Startling reality is settling into my stomach. We're really going to kidnap the head of the local government. She really wants us dead. Aster really is telling the truth about magic.

This is the reality of the Outerlands.

I sit down on my foot chest.

"Leavi says she knows the way to Veradeaux's chamber," Aster says, leaning against the wall.

Sean stands, arms crossed, on the other side of the room. "And?"

"I think I can subdue her. So all we need is some way into the room. Leavi said you might be able to help with that."

Sean turns to me. "You know I can't make a copy unless I have the original. I don't think you want to sneak in and steal another one." He raises an eyebrow.

"Surely there's another way to do it," I say.

"Why can't your friend over there just magic the lock open?"

Aster rubs the back of his neck. "I can't pick the lock with magic unless I can see into it. That means there has to be good light on at least one side of the door, and even then, most locks are too small to see into. So, no. I can't 'magic' the lock."

I say to Sean in Errelian, "If you can improvise a bomb in a closet, surely you can come up with some way to get past a single door."

"That was different. I had access to all kinds of lovely chemicals in that closet and was trying to make noise."

"You can't really be out of options. The great Doktor Sean Rahkifellar surely has some kind of ace up his sleeve." I watch him, hoping my words prove true.

He reaches into a pocket, pops open a device, and puts it away. Exasperatedly, he says, "I guess I have to figure out something. I'll make it work." He gives me a thin smile that looks more nervous than encouraging.

Aster says, "Are you two going to translate, or do I just have to guess?" He smiles, taking the sting from the words while leaving their point.

"Sorry." I smile back, but it's tinged with nerves. "Sean says he can do it."

Aster nods. "Good."

"Hold on," Sean says. "I think you've got a bit of a hole in your plan—well, a few, but this one's really glaring. You said you 'think you can subdue' Veradeaux? So what, you planning to waltz in there and carry her out over your shoulder? Without her warning the guards?"

"We would gag her, obviously," Aster says.

"And you think she's going to welcome you with open arms when you walk into her room and let you cart her out?"

"You wanted me to solve your task with magic, so how do you guess I'm going to accomplish mine?"

"So you've got some kind of presto knock-out spell? Or can you wave your fingers and make her follow your every command?"

Aster raises an eyebrow. "Exactly what are you implying?"

"I'm saying that your 'magic' isn't exactly reliable."

"Really? Only moments ago, you were trying to get out of this by using it."

"I wasn't trying to get out of anything. I was using sarcasm. Obviously you're not familiar with it."

Aster's eyes spark. "Oh, of course not, because I'm some crazed con-man, right?"

"Well, I'm certainly not convinced you're everything you claim to be."

Aster pushes off the wall. "Then what do you think I am?"

"Lunatic's usually the word I use, but crazed con-man works."

Something goes frighteningly calm in Aster's face. His hand makes a motion in the air, and the dictionary on my bedside table flies into the air. It spins to face Sean, only a foot from his head. "Does that look like a con?" Aster asks coolly.

I stand and snatch it out of the air. "This has gone far enough!"

Something snaps flat in the atmosphere, and Aster calls out, hand coming to his nose. He takes a deep breath, wiping away the blood. Sean looks disturbed but like he's trying to hide it.

Regret sweeps through me that I might have caused Aster's reaction, but I don't show it. "We have more important things to deal with than you two's bickering." I set the dictionary down on the foot chest. In Errelian, I say, "If you're worried about her being awake when we sneak in, I think I can concoct some sort of soporific from what Marcí has in the kitchen. We could sneak it into her dinner."

He nods. "I think that sounds like a good idea."

"Pardon?" Aster asks.

I turn to him, trying to translate. "The night we kidnap her, I will put something in Veradeaux's food to make her sleep."

"That sounds dangerous. How would you get in there?"

"I—" I swallow. "I still have a maid's uniform."

"They won't recognize you?"

"I won't stay there all day. Just long enough to put the"—I wave my hand, not knowing the word in Avadelian—"thing in her food."

"I don't know," Aster hedges.

The door flies open. "So, Leavi, I was think—" Idyne stops talking, taking in the three of us. "Oh. Hello."

Panic flashes through my mind. Idyne won't be the type to just wander off. I don't know how we'll get rid of her without coming off more suspicious than we already look. We'll be caught before we've even started.

"What's going on?" she asks.

I open my mouth to dodge, already knowing she's going to see through it. Blazes.

Idyne watches me, her winged eyeliner making her eyes seem even wider than they are.

"Nothing," Sean answers bluntly.

Idyne frowns, and I wince.

She's not going to leave. Something occurs to me. But maybe we don't need her to.

In my language, I ask Idyne, "How much makeup do you have left?"

The frown disappears. "Plenty?" She cocks her head. "Why?"

"We might need your help."

"Skies, Riveirre, do you not know how to keep a secret?" Sean bursts.

"Secrets? I'm good at secrets. Tell me." Idyne grins.

"See?" I gesture toward her. "She's trustworthy." And better here, working with us, than standing outside the door, listening in.

"A self-claim to trustworthiness does not win my confidence," Sean retorts.

Idyne sets a hand to her chest. "I'm hurt."

"Does anyone want to tell me what's happening?" Aster interrupts.

In Avadelian, I say, "I'm going to tell Idyne what we're doing."

Alarmed, he asks, "Why?"

"I think she can help me get in the manor. Besides, she is a caster too, no?

"She—" he cuts himself off, glancing at her.

Her head is tilted. "No, please, go on." She sweeps her hand, smiling, though a sharp light glints in her eyes.

For the first time, Idyne almost scares me.

He ignores her, looking back to me. "Do you disregard every warning someone gives you?" His face is lighthearted, as if his comment is a joke, but it feels more like a slap in the face.

It's not my fault she wandered in, and even if she is dangerous, all I'm trying to do is keep us from being caught. "Idyne can help us. And she's willing to. Right, Idyne?"

"Of course!" She grins at Aster, as if his discomfort amuses her.

"Then we tell her." At this point, I'm not sure there's much getting around it if we wanted to.

"So." Idyne shuts the door, sauntering into the middle of the room. "What's the plot?"

Might as well get it all out there. "We're kidnapping a woman who wants us dead."

She leans forward, intrigued. "Oh."

"I need you to make me look as little like me as possible. Can you do that?"

A wicked excitement slips onto her face. "Absolutely."

Her smile ignites my own. "Fantastic."

"Look, this is all nice and good," Sean says, "but none of that solves the dozens of other problems. For instance, what the blazes do we do with her once we've got her? Or, a more pressing question, don't we need to go somewhere else since she expects us to be here? It's only a matter of time before she realizes that you—wait a second, what did you do with the guy that tried to kill Leavi?"

"Who tried to kill you?" Idyne demands, an unsettling darkness in her gaze.

"It doesn't matter." I glance at Sean. "We tied him up. He's in the forest, with a blanket and a fire."

"You still haven't answered my other questions."

My gaze roves to the ceiling, the weight of the night suddenly crashing down on me. "I don't kno—" But wait. I do know. "Hold on." I head for the door.

"Where are you going?" Aster calls.

"Can I come?" Idyne says.

I glance back at everyone. "Stay here. I'm finding us a place to go." I leave, closing the door behind me. Outside, I lean against its frame, weariness slowly adding weight to my limbs. The excitement and adrenaline from before are wearing off, and all I want is to find somewhere to lie down and sleep.

But not here.

I walk down the hall and knock on Jacin's door. It occurs to me that I have no idea what time it is. The encounter with the Man from the East feels like it happened yesterday. In reality, it must be—what, thirty minutes? An hour or two?

Jacin might be asleep.

He doesn't answer the door, and I quietly knock again. Markus' room is just next door, and I don't want to wake him.

Jacin doesn't say anything.

Pressing my lips together, I try the handle. Surprisingly, it's unlocked. Then again, he has been here for a few months. Perhaps he's not in the paranoid habit of locking himself away from the people he lives with the same way I am.

I push his door open. He's sprawled out on his bed, covers pulled halfway up. His hair is tousled with sleep, and as I move closer, I realize he's bare-chested. His necklace catches the faint moonlight.

"Jacin," I call.

He stirs, eyes blinking open. "Leavi." Sitting, he peers at me in the darkness. His gaze grows concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just—" I swallow, nervous for some reason. "I had a question. Sorry for waking you."

"It's fine," he assures. He rises, standing to face me. "What's wrong?"

His soft voice makes me suddenly very aware I'm standing in his bedroom in the middle of the night, just a couple feet away from his shirtless form. My fingers twine themselves in my necklace. "Nothing," I answer. "I was just... curious about that farmhouse you told me about before. The one with the book of words?"

"Yeah?" He steps closer.

"Yes." The darkness seems heavy. "Is it still empty?"

"As far as I know. Townsfolk think it's haunted." He steps forward again, and only inches separate us. "Why?"

Blue eyes search my face as my tongue fumbles for a lie. Not landing on one, I dodge instead. "Can you give me directions?"

"Of course." He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, and I flinch. "Sorry," he murmurs, eyes meeting mine. His hand drops.

"It's okay." I lean back slightly, heart pounding too fast. "Where did you say it was?"

"South end of the village, just outside the forest." His words are slow, barely above a whisper. "About a five-minute walk from town."

I nod, releasing the death grip on my necklace. "Thanks." I turn to go.

He catches my wrist and steps in. "You didn't just come here to ask about a farm," he says softly.

"I didn't?" My voice is treasonously high.

"I don't think so." His hand comes to rest on my cheek, and I freeze. Eyes closed, he leans forward, close, closer, too close. His lips pause in the dark, just a millimeter from my own.

I jerk from his grip, stepping back. My heart pounds.

His eyes flick open, hurt flashing across his face.

"Goodnight, Jacin," I say, breathless. I hurry out of his room and duck into my own before he can follow me.

All three pairs of eyes in my room snap to me as I lean against the door.

"What just happened?" Sean asks, brow furrowed.

I push off the door and brush my hair away from my face. "Nothing. Found us a place." I hope my cheeks aren't as flushed as they feel. Trying to affect nonchalance, I walk across the room and pull my satchel from underneath my bed. I glance back at them. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Let's pack and leave." I open the foot chest to grab my clothes.

Everyone's eyes weigh on me, but I ignore them and shove my things into my bag. After a moment, the boys file out of the room.

I glance up at Idyne. "Aren't you coming with us? We could use you tomorrow. I doubt we come back here until we have Veradeaux." A shirt goes in my satchel.

"I already said I was, silly." She looks up and to the left. "No, I didn't forget. Shush." She turns back to me. "I have a gift for you. It's why I came in here in the first place actually." With a flourish, she produces a bracelet of wooden beads. The center bead is hollow glass, glowing the same swirling, neon way the charm of her necklace does. "Aren't you going to take it?" She jingles it at me.

I accept the gift. "Thank you." My finger runs over the cold beads. "It's beautiful."

I move to slip it on, and she calls, "You might not want to do that!"

Startled, I look up at her. "Why not?"

"Because you'll be speaking gibberish for anywhere from about an hour," she says, then clucks her tongue, "to maybe a few days."

I tilt my head. "It's magic?"

"I'm pretty sure normal bracelets don't make you speak gibberish."

"Why would you give me a magic bracelet?"

"Oh." Her face lights up. "Because I like you."

The neon substance swirls inside the bead. I press my lips together. "Thank you, but I'm afraid I'll have to return it. I don't want to use any more magic."

"Oh, but you won't be using it! It's a charm. I already cast the spell on it, no energy required from you." She beams, eyes dancing with excitement. "I think you'll find it more useful than you expect. I charmed it to let you speak Morineause. Since we're planning on going there and all."

"So I just put this on, and presto, I'm a native speaker?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Well, no. I already told you it makes you speak gibberish for a while—you can't use any sort of intelligible language. But then, sure. You'll be more or less fluent. Oh, and look at this!" She taps the center bead three times, and the glow dies. "If you want to stop speaking Morineause, just do that." She taps the bead three more times, and it flares back to life. "It's not as handy or complicated as mine." She points to the necklace underneath her shirt. "But it gives you a little more choice. And it's easier to make." She flashes a smile and stands. "Well, I'm off to pack. Meet you in the living room."

I nod, and she flounces off. Not sure what to make of her gift, I tuck it into my pocket and continue packing what little wasn't already.

When I'm done, I hurry downstairs and scribble a note to Marcí, laying a few of the copper coins I earned on top of it. I start rifling through cabinets, putting food inside my purple throw to carry what we need to the farmhouse. That done, I open the doors to her tea and spice cabinet.

In the back of the second shelf rest two jars. I twist them open and smell the contents to be sure. A smile creeps to my face. Valerian root and chamomile. Just like I thought.

Lady Veradeaux is about to have the best night of sleep in her life.