"Get clear, Kendra," Vanessa called. "This is not over."

To her  side, Warren's body bubbled into a misty form, and she almost wept with  relief. Potions didn't work on dead people. Good. This was good.

Kendra grabbed the sword as Vanesss finally jerked the spear free from the big cat.

They  cleared to the side as the final form emerged. Long wings unfurled.  Twelve serpents sprouted from various spots along its back. Three heavy  tails swayed. And three heads bellowed together, as they charged toward  Vanessa.

Their flight advantage had been leveled. There was no running now. She envied Warren.

Vanessa  fought valiantly, but one person against the final cat held no candle.  The eager snakes sunk their teeth into her arm and after a swing and  miss, she fell hard onto the catwalk and lost grasp of her gravity  stick.

Like a cool saline drip, the snake poison pumped through  her body and her broken bones cried out with every inch she crawled  towards the spear she lost. Pain. So much pain. Bile rose in her throat  and acidified her teeth.

Nevertheless, with a solid grip, she dug  the spear into the ground and pulled herself to her feet. Sweat chilled  on her neck and she watched the flying behemoth descend lazily towards  her. Behind it, two more albino figures entered the chamber—Tanu and  Coulter.

But, Vanessa didn't care. She looked for Warren, and she  couldn't find him. His white misty body against the white walls proved  invisible.

The cat landed.

She had to face her end alone.

Black  sludge erupted from the three mouths of the cat, and drenched her.  Vanessa screamed. She didn't know what else was going on. All she could  think of was pain, pain, pain. Pain everywhere.

Pain underneath  her skin, pain swirling around her eyes, pain in her muscles, pain  threaded through her breathing. The air—it was sticky, and she couldn't  breathe. Truthfully, it was the blood from her bitten tongue, but she  didn't know that. It felt like the air had turned to sludge.

In  the background, she vaguely registered Tanu expanding to the size of a  giant and finishing off the monster. But, she was shutting down.

There was nothing.

Nothing.

Until  a tingling. Like a limb that had fallen asleep. It spread throughout  her body until she regained consciousness and sat up, bewildered. Kendra  had a golden teapot in the shape of a cat, pouring sand on her. No one  could deny the mythic power. This had to be the artifact.

And Kendra had healed her with it.

"Nothing could have cured those burns," Vanessa said in amazement. Tears pushed at her eyes. "I was blind and nearly deaf."

"This is over," Tanu told Vanessa. "There are others stronger than us waiting just outside the entrance."

Well, it really was the end, wasn't it?

It felt like it. Fablehaven had spent her. Physically and emotionally. She had nothing left to give.

Vanessa said nothing more.

They  revived Warren and then Dale, upon return to the first challenge room  where Tanu and Coulter had left the groundskeeper. It was weird to see  Warren with his color back. It felt too real. Before, he hadn't looked  like the Warren of her memories.

Now, he presented exactly the same.

Tanu  held her tight, with rope binding her arms behind her back, but she  held her head high with dignity despite the disgust broiling her  stomach.

Her first failed mission.

She had never gotten  below a B in her short high school career. As a mechanic, she tried her  best on every car. Her Society missions had always been flawless,  effective, and efficient. Even as a deep-cover Knight, her lieutenant  lauded her.

This introduction of the dread of failure hurt. Oil  sat in her stomach. Her lungs felt shallow, and filled with sand. How  dare she fail after coming so, so far?

But, the feeling didn't last terribly long.

When  they finally climbed out of the cursed inverted tower, relief flooded  Vanessa and she couldn't help but smile. There, on the stone steps of  the tower, waited the Sphinx and Mr. Lich to greet the returned  adventurers.

Vanessa caught Warren's eyes by accident and she saw the suspicion and anger in his gaze. But she didn't care.

This wasn't the end.

She hadn't failed completely.

Her escape had arrived.

—

"So, when can I leave this dungeon?" Vanessa asked. The cool stone of  Fablehaven's dungeon seeped into her clothes as she leaned against her  back wall. It had already been hours.

Mr. Lich raised an eyebrow on his placid face. "Never."

Vanessa  had seen Mr. Lich a couple of times. Once, while in a car with the  Sphinx, another when padding around the Sphinx's adobe. He liked to keep  his words few. A good habit for someone who lived so long—less evidence  to pile up.

Although, Vanessa suspected the companionship of the  Sphinx and Mr. Lich extended beyond friends, and paranoia prevented  excess prose from escaping his mouth. Either way, she was lucky to hear  an answer.

To him, he was acting on the Knights' side right now.  The Sphinx's side. The Conservator's Alliance side. But, Vanessa knew  the illusion. He was more of an ally to her than to the people upstairs.

"Am I being transported?"

"Someone else is," Mr. Lich responded.

Confusion knit her eyebrows until a realization sunk into her, and cold fear soaked through Vanessa.

No.  It couldn't be. The Quiet Box? That was the only capsule Vanessa knew  of that required a switch, and she knew it was right down the hall.

No. It must be a ruse. She was going to be rescued. Have an unfortunate escape. Something. The Sphinx was here!

But, as hours amounted into days, terrifying facts made themselves clear.

Vanessa  had blown her deep cover completely. She couldn't operate as a spy  anymore. She was a failed operative, useless to the Society.

And, what happened to spies who's covers were blown?

They disappeared.