The ticking of the clock in Dustin's office seemed absurdly loud. The silence seemed even louder. Luz knew Dustin had seen video footage of her screaming about her past suicide attempt. Who hadn't? She really regretted having said that in public, but she hadn't been able to stop herself. She'd kept her past suicide attempt hidden in a locked box held upside down in her psyche, and when it had opened, gravity had inexorably caused it to fall to the surface. She'd done everything she could to avoid even thinking of that incident. The fact of the matter is that she'd been so hostile to Clara recently because even being in her presence threatened to open that box.

And it had all been for naught. The truth was out there now. At least Luz kind of felt better having it out there. She certainly felt better now that she could finally forgive Clara. And she'd kept her word: She'd treated Clara…well, not necessarily with friendship, but not with open hostility now. Clara was the metamour of one of Luz's best friends, and that was all she was. Perhaps, in time, she'd evolve into one of Luz's friends, but she doubted it. She'd been burned that way before, after all.

"So…is there something you want to tell me?" Dustin said finally.

"No," Luz said immediately and truthfully.

Dustin grinned at her, getting her gambit at once. "Let me rephrase that. Let's talk about your suicide attempt. I'm going to guess your mom doesn't know about it, because if she did, she'd have mentioned it to me."

Luz shook her head. Camila had been absolutely appalled to hear that Luz had contemplated committing suicide before. Luz had been evasive on the details, only informing her that she'd thought about stabbing herself and then decided not to. She hadn't told Camila it was only her love that had kept Luz alive. The last thing Luz wanted her to do was to make Camila feel guilty.

"It only happened once," Luz said slowly. "I thought about it. I had the knife in my hand, but I chose to put it down. But I'm not suicidal now. I haven't had any suicidal thoughts since it happened. I even resisted the urge to kill myself after Zoe tried to psychically force me into doing just that. I don't…I don't want to be defined by just one moment of weakness."

Dustin leaned forward. "Now, see, that's where you've got it wrong. What happened to you wasn't a moment of weakness. Actually, to have chosen life, especially when there was still no guarantee things would get better for you took phenomenal strength." Luz had never thought about it like that. "Hey, I know this is difficult. But talking it out helps. Trust me."

"There's nothing to talk about," Luz said, trying to keep her voice artificially cheerful. "I'm fine now! Hey, you're not going to…like, put me on any meds or anything? Or send me to the hospital?" Her chipper tone gradually faded away with these last sentences, until a note of genuine fear and panic finally entered her voice at the end.

"Absolutely not," Dustin said very firmly. "This incident happened two years ago, and if you say you're fine now, then I believe you. I'm only bringing it up because it's clearly having an effect on your current state of mind."

Luz sighed. "I'm more worried about the custody hearing than something that happened two years ago." It was coming up, Luz knew. Luz was absolutely petrified of the idea of being put into her grandparents' custody, because she knew that she was as good as dead the moment that happened, and that was one of the better case scenarios. The absolute best case scenario in that case was still being taken away to another country, separated from everyone she loved, and having to watch her ability to use magic atrophy and then dissipate. Luz didn't even want to contemplate the worst case scenarios. "Mom's lawyer is your friend, right? Any insider information you can share?"

Dustin shook his head. "Lucas doesn't talk about his cases; he takes attorney-client privilege very seriously. But you're in good hands, Luz. I know the other side is going to smear you, but Broadchurch managed to get Steve custody of his children, and everyone thinks he's a lunatic."

"I don't," Luz assured him. "In fact, his child is a good friend of mine."

"A good friend who your parallel self was involved with," Dustin remembered. "Did you ever tell Avery that?"

She had thought about it, but in the end, decided not to. "I don't see the point," Luz said. "It'd just make them sad. I…you know, I really could have used your help, back in the day. I feel sad I didn't get it. But at least my suffering had a purpose, right?"

"That is bullshit!" Dustin shouted, and he slammed his fist on the coffee table for emphasis. Luz jumped. She wasn't intimidated by him, but she was startled nonetheless. She'd never really seen Dustin get angry at anything before. "I'm sorry, Luz, but it is. What was done to you was wrong. It wasn't something that 'had' to happen to you. You didn't endure all that just so you could end up in the Boiling Isles, leading the life you wanted to lead."

Luz blinked a couple of times. "I didn't? Then what was the point of it?"

"What makes you say there has to be one?" Dustin said. "I'm sorry, I'm getting all philosophical here. And overreaching – I'm not trying to tell you what to believe. What I am telling you is that you did not deserve what happened to you. You shouldn't have to suffer so you can be happy later. That's…that's not how it works."

Luz wasn't so sure about that. In her experience, the universe had a way of being balanced. Science and magic – if indeed one could be separated from the other – had a logic to them. The universe ran on laws. For every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. Her life was amazing now. Her enemies notwithstanding, life was better than she'd ever dreamed of. She had two mothers, another amazing stepparent, a brother, all sorts of friends, and the most awesome girlfriend in the history of existence. She was royalty, she could do magic, she was famous, and her future was open wide. If she hadn't suffered first before achieving these things, would they truly have meant anything?

"I don't know," Luz said finally. "What I do know is that bad things happen when I start believing in destiny – I got almost eaten by a puppeteer demon because I thought I was the Chosen One." Dustin arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. "I guess it doesn't really matter one way or the other. I'm where I am now, and that's good enough."

Dustin smiled at her. "That's good. I'm happy for you. Luz, I'm not saying you're lying about not having suicidal thoughts. But if you do have them in the future, is there someone you'd be comfortable talking to? It doesn't necessarily have to be me, but I think I'd be more comfortable if I knew that you wanted to talk to someone about them."

Luz gave it serious consideration. She probably should talk to Camila about them, but she doubted she'd be comfortable enough doing that in such a state of mind. The same went for Eda – she'd probably be thinking she didn't want to burden her. Amity was the same way; she'd be so wracked with self-loathing that she'd be afraid of them breaking up. "Maybe Willow?" Luz suggested. "I can't really know the answer to that right now – like I said, this hasn't been a problem for me recently. And back then…I was too frightened to tell anyone."

"Okay," Dustin said. He did look more relieved now that he heard that answer. "About your custody hearing…why don't you talk to Avery about their experience? They might have some good advice." Luz couldn't believe she hadn't had the idea before. "After all, they had a lot to be scared of too. Catherine…man, that lady was messed up."

Luz and Dustin continued talking for the rest of her appointment. Luz didn't want to talk about her past suicide attempt or her custody hearing, so they instead talked about the upcoming state dinner, and Luz's nervousness about how it would go. Luz wasn't used to dealing with formal events; her only real experience of that had been the ball that Amity had been cursed at, and that had been an epic fiasco. At least President Lake didn't bear a homicidal grudge against her…she hoped.

As she was leaving, an idea occurred to her, and she turned around to face Dustin. "I know you're helping out my mom…is there any chance you can take on Amity as a client?"

"Yeah…no, sorry," Dustin said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"It's because she's a witch, isn't it?" Luz asked, surprised at how confrontational she was sounding.

"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking," Dustin said patiently. "I'm just not comfortable working with an individual from a species whose neurology I don't understand. Amity looks mostly human on the outside, but I haven't the slightest clue how her brain works. There are just way too many unknowns. I could give her advice that's good for humans but dangerous for witches."

Luz felt guilty she had made such an assumption. Dustin had been nothing but helpful to her, and here she was, accusing him of speciesism. She must have been more on edge than she thought. "Dustin…can you help out at the custody hearing? Testify that I'm not…crazy?"

Dustin shook his head. "Luz, trust me, you do not want me at that hearing. I'd be obliged to answer whatever questions were put forth to me if I testified, and there are a lot of things you've told me that would make the judge think you're crazy. A lot of different ways it all can be twisted. Luckily, I'm immune from being forced to testify unless there's concrete evidence I know you've committed a crime, which you haven't."

That was probably true. On Earth, anyway. Not so much in the Boiling Isles, under both the Belos regime and the new government. Of course, when one lived with Eda, such things went with the territory. Be gay, do crime (or, more precisely, be bi, do crime) was practically her motto. Luz had even heard rumor she'd petitioned to make it the motto of the Boiling Kingdom, purely for giggles. Needless to say, that suggestion did not take off. (The motto decided on was "unity through diversity.")

"I trust Lucas and his people with my life," Dustin assured her. "It'll all be fine."

Luz hoped he was right. In the meantime, she needed a distraction, so after she was done with her appointment, she went on over to the Harrington residence. She really felt like she'd been neglecting to spend time with Sean, Avery, and Gus recently anyway. When she walked into the living room – she'd gotten a key to the house long ago – she was surprised to see an illusory whiteboard in the center of the room, with convoluted floorplans and tons of words, written very small so that they could fit on the whiteboard, written on it. Sean, Avery, and Gus appeared to be arguing about something.

"And I'm telling you, even if you managed to steal the damn thing, it'd be completely pointless!" Sean yelled at Gus. "What are you going to do, fence it? It's the most famous document in the world!"

"What the heck is going on here?" Luz asked, unsure whether she should be amused or worried.

Avery looked like they were struggling to keep a grin off their lips, and not winning that struggle. "We're trying to figure out how to steal the Declaration of Independence," they said, bursting into laughter immediately thereafter. Gus and Sean glared at them. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is just too good!"

"Are…you serious?" Luz asked. "Yes!" Gus and Sean shouted.

Avery shook their head. "We watched National Treasure and Gus is sure he can use his illusion magic to steal the Declaration of Independence. Sean is trying to convince him otherwise. Me, I'm on the fence."

Luz pointed at Gus. "No stealing priceless historical artifacts!" She could not believe this was a rule she had to impose. Gus sulked theatrically. "But…just out of curiosity, what was your plan?"

Gus relayed his plan to her. Luz was impressed with its simple elegance. She was no security expert, but she couldn't exactly see a flaw in the plan. She resolved to never, ever mention the plan to Eda, lest she be tempted to use it herself. Luz was pretty sure it would not do good things for the Boiling Kingdom's reputation if its prime minister stole one of the founding documents of the country. Maybe she should mention it to Agent Johnston so they could tighten up security? Nah. That'd make her look suspicious.

"Hey, Avery, can I talk to you for a few moments?" Luz asked, trying to keep her voice casual. Avery sensed that she was being quite serious and immediately followed Luz into their backyard, ignoring the continued argument about how Gus could totally use illusion magic to confound infrared sensors. (The one key flaw in that argument was that Gus did not appear to know what infrared sensors were.) "So…um, you've heard about my custody hearing?"

Avery nodded and put a comforting hand on Luz's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Mrs. Broadchurch is, like, the crème de la crème of the legal world. She's got you covered. She practically eviscerated my mother verbally." A fond smile came on their face. "It felt so good too, to have someone defend my identity so fervently. I mean, besides Dad, but Dad's Dad, you know? Mrs. Broadchurch wasn't obliged to defend me, like he was."

Luz sighed. "I just can't help but think of all the horrible things that'll happen to me if she loses."

"That's not going to happen," Avery assured her. "For starters, I can't really remember the last time she actually lost a case. Secondly, you have a plan, remember?"

It was true. Camila, Raine, and Eda had discussed it with her at the consulate. They had agents of the Law Enforcement Coven watching the courthouse. They wouldn't interfere in the hearing, but the moment Camila lost, they'd extract Luz and bring her to the consulate. The portal had been moved to there, and they'd be protected by extraterritoriality long enough to bring Luz to the Boiling Isles, where she'd stay until the threat from Odalia and possibly also Havik was over. Luz didn't like the idea of abandoning her birth land, especially with evil afoot, but she also knew there'd be no other option.

Still, it wasn't enough to reassure her entirely. The Law Enforcement Coven hadn't had any success tracking down Havik, and they'd been trying ever since he made his big announcement. And Odalia had a vast array of mind powers at her disposal – who knew what dirty tricks she could pull? They may not get a chance to extract her in time.

"It's gonna be fine," Avery assured her. "Mrs. Broadchurch is so gonna be winning your case. Your grandparents are gonna be begging for mercy when she's done with them."

Luz pulled Avery into a hug. They looked surprised, but pleased. They'd been such a good friend to her, even working their way past a crush that she'd seen proof could have developed into full blown love, just because they knew it was the right thing to do. And how had she repaid them? By hiding the truth from them about their parallel self. "Um, so, I've got something to tell you, and please don't promise to freak out on me. I had good reasons for keeping it from you, I promise!"

Avery sighed. "I have a feeling I know where this is going. It's about my parallel self, right?"

Luz blinked. "You knew? How did you know?"

"You're…really bad at lying," Avery explained. "Like…horribly bad at it." That was not fair or true. Luz had become extremely adept at it during her time in the parallel universe. She'd kept her true identity hidden from the master con artist Eda for months, after all. But…maybe she subconsciously didn't want to tell a good lie when it came to this issue.

"Yeah, okay, so remember when I told you Other You and Other Me were best friends?" Avery nodded. "Well, they…might have been a bit more than that. And by that, I mean a lot more." In fact, Other Avery and Other Luz were so close they had been planning on having sex after Grom, though Luz had, of course, put a wrench in those plans, and she was pretty sure Other Avery had changed their mind about doing it when Other Luz returned as well.

Avery tilted their head. "And that's it?"

"You're not upset?" Luz asked incredulously. If she had a crush on someone unattainable and found out that a parallel universe version of her had attained them, she'd be a lot more upset than Avery was now.

"I mean…no?" Avery said. "I'm not sure why I would be. That's a different person, not me. I got over you a long time ago, Luz." They grimaced. "Okay, that sounded cold. I mean, it was just a little crush…I'm sorry if you thought it was bigger than that. Sure, it could have grown in time, but it didn't. I was sad for a while, and then I moved on."

Luz couldn't help herself. She laughed. "Man, the ego I've got on me…"

"Hey, no, I totally get where you're coming from," Avery assured her. "It sounds like Other Me was very into her; I can understand how that'd give you the wrong impression." They pointed a finger back into the house. "Let's go back inside before Gus decides to steal the Hope Diamond or something."

Luz laughed. She should have known Avery would always have her back.

Hunter had never dated before. Belos was very heteronormative and Hunter was very gay, so casual dating just didn't seem to be worth his time. He didn't want to date a girl and dating a guy would put both him and his date in danger. He had resigned himself to eventually being forced into a political marriage with a wife he'd be able to tolerate at best. Once Belos was overthrown, however, he could have dated, but everyone at school hated his guts for being the emperor's nephew. (Or, worse, were into him because of that, and that was even worse; Hunter was not about to go out with someone who idolized Belos.)

So naturally, he'd been quite shocked when someone asked him out, not the Golden Guard, but just Hunter. It was even more shocking that his new boyfriend (they hadn't used the word yet, but it seemed the best fit) was someone charming, attractive, and surprisingly insightful. Edric Bright, as he now called himself, seemed to be full of surprises, and Hunter was eagerly looking forward to discovering them all. It was also extremely nice to be dating someone who knew exactly what it was like to be ostracized because of an evil relative, even if Edric had more leeway because of his connection to Amity.

The experience itself was quite pleasant as well. Hunter was a little worried Edric would try to bowl him over with grandiose gestures of love. He wanted to take things slow, as the whole thing was a new experience for him. But Edric seemed to instinctively sense his reservations and was very solicitous about not going any farther than he'd wanted to go. They'd been on three dates so far, and the most they'd done was hold hands while watching a beautiful sunset on a beach. They hadn't even kissed yet. Hunter was secretly glad. He'd never kissed anyone, whereas everyone knew Edric was an inveterate playboy, and probably had vast experience in that field.

Well, not anymore, at least to the best of Hunter's knowledge. Hunter had made it very clear that monogamy was his jam, and if Edric ever cheated on him, that would be the immediate death knell for their relationship. Edric had happily agreed, swearing that his days of philandering were over. Hunter had no clue if he could be trusted, but until proven otherwise, Hunter was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The first date they'd gone on had been to see a movie, with a dinner afterwards. Hunter hadn't understood the movie in the slightest, but having Edric coming up with explanations for everything (even though he was clearly making them up, or perhaps because of it) made everything better. The second date had been to a place called the Woodland Park Zoo. (There was also a little bit of business involved in that date; Consul General Whispers wanted him to run some covert tests on the giraffes to make sure they didn't have any sapience. They'd failed all the tests, thank the Titan.) And the third date had been to a beach, where they made sand castles, swam in the shockingly cold water, and done the aforementioned hand holding.

It had just been positively lovely.

Now the two of them were on their fourth date. Edric had taken them to an aquarium. He was picking all of their date sites because Hunter was a) used to other people making decisions for him and b) loved the look on Edric's face when Hunter liked his plans. The concept of an aquarium had been unfamiliar to Hunter before that day. It turned out that it was like a zoo, but for fish.

In the Boiling Isles, while there were certain lakes that were a comfortable temperature, most of the water was, as its name suggested, boiling, and thus not too many species were able to survive underwater. Well, that were known, anyway. There was much about the Boiling Sea that was mysterious, though Hunter had a feeling that once they were able to bring human submersibles to the Isles, or even construct their own, that would change.

The Human Realm, on the other hand, appeared to have oodles of species of fish and other aquatic animals. It was just awesome to see them hanging out in fish tanks, without a care in the world, living their lives. Sure, they were constantly being watched (and, honestly, it was a little creepy), but they got food and attention and were completely safe from predators. It sounded like a good deal to Hunter.

As they walked past a large fish tank, Hunter decided to hold hands with Edric again. Edric was such a gentleman, but it was becoming clear that because of this, it would be Hunter who would have to initiate the physical contact. He liked holding hands with Edric. Edric's hand was soft and warm, and it made Hunter feel safe. Everything about Edric made him feel safe.

"I, um, sort of have a confession to make," Edric said awkwardly, and Hunter's heart just dropped, hopefully metaphorically. "Uh, it's not anything bad! It just might…make things awkward."

"Edric, so help me, if you tell me you've cheated on me…"

Edric waved his hands around frantically. "No, no, no! It's not that. It's just…kind of weird. But I needed to get it out there. So you've heard about how Luz was in an alternate universe?" Hunter had heard rumors, but many of them contradicted each other and somehow, he didn't think it was his place to ask the consul general for clarification. "Well, a version of me was there too. And a version of you. And those versions of us…they dated."

Hunter tilted his head. "So…you asked me out because of that?"

"I won't pretend I wasn't curious what about you appealed to him," Edric admitted. "But, no, I asked you out because, well…I thought you looked cute. And you helped me pick out a new name. Like, that was 90% why…I just thought, you know, for full disclosure, you should know about the other 10%."

Huh. Well, out of all the various things Hunter had been expecting Edric to confess to him, that had not been one of them. Honestly, he was sort of afraid Edric was going to give a love confession, and it would have been frightfully awkward when Hunter wasn't able to return it. Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with Edric, but they had only been on four dates; that certainly wasn't enough time to decide if he was in love with the boy. For now, he made Hunter happy, and that was enough.

"Thank you for telling me," Hunter said. He was genuinely grateful. Hunter suspected that being honest with his boyfriends had been a problem for Edric in the past. "But this doesn't change anything. You like me for me, and I like you for you."

Edric's grin was just devastatingly gorgeous. Seriously, what spells did he use to get his teeth so shiny and white? "You like me?"

Well, that seemed safe enough to admit. "Yes, Edric. I like you." Edric did a happy little dance for a few seconds. It was just adorable. "Um, well, forgive me if I'm going too far, or if this was sort of, you know, implied, but I can't help but notice that we haven't tossed around the word boyfriend yet and, um…well…I want to?" Oh, well done, Hunter. So eloquent.

"That's good news," Edric said, his voice light. "Because I want to be your boyfriend too." He leaned in. "Is it too early in the relationship to kiss my boyfriend?"

Hunter winced. "Actually, um…it might be." Edric looked crestfallen. "You can kiss me on the cheek, maybe? I'm so sorry…I know you like to take things fast, but this is all so new and scary and I'm frightened of messing up." Edric interrupted his rambling by kissing him on the cheek. Hunter's grin was so wide and dopy. He was just glad that no one saw it. "Yeah…that was nice."

The Human Realm seemed so precarious sometimes, as various human cultures struggled to reconcile the new reality with their beliefs, but it was really nice too at times. Hunter often spent time walking around Seattle, trying to get a handle on exactly what made humans tick. Despite the advanced technology and strange culture, humans really didn't seem all that different from witches or demons in terms of their overall behavior. It was a shame that many humans couldn't see that. It was a shame they couldn't see that they were also really not all that different from one another either. Not that the Demon Realm held any superiority on either front, mind you.

Of course, there'd been hostility too. Hunter had mostly ignored it. He dressed in human style clothing, and a lot of people assumed he was wearing a costume. It was, apparently, the in thing for people to dress up in fake witch ears out of solidarity towards the Demon Realm, at least among young people. It seemed to be a form of rebellion against the older generations. But the hostility had not always ignored him in turn.

Unfortunately, he and Edric ran right into a crowd of these people outside the Seattle Great Wheel, a Ferris wheel (which appeared to be like a Scarris wheel, but it didn't give you long-lasting nightmares). They were carrying signs warning that damnation awaited those who associated with demons, one should not suffer a witch to live, and that homosexuality was a sin, for good measure. Hunter wasn't sure what homosexuality had to do with anything, but its inclusion reminded him uncomfortably of his uncle's rhetoric.

"Look at you two disgusting creatures!" someone called out. "Fornicating in public, it's disgusting!"

Hunter and Edric shared a confused look. They were just walking hand in hand. If that was fornication, either Hunter had missed some very pivotal details about human sexual practices or someone had a serious screw loose. "Hey, man, I'm just out on a date with my boyfriend," Edric called out. Hunter hoped no one was paying attention to the goofy grin he was making at the word boyfriend. "I don't want any trouble."

Hunter almost reached for his jacket pocket. He didn't have access to magic, because he'd left his staff back at the consulate and his bile sac didn't work, but he did have a gun that the security staff had given him, just in case. He very much hoped he wouldn't have to use it. Not that he'd have much guilt about shooting a homophobe, but the last thing he wanted was to create even more of a diplomatic headache for Consul General Whispers.

A woman, her eyes wild and crazed, stepped forward. "Go back to hell where you belong, foul creature of the darkness!"

"Look, you're blocking the way here," Hunter argued, trying to keep his voice light and reasonable. "It's a public throughway. This can't be allowed, can it?"

"Hunter, let's just go," Edric said, trying to tug him away.

"No!" Hunter shouted. "I have as much of a right to be here as anyone else! I won't go away!" We're going past you, and you're gonna let us. Or we'll kick your asses!"

Edric cast a spell covertly behind him, and then there was a blinding flash of light and a humungous noise. Another ring of blue light could barely be seen through the magical flash bang, and then when the smoke cleared and the light faded, Hunter was shocked to see that Edric had made the two of them invisible. To complete the illusory hat track, he created illusions of the two of them running in the other direction. The angry mob ran after them.

"I wonder how far they'll get before they realize they're chasing a phantasm," Edric said with a mischievous giggle as he dispelled the invisibility. "I programmed the illusions to jump into the sea…I wonder if those morons will follow them in."

"I won't shed any tears if they do," Hunter admitted.

The two of them finally made their way to the Ferris wheel. They ended up getting in for half price, because the angry mob had been scaring away customers and the ticket clerk was grateful that they'd gotten rid of them. True to the clerk's words, they were the only customers in the gondola when they went up.

The view from the top was stellar. Seattle was a gorgeous city that put Bonesborough to shame, but from all those feet up, it looked even better. Hunter, of course, only had eyes for his boyfriend. "I love being here with you," Hunter said. It wasn't quite I love you – nor was he ready for that yet – but he hoped Edric got the message nonetheless.

And he did. Without having to say another word, Edric did.

Camila knew that she was in for the fight of her life. Well, the metaphorical fight of her life. She didn't think that the custody hearing between her parents and her would devolve into an actual skirmish unless they were spectacularly unlucky. It was going to be a very traumatic experience for both her and Luz. To make matters worse, the judge had decided on a completely closed courtroom. While this meant it wouldn't be besieged by protesters, it also meant that Luz wouldn't have her friends with her, or even family members like Eda, Lilith, and King, since apparently, they didn't count in the eyes of the law. It made Camila's blood boil just to think of it. Luz would have to face one of the toughest challenges of her life with just Camila at her side.

Luz had no clue how bad it was going to get, but Camila had some inkling. Odalia's lawyer – and he was indeed her lawyer, even if he was her parents' lawyer on paper – would try every dirty trick in the book to discredit Luz. He would resort to horrid insults, outright lies, and try to make Luz break down on the stand. Now that Camila thought of it, perhaps it was a good thing that Eda was banned; the appearance of the Harpy Beast in the courtroom wouldn't do her side any good.

The only solace Camila had was that her own lawyer was, in the estimation of absolutely everyone, staggeringly brilliant. Rachel Broadchurch was a legend in the legal community, and her renown had filtered down to a point where even Camila had some vague idea who she was. Camila was sure that Broadchurch would fight tooth and nail to ensure victory. The only question was, would she win?

Despite not being allowed inside the courtroom, Camila had brought Amity with her to the courthouse, because she knew Luz would be much happier knowing that her girlfriend was waiting for her when she was done. Amity had vowed to storm the courtroom and rescue her if necessary. Camila had made her promise not to do it unless she had credible proof they were in mortal danger, not just suspicions. Amity had promised, and Camila knew she'd kept her promise.

"I just wish I could testify on your behalf," Amity lamented as they walked into the courthouse. "You may not be my mother by blood, but you've done more for me than she ever could."

Despite the circumstances, Camila could not help but smile. Amity had come so far from the scared young girl she once was. She was now a confident young woman who was moving past her pain and towards a bright future. "Don't worry, nuera que será," she said with a wink. "I have a very good feeling." She did not, in fact, have that, but confidence could only help Luz. "It's all going to be fine."

"What's nuera que será mean?" Amity asked Luz in a stage whisper as they walked towards the elevator.

Luz gave her a huge grin. "It means daughter-in-law to be." Amity flushed scarlet and gave a huge, dopy grin. Camila thought that'd cheer her up.

Once outside the courtroom, they rendezvoused with Broadchurch. The two of them had not yet met in person, but Camila had seen pictures of her. She cut an intimidating profile in those pictures, and she definitely did not disappear in person. Camila would not like to be on the other side of a courtroom from this woman. "A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty," Broadchurch said with a firm handshake.

For a second, Camila wondered who she was talking to, and then she realized that, yes, as Queen Mother of the Boiling Isles, that was indeed a title she was entitled to. How weird. "Please just call me Mrs. Noceda, or Camila, if you wish. And I'd like you to please not use that title to refer to me in court – today, I'm here in my capacity as a private citizen. Unless you think it'd help?"

Broadchurch considered the question carefully. "It might, depending on the judge. On the whole, though, I think you're right and I should simply refer to you as Mrs. Noceda. I might change my mind depending on the circumstances." She looked over at Luz. "I know this is a very scary situation, and I'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better. Please try your best to avoid any emotional outbursts, and remember to always answer questions truthfully. This is a custody case, so you do not have access to the right against self-incrimination, I'm afraid."

Amity squeezed Luz's hand. "It's going to be fine, Luz. I believe it will be fine."

"And indeed it will, Miss Blight," Broadchurch said with a reassuring smile. "This is not my first rodeo." Amity looked bewildered. Broadchurch coughed. "That is to say, I have a great deal of experience in this field. I'm going to do everything I can – which is quite a lot – to ensure Mrs. Noceda retains custody."

"Don't worry, Amity," Camila said. "It'll be over before you know it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Amity said grimly.

Camila and Luz followed Broadchurch into the courtroom. Her parents' lawyer – McHale, Camila was pretty sure his name was – was already inside, sitting next to the Serranos. Camila had really hoped they'd change their mind at the last minute. But, no, they were resolute and unyielding. It was definitely a Serrano family trait to be very against giving up on anything; her parents had it, she had it, and Luz had it. Well, Camila wasn't about to show weakness. She just glared fearsomely at her parents until they had to look away.

For the most part, the opening formal proceedings seemed to go much like it did on TV shows. Camila had to concede she had no legal knowledge whatsoever, and she'd certainly never been in a custody dispute before. The judge they were facing was Nicholas Palmer, who was a relatively new appointee to the bench. Not much was known about his political viewpoints; he'd apparently been a compromise candidate of some description. Broadchurch thought he'd probably end up judging their case fairly, but she couldn't be certain.

"Your Honor, these proceedings are a waste of the court's time," Broadchurch began when it was time to give her opening speech. "Camila Noceda is a good mother. She has made an enemy of Odalia Blight – a woman wanted for murder and treason by the Boiling Kingdom – and Blight has decided to smear this good mother with scandalous lies made up of whole cloth." It had been decided they wouldn't bring up the mental manipulation, as it would just open up a gigantic legal can of worms, and they couldn't really prove it.

"Miss Noceda is a happy, healthy child who is receiving the proper love and care from her mother," Broadchurch went on. "There is no proof whatsoever that Mrs. Noceda is an unfit mother. Nor is there any proof that her parents – who had not even met Miss Noceda until very recently – would be any better guardians. Your Honor, taking Miss Noceda from her mother would be unnecessarily disruptive to Miss Noceda's life. Common sense simply dictates that the status quo should be maintained."

Broadchurch sat down. Palmer's face could have been carved from stone, it was so expressionless. Camila had no clue whether or not it was a good thing. "That was a good speech," Luz whispered. Camila shushed her. Broadchurch did the same, but she also looked grateful for the praise.

McHale stood up. "Your Honor, it's easy to sell Mrs. Noceda as a good mother. That's what it looks like on the outside. But I'm sure you've seen on many occasions that these things are not always what they appear to be on the surface. We've seen hints of it already. Miss Noceda's clear mental instability. Mrs. Noceda's murderous temper that almost got an innocent man shot. Her insistence in exposing her daughter to her sexual experimentation." Camila's fists clenched. That bastard had no clue what real love was, or that she had it with her partners. "Miss Noceda needs discipline and structure in her life, and her mother is clearly not providing it. Moreover, we believe, and we intend to prove, that Mrs. Noceda is abusing her daughter, and thus must be removed from her care. Thank you."

It was taking all of Camila's self-control to not leap out of her chair and try to strangle McHale. She'd have done it too if she thought it would help. Thankfully, she knew it wouldn't.

McHale proceeded to present a variety of forged documents and false affidavits to the court, giving the impression that Camila was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, a dangerous woman corrupted by insidious black magic. How could a man be so despicable that he'd lie to everyone like that? It boggled the mind. Broadchurch did her best to discredit them, but they looked very genuine, and Camila was starting to get more and more nervous the more fake evidence piled up.

Broadchurch decided to call Luz to the stand next. "Miss Noceda, is anything that Mr. McHale has just presented to the court true? Are you being abused?"

"No," Luz said strongly and firmly. "It's not true. I'm not being abused. I have a wonderful mother, and I want to stay with her."

"What do you think would happen to you if you went with your grandparents?" Broadchurch asked.

"I might die," Luz said, her voice wavering slightly. "I might be used as a hostage against Amity. Best case scenario, they'd take me from everyone and everything I love. I'd lose my magic. You haven't wielded magic – you don't know what it's like. It's everything."

Broadchurch gave her a warm smile, a silent indicator that she was doing good. "Miss Noceda, things weren't too good between you and your mother before your arrival in the Demon Realm, were they? Tell me, why would you stay in such a dangerous place? Was it because you were afraid of your mother?"

Luz looked uncertain. Camila winced, because Broadchurch had inadvertently made her point in the absolute worst possible. Luz's worst fear during her time in the Isles had been Camila – not because she believed Camila was a bad person, but because she feared Camila would be upset with her for lying and try to keep her away from the Boiling Isles. "I…I guess? I mean, Grometheus, this horrible fear monster, transformed into her, so I guess I was kind of scared of her…but not because I thought she'd hurt me!"

Camila barely restrained herself from doing a face palm. That was not an inspiring answer. This was not going well. And, ironically, Broadchurch had only brought it on herself with her insistence that Luz answer every question truthfully. "Why were you afraid of her, then?"

"I was…afraid she wouldn't understand why I went there instead of going to camp like she wanted," Luz admitted. "I'm not normal, ma'am. Mom thought this camp would make me normal." Camila's heart broke, because while it was quite a bit more complicated than that, Luz was not entirely wrong. "I was afraid not of her wrath, but of her disappointment. I wouldn't and didn't come home from the Isles normal. I'm anything but that…and I'm proud of it." Had that salvaged the issue? God, Camila hoped so.

Broadchurch nodded slowly. "Thank you for clearing that up, Luz. Would you say that your mother has been a positive influence on your life?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Luz said with a cheery grin. "Yeah, she's been incredible, putting up with me when no one else would. Even when I had absolutely no one else, I had mami always in my corner."

"Do you think being in the custody of your grandparents would have an adverse effect on your mental state, Luz?" Broadchurch asked.

Luz nodded. "In the past year, I've made a lot of friends and gotten new family. They'd take me away from everyone, everyone who's ever loved me. They may say they love me, but how can they love me? They don't know me." She pointed at the judge. "They're asking him to give me to total strangers. Does that seem right?"

"Objection!" McHale called out.

"Sustained," Palmer ruled. "Miss Noceda, please answer Mrs. Broadchurch's questions only. Do not editorialize." Luz looked panicked for a few seconds, and then nodded.

"Well, I have no further questions," Broadchurch said and she sat down next to Camila again. "Thank you, Miss Noceda. Mr. McHale, I presume you have questions of your own?"

McHale gave a truly diabolical grin. "Indeed I do." He got up from the table and walked over to the witness box, giving the appearance of a vulture in flight. "Luz, tell us about this suicide attempt you mentioned in school." Curse that man. Camila was going to get Eda to come up with some sort of vengeance against this unfeeling monster. She didn't care what kind of diplomatic incident it would create.

Luz's hand started shaking slightly. "It was…two years ago. I had, um, been rejected by someone I'd cared for deeply. Humiliated. And I almost killed myself. And I don't think the court needs to know any more details."

"Did Mrs. Noceda help you at all around that time?" McHale pressed.

"I, uh, mentioned the incident to her," Luz admitted. "The rejection. I didn't give many details. She just said, you know, there's plenty of more fish in the sea. She had no idea about the rest of it."

"Why not?" McHale said. "Why didn't you feel you could confide in your own mother? What did you fear would happen if you did?"

Luz started rocking back and forth. It was slight, but noticeable, a sure sign she was approaching the end of her limits. "I guess I thought I'd get sent to a mental hospital if she knew I'd thought about killing myself…I was really, really scared of that…I'm still working my way through that fear." Camila felt a stab of guilt that she'd ever given Luz the impression she ever had to keep a secret from her. "Do I have to keep doing this?" Luz begged the judge.

"Yes," Palmer said pitilessly. "You will continue to answer the questions presented to you, Miss Noceda." Luz let out a little whimper.

There was an unholy glee in McHale's face that Camila hated. "Can't you do anything?" Camila whispered to Broadchurch. Broadchurch shook her head.

"Has your life ever been in danger in the Boiling Isles, Miss Noceda?" McHale went on. Luz nodded. "At a guess, how many times has this occurred?"

"I don't know," Luz admitted. "I lost count. But that's not Mami's fault."

"Isn't it?" McHale asked rhetorically. "Your mother could have prevented you from being in danger. She knowingly sent you to a demonic hellscape where danger lurks behind every corner, where the rain itself boils, where rainbows turn you inside out, where you had to fight a fear monster. You're fourteen years old! You shouldn't be in so much danger."

Broadchurch stood up. "Objection! Counsel is testifying!"

"Sustained," Palmer said sternly. "Mr. McHale, let's keep things more sedate. This isn't Law & Order."

"Your mother attacked a man without provocation in front of you, did she not?"

"There was plenty of provocation," Luz pointed out. "He was saying I deserved to be bullied! He was gloating about he tricked my mom into sending me to a conversion camp!"

McHale's eyes glinted. "Ah, so in your mind, such violence was justified, yes? Is that what your mother taught you?"

"Stop twisting everything!" Luz shouted. "You're doing the bidding of a sociopath who abused my girlfriend and murdered her own husband! She'll kill you too if she thinks you're not of use to her! This hearing is a farce!"

Palmer banged his gavel. "Miss Noceda, that is enough! Continue to impugn the honor of this court, and I will charge you with contempt."

"No further questions, Your Honor," McHale smarmed, and Luz finally got away from that accursed witness stand and sat down in her chair. She looked dazed and horrified. Camila had known that testifying would be rough on her, but she'd severely underestimated how rough. "I call Camila Noceda to the stand."

Camila walked up to the witness stand and got sworn in. She looked McHale straight in the eyes, a luxury unavailable to her daughter. She would not be led in circles like Luz unfortunately had been. She was a woman of strong, indominable will. There was nothing he could spring on her that would get her to lose her footing.

McHale placed a cell phone on the table and started playing a recording. To her endless horror, Camila recognized it immediately. "Even if he somehow wins," her own voice said, "I will not accept that outcome. Should he legally be granted custody, you and I will go to the Isles and stay there until you have become an adult."

The recording came to an end there. McHale gave her a vicious grin. "That's your voice, Mrs. Noceda? You said that?"

"No," Camila lied. She knew she shouldn't have – it was perjury – but screw that. Her daughter's life was at stake. And how exactly would they prove it anyway? The bastards had been bugging her house, and that was illegal. Telling the truth hadn't helped; it was time to do things Eda's way. "I never said that."

Broadchurch clearly seemed to suspect she was lying, but she nonetheless went ahead and said, "As I'm sure you're aware, Mr. McHale, Washington has a two party consent law when it comes to recordings. I do wonder how you came across this…alleged recording of my client."

McHale coughed. "It was sent to us anonymously…"

"And yet you never thought to verify its authenticity," Broadchurch pressed. "I wonder what else you slacked off on, Mr. McHale. Your Honor, I urge you to exclude this tape from the record."

Palmer considered it for a very long time. "Very well…but I once more remind Mrs. Noceda of the penalties for both perjury and kidnapping." Camila barely restrained herself from breathing a sigh of relief; that would have totally given the game away.

"Why do you think you're a good role model for Miss Noceda when you clearly have a violent temper?" McHale said, moving on as if he hadn't suffered a major defeat. It would be admirable if it wasn't directed towards such a disgusting purpose.

Camila sighed. "If you're referring to the incident with Mr. Hal, I deeply regret my actions. Violence is never the answer, and I am ashamed that I let my baser instincts rule me. But I assure you, Mr. McHale, this was an aberration for me. As just about anybody who knows me can testify, I am not a violent woman."

"Really?" McHale asked rhetorically, and then waved around a photograph of her punching Odalia. "Then why did you attack this woman in a public place, knowing that you were being witnessed by dozens of people?"

"She had it coming," Camila said flatly. "And I didn't want her to use her mind magic on me."

McHale arched his eyebrows. "Oh, mind magic. I see. How spooky." Camila squirmed in her seat. That was not a statement that had made her sound sane, she knew. "Well, I suppose as long as you're preventing her from using her nefarious mind magic, violence is all right. Is that what you've taught Luz?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Camila said haughtily.

She expected McHale to force her to answer, but he just seemed to move on to the next topic. "Tell us about Luz's mental state. Does she have any mental disorders?"

"Uh, yes. Autism. ADHD."

"Schizophrenia?"

"No…" Camila had absolutely clue where McHale was going with this. Luz very much did not have schizophrenia or any similar mental conditions.

McHale smirked at her. "I see. No more questions." Camila returned to her original position. At least it hadn't been as hard on her as it had been on Luz. "At this point, we'd like to call Dr. Dustin Henderson as a witness." The bottom dropped out of Camila's stomach. What the hell were they doing calling Henderson to the stand?! Why on Earth would he even participate in such a thing? Were they threatening him? Coercing him? Was he brainwashed?

The door to the courtroom opened and Henderson walked in. He looked vacant and spacy, though it was not something that would be easily noticeable unless one was actively looking for it. Oh, dear. Brainwashed it was. Well, this would be somewhere between ridiculously bad and utterly, utterly catastrophic. Luz was already trembling in fear, a horrified look of betrayal on her face. "Está bien, Luz," Camila whispered, not really sure she actually believed her words. "Todo estará bien."

Broadchurch got up from her seat, a furious expression on her face. "Your Honor, this is a travesty! We were not informed of this witness in advance. Furthermore, this man is a close friend of my partner – there's a clear conflict of interest here."

"Which would be an issue if he was testifying on your side," Palmer ruled. "Overruled."

After being sworn in, McHale started right on the questioning. "Dr. Henderson, did Miss Noceda mention anything…unusual happening to her this summer?"

"Luz informed me that she was trapped in a parallel universe for three months, thanks to the machinations of an evil faerie queen." Luz looked like she was about to start hyperventilating. Tears were rolling down her cheek. "Her dead father was alive in that universe, and she was having some difficulty dealing with her feelings towards having to leave him behind once more. She was also having repeated nightmares which she feared could have been the result of a psychic assault by Queen Zoe."

"I can't believe he's doing this to me," Luz whispered, her voice filled with betrayal. The thing was, Camila wasn't sure it was Henderson's fault. His voice sounded dull and monotone, a clear sign he was being controlled. Moreover, he was clearly fighting it, as evinced by the fact that he hadn't actually lied. Odalia had probably only able to get her hooks into his mind enough to force him to tell the truth.

McHale chuckled. "Quite the tale. Tell us about Lucia Noceda."

"Luz told me she's her inner self," Henderson intoned. "She's violent and paranoid and has self-worth issues. They encountered each other three times – twice in the parallel universe and once in reality when she and Amity Blight went into her mental landscape to procure pictures of Luz's memories of her birth."

Camila risked a look at Palmer and to her horror, she found that the man looked openly incredulous. This was bad. This was very bad.

"Dr. Henderson, if another patient had come to you with this story before the Demon Realm became common knowledge, would you have believed them?" Henderson shook his head. "Do you think that Miss Noceda's usage of magic has a negative impact on her psyche?"

Henderson's brow furrowed. "I don't know. I can't say for certain it doesn't." McHale looked thrown for a loop for a second. Clearly, he thought Henderson would just parrot whatever lies he laid out there. But he proceeded onward. "Do you believe Luz would be safer in her grandparents' custody?"

"Yes," Henderson said. It was just one word, but Luz looked like it had speared her through the heart.

"This isn't right," Luz whispered, her voice fearsome. "He promised he wouldn't do this to me. He…oh, man. The recording!" She got her phone out of her pocket and whispered something to Broadchurch, who smiled.

"No further questions," McHale finally said, and sat back down in his seat.

There was an expression of sorrow on Broadchurch's face as she approached the stand. Camila had a feeling she knew what recording Luz was referring to: the one Henderson had made her take outlining his own experiences with the supernatural. Of course, back then, it had just been an effort to reassure Luz that she had mutually assured destruction available as an option should Henderson try to institutionalize her, which would never happen. Now it was about to become reality. Broadchurch had no choice but to devastate her partner's friend's reputation. No one would take him seriously as a reputable therapist after this.

Broadchurch started playing the recording. Thank goodness Luz had the foresight to not delete it. "This is Dr. Dustin Henderson," the recording said. "I hereby state that the facts listed herein are true and accurate, given of my own free will. In 1983, one of my best friends got kidnapped by a monster known as a Demogorgon. It came from an alternate dimension, a hellscape known as the Upside Down. Oh, we also encountered a girl with psychic powers who escaped from a government lab, where she was experimented on. Anyway, Eleven – that's the psychic girl – killed the Demogorgon, and we rescued my friend Will. That's enough for you, Luz, or would you like to hear about how we got chased by this giant crab monster?"

There was actually a ghost of a smile on Henderson's face. Presumably, some part of him deep down, the part that was fighting Odalia's brainwashing, was pleased that Luz had used the recording against him. Camila was also pleased herself at the panicked and horrified look on McHale's face. The judge looked bewildered; hopefully, they'd successfully discredited Henderson.

"This is your voice and what you said on it happened, yes?" Broadchurch asked, her voice very gentle. Henderson nodded. "How's about you tell us about the giant crab monster?"

"Objection!" McHale called out, his face pale. "Relevance?"

"I have every right to cast doubt on the credibility of this witness, Your Honor," Broadchurch said calmly.

Palmer nodded. "Sustained. Answer Broadchurch's questions, Dr. Henderson."

"It's called the Mind Flayer," Henderson said, his voice sounding slightly more animated. The hope that Odalia's gambit was about to fail was lending him strength to resist her control. "A shadow demon living in the Upside Down. It possessed your partner's wife's stepbrother and got him to create an army of possessed people. Then it created a physical body for itself using rats. Of course, I missed most of this because I was investigating a secret Soviet research facility underneath a shopping mall." He started humming a song that Camila recognized as the theme from Never Ending Story.

McHale stood up, looking somewhat ill. "Your Honor…in light of this unexpected turn of events, I'd like to request a recess."

Palmer looked over at Broadchurch, who nodded. "Recess granted. Dr. Henderson, you may step down."

Henderson, moving unsteadily as if he was drunk, walked over to the table where Camila and Luz were sitting. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I tried to stop her."

"Later," Camila said firmly. "Stay in here until the hearing is over, please." After the hearing was over, she would have the LEC agents take him to the consulate until they could get Näkijä to deprogram him. For now, she had one last gambit to try.

She walked over to the table where her parents were sitting. McHale was in the back of the courtroom, talking on his cell phone to someone, probably Odalia, and didn't even seem to notice her approach the table. "Mami, Papi, please stop this," Camila begged. She was a proud woman and the idea of begging her parents was repugnant to her, but she'd do a lot worse for Luz's sake. "You're hurting Luz! Can't you see that? I'll do anything. I'll break up with Eda and Raine, I'll start keeping kosher again, I'll give up magic – just let me keep my daughter! Please!"

Before either of them could say anything, McHale spotted Camila and rushed over to the table. "Do not speak to my clients, Mrs. Noceda," he spat.

"You are a hateful man who made my daughter cry," Camila said, her voice ice cold. "I hope you get what you deserve." She strode back to the table and sat down, her head held high. "Can we win this thing?" she asked Broadchurch.

Broadchurch nodded. "Without that recording, we wouldn't have stood a chance. God, Lucas is going to kill me for doing that. At least there wasn't anything on there that incriminated him."

Camila turned to face Luz. "You're doing so well, mija. It's not much longer now. We're gonna win this thing."

"I want to go home," Luz mumbled. She sounded very small and young and weak.

"I promise, we'll go home when we're done here," Camila vowed. "And, hell, I'll even buy you another cake like I did when you told me about the isles, would you like that?" Luz nodded. That cake had been ludicrously expensive, but Camila, who had bought it because she mistakenly thought Luz was about to come out as bisexual, had thought every penny was worth it. So it would be now.

The recess eventually came to an end, and before McHale could say anything, Guadalupe stood up. "Your Honor, after careful consideration, my husband and I have decided to withdraw this suit. We were beguiled by Mr. McHale's half-truths, outright lies, and faked evidence, and fell victim to his determination to create a media spectacle to raise his profile." Camila was impressed that her mother had the presence of mind to blame everything on McHale; he deserved it too. "Our daughter is a suitable guardian, and we apologize for taking up the court's time."

Was that a look of respect in Palmer's eyes? Either way, he banged his gavel. "So be it. Custody remains in Mrs. Noceda's hands. This case is adjourned."

Camila let out a shout of joy. Luz looked like she was about to fall asleep, she was so drained. She still had enough energy to move under her own power, though. Camila walked over to her parents. "What's the price I have to pay?" she asked, bracing herself.

"The only request we have is that you allow us to have regular contact with you and Luz," Sebastian said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "This was wrong. We were wrong. We were fools and cowards, and we hurt our granddaughter. And I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me, Luz."

Camila stepped in front of Luz protectively. "I don't think putting Luz on the spot like this is a good start to rekindling our relationship." Sebastian nodded. "I should have made more of an effort to rebuild things between us. It's going to take a long time for me to forgive you, but…you're family. That matters to me."

"We…would like to meet your girlfriend sometime, Luz," Guadalupe said tentatively. Camila reluctantly had to concede that the fact Guadalupe could utter that sentence without some sort of negative reaction was indicative of considerable progress. "Odalia seems to hate her with a burning passion…so she must be a very good person."

Luz cracked a smile. "She's amazing. Um, thank you…abuela. Thank you for doing the right thing."

The four of them walked into the hallway, where Amity was eagerly waiting. "I can't believe they did all that to you, Luz," she said immediately. Had she been listening at the door? Probably. Witches had much better hearing than humans; a human wouldn't have been able to overhear the hearing, but a witch probably could. "You know that they're wrong about you, right? You're not crazy, and you're a good person."

"Yeah," Luz said. "Thanks, Amity. But I'm just…wiped out. I want to go home. It's nothing personal…"

"Oh, believe me, I understand," Amity assured her. "I know what that's like."

Sebastian cleared his throat and after a few seconds, he stuck out his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Amity. I'm Sebastian Serrano, Luz's grandfather." Amity did not shake his hand, merely offered a cold nod. "Yes, I suppose I had that coming. It's…going to take a long time to get used to the idea of two women liking one another not being wrong. But for Luz's sake, I am willing to try. If it helps any, your mother is deeply frustrated with you."

Amity grinned. "Yeah, it actually does. Man, I wish I could see the look on her face right now."

There was a dinging sound as elevator doors opened and Odalia stepped out. "Your wish is my command, daughter mine," Odalia said, her voice silky. She looked much more presentable and normal looking than during Camila's last confrontation with her. Amity let out a frightened squeak and stepped behind Camila. Camila wished she'd brought any sort of weapon with her, even her glyphs, but she'd left them all behind because she knew they wouldn't make it through security.

"You've lost today, Odalia," Camila said strongly. "My parents came to their senses. They did the right thing. And you're going to keep losing, because you're a monster, and we're in the right."

Odalia stepped forward, her eyes hungry and focused on Amity with a horrifying intensity. "Amity, why are you looking so frightened of me? I'm your mother. I only want what's best for you."

"No," Amity mumbled. "You…you don't. You killed Father."

Odalia shrugged. "He wasn't of any use to me. I've moved onto bigger and better things. Think of the power you could wield at my side! All you need to do is pledge yourself to me. We can rule both this world and our own."

"NO!" Amity shouted. "I won't! I can't be your heir anymore, because I can't do magic!" A shocked look formed on Odalia's face. "Yeah, that's right! Your friend Havik, he shot me in the bile sac and it's completely worthless now. If I do magic again, I'll die. So, yeah, I'm not of any more use to you anymore either."

Odalia gave a serene smile. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. You're still fertile, aren't you?" Amity let out a squeak of horror. "As long as you can be bred and bear the next generation of Blights, you still have some small use to me."

"Get out," Sebastian snarled at her. "I will beat you to death with my bare hands if I have to."

"SECURITY!" Odalia called out, sounding frightened. Of course she did. She was a coward, always hiding behind human law enforcement. One day, Camila would get the better of her. But that day, she realized, was not today, as a police officer walked over to them, his hand already on the butt of his gun.

Camila was ready to rebut whatever lies Odalia was going to tell, but she didn't say any of them. Instead, she cast a spell and the police officer drew his gun. By the looks of it, Odalia was controlling just his physical actions, not his mind, because he looked absolutely horrified. Camila braced herself for the impact of the bullets, but they never came.

Instead, the cop fired at Sebastian and Guadalupe. Almost a full clip's worth of bullets smashed into their head, chest, and neck. They were killed almost instantly. It was over in seconds, before Camila could even think to scream. And then, fear dancing behind his eyes, the cop pressed the gun against his own head and was forced to blow his own brains out.

"You may have won this battle, Camila," Odalia said sweetly. "But I'm going to win the war. Cheerio!" And then, without another word, she walked away, leaving Camila's parents dead on the ground.