Zoltan’s tone, in particular, irritated me. “What is this about?” he asked. “I heard something with regards to your witch, but would you care to clarify?”

“Nethissis is missing,” I replied, the uneasiness tugging at my nerves. “Our swamp witch. Surely you remember her.”

He nodded. “I do, yes. Are you sure she’s missing? What if she’s—”

“We’ve already gone over this!” Esme cut him off, rolling her eyes. “She’s not out for a stroll. She didn’t get lost in the city. She’s not wandering around. She’s missing, okay? Missing.”

“Forgive my sister,” Tristan interjected when Zoltan scowled at Esme in response. “She’s on edge, much like the rest of us. This is truly a serious and worrying situation. We have strict protocols on our team, and Nethissis would never break them unless… unless something happened to her.”

Petra offered a sympathetic smile. “I’m truly sorry,” she said. “Whatever we can do to help, please, don’t hesitate to ask.” She briefly looked at Zoltan. “The chief councilor has good intentions. It’s his tongue that gets ahead of him sometimes.”

“I’ll have the golden guards scour the palace and the gardens,” Corbin replied.

His gold-plated armor shimmered in the soft amber light of the overhead chandeliers, and I could make out the mythical beasts immortalized on the torso of his uniform—a lion-like creature wrestling a dragon of sorts, their bodies furiously tangled, their eyes made of precious gemstones and their fangs encrusted with mother-of-pearl.

“Thank you, but we have a better and faster solution,” I said, drawing a glare from Zoltan. “A tracking spell.”

“And you couldn’t do that for yourselves?” he shot back.

“Councilor!” Petra exclaimed, downright annoyed.

“We only remarked upon her absence less than twenty minutes ago,” I said, my blood simmering. His attitude irked me. “We felt it was necessary that the Lord and Lady Supreme should be notified, as well.”

Amal placed a copper bowl on the marble floor, kneeling as she filled it with herbs and powders from Nethissis’s backpack. She added one of the swamp witch’s bracelets on top before setting it on fire.

Silence settled over the great room as the green flame swallowed the contents of the bowl and gradually morphed into a bright emerald spark that elevated itself. Amal looked at us. “Get ready to run,” she said.

The spark crackled and flashed furiously, then bolted away from us and through the double doors. I gave Acheron and Danika a brief nod. “If you’ll excuse us,” I breathed and ran after the spell.

Sofia, Amal, Esme, and Tristan joined us as we ran past the guards and through the double doors. Kalon and Valaine were on their way in but quickly turned around and followed us, instead—likely curious as to what it was that we were up to. Nethissis’s disappearance had affected everyone, not just our group. We followed the green spark as it flew above and ahead. It made sharp and unexpected turns, left and right, through the wide hallways, but it maintained a steady speed.

Light on my feet, while my heart thundered anxiously, I led the group as we made it outside through the garden doors.

“What the hell are we doing?” Kalon asked from behind.

“Finding Nethissis!” Esme replied.

Kalon said something else, but I didn’t register his words clearly, my attention focused on the green spark. It dashed across the hedge maze and sprawling flower and orchard patches and stopped inside a blossoming bush. A thin line of smoke was left in its wake, and my chest tightened. It didn’t feel right.

If Nethissis was there, why couldn’t we see her?

“Over there!” I said, pointing ahead.

We moved fast, like shadows across the garden. Sofia, Esme, and Tristan quickly pulled up their hoods, before the sun could hurt them, even through the dim reddish haze. Every time I stepped outside, unbothered by the light, I was reminded of how fortunate I was, but also of why it was so important for me to get the day-walking cure from Visio.

All that was set aside, though, as we finally reached the bush.

“Where the hell is she?” Amal muttered, then dropped to her hands and knees to get a better look. She froze, her orange eyes wide with shock, her lips slowly parting… and I knew she’d found Nethissis. My heart was already breaking as she screamed with grief and horror. “Nethi! No!”

She scrambled backward, tremors taking over. Shaking, Amal cried uncontrollably, shattered by what she’d just seen.

“Oh, no…” Esme managed, carefully pushing one of the bush’s flowery branches to the side. She revealed Nethissis’s bare body, parts of it still hidden by grass and pale pink blossoms and diamond-shaped leaves.

The air left my lungs as I groaned softly.

Sofia covered her mouth with both hands, pain flickering in her wide eyes. “Nethi…”

“How… Why? What the hell happened?!” Tristan growled. He kneeled next to Nethissis and checked her pulse, shaking his head slowly. “Dammit… Dammit…”

“She’s gone,” Esme whispered, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

Thousands of eerie thoughts darted through my head at that moment. I carefully took in every detail that Nethissis’s lifeless form could offer. Questions arose like giant, troublesome nightmares in the making. Her neck was crooked and severely bruised. Other than that, there wasn’t a single scratch on her.

Kalon moved around and gripped the bush by its thicker, central stem. He ripped it from the ground and tossed it to the side, frowning as he stared at our beloved Nethissis. Valaine’s eyes were glassy with tears, and I knew her sorrow was genuine. I could feel it in my chest and in the pit of my aching soul.

The boots of golden guards thundered through the palace, then down the steps as they descended and converged on our location. Corbin was with them, running alongside his troops until they reached us. He seemed as shocked and as appalled as the rest of us when he saw Nethissis.

“I’m truly sorry for your loss,” he said, his tone low and solemn. “What happened?”

I shrugged. “We don’t know.”

Esme broke down crying, but she struggled to stay focused, already analyzing Nethissis’s body. “It’s not right… How could this… No, I just… No…”

Kalon got down on his knees next to her, pulling her into a hug, while Sofia stayed with Amal. We were all trying so hard to keep it together—and failing miserably. This was a tremendous loss, not only to our team but to GASP, to the whole world. Nethissis had survived one of the most horrific attacks of supernatural forces on our universe… only to end up dead in the gardens of a Visio palace.

Nothing about this was right or in any way sensical.

“Her neck is broken,” Tristan said after a long pause. He leaned closer, and only then did he, along with the rest of us, notice the fluffy tail stiffly protruding from under her torso. “I need some help.”

Valaine jumped in, holding Nethissis’s upper body while Tristan carefully pulled the animal out from beneath her. It looked like a fox, with strange, long fangs. It was dead, having already entered the rigor mortis stage, its light brown fur clumped with blood and dirt.

“What is this?” Tristan asked, turning the animal over.

“A phillim fox,” Kalon replied, recognizing it. “It’s an extremely venomous creature.”

“The palace gardens have often had problems with them,” Corbin said, crossing his arms. The guards stood around us, silent and gloomy, equally befuddled by the entire scene.

Esme glanced up at him, her eyes red and glassy. “Venomous foxes? Seriously?”

“It’s true.” Kalon sighed, gently moving back to give her some space. “They can’t hurt Aeternae, but the Rimians and the Naloreans have been known to almost die because of them.”

“The gardeners here spray the entire place with black lily essence to keep them away, but sometimes they still sneak through,” Corbin explained. “They’re usually drawn to the little critters that dwell in the ground, especially beneath the flower bushes and the trees.”

I scoffed. “You mean to tell us a venomous fox killed a Lamia swamp witch?”

“What’s a Lamia?” Valaine asked.

“Nethissis was in snake form,” Esme replied, anger tinging her voice. “She was born a Lamia, which means she could turn into a snake. A deadly copperhead, to be specific. How a fox bested her is beyond me.”