Storm stood in the middle a ring of seven dead Bloom Officials burned to a crisp by his own lightning, right in front of an enchanted magical barrier intended to protect the facility from threats. 

Eleven monsters stood behind him. 

"Find the rip Lydia made," he ordered them. 

Excitement sped up his heartbeat to dangerous, dangerous levels. 

*** 

Lilly swore to herself that if she survived the next fifteen minutes, she'd be as close to respectful as she could manage for the rest of her life.

Sass was her survival instinct, and Stem Sankta warranted a lot of sass. 

Lilly knew the stories. She'd heard them during her time at Elliott Way: Stem Sankta makes the decisions. One veto from Stem Sankta and a war plan or coup against the Acids is a no-go. Sankta gave honors. Sankta was honored, highly established in the Bloom. Civilians bowed to her like a queen (literally) and Bloom Officials kissed her feet (figuratively). Where the Acids were a dictatorship and the humanoid Fae creatures were an evasive, little-known monarchy and every other Shifter World nation worked under a democracy controlled by Bloom Officials, Stem Sankta was the queen of the Shifter World's military. If one directly or indirectly opposed Sankta, they could be sentenced to prison or torture or death or all three. 

Stem Sankta owned an empire. 

She also got on Lilly's last nerve. 

Upon entering the conference room, Lilly knew she had just walked in on something that would have erupted into violence. Sankta wasted no time in grabbing Lilly by the upper arm and hauling her into an empty high-backed chair. Then the woman ordered Amaranth to tie Lilly's wrists to the arms of the chair and Lilly, who thought this was highly unnecessary because she had come to the conference room voluntarily, sat quietly as Amaranth ran dark, steady fingers over Lilly's wrists. Vines sprang from her hands, looped around Lilly's skin and the arms of the chair, and tightened. 

Sankta pulled another chair out from the long conference table, placed it in front of Lilly, and sat in it. She said, "I need some answers to questions before I can carry out your execution." 

Execution. Lilly shivered at the way Sankta said it, so blunt and careless. Sankta could have said "I have blue eyes" with the same tone. 

"Shouldn't we wait for the magistrates of magi-criminal law?" asked Stevia from across the room. 

Sankta snarled, "Not when the girl who could be used to destroy the Shifter World is sitting in front of me." 

"Get on with it," Lilly said, a little breathlessly. If she was going to die, if she was going to get executed by this annoyingly excessive woman, she wanted it to be quick. 

Here was where the excruciating annoyingness came in: 

"You're Lillian Cart Ci, yes?"

"Yes. I thought that would've been obvious considering you all were just talking about me, the space thief, and then I, the space thief, walked in here declaring that I'm me, the space thief."

Sankta let the rude remark slide. She was all angles and no curves: Slit eyes with ice-blue irises shining beneath the lowered lids, a slash of a mouth, triangular cheekbones, bony hands that were clasped together so tightly the veins in her knuckles popped out. Angles, angles, angles. "Do you know anyone else who can steal from space?" 

"No." 

"Do you know anyone else who has non-elemental magic that isn't a Fae or a psychic?" 

"No." 

"And your cousin is Melissa Stowe?" 

"Yes, but I don't see what she has to do with this." That was a lie; Lilly saw exactly what Melissa had to do with this, and it further irritated her that Sankta would ask about Melissa because if Melissa had known all these years about her magic, it was treason to the Bloom.

Focus on the topic at hand, Lilly wanted to say, that's that I'm a space thief and you were going to kill me to save the world. Leave Melissa out of it. 

Sankta said, "You realize that if she knew about your magic, she could be imprisoned for the rest of her life." 

Lilly did not need Sankta to point that out. 

"Did she know?" Sankta asked. 

"I don't understand the question." Just leave Melissa out of this. 

Sankta's white eyebrows drew up and nearly touched. "What do you mean you don't understand the question? It's a yes or no question. Did Melissa know about your magic?" 

"Can you use the question in a sentence?" 

"What?" 

"Lillian," interjected Amaranth, "you should probably just—" 

"Did your cousin know that you could steal from space?" Sankta's voice was tight and shrill. 

"Can...can you use the question in a nursery rhyme?" 

One of the adults behind Sankta snorted, and Lilly curled her fingers into fists as Sankta's lips puckered into an angry frown. 

"Look," Lilly tried. If she was going to die anyway, she might as well let out the sass she'd been bottling up during her time at Elliott Way now. "I came in here willing to help you out. Don't push your luck, lady." 

Sankta opened her mouth, paused, and turned back to the Board Members and Stevia. "What kind of facility are you running?" She didn't even wait for a reply before facing Lilly again. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I can assure you that I do not take your disrespectful attitude lightly. The Shifter World cannot afford elemental magicians, especially ones who can steal from space." She gripped Lilly's chin with her thumb and forefinger, like an angry mother disciplining a child, and continued through clenched teeth, "If the next thing that comes out of your mouth isn't an answer to one of my questions, I'll kill your cousin myself. I'll make you watch, and I'll make it all happen today. Do not disrespect those in authority. Nod if you understand." 

Lilly nodded and changed her vow: she probably wasn't going to survive the next fifteen minutes, so she vowed to speak only when necessary to avoid making Sankta carry out her threat, which terrified her more than anything. 

***

One monster, an impossibly large hawk with an impossibly large beak and impossibly large talons, tore the tiny rip into a large tear before reporting it back to Storm with a toss of its head.

Storm motioned for his monsters to follow him, standing in the middle of a dozen more freshly dead Bloom Officials.

Hope made his breaths faster, faster.

Storm and his monsters invaded Elliott Way.

***

Sankta unsheathed a knife from the weapons belt around her waist, a sharp, small devil that looked like something Melissa would treasure. She stood up from her chair and closed the small space between her and Lilly so that she was standing directly behind Lilly's chair. Lilly could feel Sankta's cold hands on her neck, the prickle of the knife's blade against the tender skin below her ear. 

"Did your cousin know?" 

"Yes." 

"Ever since you've been living with her." 

"Yes." 

"Good girl." Sankta dug the knife in a little harder. Lilly gasped. "I'm going to kill you now, but I'll make sure that Miss Stowe is imprisoned. Maybe she'll get a pardon if I wake up one day and decide to be kind—but probably not." 

Understand, Lilly told herself sternly. Understand that she's going to kill you because Storm is going to use your magic to destroy the world. 

Even though she knew that Sankta was doing what was right for the Shifter World, Lilly did not want to die. Not at all. 

It's gotta be done. 

In the next three seconds, Lilly focused her gaze on the floor while a flood of horrifying thoughts shoved their way through her mind, strung haphazardly together with rushed ands: she was really going through with this to save the Shifter World and Melissa would be imprisoned because of this and she hadn't meant for that to happen and sass had failed her in that regard and Sankta, the most annoying woman in the Shifter World, was about to slit her throat and how much would it hurt and there was nothing Lilly could do about it now and what would dying feel like and was this it, was this really it? 

The knife bit in. 

Amaranth muttered, "I'm sorry." 

Sankem snarled, "I'm not." 

Centurie stayed quiet. 

Stevia whispered, "I hate this." 

And then branches sprang up from in front of Lilly's feet. 

Lilly gasped and pulled her feet back; she had half a mind to reach down but then remembered she was tied to a chair. At the same time, Sankta drew back with a cat-like hiss and removed the knife from Lilly's throat. Amaranth, too, jerked back, and Lilly looked up to see that spindly shrubs curled upwards in front of her as well. 

An envelope appeared in the nest of branches at Lilly's feet. A similar envelope appeared at Amaranth's legs. Sankta appeared in front of Lilly holding a third envelope. 

"Earth-letters for the three of you at the same time?" Sankem asked. He squared his shoulders and crossed his arms. "We don't have time for this. Get on with it, Stem Sankta." 

Everyone in the room ignored him. As Amaranth picked up her envelope, Sankta snatched up the one at Lilly's feet and read it aloud. 

This disdain on her face could have rotted fruits and killed snakes. "It says 'Reinforcements are coming.' She threw the letter aside and flipped open her own. Then she looked at Lilly, looked back at the letter, and looked at Lilly again. She shoved the letter in front of Lilly's face: 

Back off of my kid. 

"Tell me the meaning of this," Sankta demanded, her face brightening to a horrible shade of red. She balled the letter up in a shaking fist and tossed it over her shoulder. "I can't—you just—who would even—I swear to the Great King and every god worshipped in the world that I'll—" 

But Lilly, who did not care what Sankta would do, laughed breathlessly because she knew exactly who sent these letters and found Sankta's angry red face, her threats, her title, and her annoying attitude to be suddenly extravagantly absurd. "Military commander or not, I'm not scared of you." 

From behind them, Amaranth looked up from her own letter and said, "I've got to write a letter of my own." She pocketed her paper and looked up, "Stem Sankta, my deepest apologies, but you're going to have to postpone this execution." 

"Why?" 

"I've got about a thousand children in a facility hearing rumors about a girl who can steal from space, and I've got about a thousand reasons to expect Storm to attack here, so I've got a thousand things to do to prepare." 

"What does that have to do with this girl's execution?" 

"Make it public," Amaranth replied evenly. "Make an example of her. Shifters all over the world are angry after finding out Storm's death was faked because you wanted to calm the world down, so now give them something to be grateful for. Just wait until I'm able to gather all my trainees in Treasurer's Place, and then you can slit her throat in front of everyone." 

Stevia whirled on Amaranth, seething. "You're not serious! Two minutes ago you acted like you didn't want this to happen—" 

"Help me gather my trainees, Stevia." Amaranth gestured towards the door. "Let the instructors know that the rest of the instruction periods are canceled until further notice and make sure everyone gets into Treasurer's Place. Have the instructors line the trainees up in their ranks." 

Stevia simply stood there, gaping, and Amaranth barked in a voice Lilly never would have expected to come from Amaranth's voice, "GO!" 

Stevia, in her dark and brooding way, bristled, gripped her hands together to keep flames from erupting out of them, and muttered flatly, "As you wish." 

She exited the room. 

Amaranth whirled on the other two Board Members. 

"Every second she's alive, you're putting the Shifter World at risk," Sankem said, shooting a venomous look at Lilly. 

Lilly tugged against her bindings. Sankem made a great point. What if Storm was on his way here to grab her now? They needed to kill her to save the Shifter World; she understood why that needed to happen. But she didn't want it to be a public spectacle! She didn't want Kaitlynn, Zander, Max, or Wyx to have to see her drowning in a pool of her own blood! 

"Please," she begged Amaranth, desperation spearing every syllable, "go ahead and get it over with. I don't want my friends to see this. I just...I know I'm dangerous. Just kill me and get it over with so everyone else can be safe." 

"How honorable," Sankta scoffed. She turned to Sankem and Centurie. "Tell the first Bloom Officials you can find to send executioners to the Teskanash hospital and kill Melissa Stowe." 

"No!" Lilly screamed and jerked against the vines biting into her wrists. "No! Please! You can't! You said—you said you wouldn't—" 

"That was before I realized what a treasonous bitch that woman is. At least we know where you get your sass from." Sankta bent down in front of Lilly and used her knife to cut away Lilly's bindings. She wrapped her fingers around Lilly's upper arm, not gently, and said, "You want to save the Shifter World, right?" 

Lilly nodded. Her throat had gone dry. She was shaking, shivering. Sweat dripped down her back. 

"So do I." Sankta's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're a little girl who doesn't know the first thing about the nuance of magic, so if you ever lift a finger against me I'll have Carasaphee, Strongwood, Wikkens, that little mouse that lurks around your ankles gutted and parade their heads on spikes. Don't you dare use magic as I drag you into Treasurer's Place." 

Sankta stood up with Lilly's arm in her grasp, then turned to Sankem and Centurie, who looked excited and solemn respectively. 

Lilly wanted to vomit as Sankem and Centurie left the room.  

*** 

The invasion was quiet, quiet. 

Storm pulled a hood over his head and slipped past Bloom Officials, instructors, and children like ice through fingers. This was too easy. His monsters were hiding, perfectly placed, perfectly invisible because of a concoction he'd created in his lab. 

He walked into a vast room with tables and chairs and the smell of grilled vegetables—a cafeteria—and everyone was in so much of a discombobulated flurry of fear, they did not notice the hooded man in army fatigues. He could have been another instructor. 

Quiet, quiet. 

Outside, the sky descended from its beautifully perfect blue to a muddy black. Clouds writhed, indigo and gray and coal-black. Thunder crackled and spat and roared. Lightning sizzled. Electrons charged. 

The children pushed tables and chairs out of the way, as a result of a command given by the instructors. Minutes ticked by, plagued by the swirling chatter. Everyone talked about a space thief. 

The instructors lined the kids up. Storm thought that this was ridiculously unnecessary for whatever was going to happen next. 

Above him, a serpentine beast with many legs and a purple tongue shimmered upside down on the ceiling. He had a smile as poisonous as nuclear fallout. 

Then Stem Sankta, the ugliest and most annoying woman Storm ever had the displeasure of knowing, marched the space thief out in front of the lined-up trainees. When the kids saw her, they gasped. They hissed. They spat. They screamed. Instructors closed in around the lines to shut them up. 

In the far corner of the room, an antlered beast with a furred neck like silk and teeth like swords shimmered. Storm shot her a smile that could have disintegrated kings on their thrones. 

"This girl," Stem Sankta roared over the rain that now cascaded in relentless sheets outside, "could be the end of your world if Storm got his hands on her." 

Storm snorted and tugged his hood lower over his face. No one paid him any mind. 

"I'm going to kill her and save the world," Sankta continued. 

Storm snorted again. He could see by the agitated look on the space thief's face that she, too, thought Sankta was the most annoying person in the Shifter World. 

It was time. 

While the kids muttered amongst themselves, Storm threw his hands up and sent twin blasts of lightning into the roof. At the same time, his beasts unearthed themselves to Elliott Way.

Chaos exploded; the war started. 

*** 

At the exact moment the war started, Amaranth followed through with the letter she had received from Melissa Stowe by writing a letter to the human-sized fairies in northern Té Shezekia. She also went to the sub-level of Elliott Way and unearthed her secret weapon. 

It may kill everyone here, she thought sadly, desperately, bitterly, but at least the world won't go to utter hell. 

The sinners are no longer saved. 

At the exact moment the war started, Kaitlynn and Wyx entered Desidonna's house to find the whole place alive with suffocating heat. Desidonna was on the floor in a pool of sweat and vomit, but she told Kaitlynn how to open the magical dimension and seal it and told her she'd better hurry the hell up because if she didn't, Elliott Way would be underwater.

Okay, thought Kaitlynn, listening carefully to Desidonna's instructions, appalled by how un-scary and un-grumpy this psychic was. She seemed like she just wanted to save Elliott Way, like Kaitlynn. I can do this. I'll probably die, but I've got this. 

At the exact moment the war started, Zander Strongwood crouched in a corner of Elliott Way as hell closed in on him: screams overlapping, beasts swinging tails and talons and tongues, fire and water and earth blazing out from every direction. Everything around him slowed as he watched the hooded man pick Lilly up and fling her over his shoulder in the middle of the chaos, the monsters, the screaming. 

Lilly kicked and screamed. 

I can't let this happen, thought Zander. Blood sloshed around his ankles—not his own—and the terribly rotten effluvia of citrus fruits and saltpeter killed his nostrils. His guts reeled with fear as he dodged a claw, a tongue, and a screaming instructor he didn't even recognize, to follow Storm and Lilly out the door. All hell all hell, all hell. 

At the exact moment the war started, Max Wikkens tried to drag himself to his feet as hellishly cacophonic sounds erupted from outside his dorm. Pain shot through his body—he couldn't move. He pressed his face into the bloody ground, finished and exhausted, and thought, I am a horrible person. 

At the exact moment the war started, Melissa Stowe and Jake Eccent rumbled along in a Jeep driven by a nurse—Jeeps were the only form of car in the Shifter World, wildly popular among northern Bria Hungrians—and began the fast drive at very illegal speeds towards Elliott Way. 

The world is going to hell, thought Melissa. What can I do about it? 

The stars watched as everything, from a secret weapon to a dying psychic to a boy with a crush to a bloody estranged son to two people boarding a Jeep to escape executioners and save a space thief, went to hell. 

Hell, they whispered. I smell hell.