I interrupted the discourse brewing in the room, cutting through the noise with logic. “Hold on. This doesn’t make sense.”

Everyone’s heads swiveled to look at me like dogs who had just spotted a bone. With the new courage and determination I’d found buried since I’d woken up in Heirs, I continued. “Think about it. We were supposed to end up in a world from Phoenyx, right? But someone interfered, sending us here.”

I turned to stare at the ridiculous bear. “And the person who sent you here warned that someone might interfere. But what would Avalynn have to gain by doing this? Why waste the power to send both here? Are we sure there isn’t another group at play?”

Silence lingered over the room.

“...Perhaps she was betting that Bearard would get the fragment before we could,” Cove suggested, seeming to have cooled down a little.

“Perhaps,” I agreed non-commitently. I still had doubts Ava was the one who sent us here. “But what if there is a third party involved? We would have no idea who they are or what they want. I think it’s better if we keep it open as a possibility. We can’t afford to overlook any evidence.”

“She warned Bearard about us. Even if it is a third party, that makes them likely to be working for the witch.” The word ‘witch’ was spat out like it was poison.

“Or it could have been a warning about Ava.” I pointed out. His hatred for his mother clouded his judgment, quickly becoming a problem.

Cove tossed his head and scowled.

A ‘hmmm’ echoed around us from the bear. “Maybe we’ll find some clues as we go. What I’m more interested in, however, is what you plan to do with my piece.”

Cove’s eyes blazed. “We want to restore your world. You’ll be placed where you won’t keep falling apart until we can do something about it.”

“What about my other pieces?”

“Of course, we’ll return them to you.”

“Including this one?”

Cove sounded offended. “If it’s yours, of course.”

Bearard nodded. “Very well, then. You seem as if you truly believe what you’re saying. If you two can help me regain one of my missing pieces, I see no reason we can’t work together.”

“Thank you.”

Bearnard shook his toy head once again. “No, thank you two.” He took a long look at the frays and the spots where the fur had been rubbed out altogether. “I’d do anything if it helps me leave this toy body and become whole again. I don’t even know my real name. ”

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“Wait. Are we just going to move on like this? They lied to us, and we’re just going to pretend that nothing happened? They were using you to get what they wanted!” Mattie exclaimed, jabbing her finger at Cove and me accusingly.

Cove, who always grew touchy at any mention of his mother, snapped back. “I told you, this isn’t our world. We aren’t supposed to interfere!”

“Why not? Your presence was already changing things! Why should you get to decide for me?”

“Only because we had to! It’s not our choice!”

Mattie tossed up her hands.“Exactly!”

Jack looked at me sympathetically, the two of us caught in the middle. Knowing what he wanted, I sighed and gave him a little nod. We placed our hands on Mattie and Cove’s shoulders, respectively, gently tugging them back.

“I thought about not telling you, too,” Jack said calmly, moving to block off her vision. “It’s a difficult decision, so don’t be too mad at them.” Mattie bristled under his touch, looking like a furious cat about to strike.

Meanwhile, I played the voice of reason for Cove, feeling more like a mouthpiece for my mother as she interfered between Ember and me than I felt like myself. “She already knows. We just have to do what we can now.”

Uncertainty and anger flashed across his face, but Cove backed down, calming under my words. Mattie opened her mouth to say something else, and Jack started to gently steer her out of the room. She smacked his hands away harshly. “Don’t touch me.”

Jack’s hands dropped to his side, but he didn’t move from where he was blocking her from the doorway.

Through gritted teeth, Mattie asked, “Is there a trail near here? I need some time to think.”

“There’s a park about 10 minutes away. I can take you there?” He turned back, looking uncertainly at Bearard, Cove, and me.

Bearard rolled his chair back. “We all need some time to think. How about you come back for dinner, and we can talk then?”

Plan made, we shoved ourselves back into Jack’s car of death and headed to the park. A tense atmosphere draped over the car, so thick it felt like someone would snap if you so much as breathed wrong. I was almost more eager to leave the car than when I was car sick.

Mattie split off on the first left at the park with a “Don’t follow me.”

Cove split off at the next intersection, at least giving us an “I need some time to think.”

With those two gone, the oppressive airlifted, and Jack and I unanimously decided to turn back to rest on a bench as we waited for the other two to chill. “That was intense,” Jack said conversationally. “I can understand Mattie, but what was up with Cove? He’s been kind of moody, but it seems a little out of character. Not that I’ve known him for very long.”

I wondered how much I should say. It wasn’t any of my business, and previous versions of me would probably have just shrugged and ignored Jack’s question. Still, Cove and I had formed a thin friendship over the past few months, and I was worried. I wanted someone to talk to about it, and I had no other real options back home.

Giving in, I said “You heard him say his father was tricked by Ava–I mean the witch–right?”

Jack gave a silent confirmation, wholly focused on my words. Though I’d gotten used to that amount of attention on me from certain people, or when I was saying something exciting, it was still a strange feeling to have a near stranger care that much about what I had to say, and I was left floundering for a moment.

I continued when I regained myself. “Well, his mother is Avalynn. He has the same powers as her, too. Since his father’s magic talents lie elsewhere, and his mother is trying to rebuild her power, Cove is determined to make up for both his parents' mistakes.”

“Ahhhhh.”

‘Ahhhh.’ was right.

“That explains a lot, actually.” Jack stared vacantly ahead for a moment. “Is that why he’s so insistent about interference? Maybe he’s afraid he’s repeating their mistakes?”

The thought hadn’t occurred to me, but it made sense now that Jack had laid it all out. Should I talk to Cove about it?

If I didn’t, who else would?

Once again, the weight of responsibility pressed down on me.

“I’ll talk to him about it,” I told Jack, hoping that would help fix some of our problems. “But Mattie’s not the only person I’ve met who thinks we should tell them everything.”

“...My situation with Mattie was a little different,” Jack admitted. “I didn’t want our relationship to be tainted by lies. This is my world, too, but it’s not yours. Maybe Cove is right?” He said tentatively.

Jack had a point there. Sera had assumed I’d lived in her world. Would she still have thought the same if she’d known I was from another one? How much right did we have to interfere, truly? I used to assume treating them like people meant telling them, but perhaps it did do more harm than good.

Well, perhaps my upcoming talk with Cove would help us both.

I found Jack easy to talk to and voluntarily shifted the conversation to a subject I thought he’d be interested in.

“Speaking of,” I said, “That cartoon we were watching last night, Heirs? I’ve been there.”