Wynter had once adamantly denied that the building where she lived was a house. She'd read descriptions of houses in novels, and insisted the homestead was nothing like them. Apparently it hadn't occurred to her that this had once been some farmer's family home.

It didn't even have a front door—or, rather, the front door was overgrown with vegetation and never used. Everyone used the back door. But not Xay, not tonight, since it was locked. He didn't even know if Wynter was inside but he planned to find out.

He circled the house, peeking through filthy windows. He'd never set foot inside beyond the kitchen. The downstairs rooms were filled with boxes and random junk. Only the repurposed classroom had any usable furniture—half a dozen mismatched tables and chairs, a few old cabinets. A tiny window overlooked a bathroom containing an ancient toilet, a tub with no faucets, and a couple of empty camping shower bags.

Upstairs was the children's dorm, a room so large, from Wynter's description, that it must be two rooms knocked into one. Xay couldn't find a way to climb up to those windows.

He returned to the courtyard, where Roman was supposed to be hiding in the bushes to keep watch. He was gone.

The door squeaked open. Xay dodged behind a dumpster. Two women's voices cut through the warm night air—with a jolt of surprise, he realized one was his mother. He peeked out.

"And you think that's acceptable?" Ember was upset, trying to control herself. Trying to let the Light whisk away all those negative emotions.

"She's absolutely fine." This was Gabby, who was in charge of the kitchen.

"Then let me see her!"

"She's not here. Go back to your hut and say a prayer, if you want to be useful."

"A prayer for what? They told me it was panic attacks, and now I find out she was beaten half to death. And nobody bats an eye. Is this what goes on here?"

"Why concern yourself anymore?" Gabby was shooing Ember around the side of the house to the gate in the fence. Xay strained to hear as their voices faded. "Don't you and your son have bags to pack?"

His breath caught. We're leaving?

"I'll report Althea to the leadership circle."

"As if they don't know what's going on! The girl's unsalvageable, in my opinion. And if you want a recommendation in Nevada, best keep your mouth shut on the outside. Off you go. The circle's on their way."

Gabby hurried back. Xay pulled out of sight and his heel rammed into the base of the fence. It shuddered along its length. Gabby's footsteps stopped.

Xay held his breath, counting the seconds. He was in the very place where, more than a year ago, he and Wynter had completed the deal that sealed their friendship. He'd borrowed a flashlight from the machinery barn and found her here, terrified, brave, determined.

There was no way the gods of fate would let him be discovered here.

Gabby's footsteps approached, passed by, receded.

He gasped with relief. Looking around the other side of the dumpster, he watched her walking off into the scrub on a midnight stroll, a bottle of water in hand.

Roman appeared out of nowhere.

"Where were you?" Xay hissed.

"I disturbed a gecko by the laundry. Little fella scampered away and I lost him in the bush. I kept in that direction, though. He led me straight to the hole. I found Wynnie!"

"She's in the hole?" Xay jumped up, only to be restrained by Roman.

"You saw Gabby leave, right? She must be going to check up on her. Listen, Wynter's okay. I talked with her. Her mind's the size of the universe and she was scared, but for a moment I brought her down. Told her the bad things in the past are gone. Memories are just ghosts to be set free. She touched my hand through the grate and asked if I was an angel. She's tripping on mushies—did I mention that?"

"I need to see her."

"Shhh!"

Roman clutched Xay's shirt to keep him down and pointed through the fence, toward the temple. A small group was coming up the temple path, dressed in ceremonial robes. Ember, on her way to the residential huts in the other direction, stepped aside to let them pass.

Chanting tunelessly, the group came through the gate and walked slowly across the courtyard.

"We'll never get close to her now," Roman whispered as the group took the path leading to the hole. "They'll stand around out there all night. She'll be fine. We were fine, weren't we? Best night of my life."

Xay hadn't minded the drugs one bit. Roman, however, had not been fine and now he was remembering it all wrong. But he was right about tonight—Xay remembered that monotonous sound during his own Illumination ritual, even while his mind was off with the fairies. He wasn't going to get to see Wynter.

As the last of the group vanished into the scrub, the boys ran along the fence and crawled through the rip.

"I think my mum tried to help her," Xay said, reflecting on the conversation he'd overheard. "I think Wynter was so traumatized that they decided to do this Illumination thing to fix her."

"Ember suggested it?"

"No! She wanted to protect Wynter." At the shed, Xay went inside and flopped down in the corner. "It was Althea who did this to Wynter. She's the worst of them. Everyone knows it. She has to be stopped."

Roman's eyes gleamed. "We have to stop her!"

"We could break into the office and call the cops."

"They won't do anything."

"Whatever we do, it's gotta be quick." Xay tugged his hands through his matted hair. "Ember made someone angry. They're sending us away to Nevada."

"Forever?"

"I don't know."

"That's bad news. I don't wanna leave. I got a million things to get done here." Roman paced the small space, kicking at the dirt. "Okay, we'll figure it out. We've let this go on for too long. Wynnie won't tell us the truth cuz she's scared of what we'll do. Well, the time has come. Clock's ticking. We'll take Althea out of the picture forever."

Xay could hardly believe his ears, not only the words coming out of Roman's mouth but the glint of terrible intent in his eyes.

And yet, he was right... wasn't he?

Roman kept pacing as he stated his case. "They're sending all the children away when the retreat opens after the monsoons. No more classroom, no more teachers. But Althea's still here, running the warehouse and hurting our Wynnie. We'll be like guardian angels, protecting her after we're gone."

After we're gone.

Xay felt sick to his stomach at the thought.

"Okay." He laughed nervously. "We're not gonna kill her, though. Are we?"

Roman grinned broadly. "I reckon the universe is on our side. Which means, whatever we do, it's gonna be monumental!"