at a party.

“He’s a Draw. A natural siphon. He sucks the magic out of other Dwimmers. The only one of his kind.”

I was already shaking my head. “No. He would never do that.” The cold of the rain and wind seemed to strike me to the core as I remembered the look on his face earlier. How he’d all but admitted he’d done terrible, terrible things ...

“Nocta used his little tool to suck his classmates dry. Moreno is no different, only he doesn’t need a machine. He can do it all on his own.”

I wanted to argue, but everything suddenly clicked into place with a snap as memory after memory flitted through my mind. All those times my housemates and I had failed. Felt weak and ineffectual. It wasn’t a spell that had kept us muted, it wasn’t a ward that Tarquinius had created.

It was Typhon skimming off our magic.

What better way to keep us from seeing the truth of it. Pretend to help us while he sucked us dry. Gave us just enough to keep us in line, while draining us on the other side. I had to swallow hard against the nausea that rose through me.

Those you trust do not deserve it.

“Ah, love hurts, doesn’t it, child?”

“I don’t love him,” I spat at her, struggling to pull myself together as I remembered how little time I had before the man himself would be free to hunt me down.

Suddenly, I was glad for the rain as hot tears joined the icy droplets to streak down my cheeks.

“Please. I need your help, and quickly. Will you accept my offer?”

She moved closer, so my face was right in hers. Her teeth were sharp little daggers, and her wide yellow eyes locked with mine.

“You are brave, Harlow Daygon. I’ll give you that,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Let us negotiate, then. I’ll take your gold, of course. But I also want you to retrieve something for me. You found my well, twice. I think you must be very good at finding things.”

I blinked and gave a slow nod. “I have a knack.”

She lifted a hand and the ethereal image of what looked like a dinner plate coated in gold appeared. “I need you to find this gold piece and bring it to me.”

The massive coin turned over in the air so I could see both sides of it. The kraken etched into the tails side; the head of a mermaid etched onto the other. The year on it was 1567.

“I can do that.” I could probably do that. “Do you have any idea where it was last seen?”

She ignored the question and let the image she’d created shimmer away. “You have thirty days to retrieve it and get it into my hands. If you fail, you will die, and I will add your bones to create another layer to my well.”

Thirty days was not a lot of time. But it was more than I had now, and I was nothing if not resourceful.

“Done.”

She smiled and then reached around her neck, unfastening the necklace that hung there. She placed it in my hand. “There is a mirror inside that locket that I can access to watch your progress. It will also allow me to continue to help you.”

“I don’t need your help beyond what I’ve requested.”

Her eyes narrowed and her tail flipped once, like an irritated cat.

“I’m not asking. You will take the locket with you so I can join you on your quest. I don’t get out .

.. ever, and I find myself intrigued with your life.

Once we shake on it, it is set in stone.

” She held out her webbed hand, and paused for one, long moment.

Then, I shook it.

The second I did, a pain like I’d never felt exploded through my chest. My vision went black, and I had to grasp the stones to stay on my feet. My heart was shattering against the inside of my chest, that rib Typhon had broken so long ago aching as if it were fresh.

“Do you feel it, child? I’ve kept my promise, yes?”

Phyllis’s dulling pill had hurt, but this was like being hit by a bus. Worse, I got the sense that as my brain caught up with my body, and the loss I’d just suffered, it would only get worse.

“I ... I have to go,” I whispered, barely managing the words.

“One more thing.”

I scrunched my eyes and slowly turned back to Calypso, chest aching. “What?”

“A show of good faith.” She tossed me what looked like a string of seaweed.

The long string was indeed seaweed, but it was not by any means brittle or weak. It felt like bands of steel had been woven through it. Little bumps littered the string, like tiny kelp balls.

“Take that. Have your friends each grasp it. It will spirit you away from Neverthorn. A gift. Free of charge. The sooner you go, the better. The prophecy you’ve been told is right, but there is more you do not know.

It’s true that a savior will come from Neverthorn who can defeat Nocta.

But there are two sides to that coin. Another here with the strength to see Nocta’s cause through to the end.

You and the others of House Phoenix need to gain enough strength to defeat them both. ”

“Who?” I demanded. “When?”

“That I do not know. You must go now. Time is ticking.”

“W-where will it take us?” I asked and shivered as she smiled at me once more.

“Your journey will begin at the home of the kraken coin, of course.”

I frowned at her, feeling the trap settling around me, and knowing I’d step willingly into it in order to get out of this place. “And that is?”

“Heathermoor Academy.”