*Hello? Everyone still able to hear me? Everyone okay?*

Six mental voices all responded at once, spilling over each other, and with them came a strong sense of relief and joy. Alison felt bad about that: it was probably hard on her friends, being suddenly unable to communicate right at a time when mutual support would have been welcome... but then, if they'd experienced the kind of compulsion that had kept her unable to focus, it might not matter so much.

*Okay, that was too many voices at once. Roll call. Let's go alphabetical. I'm okay, I'm in what amounts to a bloody pasture, grassy area with a railing around it I can't get past, with a stream running through it and what I can only call a stable at one side. It straddles the wall-line, obviously, since I have some space around the stable that's inside and about three times that much that seems to extend out into either early or late winter, I can't tell. I seem to have gone sort of, um, horse-like, I guess. What, Des? Hm, okay, maybe unicorn-like, sure. Sorry I disappeared. For a while all I could think was how badly I needed to run, and then I fell asleep, and then Isabel and Phrixos were around, and I had to help haul a whole bunch of junk out of here before they just locked the door and left me alone. I only just got the hang of this all over again. It feels sort of different. Easier, in a way, which I guess makes sense. Okay, um, Des?*

*I'm fine,* Des said. *I'm a cat. I can actually see Zach from where I am, but I'm waiting for them to leave. Can get through railings, but don't know about solid doors. Tracking magic doesn't work on me either, apparently, I overheard Isabel being really frustrated about that. I wandered around last night and I've seen everyone and Jace and Erica and Theo saw me back.*

*You're a cat,* Alison echoed, having relayed that. *Imagine my utter astonishment. Not. Erica?*

*Green fae,* Erica said. *They haven't bothered to confine me. I'm just staying near the house and working on the gardens. I saw you out exploring, Ali, but Gord and Barry were too close. Being indoors for more than a few minutes gets really uncomfortable really fast. Overnight got kind of interesting. Apparently I don't sleep, exactly, but I did end up sort of rooted in place until it got light, and I sort of spaced out mentally at moments. I think I'll test tonight whether I can get loose and move if I really have to, but I assume there's a reason for it. I'm not breathing the normal way, I actually can't even if I try, so I don't think I could talk even without the damned collar. I'm eating a little, but less than you might expect, and not hungry for more. I think I'm genuinely literally photosynthesizing. And Des isn't just a cat, by the way, she's a seriously cute and sexy black-tabby one.*

*Okay, we sort of expected that, but not the details. That's got to be weird. JC?*

*House fae,* JC said obligingly. *Apparently some house fae turn into inanimate objects to stay unnoticed. I, however, look like a French Maid fetish doll—except more or less the same proportions and all as before. My skin is now honest-to-god plastic or latex or something. I have no freakin' idea what part of my mind all that could've come out of. On the other hand, cleaning is much less gross, which is a major bonus, everything rinses right off. Isabel and all are looking right through or over me even more than before, if I just stay still and don't draw attention.*

*It's a shame we didn't all have time for some heavy-duty psychoanalysis before all this. Suze?*

*Right here, and no idea what I am. My skin's swirly and glowy and I can make silk from my belly button and I've got these big butterfly wings that can fold up sort of out of the way which butterfly wings don't do normally, I'm pretty sure. And I'm really thin and I don't seem to weigh much and I think probably I'm shorter? Picture those pixie fairies that look like adolescents, sorta-kinda. I'm in a cage that's not very big, and there are others who look sort of but not exactly like me outside it, really thin with swirly glowing skin but their wings are different, and they got really excited when I woke up. They brought me some fruit and they're staying close like they're keeping an eye on me. At least one of them talks, she told me to eat as much as I can and don't fight it if I get sleepy again. I got crazy hungry and then really sleepy and made a cocoon, that sorta freaked me out for a minute when I woke up and had to get out of it, but I'm okay.*

*There's stuff Suzi really needs to know before she's out of that cage and with the others,* JC said.

*There's what, Jace? Okay, shoot, if it's that urgent, I'm passing it on.*

*From what I overheard, Suzi's a will-o'-the-wisp. And they don't have static sexes. Whoever's dominant is female, whoever's second which is influenced by but not entirely the queen's preference is male, and the others are all literally neuter. And it can change as status changes. The current consort was previously the queen. Isabel and all are curious about how many it will take to get a breeding colony because there's been no activity that way yet. But I don't know how dominance works, they don't know either apparently.*

*Breeding colony?* Alison said for herself when she'd finished repeating that. *I don't like the sounds of that.* There was a world of difference between being clearly not human, even looking partly like livestock, and being bred like domestic animals. She felt her tail swish in agitation at the thought, though currently she was outside in her pasture, alone other than Lloyd doing something with a mirror too far to hear but in line of sight.

*Um... hold on,* Suzi said. *That's stuff I sorta take for granted and didn't think to check while I was doing inventory. Having no noticeable boobs or hips seems sorta consistent with, like, zero body fat, and girl bits are a bit less, well, obvious than boy bits. I should know better. Hey! Um, there's definitely some stuff missing that used to be there and I'm kinda fond of.*

*Can relate,* Zach said.

*I guess that confirms the default for what I am being neuter. But thank you for the heads up, because that would probably be easier to freak out over without knowing that it's changeable. If it doesn't flip back once I'm home with Levi and the dogs, then I'll decide whether to panic. I suppose meanwhile it's probably more positive than negative if it keeps me out of any kind of breeding drama, because like hell am I doing any such thing. Levi's the only person I've slept with for most of my adult life and I'm going to keep it that way. Anyway, thank you for the warning, that helps a lot. I think the one who was talking to me must be the current queen.*

*All done?* Alison asked. *Okay. Theo?*

*Water fae, obviously. And seriously amphibious. I can breathe water or air pretty much the same, and I'm neutrally buoyant with webbed fingers and toes. Plus I've acquired a couple of tentacles on my upper back, which I can't really control consciously, and I mean, really? Tentacles? I'm in a pond with a fence around it that Des can get through. I took a chance on leaving the water long enough to test it, and I can't get through, but it still feels horrible being out of the water anyway. From what she said, I think this is supposed to be a temporary measure.*

*There are little lakes or huge ponds much bigger than yours all over,* Des supplied. *At least two have water fae in them, so probably others do too. There are tiny ponds too but I don't think they have anyone living in them.*

*A bigger prison, then, but they really don't need fences to keep me in, just enough dry land. But basically, I'm okay. A lot better than when I was scared out of my mind and sitting under the shower. And, by the way, thank you for staying with me.*

*You would have,* Erica pointed out. *Not such a big deal, don't worry about it. That just leaves Zach.*

*Scales,* Zach said. *And I got too sleepy to stay awake when I was cold.*

*And angry,* JC added. *The kitchen?*

*That's relevant?*

*Given the timing, probably. That was one hell of a job you did trashing it. Very few breakable objects left intact and everything in the fridge was a write-off. I'm actually surprised the fridge itself still works after being pushed over like that.* She decided, for the moment, not to mention that Barry and Felix had wanted Zach killed as dangerous. *I'm thinking dragon or naga—snake spirits sometimes said to guard treasure—or something like that.*

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

*You said you didn't want to be anything wussy,* Des said. *Dragons are about as far from wussy as you can get.*

*Yeah, I suppose,* Zach said. *But getting sleepy when I get cold probably means being cold-blooded and that's going to seriously suck.*

*We all have disadvantages,* Theo said. *We need to find what strengths we have and focus on those.*

*And identify weaknesses,* JC added, *so we can compensate for each other as much as possible. But not dwell on them.*

*Being in the house and overlooked is going to be a strength,* Erica observed. *What else did you overhear?*

JC obligingly told them everything she could recall, from the condition of the kitchen to the argument over the collars. The confirmation that they'd been right and much less time had passed at home was universally a relief, a massive wave of emotion and exclamations that Alison made no effort to relay individually. JC described the complaints by the staff about usefulness and Phrixos' reply.

*What's he mean, new faelings wreaking havoc?* Zach demanded. *We wouldn't!*

*Wouldn't we?* Theo said. *What if something set off that same kind of anger, say, while you were at work? One of those situations with step-dad being a threat to one of the kids who looks up to you? What would Max and Kay have been able to do about me suddenly unable to leave the bathroom without being unable to breathe? Go back one step. Ali, even if you'd changed the first time at home, how would you have explained it to Wade? Even if we were all home, we'd each have been alone, because not even for me would grabbing the phone be my first reaction.*

*You aren't seriously defending what they did!*

*No, I'm not. I hate them. I've been angry at people over doing horrible things but I'm pretty sure I've never actually hated anyone before. I miss Max and Kay so bad it hurts, and even if it's been less than a day for them, knowing how scared they must be hurts too. But short of someone conveniently showing up to give us explanations before anything started to show, and obviously no one did, I think other kinds of bad things could've happened instead. Their motives and methods are unforgivable. Give me an opportunity to drown any of them and it's quite possible I'd do it. At the very least I'd make damned sure they thought I was going to. I think we need to keep in mind, though, that they may have inadvertently prevented other kinds of bad consequences.*

*What are you hesitating over saying, Jace?* Alison said, at the end of relaying that. Something kept tickling at her mind, like JC was reaching for contact, then drawing back before connecting, repeatedly and rapidly. *You're just shy of saying something.*

*Yeah, but no one is going to like it.*

*Say it,* Erica said.

*Even if we get a chance to go home, if it's before we're completely done changing and have a good grip on ourselves and what we are, we shouldn't take it.*

Instead of chaos, that got dead silence.

*We're less of a danger to the people we love here,* Suzi said.

*Yeah. It's going to be bad for them, but it could be worse if we came back without knowing enough. What if we screw something up bad or hurt someone because we don't know what we're doing and aren't ready?*

*That is... oh god.*

*Told you no one would like it.*

*I want to go home more than almost anything,* Theo said. *The one thing higher on that list is for Max and Kay and all not to suffer for this any more than we absolutely can't prevent at all. Damn it all, Jace, I wish you weren't, but you're right.*

*Fuck,* Zach said. *You make too much sense.*

*That doesn't mean,* JC added, *that we don't work on finding a way to get home. It just means we don't actually use it until either we're sure we can keep from doing harm or we're about to be dead or unable to ever use it. We don't have chores—okay, you guys don't have chores—but we've all still got a lot to do, learning about ourselves and everything we can do, so we know what resources we have and also so we can make sure we have everything under conscious control as much as possible. We are going to go home. Somehow.*

*Of course we are,* Theo said. *Kayla will find us, even if we can't find a way completely on our own.* There was no mistaking the absolute certainty that came with the words, though Alison wasn't sure if the others could pick up the full intensity of it.

*Theo, we aren't even in the real world,* Suzi said. *You keep saying that. I know Levi's never going to stop looking either, but how in hell are they supposed to have any hope of finding us? Or doing anything other than getting themselves in danger?*

*Kay will,* Theo insisted. Alison could practically see her biting her lower lip, in the pause that followed. *Oh, hell. I would normally never in a million years tell anybody this, it's about fifty kinds of bad and rude and stuff, but I think under the circumstances she'll forgive me. But you need to not tell anyone, 'cause it's kinda personal and mostly is just nobody else's business.*

*I don't think that's going to be a problem,* Zach said, and Alison hoped she managed to relay the dry tone as well as the words.

*Remember all the stuff Jace found about wizards? Men who are castrated and there was a lot about being observant about what's actually around them rather than what they want to see and about being able to focus on a goal totally with no doubts or distractions? They can't have started off however many hundreds of years ago knowing about gestures and collars and things, there has to have been a phase when they first figured out there was a combination that meant being able to do things before they started to figure out how and made it more structured. Right?*

*Logically, yes,* JC said, in the general sense of agreement.

*Um. A long time ago, way before I met her, Kayla was, at least in the most literal anatomical sense, male.*

They all felt Des' startlingly strong flinch.

*Chill out, Des, can you really see Kay doing the whole stupid more-trans-than-thou thing?* Theo said. *She thinks it's right up there with right-wing hate and misinformation as far as destructive stupidity. The way she sees it, everybody who doesn't do absolute binary conventional sex-and-gender is suffering under the same social crap so it would be a whole lot more effective to support each other, not undermine each other.*

*Seriously, Kayla was a guy?* Zach said sceptically.

*No, she was a girl who got the wrong bits and therefore all the social garbage that comes with that. But yeah, kinda. From what Max says, it's nothing short of mind-boggling how much of a difference hormone treatment makes, even more emotionally than physically. And how much more grounded and happy she is now than she was. She's let me see a couple of old pics, her offer not my request 'cause the rudeness level on that would be right up there with asking if she's had surgery, and I would never have connected them to her. It's not really anyone else's business at this point and hasn't been for years, she's Kayla and she's an awesome artist and she's my best friend.* There was a rather un-Theo-like distinctly defensive undertone, and it rippled through the loose connection perceptibly.

*All of which is true and important,* Erica said. *No one's criticizing her, I think that was just surprise. I sure didn't see that coming.*

*Me, either,* Des said. *But combined with what we know about wizards, that is definitely interesting.*

The edgy feeling faded. *Yeah. The stuff about wizard traits sounds like a description of Kay, once you know that she did start off with male bits she no longer has which technically is castration. A lot of it I think she learned as survival skills and to get where she needed to be. When she started it was a lot tougher to get recognized than it is now. Not that it's exactly easy now. And, well, her biological family just has no idea what to do with her, although it's more just awkward ignorance than aggression or rejection. Max and I are her family. Nothing's going to make her stop before she finds me.*

*She doesn't know anything about fae or wizards or islands or anything,* Suzi said.

*One of the most basic concepts of magic is contagion,* Erica said, and a kind of cautiously-hopeful thoughtfulness trickled through the web. *What's been in contact stays in contact. Her connection to Theo is pretty powerful. I don't know how probable it is, but I'll gladly settle for anything shy of impossible, and I think it might be.*

*There might be another possibility,* JC said. *After the blackout, Niko started acting kind of strange and bringing up some really weird subjects. Stuff like living things that interact with a different form of energy and what might happen if they could have children with regular humans, and whether I'd seen anything I thought would make people think I was crazy if I told.*

*From this perspective, a tad suspicious,* Des said. *Sounds like Niko knows more than he was letting on. Okay, so the chance does exist of either Kayla or Niko reaching us despite all odds. Maybe they can team up, if Niko has info and Kay may have, well, something else, that could maybe increase the odds? At which point they'll run into one psycho medium, two psycho wizards, four henchmen, and an unknown number of what are effectively fae who may not remember being anything else and probably aren't very fond of humans. How are we going to make sure that they even survive the first five minutes, let alone that they're able to help us get home?*