Sera rose from the bench, scouring the crowd for Naomi. She’d only just found her standing at the bar when a fairy stormed into the hall and hopped onto a table. His voice boomed over a lull in the music.

“Ivy and Ruby are missing,” he told the room of curious people who’d turned toward him. His eyes settled on Cora. “They took your boat.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Angel Island

THE MUSIC RIPPED to a halt, and Celeste rose from her seat. She stalked toward Cora, her magic rocking the hall with steadily building tremors. “What boat?”

Fairies and mages folded away from her path, but Cora met her sister’s stare without fear. “I prepared a boat for Naomi and Sera so they could go to Angel Island.”

“You defied me?” Celeste’s nostrils flared up. Her magic exploded in rage.

Cora folded her arms across her chest and said calmly, “Someone had to. Those children are innocents. We cannot abandon them to those pirates.”

“That is not your call.” Celeste stopped in front of her. “And now Ivy and Ruby are gone. My daughters,” she growled in her sister’s face. “The world beyond this island is a dangerous place, full of monsters. Ruby and Ivy are out there. And we don’t even know where they went.”

“I do,” Sera said, standing.

All eyes in the room turned toward her, including Celeste’s. “How?”

“I can sense magic. And track it.”

“A Sniffer?”

Sera nodded, closing her eyes, reaching for the girls’ magic. “They took the boat about…half an hour ago. They headed north.” She opened her eyes. “They went to Angel Island.”

A stream of curses spiraled out of Celeste’s mouth. They didn’t seem to be directed at Sera, though.

“You,” she ground out, glaring at Cora. “This is all your doing.” Her glare shifted to Naomi, her anger simmering hotter. “And you. You’re influencing them. Telling them how much better life is away from this island.”

“Actually, I told them it’s full of monsters,” Naomi said drily, then turned toward Cora. “Do you have another boat we could borrow?”

“Yes, I’ll take you to the docks now.”

“Thanks. We just need to get our weapons.”

Naomi and Cora turned and walked toward the hallway. Sera was about to follow them when Celeste ran past her, cutting them all off.

“Stop!” she shouted. Her voice, deep with magic, echoed across the hall, shaking the walls.

Enflamed Fairy Dust flared up from Naomi’s hands, sparkling like pink fire. “Look, we don’t have time for this. My sisters are headed for an island swarming with criminals, not the least of which are a band of pirates who kidnap hybrid children like them. You can throw up your hands and shout at me all you want after I get them back. But for now, get out of my way.”

Celeste didn’t move a muscle. Naomi’s hand lowered to the knife strapped to her thigh. Like Sera, she hadn’t completely disarmed.

“This is crazy.” Cora stepped between them. “Celeste, you can’t just stand by while your daughters are taken. This isn’t like what happened with Dash.”

“How dare you—”

“You think not fighting will keep everyone safe. Fine. Don’t fight. But don’t stop them from acting.” Cora nodded toward Sera and Naomi. “If you don’t let them go—if you try to stop them—Ruby and Ivy could be hurt. Or even die. And then you’d actually have a reason to blame yourself.”

“Sera and I can do this,” Naomi told her mother. “We can bring them back.”

Celeste’s eyes narrowed, but she stepped out of their path. She didn’t say anything as they left the great hall. No one else said anything either. Sera and Naomi hurried down the hallway, grabbed their weapons, then left the building. They followed Cora down the trail lit blue by floating magic flames. When they reached the bottom, Cora pointed to a lone rowboat parked on a patch of white rocks that shimmered under the glow of the full moon.

“Bring them home,” she said, clasping Naomi’s arms. Then she nodded to Sera and followed the trail back up the hill.

“Let’s go,” Naomi said. “We have to catch up to them before the pirates find them. Or something even worse finds them.”

They pressed their hands against the boat, pushing it forward. It scraped against the rocks. As it slid onto the water, they jumped inside. They rowed in unison, their oars mere whispers against the glassy dark surface of the bay. Far ahead of them, Angel Island jutted out from the water, its dark ridges freckled with tiny torches, both magical and mundane.

“So,” Sera said. “What’s going on between you and Cloud?”

It wasn’t an easy feat to shrug while rowing, but Naomi pulled it off just fine. It must have been one of those mysterious fairy powers. “It gets better with every one-night stand.” She threw in a wink for good measure.

Sera gaped at her. “When did you have time for…for that?”

“I am a woman of many talents, Sera.” Her grin grew wider. “And my talents have needs.”

Wasn’t that the truth. “Exactly how many ‘one-night stands’ have you had with him?”

“Three…no, wait four. Maybe more?” Naomi chewed thoughtfully on her lip. “How are we counting this?”

“Is there more than one way to count it?”