“Us? Save her?”
“Yes, us,” Even said. “If no heroes are going to show up, we’ll have to do it ourselves.”
“This is not the time for your stupid optimism,” Odd said.
“This is exactly the time for stupid optimism. What do you want to do? Say ‘Guess we’ll never see our parents and home again—oh well, it was nice having a family while it lasted’?”
Odd glared at her. “Obviously not.”
Even made her voice sound firm, as if she knew what she was doing. “The goblin made it pretty clear that the grownups aren’t going to—or maybe can’t—do anything. So who does that leave? Us.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Jeremy said. “Knock on Lady Vell’s door and say, ‘Can we please have our parents back?’ She’s definitely not welcoming visitors now.”
Maybe Even wasn’t a hero yet. She wasn’t ready for her own quest, or even to pass the exam she’d just missed. But she was done with waiting and worrying and hoping. “She welcomed us before.”
“Yeah, because she wanted to use us,” Odd said.
A plan was forming in her mind. It wasn’t a plan that Odd would like. Or Mom and Dad. But Even liked it. “What if we let her?”
“Excuse me?” Odd said.
“I have an idea,” Even said. “And it starts with knocking on that door.”
“You mean the one wreathed in magical fire?” Jeremy asked.
“Yep. Come on. I’ll tell you when we get there.”
* * *
Even and Odd crept out of the house. Exactly who would catch them and stop them, Even didn’t know, since Mom was missing, Dad was in another world, and Joj had fled, but it seemed like the thing to do. Jeremy tiptoed on his silver-white hooves behind them.
Despite everything that was going on, the street looked normal. Or as normal as a street could be when half the pedestrians flew by either magic or wings and most of the people didn’t even look human. “Act casual.”
Jeremy nodded to vendors as they strolled by. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Shush,” Odd told him. “You’re being weird.”
“I’m being myself.”
“Be yourself less,” Odd said.
“That’s the worst self-help advice ever.”
Even laughed louder than the joke deserved, trying to look as if they weren’t on a secret mission to stop a megalomaniacal wizard. Just chatter. Nothing to see here. Move along. They had to keep it casual, she thought, at least until they were out of the city.
“So what’s the plan?” Odd asked in a whisper.
“We’re all going to do what we’re good at,” Even said.
Odd snorted. “And what’s that? I’m terrible at magic. You don’t have any magic today. And all Jeremy can do is poop cupcakes and tell the truth.” To Jeremy, Odd added, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Jeremy said. “I’m a unicorn, not a wizard.”
“We’re not exactly a crack team of heroes,” Odd said.
True. Real heroes should have been rescuing Mom, not the three of them. But there’s only us, Even thought. So we’ll have to do. “Stop imagining the worst.”
“This is the worst,” Odd said. “I don’t have to imagine anything at all.”
Outside Lady Vell’s estate, beyond the tree-lined entrance, they halted and stared. The magic fire had indeed grown. It shone brighter than a spotlight and was sparking like an endless firework. Even wondered what had happened inside. Was Mom okay? Had she been hurt?
“Say Lady Vell does let us in, how are we supposed to rescue everyone?” Odd asked.
“We’re going after the stone,” Even said. “It’s the only thing that will stop all of this.”
“Mom and the others tried to take the stone. And they didn’t come back.”
“We aren’t going to try to take it,” Even said. She tried to sound as confident as possible: “We’re going to destroy it. Or, specifically, I am.”
The others stared at her.
She showed them Jeremy’s satchel, which she was carrying slung over her shoulder. “That’s why I brought this.” Even reached in and pulled out the invisibility cloak. Her fingers disappeared into the folds as she shook it out.
“We can do this,” Even told the others.
I hope, she added silently.
“First, we need to get inside . . .”
18
Even was sweating beneath Jeremy’s invisibility cloak. Made of thick wool, it felt like the itchiest sweater imaginable. Also, with the hood pulled up, it made it hard to see anything that wasn’t directly in front of her. She trailed behind Odd and Jeremy.
Am I ready for this? she asked herself.
That had an easy answer: No.
She didn’t have magic today, and even when she did, she wasn’t a match for Lady Vell, a full-grown wizard. But it no longer mattered whether she was ready or not. We have to try, she thought. And we have to try now. They had no way of knowing what had become of Mom and the others. All they knew was they hadn’t come out. Anything could have happened, or could be happening, within that silver tower. And there was no one else to deal with it.
Crossing through the gardens of Lady Vell’s estate, she felt weirdly exposed, even though she knew she was invisible. The gardens were empty of boarders and wannabe boarders this time. The rabbit reporter was absent too—he must have moved on to reporting elsewhere. Maybe he was with the refugees again. Regardless, there was no one to stop them or even look curiously at them, as far as she could tell.
Ahead was the tower, wreathed in magic fire.
They stopped in front of the door.
“Okay,” Even whispered. “Everyone set?” She wished she were anywhere else, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud. They’d already discussed the plan, making sure each of them knew what to do.
“I hate this plan,” Odd said.
“I kind of like it,” Jeremy said.
“Thanks, Jeremy,” Even whispered, surprised.
“I mean, it’s doomed to fail. Probably won’t even make it past the front door. Certainly won’t outwit Lady Vell, and I’m definitely going to make a mess of it. But it will be fun until it all goes to pieces.”
“Remember, all you have to do is be you,” Even said. “And Odd . . .”
“I know what I need to do,” she said.
Odd marched up to the door. It was coated in sparkling blue, so she didn’t try to touch it. Instead she projected her voice, making it as loud as she could with as much magic as she could muster. She wasn’t particularly good at it, and her voice buzzed like it was being broadcast from an out-of-range radio station. “Lady Vell? It’s Odd Berry. I’m here to take you up on your offer!”
They waited.
Jeremy shifted from hoof to hoof.
Odd fidgeted with her hands, accidentally causing a watering can to rise in the air, spin in a somersault, and then crash down, spilling on the stones of the plaza. A pixie fluttered over and slurped up the puddle.
And Even continued to sweat beneath the cloak as she worried about all the things that could go wrong, starting with the centaur refusing to open the door. Their attempt could be very short.
It was easy to think positive when you were dreaming up a plan. Much harder when you were faced with reality.
Odd shouted again. “Lady Vell? Please, I’ll do what you want! I’ll say whatever you want to a mirror or the Academy of Magic or whoever!”
The air in front of them shivered, and the sparkling flames flashed blue and separated as if the fire were window curtains. With a whoosh noise, the wide door slid open. The centaur stuck his head out. “Repeat yourself.”
“Please tell Lady Vell that I’m here to cooperate,” Odd said, dropping the projection so that her voice sounded normal again. “I’ll say whatever she wants, if she lets my mother and Jeremy’s parents and their friends go free.”
Sparing a glance at Jeremy, the centaur scanned the grounds. “Where’s your sister?”
“She doesn’t know I’m here,” Odd said. “Isn’t one of us better than neither of us?”
“Humph. Just you. Not him,” the centaur said, gesturing toward Jeremy. He opened the door a few inches so that Odd could enter, if she squeezed herself through. Even tried to peer past him to see if Lady Vell was waiting, but the centaur’s bulk blocked her view.
Stepping forward, Jeremy said, “I want to see Lady Vell too.”
The centaur snorted. “Lady Vell doesn’t want to see you.”
“I’d feel better if he were with me,” Odd said quickly.
Even didn’t expect it to work, but it was worth a try. They needed the door to open wider if Even was going to slip inside without the centaur noticing. She could try walking through with Odd, but her chances were better if Jeremy was entering as well, with his loud bell-like hooves and wide body to block any hint of her passage.
“Lady Vell isn’t interested in your feelings, only your cooperation,” the centaur said.
“Great! Then we’ll cooperate together!” Jeremy said, and, without waiting for an answer, barged inside. He shoved past the centaur.
Shouting, the centaur hurried after him. “Get back here!”
Jeremy galloped down the hallway. “No, thank yoooou!”
Even scooted inside.
Odd followed Jeremy and the centaur into the hallway, while Even crept behind her, trying to match Odd’s footsteps so that she wouldn’t make any extra sound. When Odd halted just inside the workroom, Even did too and only narrowly kept herself from gasping as loudly as Odd did.
Lady Vell’s laboratory looked as if it had been attacked by a jungle. Vines draped across the tables, and thick, thorny clumps filled a quarter of the room. In tangled masses, the vines had climbed the smooth walls to the glowing pinnacle of the roof, obscuring the light so that the whole workroom was bathed in a sickly green. Worse, though, they surrounded the vat of stolen magic, as well as the pedestal that held the power stone.
The power stone was hidden behind a thick wall of thorns.
Only just barely ahead of the centaur, Jeremy had reached the boards. “Ooh, can I try one of these? Yes?” He didn’t wait for any kind of answer. “Great!” Leaping onto one, he rode it over the workroom tables and the cluster of vines. He sailed above the head of the centaur. “Wheeeeeeeeee!”
It had been Odd’s idea to have Jeremy serve as a distraction. They’d left it up to him to decide how he was going to do it. He’s doing it, Even thought. Now it’s my turn.
“Good luck,” Odd murmured.
“You too,” Even whispered. She slipped away, skirting the edge of the room as the centaur chased after the unicorn.
Jeremy dodged and weaved and flew between the tables and the vines. He swooped into the air with the sparkling birds. Chasing him, the birds pecked at him, and he whinnied.
Pretending to object to his actions, Odd called, “Come back, Jeremy!” To the centaur, she said, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea he’d behave like this.”
“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“Enough!”
Even froze as the familiar voice rang out.
Lady Vell swept into the workroom and flicked her wrist, and Jeremy was whooshed off the board and tossed onto a table covered in vines. The vines immediately wrapped around him. He was hoisted into the air.
“Put me down! Ahhhh! Let me go! Get these things off me!” He flailed and squirmed as the vines lifted him higher.
“Let him go!” Odd cried.
Peering out from beneath the hood, Even wondered if the others were trapped under the vines too. Was Mom inside that tangle somewhere? She scanned the room, looking for bulges in the mass of greenery spilling across the massive room—there, and there . . . and could she see a hoof? Yes, there! That was either Starry Delight or Effervescent Spring, which meant that Mom could be cocooned in vines nearby too, as well as everyone else.
Please be okay in there, she thought.
The vines didn’t seem to be hurting Jeremy. Just keeping him from escaping. She hoped the same was true for Mom and everyone else. If so . . . then all she needed to do was get the stone away from Lady Vell, rescue them, and save the day. No pressure, she thought.
Hands on her hips, Lady Vell demanded, “What is going on?”
“Don’t blame Odd!” Jeremy said. He swung in a circle, pawing at the vines with his hooves. They wrapped more thickly around his torso. “She didn’t do anything wrong!” That was true. She’d been innocently watching his antics from afar.
“He was trying to steal from you,” the centaur said.
“Borrow,” Jeremy corrected. “Taking with the intent to return is borrowing. And Odd didn’t know I was planning to do that. You know I can’t lie.” Also true. They hadn’t told him how to cause a distraction. Just to cause one.
“That is so.” Lady Vell contemplated Odd. “Unicorn boy, tell me why Odd is here.”
“She wants you to free her mother,” Jeremy said.
Odd nodded enthusiastically.
“And she will really cooperate with me if I agree?” Lady Vell asked.
“You should talk to her,” Jeremy advised, as he swung from the vines. “Hey, this is a little uncomfortable. Could you have the vines set me down?”
“I will cooperate,” Odd said quickly. “I’ll say whatever you want to your magic mirror if you’ll let the people you captured, including Jeremy, go.”
“I was asking the one I know cannot lie,” Lady Vell said.
“She’ll do it,” Jeremy said. “She’ll say whatever you want to your mirror if you’ll free everyone.” Again, the truth. Odd really would cooperate if it meant freeing everyone. It was an excellent backup plan. It’s just not the only plan, Even thought, as she continued to silently inch around the workroom. She was careful not to step near any stray vines.
“Delightful,” Lady Vell said.
“Now can I come down?” Jeremy asked.
“I want you to stay up there while you think about your life choices.” Lady Vell wrapped her arm around Odd’s shoulders. “Odd and I have to write a little speech. Things are delicate, and I don’t want any improvising.” She led Odd across the workroom toward the solarium. “Really, I am not a bad person. You must understand that. I didn’t plan to capture anyone. It’s not my fault they were breaking into my home with the intent of stealing my belongings and thereby triggered my protections. If we can come to a peaceful solution, that would be best for everyone. You’re a wise girl to realize that.”
They disappeared into the solarium while the centaur returned to the door, again taking up his position as guard. Jeremy swung slowly, suspended by vines.
My turn, Even thought.
Cloak tight around her, she kept an eye out for the centaur. She circled the vat, then stopped in front of where she knew the power stone was, behind the wall of thorns. The mass of greenery here was so dense that it was impossible to see through, but she could feel that it was there.
She pushed aside the vines—
And they writhed, wreathing themselves into a solid wall. It looked like snakes squirming together. She tried to pry them apart, and they tightened.
You can do this, she told herself.
She wasn’t trying to overpower Lady Vell’s vines with magic, after all, or hack them down by sheer muscle power, like Sleeping Beauty’s prince. Even reached into Jeremy’s satchel and drew out a can of soda. She shook it hard. Here we go, she thought.
Opening it, she aimed it at the wall of thorns.
Soda sprayed out, and the vines quit moving and lay limp. She pried them apart, and this time they stayed apart. She made a hole in the greenery and climbed through. Thorns snagged her cloak. She yanked it free. It ripped with a snick, but she kept it tight against her.
She readied a second can, shaking it hard. She only had five—Jeremy had drunk one. She hoped five was enough. She didn’t know how thick the thorny vines were.
Using a second can, Even de-magicked anot
her clump of writhing vines. She pushed through and burst out the other side. But instead of facing the pedestal, she found herself in front of a wall of fire.
Unlike the cold silver fire that surrounded the tower, this fire was a deep purple and hot. She didn’t smell any smoke, but she could feel the heat of the fire, toasting her face. Sweat dribbled down her back. She saw the pedestal beyond it, through the haze.
She didn’t let herself feel doubt. She’d come this far, and the only option was to keep going forward. Jeremy was trapped, along with Mom and everyone else, and Odd was with Lady Vell. They’re all depending on me, Even thought.
Aiming a third can of soda, she sprayed it at the fire.
The purple flames hissed, and she sprayed the soda in an oval. As soon as it was wide enough for her, she hurried through. A corner of her cloak brushed the flames, and fire spread across the fabric.
Even tore the cloak off and stomped on it.
The fire went out.
She picked up the remnants of the cloak. The fire had consumed it unnaturally fast, and all that remained were a few tattered shreds. No more invisibility. She guessed Jeremy wasn’t going to be returning it to its owner after all. She sent him a silent apology.
At last she faced the shimmer of the protective bubble around the power stone. Through it, the power stone was sparking like before, and with each spark, more blue bubbling liquid traveled from the stone, through the pipe, and into the vat. She was down to the final shield.
She took a step toward the bubble and hoped she was right about this. She only had two cans left. If this didn’t work . . . Think positive, she reminded herself.
“I wuv you.”
“I love you too,” Even said without thinking.
Wait. Who said that?
She turned to see the creepy dolls waddling toward her, crawling beneath the remaining thorns. The fire hadn’t returned where she’d quenched it. She froze—only for a second, but the dolls were moving fast. Quickly, they surrounded her. She shot a look at the stone beyond the bubble.
Only two cans left.
A doll began to climb up her leg. She shook it off as two leaped up to cling to her arm. “I wuv you!” they chanted.
Even and Odd Page 17
