A/N: Hey, everyone! It's been a minute. Late January, I got cholesteatoma surgery so that took a bit to recover from. I had some hearing loss but luckily it didn't get bad enough for any(more) scary stuff to happen. I'm just glad it's over with. But in the meantime, I have found a big girl job and I've been accepted into law school for the fall! Another reason to get Wrecked finished before then... I hope. This chapter was tough because I had most of it written out a long time ago but I've been taking different directions with the story than I originally planned so I had to tweak it more than I anticipated. I'm working on giving you guys some great final chapters, however many that may end up being.

I'd like to thank all of you for following, favoriting, and reviewing. I love it when you guys have something to say; some insight to give. It's incredibly motivating and it puts a smile on my face reading each and every review you leave. So, thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!


I held my breath. The Queen's towering, pyramid-esque palace loomed before us in the gloom. It was the one building in the city not lit up from top to bottom. The car ride was quiet, and the silence didn't let up once we left the car. We snuck around the back without even catching sight of a guard, and I relaxed.

Clawdeen knelt at the door and picked its lock. Cleo tapped her foot.

After some time and no luck, Abbey froze the doorknob and smashed it for an easy way in. The door creaked open.

"This isn't going to work," Clawdeen muttered.

"No!" Cleo stomped her foot. "What is it with this attitude everyone has? We will march in there and take care of this."

"Cleo's right," I said. The ghouls shifted their view to me. "We have to get in there and warn Nefera."

Cleo's brows furrowed. "Warn her?"

"Yes," I rushed before she could say anything else. "What they planned for her isn't fair."

"Frankie," Clawdeen's eyes flashed, "you're not just gonna let her get away with this, right?"

I winced. It was fair she had doubts about, well, whatever our plan was. We only knew we needed to stop the others.

I let out a breath. "Nefera deserves justice, but think about the monsters living here. What Elissabat has planned will cause a total panic. You all know what happened five years ago... We're going to affect the world by doing this, but we can at least try not to let it get out of hand."

Lagoona placed a webbed hand on my shoulder. Her green eyes gleamed. "You're right, Frankie." She gestured to the others, who sent me encouraging nods.

"Come on, ghouls," Draculaura piped in cheerily. "If we have each other, what could go wrong?"

That was the last thing I needed to hear tonight.

Draculaura picked at her black earring. "I mean, just because we don't have a plan—"

"In mountain, we have saying," Abbey said. "Do not focus on seasoning meal when only hunting."

The Yeti ghoul was a jarring sight barefoot in her gorgeous, jeweled gown with her updo now hanging in loose waves down her shoulders. She really didn't have trouble moving around in it. Meanwhile, the rest of us had changed outfits. But Cleo and Draculaura joined Abbey in retaining their full face of makeup.

When no one responded, she held open the door. "Let's be moving."

We filed behind Clawdeen into a dark corridor. The faint scent of sulfur wafted toward us.

"You're sure no one will catch us?" Cleo asked, her voice nasally from holding her nose.

Clawdeen sighed. "I hope not. Watch your step, ghouls."

We carefully made it down the stairs, and the sulfuric odor overtook the air once we stepped into the dungeon. Hardly any torches were lit.

"Great thinking, Clawdeen," I whispered. Nefera kept no one in the dungeon for long. This was how we could sneak in undetected. I took a step forward, but Clawdeen held an arm out to stop me.

She raised her head and sniffed the air, then paused. She strode to the nearest jail cell. "Bonita?"

We rushed to Clawdeen's side. The skeletal moth looked up at us with wide eyes. "Clawdeen? Cleo? Frankie?" She fluttered to the bars. "What are you doing here?"

Clawdeen let out a bemused huff. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we found out about the Queen and... we didn't like it."

"We?"

"Bonita, please!" an irritated voice shouted a few cells down. "Not all of us are nocturnal."

She shrank back. "S-sorry, Avea. But the ghouls! Clawdeen, Cleo—even Lagoona and Draculaura. They're all here!"

"What?" The sound of hoof steps echoed in the corridor and revealed the silhouette of the harpy-centaur, the torch barely illuminating her face. Avea's feathery eyelashes flittered. "What are you doing here?"

"For Ra's sake! We're here to help." Cleo threw her arms in the air.

Clawdeen knelt at the lock. "Don't worry, Bonita. We'll get you ghouls outta here." The Wolf sent Abbey a swift nod, and she froze the lock and smashed it. The barred door creaked open, but Bonita hesitated.

"Where do we go?" She raised her yellow sweater sleeve to her mouth. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Clawdeen has her car parked right outside the city," Draculaura said. "If you keep heading that way—"

"I'm staying," Avea said just as Abbey smashed the lock to her cell. She stepped out. "If you're lookin' to take down the Queen, I'm in."

Bonita shared a glance with the harpy-centaur, then faced us with a hard look. "Me too."

"Where are the others?" Clawdeen asked. "I don't smell the other hybrids in here."

"Sirena's being kept somewhere special since she can phase herself out, but we don't know where."

"We don't have time for this." Cleo put her hands on her hips. "We came here to stop Elissabat from exposing my sister, and although I'm one for dramatic flair"—she flipped her hair back—"we don't want to alarm the entire Monster World. Right, ghouls?"

"How about Neighthan?" Clawdeen asked, ignoring Cleo.

Avea grimaced. "He left."

Clawdeen's golden eyes became saucers. "Tell me you're joking."

"He needed some time on his own," Bonita murmured. "He thought he was working for Frankie all this time and now... he thinks she's dead and he doesn't want anything to do with this for now."

"But you guys are a pack!" Clawdeen exclaimed in disbelief.

Avea shrugged. "I wasn't too happy about it, and I'll go to him when he needs me, but I know he needs some time."

Bonita nodded. "We can't stay angry."

The other hybrid let out a huff. "There's no point in being angry." She turned to Clawdeen. "I'd like it if he were with us, but I trust him so I won't let it bother me. Trying to, at least."

I felt a bit of happiness at that. It was good to see that, even apart, the hybrids were still the tight-knit family they've always been.

"What are you grinning at?"

Avea's voice broke me out of my thoughts. She took a step closer to me, her eyes narrowed.

"You're clearly not dead. But what's the deal with Nefera?"

"It was a body swap," Cleo snapped.

Avea still looked at me. "You and Nefera?"

"Actually," I started slowly. "It was me, Nefera, and Cleo."

Now she looked at Cleo. "Wait. What?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a long story."

"Wait a minute," Draculaura squeaked. "We need to focus on the task at hand—"

"—Thank you—"

"Where is Sirena?"

"Oh, my Ra..." Cleo muttered under her breath. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, frustrated that she was once again ignored.

Draculaura tapped her index fingers together. "Is there a place around here where a mermaid-ghost could be locked up?"

Clawdeen sighed. "I've been in the palace since day one and I can't think of anywhere a ghost can't get through."

Spectra used to live in the palace. She could get anywhere. Except...

"I think I know."

Avea scoffed. She made a show of looking over her shoulder. "Where?"

-.-.-.-

"There's no one here," said the harpy-centaur.

We were crammed into the foliage-encased wooden shed, and I moved aside the wooden planks on the far wall.

"This way." I ducked my head and entered. Dull fluorescent lights greeted me from the ceiling. A new smell greeted me, too. It reminded me of when Heath accidentally burned his lunches, but far more intense.

"Whoa, Frankie," Clawdeen said as she scrunched up her nose. "How did you know about this place?"

"I found it the last time I was at the palace."

"Oh right," Cleo said. "When we came to snuff out information they had on our location. Then you came back with the idol that finally got me out of my sister's body." She gagged. "Thank Ra for that. I don't know how much longer I could've handled it." She put her hands on her hips before taking another step forward. "Is Nefera keeping all my father's treasures here?"

"Last time I saw," I drawled, "it sure looked like it."

They followed me down the hall when I took a right, and Cleo gasped. "All my father's treasures!" She seethed. "Nefera."

"They should be keeping Sirena in here." I moved toward the door where I had found Whisp. Then I stopped, remembering it had to be unlocked with the Queen's key card. But last time I came, I didn't have a ghoul able to destroy doors with me.

I called Abbey over and she instantly knew what to do. The door was sturdy, so she froze the entirety of it instead of just the lock. After what looked like a minute of concentration, the door shattered into chrome bits at our feet.

I thanked her and took confident steps inward, the ghouls right at my heels. We turned the corner and the wall fleshed out to reveal what was once Whisp's cozy prison. I took a step back. The one-way mirror was broken.

Avea shoved past me and hopped through the vast gap the mirror left. "Sirena!"

"Avea!" Bonita hissed. She flapped her wings and followed her into the room.

Abbey moved beside me. "There is mermaid ghost."

I followed her gaze to where Avea and Bonita huddled around Sirena, who deflected every question they spewed at her. I stepped closer to the room and peered inside. Broken glasses and vases. I frowned. The same interference from the door must surround the prison, too, but Sirena was the last monster I expected to be frustrated enough to wreck the place.

"We are wasting time," Cleo said. "If Elissabat already found Nefera—"

"Shh!" Clawdeen hissed. Her ears twitched. "Someone's here." She held a finger to her lips, crouched around the corner, and beckoned us to follow. I tore my gaze away from the room and hurried after the others.

The brightness of the other room filled my vision, and footsteps sounded from down the hall. Clawdeen let out a low growl as they neared. I held my breath. The guards must have found us.

They turned the corner, and Clawdeen pounced.

A yelp sounded, and she backed off an instant later. Clawdeen sighed. "False alarm, ghouls..."

Draculaura peered past her. "Jackson? What are you doing here?"

He held up a large book over his face. Jackson brought it down and frowned at the fresh claw mark with a sigh. "I came here with the others."

Clawdeen took a step toward him and he defensively raised the book.

"Not for what they're doing." He held the book out toward us. "This book mentions the amulet and charm the Queen used to change the world. I wanted to explore the palace and figure out if my theory was right and," his blue eyes trailed about the shelves, "looks like it is."

"How'd you even get in here?" Lagoona asked.

"I saw you guys go in... I spent an almost embarrassingly long time wondering how you disappeared, but I figured it out."

"Do you know where my sister is?" Cleo demanded.

"No, no honest I don't." He was about ready to shield himself again. "Elissabat and the others went in a while ago and they haven't come back so that would mean that she—"

"She's in the palace," Clawdeen said. She strode to the back room. "I'll get the hybrids."

The sounds of Clawdeen trying to get the hybrids' attention were faint as we waited, some more patiently than others. Jackson took slow steps through an isle of idols, awestruck.

"Do you want to come with us?" I asked him.

He hesitated, but something about my face must have changed his mind because the moment he looked at me, he nodded. "Yeah. Definitely."

I smiled just as the clomping of hooves echoed into the room.

"We all set?" Avea said with her hands on her hips as if she hadn't been holding us all back.

"Oh my Ra, yes," Cleo groaned.

Much to her delight, we didn't waste a minute. In seconds, we were out of the shed and devising a safe way into the palace.

"How are we going to avoid the guards?" Lagoona asked.

"I could turn into a bat!" Draculaura said. "They wouldn't notice me."

"Bats can't exactly open doors," Clawdeen pointed out with a sarcastic smile.

"We shouldn't be the first to show," Bonita said between chews. How her sweater was intact was a mystery to me. "They know we're supposed to be locked up."

"I haven't noticed any guards," Jackson said with a tinge of suspicion. "I've been all over the palace grounds and haven't seen any."

"Even if they're out doing gore knows what," Avea said, "that doesn't help us know the safest, fastest way—"

"Back to dungeon?" Abbey asked. "Not close to Queen's room but is safe way in."

"Is it?" Lagoona put her hands on her hips. "If there are guards past the dungeon's entrance, we're as good as fish outta water."

"Has anyone seen Sirena?" Bonita asked abruptly.

We looked around, but the mermaid-ghost was nowhere to be found.

"There!" I said, and I pointed to a translucent, tailed figure gliding our way from the palace.

Sirena's mouth was moving before she was close enough to hear, "...that's the fastest way to the stairs which means we're one step closer to—"

"Sirena!" Avea held her hands up.

She cocked her head, her indigo hair draping her torso. "Yes?"

"What are you saying?"

Her brows furrowed. "I was saying that we need to get upstairs so we should head in through the front because— "

"Thank you!" Avea spread her green wings and took off toward the front entrance, Bonita flapping away at her heels.

The rest of us ran to keep up, except Draculaura, who found it fastest being in bat form.

I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut, but with every step closer it only worsened. What could they be up to?

Sirena phased through the front doors and opened them up from the inside with a flourish. We followed Clawdeen up the stairs; she looked about ready to run on all fours she moved so fast. As soon as we all made it up, she held out her hand and motioned that we be silent. A long hallway loomed before us, and we took cautious steps. Clawdeen's ears twitched as they picked up sound.

Sirena floated ahead. The Wolf sighed, and we picked up the pace to follow her. It was Sirena who knew where they were.

We turned the corner and the voices of our friends rang clear. I stiffened. We didn't have much of a plan besides getting them away from Nefera. Where was she?

Draculaura poofed into her vampire form beside me. "Come on, Frankie."

I hadn't realized I stopped moving; Clawdeen and the others shrank as they moved ahead.

I shook it off. It was now or never. I turned to Draculaura, and she grinned as if reading my mind.

"Let's do this." She transformed again, and I chased after her down the hall.

We caught up with the others, who stood in front of some double doors, and the hybrids looked more than eager to jump in. I traced my finger along the curves of the handle. The Queen's room.

"I'll go in first," Jackson whispered. "They trust me so they won't expect you guys stopping them—"

Avea trotted past him, head held high. "Think you could get rid of us, huh?"

He winced and mumbled, "There goes that idea..."

We followed the hybrids in and our friends stared back at us. They were all dressed somewhere between sporty and stealthy. None of them looked surprised to see us.

Toralei's expression was comically confused. "Uh, come again?"

"Where were you?" Holt raised an accusatory eyebrow at Jackson from his seat at the bed.

"Exploring," he replied flatly.

The other smirked; something like pride crossed his face.

Invisi Billy materialized beside Draculaura, and she poofed back into her bat form with a squeak. "Thanks for coming ghouls, but we have this under control."

"Where is my sister?" Cleo shoved past him. "Sirena told us that she was up here."

We all turned to her, who shrugged. "I never said that."

Elissabat stepped forward. "We don't know where she is, but we're getting close. Isn't that right, Howleen?"

"That's right!" the youngest Wolf said, hands on her hips. "I've caught her scent around here and we should be closer but I can't seem to—"

"Of course you would," Clawdeen said with an eye-roll. "This is her bedroom."

Cleo scoffed. "That explains the tacky decor and—" She narrowed her eyes and grimaced in disgust. "That corpse flower."

"I swear she's nearby," Howleen insisted. "Just a little more—"

Clawdeen rushed at her sister. "Shh!"

Howleen crossed her arms, and her mouthed formed a thin line. "Ya know, just because you're here doesn't mean you can—"

"I hear them," Clawdeen whispered.

Her eyes widened. "Who?"

She sent her sister a glare and kept her ears alert. Elissabat watched her with eager eyes.

The crowd parted, and Clawdeen nearly hit the wall. "They're in the next room."

Elissabat clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! Let's go."

The Wolf held a hand up and turned to us. "We'll go."

"Fat chance!" Toralei huffed, stepping away from her group. "We're going to end this, and we're not hanging back because you said so."

"Fine." Lagoona approached the two before Clawdeen could even think about snapping back. Her braid had swept off her shoulder to reveal the bite scar on her neck. She looked at Elissabat, steel-faced. "Just let us walk in first."

The vampire mulled it over before nodding. Clawdeen's vigor reignited and our groups followed her down the hall until we stood in front of the door. It was slightly opened and, from what I saw beyond Clawdeen's shoulder, the walls and furniture inside glared in red and black. She remained incredibly still beside me, while Abbey sent glares at the rest of the group until they quieted.

I caught the sound of Nefera's voice. And Valentine's. He held something gold in his hands, but I couldn't make it out completely. Suddenly, he called a name, and my blood ran cold.

Whisp materialized before them.

"Where..?" the genie said. She gasped. "KV?"

Valentine opened and closed his mouth. His voice finally came out hoarse and raw. "I... I can't believe—"

"Now, see?" Nefera said. "There's nothing to worry about."

"What's going on in there?" Operetta hissed at Clawdeen, but the Wolf was immensely focused on the conversation ahead. The chatter ran numb in my ears. Whisp was here. With Valentine.

With the Queen.

A groan sounded. "Let's go already." Toralei marched past us and in seconds her hand latched onto the door.

Clawdeen growled a warning, but I darted between them. Toralei yowled and stumbled back, inadvertently wrenching open the door. The rest of the group took it as their cue to swarm in and I hardly managed to peek in past them.

Whisp's jaw dropped in shock, but her shoulders relaxed. Valentine looked confused.

Nefera pouted. "I hoped you'd be captured before we got here."

"Ghouls!" Whisp was frantic. "Go back to the mansion! They—"

"Why are we still here?" Nefera raised her voice over the genie's, her confident attitude took our group aback. Not even Elissabat made a move.

Valentine sighed and closed his eyes. "I wish we were somewhere else. Somewhere they can't find us."

Some monsters sprang into action. Operetta let out a condensed sonic scream and Howleen jumped towards Nefera right as Toralei unsheathed her claws.

Whisp folded her hands together. "As you wish."

Operetta closed her mouth. Howleen tumbled onto the floor. Toralei had nothing to sink her claws into.

They were gone.