"Walk us through it again, Private Ci. Everything." Instructor Amaranth leaned into a band of sunlight streaming through one of the windows of Instructor Stevia's office, one of the only offices in the West Wing that hadn't been destroyed with the poison of the giant scorpion. The office was small and tidy, with tall windows and dark wooden furniture. There was a large slash of red paint on one of the walls that Lilly couldn't help but glance at, desperately wanting to know what it was for. She figured it was a bad time to ask. 

"I've already told you three times," Lilly said, keeping the bite of irritation out of her tone. She sat on one side of Stevia's giant desk like a patched-up doll: small, bandaged, and still. The three Board Members sat across from her, each of them looking divine in their crisp uniforms and dead-serious expressions. 

"But you never mentioned where the rock came from," Sankem replied. "Or what the monster said to you."

"Because I don't know the answers to either of those questions. I was too scared to make sense of any of it." Lilly was trying so hard to speak as respectfully as possible. She did not think that sassing three respected adults with magical powers who ran a training facility full of potential soldiers would do her any good. This was a great opportunity to work on her attitude towards adults.

"Really," Lilly tried again after the Board Members exchanged dubious looks with each other, desperately hoping they didn't mistake her frustration with the situation for cheekiness. "I have no idea."

Almost as quietly as Zander, Centurie said, "You should know we sent samples of the comet embedded in the roof to the chemical lab stationed beneath Elliott Way."

Lilly swallowed. Even if they found out the comet came from somewhere in space, they couldn't link it to her...could they?

"Are you sure you can't remember anything the beast said to you? Anything at all?" Amaranth pressed.

Lilly opened her mouth. Most of what the monster said had gone straight over her head, and she was having trouble sorting it all out. There was one thing, however, that the Board Members did need to know. Lilly sucked in a deep breath. "He said...something about wanting to get into the magical dimension, but like said, all that went over my head. Can I ask a question, though? How did the monster get into Elliott Way? I thought there were magical barriers that made sure certain species don't get in." 

Questions have the ability to create atmospheres, and when that last sentence left Lilly's mouth, she could feel the way her words charged the air with a deep, sad current, visible in the lift of Amaranth's eyebrows, the wrinkles deepening around Sankem's mouth with his frown, and the way Centurie's pale hands curled into fists on the desk.

Then Sankem scoffed and Centurie sat there like a dull, forgettable ghost. 

"Someone created an opening through the barrier," Amaranth said. "I absolutely no idea how." 

"What about Storm? What are you going to do now that you know he's alive?"

"Yes," Amaranth replied. "Him.  We've put a block on all letters coming into Elliott Way from family, and no one's going in or out of this facility until we get the barrier issue under control. We're closing outside sources." 

Sankem clucked his tongue. "I still cannot believe the Bloom lied to the world when they knew he was out there." 

Centurie bristled in agreement. 

"Perhaps it's best not to discuss how fickle the Bloom can be in front of this young lady," Amaranth reasoned, leaning forward so that her delicate nose was several inches away from Lilly's. "The bravery you have exhibited today shows your potential to be a great soldier. Nurse Honeycomb will send pain pills with your dinner tonight. We're ordering all dinners to be sent to everyone's personal dorm rooms." 

"Yes ma'am." Lilly got up to leave. 

"Are you sure you've told us everything?" Sankem asked. "Storm makes a grand gesture. Beasts break into Elliott Way. You being in the direct path of the monster." 

Amaranth shot him a glare. 

"Nope," Lilly replied. At Centurie's solemn nod, she quickly left the room. She'd already spent several hours in the hospital ward to get her shoulder blades bandaged and another hour and a half being questioned by the Board Members. Her back prickled with thick gauze and dull, consistent aches from where the beast's claws had punctured her skin. She was ready to find Wyx and sink into a long conversation about something that had nothing to do with monsters while curled up beneath warm blankets.

But that, she realized the moment she left the office, was not going to happen anytime soon. 

Zander, Kaitlynn, Max, and Wyx were waiting outside when Lilly exited Stevia's office. Upon seeing them, every muscle in Lilly's body that wasn't already tense seized up. Max paced, Kaitlynn sat and read with Wyx poised on her shoulder, and Zander studied a shimmering pink tapestry that stretched across the length of one wall. All of them sported erect backs, tight shoulders, squinted eyes, and rapid breaths. The anxiety of the way her friends were standing and sitting and pacing and studying swelled within Lilly like a crescendo in a musical suite. She had not spoken with them since the catastrophe of that morning, and she couldn't imagine what they were thinking. 

The monster had said it in front of all of them: Space thief. 

Lilly breathed, "You all look so tense." 

"I'm only here because I wanted to see how bad the Board Members tortured you." Max did not stop pacing. 

"I heard that the other beast was a huge scorpion that could spray poison from its tail. The Instructors wouldn't tell us much, but they did say that the beast turned into yellow gas and diffused through the window. Most of the West Wing is smoldering." Kaitlynn did not look up from her book.

"It was scary," Wyx added without even a twitch of his usually twitch-happy tail.

"That monster called you space thief," Zander half-whispered. As one, all five of her friends moved. Max stopped pacing, Kaitlynn snapped her book closed, Wyx leaped down from Kaitlynn's shoulder, and Zander turned away from the tapestry.

"I..." Lilly started, but she didn't know how to finish that sentence or how to make an excuse for a rock falling from space just in time to stop Elliott Way's roof from caving in, so she closed her mouth. 

It was Zander who finished for her, surprising them all with a firm, loud voice that was so jarring from his previous whisper, the rest of them jumped. "I'm calling a meeting in your dorm room, Lilly. You need to tell us what you know." 

***

The talking came without any pretense. It was as if, after they had shut the door to Lilly's room and settled into their positions, everyone let a relieved breath escape from their mouths. 

Zander sat beside Lilly on her bed, his palms pressed together like a scientist on the brink of decoding a complicated chemical reaction. Max stood with one shoulder leaning on the door, his arms crossed, and Kaitlynn sat criss-cross next to him with Wyx perched on her shoulder. 

"It was such a mess," Kaitlynn began, so fast that, with her accent, Lilly almost didn't understand what she was saying. "Oh, Lilly with two ls, it was terrible. The poison looked like water, but it spread all over the floor and melted everything. The instructors think someone made a rip in the protective barrier covering Elliott Way and that's how the monsters got in. I'm just so glad you're okay! I would just absolutely die on the inside if you died!" 

"Don't be dramatic," growled Max. Kaitlynn swatted his leg and said, "Don't be mean." 

"Someone powerful must have made the rip," Lilly said. She flipped onto her back to lie upside down off the edge of her bed, wincing at the pain in her shoulders. 

"Well," Wyx snapped, turning to Zander, "you called this meeting, so you should lead it."

Zander bit his lip, looked at Lilly, and sighed. "You steal from space." 

Lilly shot up. She tucked her legs beneath her so that she was sitting on her knees. Her eyes narrowed, and her fingers made complicated shapes as they dug into her palms.

There was a stunned moment of silence, and Lilly was sure no one in the room knew what to do with this information. When one's friend is accused of something that could very well get them killed, how was one supposed to react? 

Wyx looked as if he were about to explode into an argument—his yellow eyes went so wide they looked in danger of popping out of his skull, and a deep growl sounded from the back of his throat. He turned to Zander and detonated. "She is not, you whackadoodle! Maybe you brought that comet down, ever thought of that? Do you even understand how big of an accusation that is? You barely know Lilly. What, you suddenly think you can call a meeting with people you barely know and just accuse her of something like that?"

"Well," Lilly sighed, "if he wasn't sure before, he is now."

"That monster literally called her a space thief," Kaitlynn mused. 

"Woah, back up," said Max. "So you can steal things from space? That is...that is...how did you even come to Elliott Way without anyone finding out?"

"Oh Lilly with two ls," Kaitlynn breathed.

"No," Lilly snapped. She gestured sharply for emphasis and made sure every ounce of sass and stubbornness she'd suppressed from the Board Members in her interrogation came spilling out now. "Do not give me that pitying Oh Lilly with two ls crap. Uh-uh. No one's going to find out. I'm not getting arrested and the Board Members are not going to find out and everyone is just going to forget about this. Got it? Good." She turned to Wyx. "Is there some hypnotic voodoo Shifter weirdness we can do to make them forget about this conversation?"

"No," Wyx replied. "But there might be a cake."

"I'd love some cake right now," Kaitlynn said, dreamer's eyes glistening. 

Max said, "So when the Board Members questioned you, you lied. And if they find out you lied to them, you'll be in even bigger trouble. It's basically a big secret that could get you killed if anyone found out."

"You're not even my friend," Lilly huffed. "Why do you care?" 

"Maybe I want to see you executed, you moldy slab of roadkill." 

There had not been a debate in Lilly's mind when the Board Members had questioned her about the beast, the roof, and the comet. It was not just her tail on the line; Melissa knew about Lilly's abilities and kept them a secret from the Bloom. If Lilly's magic was a crime, helping hide her magic for eleven years was treason. Melissa would get executed, too. Lilly would lie through her teeth a thousand times if it meant keeping Melissa safe. 

Lilly melted down onto her stomach, rested her head in her arms, and sighed. "Please don't tell."

More silence. There was a lot that needed to be said in this tiny room, and Lilly could feel anxiety's reckless hands gripping her chest, her stomach. She buried her face in her arms, trying to press out the shift of breath patterns, the shhh of Wyx's tail as it swept through the air, and the thud of her pulse. 

"I won't," Zander replied.

"Me either," Kaitlynn said. "Pinky promise." 

Wyx cleared his throat. "Well I wasn't gonna tell anyway, so the joke's on you."

Lilly looked up at Max. She hated his attitude and she hoped he'd fall into a puddle of mud and she wanted desperately to come up with better insults for him because he was winning in their insult-war and she hated that, too...but—but maybe she wanted to be friends with him. She wanted him to keep her secret, and more than that, she wanted to have a friendship with him. She liked the way he made her laugh, the way he helped her with combat moves in instruction periods and used the excuse of, "I just wanted to show you that I'm way better at this than you are" with a sly little grin that made his eyes glow. The realization that she wanted to be friends with Max Wikkens struck her hard as she watched him chew his lower lip in thought. 

She really wanted to be friends with Max Wikkens? Kaitlynn was rubbing off on her.

Eventually, Max threw up his arms in surrender. "Alright, fine. But if the instructors or the Board Members find out, you're toast."

"I understand."

"I mean burnt, inedible toast that crumbles between your fingers when you pick it up."

"I think she gets it," Zander said quietly. 

"Now that we all understand I'll be toast if the Board Members find out I lied," Lilly started, shooting Max a glare, "there's something else I need to tell you. Before you guys came, the monster said he was looking for a...he called it a magical dimension. I also think Storm wants space thief magic because the monster said that Storm told him to look for me." 

"So you're being hunted down by monsters and a man who tried to destroy the world once already," said Max. "Toast. Black, crisp bread with no hope of—" 

"You're not helping at all," Wyx interrupted. 

"What would Storm want with the magical dimension?" Zander asked like a college professor rather than a thirteen-year-old who was normally terrified of speaking. He tilted his head back thoughtfully, pausing between sentences to weigh his words. "And what was he going to use your mother's magic for in the first place?" Another pause. "Does he need the beasts, the magical dimension, and space thief magic to destroy the world?" 

Lilly scrubbed frustrated hands over her face. "Why would anyone want to destroy the world in the first place?" 

"Theory: He wants to destroy this world, but he'll make a gate to live in another one," Zander replied. 

"What?" Lilly and Max asked at the same time Kaitlynn and Wyx gasped, "Sorry?"

"Theory two," Zander continued, his voice the clearest and most confident Lilly had heard it yet. He was a wonder, an interesting being full of wisdom. He spoke like he danced, sure of every word, confidence and spirit lacing the accented English Lilly heard like a piano accompanies a singer. "He can make storms, right? And if the Bloom hates any Shifter who doesn't have the ability to use fire, water, or earth, then the Bloom must have tried to kill him. Wiped out his family or something. I think he wants revenge on the Bloom." 

Pause. 

"Math makes more sense than your theories," Lilly said finally. "And math makes zero sense." 

"It does make sense, actually," Kaitlynn said. "It's just a lot to process. Do you have a theory on the magical dimension?" 

Lilly had been meaning to ask what the magical dimension was, and now felt like a good time. When she opened her mouth to ask, Max beat her to it by saying, "And now Lilly asks, what is the magical dimension?"

Lilly snapped, "I was not going to ask that!" but turned to look at Zander with wide eyes, hoping he'd take the hint. He liked to read; not Kaitlynn's whimsical fairytale stories, but textbooks, history books, nonfiction...surely he had read something about the magical dimension. 

"The magical dimension..." Zander clasped his hands together and brought them to his lips. "Everything about it is so vague. It's like...a world inside of our own, I think. If the Shifter World is skin, then the magical dimension is like the organ system underneath. No one can see it, and before today I didn't think it was possible to even get inside it. It keeps the Shifter World running."

Wyx sighed theatrically. "There is a way to get in, you idiots."

"What?" Kaitlynn asked. As an afterthought, she added, "I really wish you hadn't mentioned cake earlier." 

"I met a psychic once. I ate one of her imps and she gave me blue skin as punishment." Wyx shuddered. "Urgh, blue skin! Terrible fashion statement. Anyway, I just saw her blueprints and ideas about how to get into the magical dimension. But that was like ten years ago." 

"And if Storm's beasts are looking for an entrance to the magical dimension, that means that Storm probably knows how to get inside of it," Zander reasoned. "And if he knows—" 

"How much do you wanna bet that psychic knows how to get into the magical dimension, too?" Lilly finished, simmering with excitement.  

"What if we visited the psychic, got her to tell us how to get in?" Zander was smiling now, hands shaking with enthusiasm. "It would be a lot easier to stop Storm if we knew what he was planning." 

"No." Max shifted from his spot on the door. He gestured to each of them with a long pale finger. "Do you hear yourself? Stopping Storm. We're not going to stop this. There are eleven serial killing beasts out there, our government sucks, there's about to be a world war with the Acids, and Storm wants to get into a bizarre voodoo-whacky place that only a crazy witch can tell us how to get in. The five of us have no chance. Zero. We're going to the Board Members about this in the morning."

"Where does the psychic live?" Lilly asked Wyx, completely ignoring Max. 

"One of them lives on the other side of the city across from Elliott Way. Blue skin! I mean, everyone knows that fashion atrocities always start with blue skin." 

Max sighed as theatrically as Wyx. "And now Lilly says, Let's go ask the grumpy old hag about the magical dimension!"

Lilly said, with a smile that did not reach her eyes, "Let's go ask the grumpy old hag about the magical dimension. And I do not sound that high."

"You sound like those creepy automaton dolls in antique shops that tell the owners they're going to massacre the whole street."

"Can I kill you first?"  

"Why blue skin?" Kaitlynn asked Wyx.

Max threw up his hands. "Did you guys not hear anything I just said about serial killing beasts and going to the Board Members?"  

"Actually, I think Max is right," said Zander. "We'll talk to the Board Members tomorrow, see if they can talk to the psychic." 

"The Board Members aren't going to get the grumpy old hag to talk anyway," Wyx protested. "She's a cannibal. She'll eat you.'

"She can't be that bad." Kaitlynn shrugged. "I mean, the world is at stake. She'd have to help." 

"Considering she's grumpy, she's old, and she's a hag, I don't think our chances are likely," said Wyx. "She's been shut up in her house for years. She never leaves. And did I mention that she eats people? Because she eats people." 

Kaitlynn shrugged again. "Still." 

"Don't be naive," Max snapped. 

"Don't be angry," Kaitlynn offered gently. "And it's not being naive. It's called it's the only plan we've got so let's go with it and see where it takes us. We'll talk to the Board Members about it in the morning and we'll keep Lilly's secret and even if it doesn't work out, we tried." 

Max huffed, "Fine. Good plan. Let's stick to it, but if I cram anything else into my brain I'll explode." He brushed off his pants, opened the door, swatted at the butterflies that swirled around him, and disappeared into the hall.

"I should go, too. I want to finish my book before bed." Kaitlynn got to her feet and waved goodbye. The other nineteen butterflies had popped out of sight by the time she'd gracefully gotten to her feet and brushed herself off, but one sky-blue one was still fluttering in circles. Kaitlynn caught it on her finger a fleeting second before it disappeared, and that left Zander, Wyx, and Lilly in the room alone.

Zander said, his voice dipping into his usual whisper, "I hope you're not mad that I told them about your magic."

Wyx cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go eat some green mustard." He left, too.

Lilly couldn't tell if there was tension or beauty between the two of them, but she certainly hoped Zander didn't feel anxious when he was around her. She could sometimes sense tension in him; the rigidity of his shoulders, the press of his lips, the wrinkle of his brows, the way his breath left his nose in staccato exhalations.

"I'm not," Lilly said. "Not at all. But how did you know?"

He shrugged. "The glowing flower. The comet. I put two and two together."

Oh. She must not have hidden the glowing flower as quickly as she'd thought. She sighed. "Okay. That's smart."

He breathed a nervous laugh.

"Seriously," Lilly said. "And not just about figuring out my magic. You know so much...about Storm and the magical dimension and everything. You should talk more."

"Yeah." Zander nodded and lifted a slender shoulder. "Most of the time...when I'm around a lot of people, I feel...trapped in a prison of silence. It's like...when bad things happen, I feel like I have the courage to get out of my silent prison. I feel like I can make bad things good. And my voice comes back. Courage comes with it. When things are perfect, it's like I don't even matter, and silence takes over."

Lilly felt butterflies in her stomach.

How could she possibly reply to that? How could she possibly tell Zander how much she loved his voice? It was like sunlight on water, rippling with an accent and bright with knowledge. How could she tell him how great his mind was, how astounding he was? She couldn't find the words, and so a long silence stretched between them. She plucked at a frayed string on the corner of her faded blue blanket and he pressed several fingers to a place right beneath his jaw, looking solemn.

"You're fantastic," Lilly said. The butterflies leapt to her throat. Her hands had gone sweaty. 

Zander flashed her a brilliant smile and shifted so that he was sitting criss-cross on the bed. "I didn't just steal a comet from space and make a monster dissolve into yellow gas."

"There was a lot of terror and hyperventilating involved, and it did not feel as amazing as it probably looked from the ground." She sighed. "I know it would be a lot more helpful to tell the Board Members about my magic so they could keep Storm from getting space thief magic, even if it meant me getting into trouble. I know it might help the Board Members sort out what's going on with Storm...but it's my cousin. If it got back to the Bloom that she knew what I could do and didn't say anything, she'll be in trouble."

"Hey, I get it. The Bloom is nefarious."

Lilly raised her eyebrows. "Nefarious?"

The light that lit up Zander's eyes were twin sunbursts. "I have this thing with big words no one uses. I love them."

"Do you study dictionaries for fun?" 

"All the time." He nodded, smiled another kind, genuine smile, and said, "We'll meet at breakfast and talk about psychics and bad decisions in the morning, okay? You deserve a prodigious night of sleep."

Lilly shoved him. "Now you're just showing off."

His smile sharpened to a smirk. "Maybe a little."