Hela slept in Madam Yu's house, whom Mr. Chu arranged to put her up. Hela acquiesced without argument.

"She's really been shadowing you since the summer?" Anna asked at breakfast the next morning. She was doing most of the cooking, with some assistance from one of the younger wizards staying in the Chu household.

Alexandra, not wanting to talk too much about Hela or any of the Thorn Circle's activities in front of people she didn't know, just nodded.

Anna quenched fires beneath a pair of iron kettles with her wand. The young wizard who'd been corralled into kitchen duty was only a few years older than them. He set down plates of rice and egg rolls and chopped fruit and rolled-up pastries.

"Thanks," Alexandra said. The young man bobbed his head expressionlessly. Alexandra took up a pair of chopsticks, amused at his reaction. She suspected he wasn't happy about serving her breakfast. He carried trays of food out to the wizards in the outer room. Anna and Alexandra had the table in the kitchen to themselves. Geming Chu had left early in the morning for some sort of meeting with other secessionists.

Anna sat down at last and giggled at Alexandra's clumsy attempt to use chopsticks. "Do you need a fork?"

"If I can handle a wand, I can handle these," Alexandra said.

She heard a mocking laugh from one of the brick-lined ovens. She looked at it, but it was dark. In the other one there was still a red-orange glow from some sort of spirit that moved around inside it.

She turned back to Anna. "I want to see where the Regiment David talked about is. They're occupying Mount Diablo?"

Anna nodded. "When it was just an underground prison, they could hide it from the Muggles who hike around there. Now the state park is closed and they're trying to keep people away, but I've heard Muggles have gotten close enough to take pictures and posted them on the Internets."

"What's the No-Maj government doing?"

Anna shrugged. "My father doesn't trust them. They're still hoping the Confederation wins."

"I'm not sure about that," Alexandra said. "Anna, we're going to have to cooperate with them. There's no way we're going back to hiding the entire wizarding world from them."

Anna picked at her food. "I should be happy about that. It's been so hard for my mother to live here. But the Muggle world scares me, Alex. Maybe we are old-fashioned and traditionalist and… bigoted, like David says. But we're small and we keep separate and that means we don't have to deal with their problems and crime and wars and things."

"No, just our own problems and crime and wars and things. Muggles seeing us, seeing monsters, they're just as scared. I don't think staying scared of each other is going to turn out well, if we can't keep hiding."

Anna ate her breakfast pensively. Alexandra tried to imitate the way Anna handled her chopsticks.

After breakfast, they walked down the hill, intending to go into the city where they could call David. It was overcast and a little drizzle was already coming down.

Hela was waiting outside Madam Yu's house. Her face had mostly healed. She was wearing pelts and fur boots again.

"We're going into the city," Alexandra said. "Can you please wear something that doesn't say 'Hi, I'm a witch' to anyone who sees you?"

Hela stared at her for a few moments, then without saying anything, she walked back inside. Alexandra caught Anna staring at her too, but Anna looked away beneath Alexandra's gaze.

Hela returned wearing a dark dress and a headscarf, and a pair of sunglasses.

The guard swans flew into a fury when they saw Hela. Alexandra grabbed Hela's wrist when she pointed her sharp wand at them. Hela shrugged her off easily but lowered her wand. Anna stood between them waving her arms and scolded the swans in Chinese.

The swans honked angrily at Anna. She flinched, but she didn't back away.

"Evil birds," muttered Hela.

Eventually the swans stepped back, their necks still arching as if poised to strike. The three girls passed between them, all holding their wands.

Once in Chinatown, Anna took them to the library, where they were all able to use their phones. While Anna spoke to David, Alexandra checked news on the Internet with a library terminal while listening to all the messages on her phone. There were only a few other patrons in the library this morning; some senior citizens and a pair of college-aged boys seated in the cubicles opposite her.

A familiar, deep voice seemed to speak to her from right next to her even though it came from her voicemail.

"Daughter," said Abraham Thorn. "What have you done? You took all our prisoners and the Doomguards, and somehow persuaded Hela to join in your folly."

Alexandra glanced at Hela, who was texting on her phone.

"I cannot punish you, Alexandra," her father said, in a weary voice. "But as you have taken certain options off the table for us, you have yourself to blame if you don't like what we do next. Nonetheless, my prodigal child, I would still welcome you back at my side, if only you will renew your promise to obey me and mean it this time. And for Merlin's sake, try to get along with Hela."

Alexandra frowned and listened to her next message. Julia had called her from the pay phone in the island's Muggle village. Julia was not her usual sunny self. She sounded frightened when she spoke of the Roanoke Regiment battling first with the Dark Convention, and then with rebellious ROC officers. Even Croatoa had not been untouched.

"A lot of New Roanoke was burned," Julia said. "And the Castors' estate… Alexandra, such awful things happened. I've asked Mother if we're safe here. She doesn't think we'll be more safe anywhere else."

Alexandra felt more helpless than before. If she'd had a number, she would have called her father back to shout at him: Why aren't you protecting Julia? Of course he'd probably say he was. Maybe it was true.

She texted some replies to Brian (he was still angry), Claudia (she wanted Alexandra to go into hiding with Livia or the Whites), and Livia (who also wanted her to return to their safehouse).

"David is looking for Deathies in the Presidio," Anna said, after getting off the phone. "He said maybe tomorrow we can go to Mount Diablo."

"That sounds dangerous," Alexandra said. "Maybe we should go help him."

Anna didn't answer immediately.

"You go back to Little Wuyi," Alexandra said. "Hela and I will help hunt Deathies."

"You think I'm afraid," Anna said.

"No," Alexandra said. "But there's no reason for you to endanger yourself."

"I am afraid!" Anna said. "And I'm afraid for you, too. But the reason I don't go looking for fights is that if I get captured, I'd be a hostage the Confederation could use against my father. Maybe your father does a lot of the things he does because he has seven daughters and he's afraid for you all the time!"

Alexandra frowned. "So we're too important to risk our lives. What does that make David and Dylan—expendable?"

Anna shook her head. "They aren't supposed to get in fights either. They're supposed to look like Muggles while they look for Deathies, but not engage them on their own."

"So was Shen supposed to avoid fights?" Alexandra asked.

Anna looked down.

"You can say they're just being spies and lookouts, but we both know they're gonna try to be heroes, and neither you or your father are dumb enough to think they'd be safe doing what they're doing anyway."

"I know," Anna said. "But Alex, you haven't been operating undercover in the city like David and Dylan have. They know how to blend in."

Alexandra laughed. "Seriously, you think I can't blend in with Muggles? Have you forgotten where I grew up…?" Her voice trailed off as she saw the boys on the other side of the row of computer terminals whispering and pointing at her and then, to her dismay, holding their phones up to take pictures of her over the dividers.

"Hey! Creeps!" she yelled at them. They jumped as if they'd thought they were invisible until now. The senior citizens over by another table made shushing noises at her, and a librarian walked over with a disapproving expression.

"Are you Alexandra Quick?" asked one of the young men.

"You're kidding me," Alexandra said.

"You know that parade of Doomguards was on the news, right?" Anna murmured.

"Ladies, this is a library," said the librarian, an elderly Chinese woman with a round haircut and thick black glasses. "I need to ask you to lower your voices and not disturb other patrons—oh!" she exclaimed, as Alexandra turned around. "You—are you that magical girl?"

"Unbelievable," Alexandra said. She walked away from the computer and towards the door. Anna and Hela followed.

Outside, Alexandra felt exposed, as if expecting cameras or random passersby to accost her. No one on the street seemed to recognize her. It had begun raining harder. People were huddled under umbrellas or pulling coats up over their heads as they rushed by.

"You were saying?" Anna said.

"I can disguise myself," Alexandra said. "I'll chop my hair short and bleach it, and maybe cast a color-change spell on my eyes, and—"

A silver sea lion appeared on the sidewalk in front of them. Alexandra, Anna, and Hela all stared at it as it opened its great tusked mouth, but instead of a sea lion's bark, it spoke in a voice Alexandra didn't recognize.

"Come back to Little Wuyi," it said. "Congressman Chu wants to speak to his daughter and Miss Quick." Then it vanished. A couple of pedestrians had stopped to stare at the glowing sea lion. They backed away and stared at the three girls instead.

Hela looked at Alexandra. "Do you think that said 'Hello, I'm a witch' to anyone who saw it?"

The rain had become a downpour as they ran through the back alleys of Chinatown, fearful of using Umbrella Charms that might draw more attention to themselves.

The swans still hissed and honked at them, but let them pass. When the three of them finally arrived at the Chu house, they were soaked to the skin. Steam billowed off of them as they banished the dampness with Drying Charms.

Geming Chu was waiting with many of the same people Alexandra had seen the other day, including the white man wearing a leather vest and military boots.

"Is your Patronus a sea lion?" Alexandra asked him, addressing him before Mr. Chu could speak. Disapproval and indignation rippled across the faces of everyone else in the room.

"That was me, yes," said the man.

"So do we totally not care about using magic in public anymore?" Alexandra asked. "With Confederation hit-wizards looking for me and Anna?"

"Miss Quick," Mr. Chu said. "We knew where you were and we wanted you back before Confederation hit-wizards could find you. I allowed you and Anna to visit with your friends last night. That was a mistake; you must not wander into the city without an escort from now on. You are both too recognizable."

As Alexandra opened her mouth to argue, Mr. Chu nodded to a young man standing next to a wizarding wireless set. The young man adjusted a knob and a voice crackled to life:

"… came to light that the Enemy's daughter freed the children her father had been planning to sacrifice. Listen now to our interview with one of the former hostages kidnapped by the Thorn Circle"

From the wizard wireless came a girl's voice that sounded familiar to Alexandra.

"It was definitely her," said the girl. "Alexandra Quick."

All eyes in the room were on Alexandra as a Confederation News Network reporter asked, "Did the Enemy's daughter tell you why she woke you?"

"No," said Lorelei Reiner. "She didn't tell us much of anything. She just yelled at us and threatened us."

"I did not yell or threaten them!" Alexandra turned to Hela. "Did I threaten them?"

Hela said nothing as Lorelei went on. "She had an army of Dark creatures with her—goblins and hags and wild elves and were-deers and a Thule sorceress with Dark Marks…"

"I am not Dark Marked!" said Hela.

"Oh, that bothers you?" Alexandra said.

"… we walked right through a Muggle village," Lorelei said. "But they were afraid of the Doomguards so they didn't try to attack us. And next thing we knew, that girl, Alexandra, was shoving us into a furnace."

"Really?" Alexandra said. "I sent you home!"

"A harrowing experience for this group of children terrorized by the Enemy's daughter," said the CNN reporter.

"She brought us home," Lorelei said softly. "She was mean and scary… but she told us she was going to bring us home, and she did. She brought us all home."

There was a pause. Then the CNN reporter said, "Thank you, Miss Reiner. We know that Philomena Pepper, granddaughter of New England Governor Thaddeus Fink, recently spoke to the Salem Seer about her own experience as a prisoner of the Enemy, and claimed that Miss Quick freed her earlier, which raises the question: what is the Enemy's daughter up to?"

"Indeed," said Geming Chu. "They can't quite decide whether you are rebelling against your father or secretly serving his ends."

"How about neither?" Alexandra said.

"Meanwhile," the CNN announcer went on, "the Enemy has issued another threat, sent to newspapers and WW stations around the country, promising to unleash a power of storms such as the world has never seen if the Confederation does not acquiesce to the Thorn Circle's demands. Whether this threat is connected to the increase in unnatural storms from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast is uncertain, as Confederation metereomancers deny—"

Alexandra thought about her father's last message. You have yourself to blame if you don't like what we do next.

"Are you sure you do not know what Abraham is up to?" Geming Chu asked.

"I'm sure," Alexandra said.

She met his gaze, ignoring Anna's nervousness and the disapproving expressions of the other Chinese in the room.

"You have acquired quite a reputation," Mr. Chu said. "This evening, representatives from many factions, including unaligned Cultures like the Majokai, are arriving here at Little Wuyi, hopefully to join us. I would like you to be present."

This surprised Alexandra. "What could I say to the Majokai?"

"That you are the Enemy's daughter and that you and he are both committed to bringing down the Confederation. They want to meet you, Miss Quick. They want to see who this troublesome girl is who started a wizard war."

"I didn't start it," Alexandra said.

"Perhaps not," Mr. Chu said. "But we don't always get to tell our own story."


Most of Little Wuyi was residences, but Alexandra learned that there were temples, warehouses, a library, and even a few shops and cafes on the walk to the largest building of all, a grand red meeting hall topped by a golden roof and decorated all around with scrolls fluttering damply in the wind, which was still blowing rain across the city.

"I've only been in the meeting hall twice," Anna said, "and once was this summer, before we went to fight the Regiments. We've never actually used it very much."

Anna was dressed in formal robes of rich silk, embroidered in needlework that was almost inhumanly fine. Her face was white and her hair was twisted into buns laced with green and blue ribbons on either side of her head.

Geming Chu had not exactly asked Alexandra to dress up, but she knew she was expected to. After applying makeup charms and trying to straighten and gloss her hair in her magic mirror, she'd taken out the one formal robe she had in her pack, and applied Charms the Grannies had taught her to clean and press it and brighten its colors. She still looked drab next to Anna, but she didn't think anyone was expecting her to be pretty.

Hela joined them on the path outside the meeting house, in heavy furs of white and gray and black, with strands of polished stones and ivory beads around her neck, gleaming metal hoops dangling from her ears, and her hair in short braids that didn't quite reach her shoulders. She had also applied eyeshadow.

It seemed most of the residents of Little Wuyi were filing into the grand temple-like meeting hall. Small knots of people were being led up the path from the gate at the bottom of the hill. Wizards in Old Colonial and New Colonial garb, a few in uniforms that reminded Alexandra of Regimental Officers, but in different colors and styles, and a fat bearded man in blue jeans with a tie-dyed t-shirt stretched over his enormous belly. He wore a baseball cap and a gaudy display of neck chains, bracelets, and earrings. He was holding hands with a thin, elderly woman in a sleeveless tan dress. Behind them was a younger man, also bearded and fat, whose t-shirt had clearly been picked up at a Muggle tourist shop in the city.

There were other people wearing Muggle clothing. Alexandra wondered how many Muggle-borns were in Geming Chu's alliance.

She and Anna and Hela entered the great hall and found the Majokai had already arrived; there were seven of them, four men and three women, all but two wearing Japanese kimonos. Of the two without kimonos, one was a woman in her early twenties wearing what Alexandra could now identify as New Colonial robes… the sort of robes many of her classmates at Charmbridge had worn. The seventh Majokai wizard was an old man in simple dungarees and a conical straw hat. He carried a walking stick and looked like a peasant farmer or fisherman. Despite being the least formally dressed, he was the only Majokai standing, and the others all bowed their heads deferentially when speaking to him.

Wizards and witches from Little Wuyi were filling benches on all four sides of the meeting hall, and as visitors entered the building, they were shown to seats near the front.

Geming Chu stood in a cleared space in the middle of the hall, off to one side with a group of important-looking people. These must be the leaders of the secessionists, Alexandra thought. Most of them weren't Chinese, and some were wearing modified ROC uniforms.

Alexandra, Anna, and Hela were led to a bench just behind the front rows. Anna whispered in Alexandra's ear, naming the VIPs with her father. Some were Congressman Chu's colleagues in the Confederation Wizards Congress. There were two ROC Mage-Generals and a Mage-Colonel who had defected to lead the New Regiments. The Governors of Alta California and Deseret, and the Deputy Governors of North California and Cascadia were here.

"This would be a bad time for the Confederation to attack Little Wuyi," Alexandra whispered.

"We're watching them, of course," Anna whispered back. "And there's an entire New Regiment in the City right now."

"You think they won't be, uh, noticeable?"

"Maybe Muggles will notice a lot of strange people about," Anna said. "But I guess they're getting used to that?"

Geming Chu addressed the entire hall with his voice magically amplified. "Greetings, honored visitors, my colleagues, my friends and neighbors, and the witches and wizards of North California whom I am privileged to serve.

"Tonight we gather to discuss the next step in bringing the Confederation to heel, to answer for its crimes and to end abominations such as that which some of us still cannot speak of."

Congressman Chu was still under an Unbreakable Vow. The same Unbreakable Vow that constrained Alexandra's father. She wondered what exactly they had sworn to, before being told the horrible truth about the Deathly Regiment. How many had really had no idea?

"I'll speak of it, ay," said the fat bearded man Alexandra had seen earlier. "The Deathly Regiment is our only reason for being here, ay. The Confederation is a failed state, Geming. You folks imagine whatever government you like, it's all the same to us, but the Deathly Regiment must end, ay?"

He dressed like a Radicalist, but his drawl reminded Alexandra more of Angus MacAvoy, one of the Old Colonials at Charmbridge.

Geming Chu frowned. "That is of course one of our objectives, Mr. Muckletongue."

"It ought to be the only objective!" Muckletongue said. "What else matters but the daily murder of children, ay? You've been playing war games, dancing with dragons, it's just another power game, ay, this wizard war! You want to replace the Governor-General, well, that's fine. But we—"

Geming Chu politely let him continue, though an angry flush was spreading across his face. It was one of the Mage-Generals who interrupted the large-bellied, bearded man. "Listen to me, my Radicalist friend. This is not a game to any of us, especially those of us who've actually fought those dragons. I'm aware of what you folks have done in Sedona and Alta California to protect Muggles, and all the other ways you've helped. But we can't end the evil of which you speak until we replace the Governor-General and all his supporters, and we can't do that until we defeat their Regiments."

"Ay," Muckletongue said. "With Muggle help we'd defeat them all the faster. We don't need to defeat their Regiments, ay, we just need to stop them from kidnapping children—"

"Excuse me," said the woman Anna had identified as the Deputy Governor of Cascadia. "There is no 'just' doing anything. As usual, you Radicalists think you can change the world with wishes. We are here to discuss practical strategies—"

"This is precisely the sort of squabbling I did not call us here to engage in," said Geming Chu, cutting in at last with a voice that drowned out all others. "We have guests here who we wish to join us." He nodded to the Majokai delegation. "We must be united in our purpose and not argue about priorities."

What were they here to do? Alexandra wondered. She found the posturing and arguing of the politicians tiresome. Even Anna's father, who seemed sincere, was still talking like a politician. She didn't know why she was here. She agreed with Mr. Muckletongue, though she supposed it was true that they had to beat the Regiments before they could get to everyone else who was responsible for the Deathly Regiment, like the Governor-General. She wanted to be out there doing something as well, not listening to people argue.

Anna nudged her with an elbow. Alexandra had been resting her chin on her hand and looking at the rain lashing against the nearest window. Now she saw eyes focused on her. Figures they start talking about me when I stop paying attention.

"Miss Quick is not representing her father," Geming Chu said. "She is here on her own initiative. But her father's cause is the same as ours—to reform the Confederation and its ills."

"Is that true, witch?" demanded an old man in the drab black cloak and hat of a Plymouth Traditionalist. He must have come a long way to attend this gathering, Alexandra thought, and he said "witch" as if he really wanted to use some other word.

She stood up. "No."

Geming Chu's face twitched. Next to Alexandra, Anna sucked in a breath and sat on her hands. Even Hela's eyes had gone wide.

"My father doesn't want to reform anything," Alexandra said. "I think Congressman Chu knows this. My father doesn't care about the Confederation, not anymore. He thinks more the way Mr. Muckletongue does." She looked at the bearded Radicalist. "Except he doesn't care about protecting Muggles either. He wants to end the Deathly Regiment and destroy the Confederation's power to ever do something like that again. He'll destroy every magic school, every wizarding town, every Wizardrail line, and even help the Dark Convention. He's not going to stop until the Confederation is finished. He's going to burn everything down. And I don't think you can stop him."

Silence fell on the entire assembly. All eyes were on her. Alexandra wasn't at all sure of her words. In the back of the room, someone in an ill-fitting Muggle business suit held a wizard wireless set.

Great, I'm being broadcast.

For once she wished Mr. Mudd were here. He would have coached her a little on what to say before this meeting.

"Why are you here then, ay?" Mr. Muckletongue asked. "You no longer believe in your father's cause?"

"Oh, I do," Alexandra said. "I don't care about the Confederation either. I mean, why should I? But I don't agree with what he does. The problem is none of you are offering anything better. You want a wizard world worth saving, you'll have to make one. Those of you who knew about the Deathly Regiment spent years trying to talk the Elect into ending it, but you never actually did anything about it. Well, now my father's doing something."

She was echoing Congressman Chu's own words back at him, she thought. Her father was punishing the entire world for forcing him to act.

"I don't agree with what he does," she repeated. "But it's better than doing nothing. If I'm supposed to be sorry for what I've done, I'm not. I think ending the Deathly Regiment is worth blowing up wizarding secrecy, and if you think it's not, then you're just like the Elect who were okay with sacrificing children to keep things the way they were."

"Some of us are members of the Elect," said one of the VIPs in New Colonial robes. "We're here because we are not… O-K… with it."

"Then end it," Alexandra said. "Do what you should have done before your children had to become soldiers instead of sacrifices. I have friends out there playing war games instead of being in school where they belong. This is your fault. All of you who knew about the Deathly Regiment all these years and felt so bad about it that you did what you could to make sure it wouldn't be your child." She caught Geming Chu's gaze. His face flushed, and then he looked away. "And the rest of you who just found out about it, found out about all of it, what did you do, send Howlers to the Accounting Office? What are you doing to end the Deathly Regiment, Mr. Muckletongue? Teaching No-Majes to wish really hard to become wizards? Is there somewhere in Sedona built on some ancient Indian magical place? The places the Confederation sealed to give Colonials power? Unseal it. Do it before my father does."

Mr. Muckletongue's round face turned even ruddier. Behind him, the younger man who looked like his son convulsed as if suppressing a coughing fit.

Alexandra looked at the Majokai. "You wanted to join the Confederation, didn't you? Did you know what the price was? Did you only think it was too high when you found out it wasn't just one child every seven years?"

The seven Majokai wizards stared back at her with carefully impassive expressions.

"Congressman Chu said you wanted to meet me," she said. "I don't know what anyone wants from me. But I'm here to tear down the Confederation. Maybe Congressman Chu has some ideas for what to build in its place. Don't ask me, and don't ask my father."

All eyes were on her. No one had interrupted her. She realized it was probably the longest speech she'd ever given. It definitely wasn't what Congressman Chu had had in mind.

"Some of you have talked about involving Muggles," she said. "How come there are no Muggles here?"

Geming Chu blinked. "I do have contacts with the No-Maj authorities. We have attempted to steer their police forces away from wizard conflicts in the city and the Territory—"

"Is anyone here Muggle-born?" Alexandra asked. She looked around. "What, is it something to be ashamed of?"

Several visitors stood up and raised their hands. Geming Chu said, "Miss Quick, I think I see the point you are trying to make, but—"

"No, she's right, Chu!" said one of the self-identified Muggle-born wizards. He wore fancy robes but a shirt and tie were visible beneath it. "You've left the responsibility to us to protect our friends and families outside the wizarding world. The New Regiments can't spare wands to protect every Muggle community threatened by the Dark Convention. We get it. But as a representative of the Central-Deseret Alliance, I haven't heard any concrete plans for better cooperation with the No-Maj community, and I know for a fact the government has been trying to talk to you."

"Why do you insist on using that term?" demanded the Plymouth Traditionalist. "It's a ridiculous Muggle invention."

"'Muggle' is a Colonial term of derision to reinforce the marginalization of the No-Maj community!" shouted a pink-haired witch wearing a Salem Witches' Institute t-shirt. Alexandra didn't think the t-shirt had come from the Salem Witches' Institute. "We should ban that word entirely from these discussions."

"Muggleish nonsense," said the Plymouth Traditionalist. "How can they be marginalized when almost all the world is theirs, you foolish pink-tufted harpy?"

"This is not helping either us or the Muggles," said a wizard in a Mage-Colonel's uniform, while the Plymouth Traditionalist and the pink-haired witch yelled at each other, joined by voices raised around the hall.

Congressman Chu was pinching the bridge of his nose with the expression of someone fighting a headache. When he looked at Alexandra, she suspected he regretted asking her to be here.

"Just talk to them, Congressman," Alexandra said.

To her surprise, he nodded. "Miss Quick is correct."

It didn't stop the shouting—there were a dozen conversations at once going on now—but as Alexandra sat down, one of the uniformed officers walked over to speak to the Muggle-born wizard from Deseret. Congressman Chu was talking to the Majokai. Probably apologizing for her, Alexandra thought.

"That was awesome," Anna whispered.

"Really?" Alexandra said.

Anna grinned. "My father says your father gave some of the best speeches in the Wizards Congress."

Alexandra looked around at the room full of adults, abuzz with conversation and arguments now.

"But he never accomplished anything with speeches, did he?" she said, so quietly even Anna couldn't hear her.


Alexandra and Anna ate breakfast alone the next morning, sitting on the deck of the second floor of the Chus' mansion. It was a mansion, Alexandra realized, though from the outside it seemed to be only a little larger than all the other houses packed into the small, dense community of Little Wuyi. Where it was magically enlarged inside, it was subtly done, so subtly that Alexandra hadn't noticed at first. But all those deputies and bodyguards had to fit somewhere.

The view looking out over the ocean would have been spectacular if last night's thunderstorms hadn't left behind a dense layer of fog. Alexandra sipped tea poured by a magical floating teapot. It was hours after dawn. The conversations and arguments had gone late into the night, but Alexandra and Anna had eventually slipped out, ditching Hela.

"I know she's kind of weird, and there was what happened at the Junior Wizarding Decathlon," Anna said. "But what's the deal with you and Hela?"

Alexandra sighed. "It's a long story."

"She's on our side, isn't she?"

"Supposedly. But we're not friends, Anna. She tried to seduce Brian by pretending to be me. She terrorized another boy and used a love potion on him. And then—"

Anna's eyes had gone wide. Alexandra's voice trailed off as she realized Anna's gaze was focused over her shoulder.

"Congressman Chu sent me over," said Hela behind her. "While you were sleeping, the adults were still talking. Some of them are still there. The Majokai have joined us. Congressman Chu said Alexandra should be thanked for that, though I don't know why. Also some Muggles showed up after Congressman Chu sent for them. They said that Agent Trampier sends his regards."

Alexandra turned her teacup around in her hands, without looking behind her. "Were you up all night?"

"Yes," Hela said. "My people would want to know what this… MACUSA will do."

"MACUSA?"

"Magical Congress of United Muggle something. They talked about many political things and charters and Muggle shadow committees…" Hela yawned.

Alexandra and Anna exchanged a look. There was a long, awkward silence.

Finally, Hela said, "I did not try to seduce your boy. I don't know why you would say such a thing."

Alexandra rose to her feet and turned around. "You used Polyjuice potion and showed up at his house pretending to be me."

Hela's eyes widened. "I did not."

"Don't lie to me." Alexandra hadn't felt this simmering anger in a while. Hela took a step back. "Brian told me the things you said when he thought you were me. The night you went to Billy's house and wrecked his truck and terrorized his whole family! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I never did that!" Hela said. "I thought you were angry at me for giving him Amortentia." She spoke calmly though there was a tremor in her voice. "I never drank Polyjuice or pretended to be you. I did not speak to your boy. He's yours."

Anna's eyebrows climbed higher. Alexandra's expression darkened. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I swear by the name I will not give you that I did not do what you say, Alexandra."

"Who else could have done those things?"

"I do not know," Hela said slowly.

Alexandra turned to Anna. "Someone has been messing with me."

Anna laughed, and quickly put a hand over her mouth. "Sorry. I mean… it's not funny. But you say that like it's new."

Alexandra also laughed bitterly at that. But her thoughts were more unsettled than ever. Who was her doppelgänger? Who was pretending to be her? And why Brian?

"I want to go into the city," she said.

Anna took a breath. "My father said—"

Alexandra gave Anna a look not unlike the one she'd given Hela.

"—okay," Anna said.

Alexandra's first call was to David, as she and Anna and Hela walked through the streets of San Francisco. Alexandra wore jeans, a heavy fleece jacket, and her Seven-League Boots, but Anna was wearing robes and Hela was back in a fur parka that was more suitable for the Arctic Circle than San Francisco. Alexandra hadn't told her to change this time.

They drew stares, but Alexandra saw a Chinese man in a black tunic and a wide, circular hat nod to Anna from a stairwell. There were other wizards in the city now, walking about just as openly.

"Yeah," David said, yawning over the phone. "Most of the North California Regiment. They're supposed to try to stay incognito, but it's not like many of them have any idea how to do that. I heard your speech last night. That was lit. Even Dylan was impressed."

"I'm so glad I impressed Dylan," Alexandra said. "Can you take us to Mount Diablo today? I could go by myself, but—"

"Don't," David and Anna said at the same time.

David agreed to pick them up at the edge of Chinatown. Alexandra called Brian next, wishing she could have this conversation in private.

The first thing Brian said was, "Alex, I heard you're in San Francisco."

"You what?"

"On the wizardworld forums. You were sighted there. Supposedly San Francisco is full of wizards right now. What's going on?"

Alexandra looked around. She still couldn't believe that people were talking about her on the Internet.

"Nothing's going on," she said. "The Confederation is doing stuff elsewhere."

"You're still not going to tell me anything, are you?" Brian sounded angry.

"Well, for one thing, the feds are listening to us right now," Alexandra said. "Hello Agent Trampier."

"Who?" Brian asked.

"Listen, you remember what I told you, about how if you see me but you aren't sure it's actually me?"

"Yes. But I haven't seen you since you left Larkin Mills."

"Brian, if I promise to return and give you a chance to do something, will you wait in Larkin Mills, and promise not to do anything stupid before I see you again?"

Anna and Hela both turned to Alexandra in surprise.

"When?" Brian asked.

"Soon…" Alexandra said. "-ish."

"How soon? And what can I do?"

"I can't say. Not yet. But promise me, Brian."

There was a long pause. Finally, Brian said, "Okay. I promise. You promise too?"

"Yes. Good-bye Brian. Good-bye, G-men."

She breathed a small sigh of relief when she hung up.

"When are we going back to Larkin Mills?" Hela asked.

"What are you going to have Brian do?" Anna asked with a frown.

"I don't know yet," Alexandra said in answer to both of them.


David picked them up at the end of the alley on the other side of Little Wuyi's wall. Alexandra had warned him about Hela, but he still did a double-take at her scarred face and her fur parka.

"Why are you staring at me, boy?" Hela asked, standing on the corner.

David's jaw clenched. "Did you just call me 'boy'?"

"Get in the car, Hela," Alexandra said. "David, that's a term of endearment in her Culture."

"It is not," Hela said. She got in the back seat, behind David, and Alexandra took shotgun again while Anna sat behind her.

David glowered at Hela in the rear view mirror as they pulled into San Francisco traffic.

"This vehicle is much nicer than Billy's," Hela said.

"Is Billy your 'boy'?" asked David.

Hela looked out the window and didn't answer.

"So how close can we get to Mount Diablo?" Alexandra asked.

"A few miles," David said. "There are roads and hiking trails running all through the hills around it."

They drove east, across the Bay Bridge and into Oakland.

"So many Muggles," Hela muttered, looking at the communities crowding the bay on all sides.

"You were in New York," Alexandra said.

But Hela had never really left the wizarding enclaves of New Amsterdam. Not like Alexandra, who'd seen the entirety of New York City from above—while being chased by a dragon.

Anna, too, who had lived in San Francisco all her life and was accustomed to seeing the city from the top of the hill that hid Little Wuyi, was clearly uneasy at driving in a Muggle vehicle on a Muggle highway through Muggle cities.

And, Alexandra thought, she could only imagine what Muggles would think of four teenagers who could do the things they could do with wands. Was what she'd told Anna wrong? How could the No-Maj and wizarding worlds ever come together? Maybe it was inevitable that it would only lead to wizards trying to rule Muggles, or Muggles trying to eliminate wizards.

They passed through the Caldecott Tunnel and emerged into the Berkeley Hills, and from there they left the densely crowded East Bay behind. There were still towns all over. It was one of the things Hela had remarked on during their trek to and from The Castle, and something Alexandra had noticed during the months she'd spent in the Ozarks last year. There were few places left untouched by the Muggle world. No wonder that it had become impossible to hide from them once war in the wizarding world had broken out.

Almost two hours after leaving San Francisco, they parked at a lookout point across a valley from Mount Diablo, which Alexandra recognized without being told because it was the largest mountain around. As they got out and stretched their legs, David put on a glove and raised his hand. With a screech, a falcon descended from the sky and landed on his wrist.

Like David, Malcolm seemed to have grown. The falcon regarded them all with a raptor's gaze, as if imagining how much tastier they'd be as rabbits. Tied to one taloned leg with a golden thread was a small glass eye.

David held up his wand and muttered an incantation. Alexandra didn't recognize it, but it resembled a Wind Charm, and Malcolm's feathers fluffed out as if the bird had been run through a dryer, before they settled back against his body. The falcon's beak opened and he made a sound that was more like a croak than a screech.

David shrugged at the looks the girls gave him. "He likes it."

Alexandra wished she could let Charlie out to fly around as well, but even for well-behaved familiars, falcons were falcons and ravens were ravens, so she left Charlie inked on her shoulder.

David nodded towards Mount Diablo. "They can't house all the Regimental officers in the prison under the mountain—still got too many prisoners. So they've made encampments instead. They've put No-Maj-Repelling Charms and glamours all over the place, of course, and the dragons and hippogriffs are only allowed to fly at night, but still, with that many wizards in a state park, some folks have taken pictures and a lot more have seen things and told stories. If you look carefully, past that ridge, or over there below the base of the summit, you can see them. Near that building—that's the visitor center when the place isn't closed down."

Alexandra looked, but she saw no signs of wizard activity, not even with her Witch's Sight. Hela and Anna also frowned, trying to spot dragons or ROC uniforms.

Alexandra did see a familiar shimmer of blue and silver running through the hills. A mighty crack in the world, and she was not at all surprised that it ran directly beneath Mount Diablo. Another place where once the World Away had been open to any who could find and cross through at the gateway in or on the mountain. What she could do with it, she wasn't sure. Free all the prisoners in Mount Diablo? Geming Chu had once been imprisoned there, and she was sure there were more political prisoners unjustly held there now. She still felt uneasy about what she'd done at The Castle, but hadn't she sworn she'd do whatever it took to tear down the Confederation?

Moral qualms aside, breaking into a prison and escaping, even with her ability to step into the World Away, seemed like a daunting task with an entire Regiment in her way.

"Maybe they came up with better camo," David said. He raised his arm and gave Malcolm a little toss. Malcolm beat his wings and ascended into the clear blue sky.

"Aren't you afraid of exposing him like that?" Alexandra asked, watching the falcon soar higher and higher, in the direction of Mount Diablo.

"A little," David said. "But there are lots of falcons and other birds of prey around. They ain't been zappin' any bird they see out of the sky. It's a risk." He watched Malcolm, and Alexandra could see by the tension in his face that David was worried, and also by the casual way he spoke that this was just another fact he'd come to accept.

"I have a few things I could show you," she said, thinking of the charms and potions she'd used to protect Charlie. David had taken the glass eye out of his pocket and was peering through it.

"Huh," he said.

"What?" asked Alexandra, Anna, and Hela all at once.

"I can't see them," David said.

"Did they make themselves invisible?" Alexandra asked.

"You cannot make things invisible," Hela said.

"Camouflaged, then," Alexandra said. "You can hide really good with the right spells."

"You can't hide dragons from a falcon," David said. "No, the camp's gone. They're all gone." He lowered the glass eye with a frown. "They took off. The whole Regiment. They've gone somewhere else."

Anna looked west. Alexandra stared at Mount Diablo, wondering how many wizards were left there. Hela was standing a few yards away, looking at her phone.

David put away his wand and took out his own phone. "Yo, Dylan. Anything goin' down in the city?"

They could all hear Dylan speaking excitedly on the other end.

David frowned. "But what…? Yeah, okay." He hung up and turned to the others. "Congressman Chu wants us back."

"Is the Regiment attacking the city?" Anna asked.

"No," David said. "They went south. They're fighting the Alta California New Regiment right now. But without their dragons."

"Without their dragons?" Alexandra asked. "Then where did the dragons go?"

"Further south," David said. "The Confederation Air Force is attacking the Majokai."