Maj stood in front of the silver mirror. Nothing could be seen but her reflection. She was contemplating if she wanted to know what Yin was up to. There was a 99 percent chance that she was doing something that could get her into a lot of trouble. And if Maj knew, she could wind up in just as much trouble herself.

The door to the room burst open.

"Where is she?"

Maj turned around to see a woman dressed in black leather, her greatcoat pulled back to show the two pistols strapped to her waist. She was flanked by two young men, one dressed in a similar fashion and the other like a ninja.

"Hello and welcome, Maho," Maj said, not surprised by her uninvited guests. She knew that the captain would be sending someone soon to check up on them. And if he sent these three, he meant business.

"Save it! Where's Yin?" Maho demanded.

"She isn't here," replied Maj.

"The Dimensional Council has issued an arrest warrant for Yin Tale Teller de-Roux," said the young man dressed similarly to Maho. "Aiding and abetting her will only delay the inevitable and earn you several years in the stockade."

Maj turned to the young man. "And who is this, Maho?"

"This is Liam Shadow, my apprentice," Maho answered. "And he is right. If you are hiding something, Magicfire, you are in just as much trouble as Yin."

Maj smiled. "Then it's a good thing that I don't know anything," she said cheerfully.

"How can you not know anything?" cried Liam. "You live with her! Draco Castle is enormous, yes, but your paths must cross at some point."

"How little your apprentice knows, Maho," Maj said with a giggle.

"This amuses you?" Liam yelled.

"Let me tell you something about Yin, boy," Maj said. "She may not be the most law abiding guard — "

Maho laughed.

" — but that does not mean she is brainless," Maj finished with her reptilian eyes fixed on Maho. She turned back to Liam. "Yin is very calculating. She knows when something can get her into trouble."

Now Liam laughed. "Like the time she shot a prisoner in the backside in front of the Fifth Company."

"No. Get your facts straight," Maj said. "She didn't shoot him in the backside. She shot him in the nom-de-plumes."

Liam's grin disappeared and he and the ninja instinctively moved a hand closer to the area of the body in question.

"She gets caught all the time for breaking the law," said Maho.

"Only petty things and every few years something a little more than lilliputian," Maj said. "When Yin does not want someone to know something that she did, no one finds out. I challenge you to find her."

"Fine!" Maho marched passed Maj and stood in front of the mirror. "Show us Yin."

Nothing happened.

"Show us!" Maho snapped.

This time, the colors swirled in the mirror, but nothing was clear.

"It won't work for you," said Maj. "I am the only one who can use it."

"What about Yin?" Maho said. "She's used it before."

"Yin's . . . special, to say the least," Maj explained.

Liam groaned. "That eyepatch of hers."

Maj bit her lip. If only they knew. It wasn't the outfit that made Yin, it was Yin who made the outfit. The eyepatch was special, yes, but not what was used to see the unseen.

Maho growled in frustration and whipped around to face Maj. "If you hear from her, you tell us."

"What makes you think she'll contact me?" asked Maj.

"You've been friends since you became a guard," Maho replied. "Liam, Shinobi, come!"

The three left, leaving Maj the only one in the room with the mirror of swirling colors. She turned to the mirror and waved her hand. The colors stopped and the mirror now showed Maj's reflection.

"I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Yin, but whatever you do, don't come home until the job is done." Maj laughed. "But you already know that, don't you?"