“I will do everything in my power to help my world,” Dex said quietly. “It wasn’t nearly as fancy as I’d been expecting.”

“Same here. But it’s actually kinda perfect for what we’re all trying to do. Sometimes we hide things. And sometimes it hurts. And sometimes the adults send us away instead of letting us fight alongside them. But . . . we’re all just trying to do everything we can to help people.”

Dex’s sigh lasted several seconds.

“If I helps, I wouldn’t have cared why you came to Havenfield that day,” she added. “I’m just glad you did. I needed a friend too. And I got the best friend ever.”

“GROSS—ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO KISS?” Bex shouted.

“IGNORE HER,” Kesler called, scooping up another huge armful of snow and dropping it over the triplets’ heads. They squealed and ran into the trees with Kesler right behind.

Dex’s face looked so red it was basically purple. “Siblings are the worst.”

“They can be,” Sophie agreed.

She still missed the human sister she’d grown up with, though. They’d fought all the time. But that’s what sisters did.

“Anyway, don’t worry,” she said. “I know she’s giving you a hard time. It’s not like . . .”

“Yeah.” Dex’s brow scrunched, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else. Then he shook his head and his lips shifted to a different word. “Come on, let’s go inside. I’m losing feeling in my toes.”

Fitz and Biana were waiting by the door, ready with generous amounts of encouragement and support. And amazingly enough, Dex seemed like he was actually glad they were there. They’d come a long way as a group—and had some crazy, impossible, scary, frustrating things happen.

But they also had each other. And that was something special.

TWENTY-FIVE

DEX’S HOUSE WAS even more beautiful on the inside. Everything looked blue and gray and shimmery, with swirls of white like waves in the ocean.

Kesler was right, though—the crystal yeti in the entryway definitely needed to be destroyed. Its jaggedly carved fur looked like some sort of demented, oversize porcupine. And once again, the triplets seemed to have spared its life. Instead, they’d shattered what must’ve been a vase filled with glass marbles. The white stone floor was covered in the clear glass orbs.

“Walk very carefully,” Juline warned.

Sophie made it about ten steps before her foot rolled on a marble and sent her flying backward like a cartoon character slipping on a banana peel. She would’ve been in for some killer bruises if Fitz hadn’t caught her.

“Maybe I should carry you,” he said when she slipped again on her next step.

His teasing smile made it extra hilarious when he fell a second later, landing on his butt with a loud “Oof!”

Biana laughed so hard she nearly fell over too—but Dex was able to catch her by her shoulders.

“Perhaps I should carry all of you,” Lovise offered, making it look easy as she helped them back on their feet. “The trick is to slide your steps, so nothing gets underneath you.”

She was right—though they all looked like the world’s most uncoordinated ice skaters.

“You okay?” Sophie asked when she noticed Fitz rubbing his tailbone.

“He’s fine,” Biana answered for him. “I knock him down way harder than that in tackle bramble all the time. And by the way—he told me about the favor he owes you. If you need ideas for how to torture him, I have lots of suggestions.”

“See, Dex?” Fitz asked. “You’re not the only one with annoying siblings.”

“Trade you!” Dex offered.

“Only if you take Alvar as part of the deal.”

The name killed everyone’s smiles and had Sophie checking her Imparter again.

“Do you think it’s a bad sign that we haven’t heard anything?” she whispered.

“We’ve barely been gone an hour,” Biana reminded her.

“Ugh—is that really all?” Sophie asked. “This day is going to take forever.”

“I know.” Biana twisted the panic switch on her finger. “I think we need to stay busy so we don’t go crazy.”

They’d made it to the main room by then, where the plush gray carpet was blissfully marble-free, and the clear ceiling let in warm rays of sunlight. Five curved staircases broke up the space, each leading to one of the towers. And all the gray-blue furniture had been arranged around a giant glass cloche in the center. Silver flames tipped with blue flickered under the dome, shimmering with each spark and crackle. Sophie had seen many types of fire since she’d moved to the Lost Cities, but she’d never seen any that were quite so beautiful.

“You okay?” Fitz asked her. “I know you don’t like to be around flames.”

“I don’t,” Sophie agreed. “But for some reason these don’t bother me.”

“Probably because they’re a hologram.” Juline snapped her fingers and the glowing flames morphed into a black orb of the night sky filled with twinkling stars. “This is one of Dex’s inventions.”

“That’s amazing,” Biana said, snapping again and creating a sphere of sunset. “You seriously made this?”

Dex shrugged. “It wasn’t hard. All I did was tweak a fire emulator.”

Biana shook her head. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“Sophie’s just as bad with compliments,” Fitz said. “Look at how red they’re both turning right now.”

“They really are adorable, aren’t they?” Biana asked.

Sophie sighed. “Who invited the Vackers?”

“That one’s on you,” Dex said. “But at least we have someone to prank now. As soon as they fall asleep—”

“Sleep?” Biana interrupted. “Only lame people sleep during slumber parties. Besides, we all know Sophie’s going to keep us up sending telepathic messages to Keefe. Or wait—you don’t think he’ll go to Havenfield, do you?”

“I . . . don’t know if they’ll give him a choice,” Sophie mumbled. “But Keefe would never hurt our families.”

“What happens if they tell him he has to?” Fitz asked.