She felt horribly vulnerable, trapped with two children in a hell house. True, she had Lorenzo's wand, which probably itself stolen, but that didn't comfort her much. She edged toward Azalea with Chloe and Timmy close behind. Though they'd been healed, Wanda still felt the soreness and the pounding she'd taken. It was like it had sunken into her bones.

Azalea was down for the count, so they slunk upstairs. Since she couldn't use the wand to teleport them out of here, she used it instead to detect where the barrier lay. Another boom shook the house and Chloe and Timmy hugged each other. Her heart clenched.

((Cosmo?)) she ventured, not expecting a response and not receiving one, either. Concealing her disappointment, she sojourned into the kitchen and then toward the living room. Lorenzo was sitting there, naked, swinging another wand between his fingers. Wanda stopped dead, Timmy and Chloe walking into her. Whatever the "Don" had done to her had rendered her incapable of floating.

"Come slinking back to me, have you?" Lorenzo crooned and grinned at Timmy. Wanda threw up blindfolds over Chloe's and Timmy's faces, though the effect was lost on Timmy. Still, she would do what she could. And it was, as Lorenzo proved, laughably pathetic.

He blasted away the blindfolds and Wanda countered by erecting a barrier around her and her godchildren. Lorenzo sneered, shattering the barrier and Wanda shot a magical beam at Lorenzo's legs. He parried, grabbing Timmy with his wand and using him as a human shield.

"Tell me, Wanda, are you always this sloppy? Because it was a simple matter to fetch Azalea's wand," he sneered. He stroked Timmy's cheek and Timmy shuddered, recoiling. Lorenzo pulled him into him. Chloe was politely looking away; her face had turned green.

"Leave my godchildren alone," she growled, sensing her feeble plan falling apart. She and Lorenzo were too evenly matched. Even if Lorenzo didn't have thousands of years' experience with a wand, she was drained and beaten. Lorenzo was sharp and on his toes.

She feinted right and aimed the next blow over Timmy and into Lorenzo's crotch. It dawned on her a second too late that his genitalia were no longer flesh and thus, this would have no effect. Lorenzo chortled and blasted her in the stomach, sending her flying. She arrested her fall before she hit the wall and Lorenzo, before she had a chance to recover, pinned her to the floor.

"Like an insect," he remarked. "That is all you faeries are, really. Magical insects."

He advanced, holding into Timmy and overlooking Chloe. He turned his back on the blonde girl and, despite herself, despite her powerlessness, Wanda smiled. Chloe had broken off a leg from an already decrepit piece of furniture and swung at Lorenzo's head. It connected, causing Lorenzo to fumble with the wand and for Timmy to grab it.

The anti-faerie snarled, rounding on the children. Wanda strained to push herself up, but it was like pushing against a 500-ton weight. She couldn't move. Pain increased in her chest and she was seeing red spots.

"Give me back the wand, Timothy," Lorenzo coaxed. "I promise I won't hurt your godmother any more than she deserves. Just give me back the wand."

"And let you hurt us again?" Chloe snapped. "Never!"

Lorenzo spun, unsteady on his feet from the previous blow, and backhanded Chloe. Chloe dodged, bringing up the wooden arm to defend herself. Having pivoted, he'd left Timmy at his back and Timmy jumped, latching onto his neck and wrapping his arms about Lorenzo's throat. Unlike Lorenzo's groin, this was vulnerable.

"Get off," Lorenzo roared, trying to dislodge Timmy while simultaneously sidestepping Chloe's attacks. Wanda's breathing grew heavier, strained, but she was proud of her godchildren. When they worked in concert, they made a formidable duo. She didn't want to draw attention to her predicament and give the anti-faerie the opening he needed.

The house shook again, like bombs were falling nearby, and she sighed. Was it the cavalry? Was it Cosmo? Or was that too much to hope for?

What kind of godmother was she, who couldn't protect her own godchildren? Red and black consumed her vision and she lost track of the fight. At last count, she thought the children were winning. Good. That was good.

She'd just…take a little rest…and when she woke up…


With Azalea unconscious and Lorenzo fighting off two attackers, there was one factor still unaccounted for. The "Don" appeared, surveyed the situation, and blasted the children off their feet. The blonde girl rolled into a ball to avoid injury while the brown-haired boy crashed onto his stomach. The "Don" incapacitated both, handed Lorenzo back his wand, and then scooped up his prize. Wanda was unconscious, struggling to breathe, and ripe for the plucking.

The only problem was that the house kept shaking.

A bright light obliterated sight and when the dust settled, the front half of the house was gone. The "Don" spun, transporting himself out of sight with Wanda. Let the chips fall where they may. He was keeping Big Daddy's daughter to himself.

"Cosmo!" Timmy and Chloe exclaimed, and Timmy smiled, sheepish.

"Boy, are we glad to see you," Timmy said. Jorgen, along with his reinforcements, were apprehending Lorenzo and Azalea. It was over. The nightmare was over. He turned to Wanda to reassure her too. His gaze met Chloe's and Chloe paled.

"Timmy…where's Wanda?"

The green-haired faerie was floating, but it was like nothing they said penetrated. With a wave of his wand, Jorgen demolished the house but produced no other denizens, faerie or otherwise. A horrible feeling welled up in his stomach. He thought he might be sick.

"She was supposed to be here!" Cosmo cried, not looking at his godchildren but at Jorgen. "I felt her! Where is she? Where is she?!"

"I do not know…" Jorgen said and looked ashamed, unable to meet Cosmo's gaze. "But I do not want to be the one to explain this to Big Daddy."


Big Daddy was in apoplexy. He'd nearly skewered his best second-in-command because he was too enraged to think straight. Blonda had tried to comfort him and he'd sent her away. Though Jorgen had attempted to understate Wanda's condition, Big Daddy could read between the lines. And someone was going to perish in the most excruciating, drawn-out way possible.

He wasn't happy with Cosmo either. As far as he was concerned, that Wanda had been nabbed was Cosmo's fault too. Wanda had kept secrets from her father regarding her troubled marriage and Cosmo had permitted someone to kidnap his wife and godchildren. It was only Jorgen and the Fairy Council that prevented Big Daddy from murdering Cosmo on the spot.

He was too stupid to intimidate and, if Big Daddy hadn't had worse concerns, he would have overseen Cosmo's torture himself. But Big Daddy had bigger fish to fry. And when he got his hands on this "Don" …that fish would be floating belly-up. Because he would tear him apart, reconstruct him, and then rip him to shreds again.

How dare he even think of laying hands on Wanda. And how dare he defile her like this. Oh…Big Daddy was beyond enraged. Some people were going to die horrific deaths. And soon.


Wanda stirred, rope cutting into her wrists and ankles. A cold breeze stirred, and she groaned, coming back to herself. When she looked down, she spied herself naked and spread-eagled on a bed.

"Timmy? Chloe?" she asked, petrified they'd followed her.

The "Don" materialized and grinned at his prize. "They're not here. But that's fine. You and me, girly, we're gonna have all the time we want to do all the things I wanna do. You understand? All the time in heaven, hell, and Fairy World too."