The phone rang again. Riley left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Faith got up a moment later and went into the kitchen to make coffee. Riley was still on the phone when Faith went into the other room. She finished her coffee and sat there a short while longer. She needed some fresh air. Riley’s notepad was on top of the rest of the notes and folders, where he wrote his theories or important things from the notes.

Faith left a note that she was going for a walk, then she headed out into the warm morning. She reached Destiny Park before she realized that’s where she was going. The park was empty, except for a girl standing under the tree on the left. Faith’s heart skipped a beat, possibly several. The girl’s long hair was tied in two, but some had come loose. She wore a plain gray dress that Faith didn’t recognize, but it was her. Suzie turned and ran toward the path to the lake, just like in that nightmare.

Faith ignored that last thought and ran after her daughter. This time it wasn’t a dream. Suzie ran down the path toward the lake and Faith followed. She was far ahead and Faith wasn’t getting closer. How was she running so fast? They reached the lake. The water was still, but Faith barely looked at it. Suzie ran around the side of the lake toward Mr. Tetley’s house. Faith followed. Why was Suzie running?

Faith didn’t call out, thinking of what Daena had said. Quivis’s will, his consciousness, had control of Suzie. Suzie didn’t stop or look back. The door to the house was open a crack and Suzie slipped inside. Faith stopped a long ways back, not just to catch her breath. The door opened and Faith darted to the side, hiding in the scratchy bushes. Willet left Tetley’s house, staring out at the lake. Faith didn’t move and hardly dared breathe.

At last, Willet went back inside, closing the door behind him. Faith was tense all over. Her daughter was in there. She forced herself to turn away and go back to the park. The only thing waiting in that house was a trap and she knew it. Back at the park, she almost walked into Holtby.

“Morning, Faith,” Holtby said. He looked miserable. “Willet is back, and of course we still can’t prove he killed Daena.” He frowned. “I know he’s been up to something the last few days. I don’t know who I can trust, who could be working with him. So far I haven’t seen anyone else around town with the same mark as Destiny or Willet.”

“Be careful,” Faith said. “Don’t let him know you’re on to him.”

Holtby nodded and walked away.

Faith wasn’t going to tell him what she’d just seen. She didn’t want Holtby to confront Willet and be killed like Daena and Mr. Trindle. Faith hurried back toward Riley’s house. The two of them would deal with this together. It was time to get her daughter back. She caught her breath while she opened the door. Riley wasn’t at the table.

The table had been turned on its side, papers and notes strewn across the floor. The chairs were both in a corner by the bedroom doorway. The windows were soaked. Riley wasn’t in the kitchen and the floor was wet there too. He wasn’t in the bedroom either. Faith stood in the living room and looked at the mess. It looked like messengers had attacked, but where was Riley? What if Willet had found him?

Faith pushed away the last thought. If Willet had found him, Riley would be there. Willet hadn’t taken Daena elsewhere before killing her. Riley must have run from the messengers. Faith turned back toward the door and the windows. Dark clouds obscured the sky, moving faster than she’d ever seen clouds move. Thunder rumbled in the distance. That wasn’t what made her blood run cold.

Messengers walked along the street and across the yards. Some slithered along the ground. The few people who’d been out walking were running inside. That’s when she noticed Riley’s car was still outside. Maybe he’d left on foot. Either way, something had happened and now there were messengers everywhere. Thunder rumbled again, closer this time. Faith left the house, running past the messengers. They ignored her, as though they were on their way somewhere.

Faith ran to Destiny Park, and there she saw where the messengers were going. They were all heading toward the lake. A few messengers stopped and turned toward Faith. They started toward her. Faith shivered in the cold rain. She was surrounded and had no weapons. The messengers closed in all around her, reaching for her. The red in the pendant became brighter. Red leeched out of the glass and hardened, sharp ends digging into her chest.

Faith stumbled back, then tried to pull the red out. It was smooth and hot and wouldn’t let go. The messengers pulled back, as though afraid. They turned away and joined the messengers who were walking toward the lake. The red went back into the pendant, leaving a few small red marks on Faith’s chest. No more messengers were taking an interest in her. The trail of them was dwindling as the last of them disappeared along the path to the lake.

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She followed them to the lake and was just in time to see the messengers all disappear into the water. Lightning struck overhead, bright in the gloom. The water of the lake churned, rising up and splashing back down. It looked like the sea during a bad storm. Faith could see the dark mass of Ninivus in the water, but he wasn’t moving. Thunder shook the ground and lightning struck. Faith ran through the cold rain toward Mr. Tetley’s house.

Had Willet taken Riley? Faith had no other theories and clearly they were running out of time to stop Ninivus from waking up. She slowed when she reached the house, crouching down and moving along the side wall until she reached a window that would look into the main room. Faith looked through the window before pulling out of sight again quickly.

Willet and Riley were there, but not Suzie. Riley was tied to a chair. Maybe Willet was trying to get information out of him. Faith tried to focus her wild thoughts. She needed a distraction, something to lure Willet outside. That might buy her just enough time to get Riley untied. Willet had looked how Destiny and Hew had at night, even though it was daytime. Was it was because Ninivus was waking up?

Faith stayed low and moved around the side of the house to the back. She found a sizable rock and threw it at the kitchen window. The glass shattered. Hopefully Willet would hear it over the storm. Faith pulled back around the corner just as the back door creaked open. She ran around to the front, relieved to find the door unlocked. Faith hurried over to Riley. His hands and feet were tied to the chair with rope. He had a few shallow cuts, and a bruise under his right eye.

“You have to get out of here,” Riley said. “He’ll be back—”

“I’m not leaving without you,” Faith said. She tried to untie the ropes, but they were tight knots.

The back door creaked shut and Faith looked up just as Willet came back into the room. He grabbed her before she could run. She struggled against him, but he was impossibly strong. Willet dragged her out of the house and to the edge of the lake. The water still rose and crashed in enormous waves while the dark mass that was Ninivus stirred.

Faith couldn’t make out what Ninivus looked like through the water and knew that was a probably a good thing. The dark mass spread out in the water. Waves shot upward, crashing down at the same time a massive roar shook the ground. It had come from the lake. Any scrap of hope Faith had left died out.

Willet grinned and leaned close to her. “You’re too late.”

Faith heard shattering wood from the house, then Riley was running at Willet. Willet shoved Faith to the side. She hit the ground hard on her hands and knees. Willet grabbed Riley by the shoulders and threw him into the lake. Willet turned to face Faith, grinning. Faith ran to the edge of the lake and dived in. The water was calmer further down, but she didn’t see Riley until she reached the rocky depths.

Riley lay among the rocks, not far from Ninivus. Riley appeared to be unconscious. Faith could barely tell where Ninivus started and the dark water ended. What she did see clearly were his massive blue eyes that seemed to glow in the water, but they weren’t all the way open. He wasn’t awake yet, but he was very close.

Something darker than the rest of the water reached toward Faith from both sides. Dark tentacles that barely had a shape of their own separate from the water. Red leeched out from the pendant again, digging into Faith’s chest. She was running out of air, her lungs screaming for her to take a breath. The tentacles came closer. The red spread from the pendant, becoming red scales inches from her, like a shield. The tentacles pulled back sharply.

Air filled Faith’s lungs, but where had it come from? Ninivus’s eyes began to close the rest of the way. The tentacles pulled back further. He closed his eyes entirely. The scales became red liquid again, going back into the pendant. Faith swam toward Riley, starting to run out of air again. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and swam, dragging him toward the surface.

For every bit the surface drew closer, Faith sank down further. The last of her air left, but she kept pulling. Darkness closed in around her. The weight from her shoulder lifted, then someone was pulling her toward the surface. They broke the surface and Faith breathed in. Riley pulled her toward the shore and she started to swim.

There was no one on the shore. Willet had gone. Faith climbed out of the chilly water and looked back at the lake. The storm was gone, the dark clouds clearing to a late afternoon sky. The lake was still. Not even a ripple. What would have happened if Ninivus had fully woken up? Would Silverfield have been plunged into an endless storm?

In the days that followed, no one saw Willet. Suzie hadn’t been found, but Faith and Riley knew she wasn’t in Silverfield anymore. If Quivis’s will was controlling her, she was likely wherever the next being was close to waking up. Two days later, Faith and Riley were in his car heading toward Baylis. They were going to Holden. Hew had said Altunei was close to waking up.

The plains went past, hot air blowing in through the open windows. They needed a permanent solution to the beings waking up. They couldn’t keep the beings asleep with the pendant forever, but for now this would have to do. Faith looked over at Riley. He was staring straight ahead at the road. The blue mark on the right side of his neck had spread a little over the last two days, but so far it had no other effect on him. Ninivus was asleep. For now.