Thirty-five minutes to midnight.

I was in total secret agent mode as we crept through the service entrance at the back of The Q. That is, if secret agents had feet that cramped up and caused them to stumble every two feet.

"All right, Leonard?" Corinne asked. We dodged several guards returning from a break room and ducked into a stairwell. I was panting, my hands gripping my knees, but Corinne appeared unaffected.

"I feel like my chest is about to explode," I said.

"Just hang tight. There's an elevator at the end of the hall." She pulled the door open a crack, searching for trouble. "All clear. Let's head up."

For the first time since Corinne rescued me from the pirate ship, I was filled with doubt. Mia had been seriously hurt last time I saw her. What if she didn't want to come back?

"She'll come," Corinne assured me. "You don't know how overbearing Wilhelmina is. Mia's probably dying to get out of there."

I chuckled as we waited for the elevator to arrive. It was on floor forty-five and needed to come all the way to the basement. "You've never met my mother. She's the same – wait. Does Wilhelmina have blonde hair?"

"Yeah..." Corinne answered slowly.

"Brown eyes?"

"Like a chocolate bar." She paused. "Or feces."

"Does she have a deviated septum that makes her squeak when she laughs and –"

"Yes!" A loud bang echoed behind us. Corinne jabbed the call button repeatedly, as if that would help us get upstairs faster. Two women and a man in crisp white chef's attire rounded the corner at the end of the hall. They halted when they spotted us.

"Did we hire new interns?" one lady wondered. The elevator arrived and Corinne pushed me inside before the doors opened halfway. She stabbed the button for floor sixty-four. The top floor.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said.

"No kidding! My mother's a psychotic murderer!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wilhelmina isn't your mother. She just looks like her. Remember that."

The elevator shot up with an incredible speed that made my head spin. If I had my old body back, I knew my skin would be speckled with sweat. Corinne retreated into herself, probably wondering if she'd made a horrible mistake.

As I watched the numbers climb, I thought about Wilhelmina and my mother. Mia and Beatrice. Sal and my father. I wondered who Corinne would be in my world. Would she be royalty there too? A student? A celebrity? More importantly, I wondered who Leo Clark was in Pittsborough and what I would do if I met him.

We reached the top of The Q with a loud ding that made my teeth grind. When the doors slid apart, Corinne took the lead, pulling me down a narrow purple hallway. I quickly discovered that Wilhelmina was obsessed with the color purple. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling were painted various shades that made me feel like I was living inside a grape.

"In here!" Corinne tugged me into a closet as two guards marched by. My shoulders were pressed against the wall, and Corinne's back was to my chest. Her hair smelled like flowers and salt water.

"Is it safe?" I whispered.

She opened the door. "Define safe."

The hall opened into a cavernous room, and an anxious laugh escaped my mouth at the sight before me. Wilhelmina was an evil queen, but she was also the definition of a workaholic. She lived in her office. Literally. The floor was filled with at least fifty cubicles, each one decked out to look like a different room. There was a bed and a lamp in a cubicle in the corner. A couch and television in the one adjacent. A small art gallery across the way. Not even my mother was this crazy.

"Believe it or not, it didn't always look like this," Corinne whispered. Her lip trembled. I waited for some truthful words to force my mouth open, hoping they would comfort her, but for once I remained silent. Corinne's family was gone, and nothing I could say would bring them back.

A nasally voice jerked us both to attention. Corinne nodded resolutely and we inched forward, scooting between two bedroom cubicles and a library to reach the stainless steel refrigerator looming at the back of the floor.

They sat at a long table in front of a row of curtained windows, Mia in a swivel chair and the Queen in a throne that looked comically out of place given the rest of the décor. A guard stood beside them, texting on a cell phone. When he looked up after finishing the message, I gasped.

"What?" Corinne asked.

"That guy! That's me!"

The Queen sat up straighter and Corinne pulled me down, reaching for a blanket to cover our heads. We peaked out between the folds.

"Do you hear something, Leslie?" Wilhelmina addressed my doppelgänger. Leslie? And I thought Leonard was bad.

"I've been alerted of intruders in the compound, Your Majesty, but I've seen nothing to indicate they're near." Then he...I mean me...I mean Leslie did something strange. He looked at our hideout...and winked.

Wilhelmina resumed her conversation. "I'm removing your curfew, Beatrice. And I'll need to get us a dragon. Now that I have Pittsborough under my control, we can move onto New New York and perhaps the entire country." She giggled, making my skin crawl. I reminded myself that she wasn't my mother. Her laugh was a lie. "Sweetheart, eat your peas."

"I hate peas," said Mia. She sounded confused, but appeared otherwise unharmed.

"Hush, Beatrice. You love peas."

"Mom, why do you keep calling me Beatrice? That's not my name."

"Beatrice, how dare you make a joke after everything you put me through."

Leslie tried to cut in. "Your Majesty, I –"

"Not now, Leslie!"

"His name is Leo," Mia said.

Plates rattled as the Queen pushed herself to her feet. "Beatrice, your lies must stop this instant! Is a little obedience too much to ask?" Black and gold sparks crackled at the tips of her fingers. Magic.

"I'm not Beatrice," she said quietly. Wilhelmina's eyes narrowed. Visions of Mia becoming cursed like Corinne, cursed like me, flashed before my eyes. I moved to stand, but Corinne beat me to it, throwing off the blanket in a whoosh that sent the Queen's hair blowing across her face.

"She's not Beatrice," Corinne said.

"You!" Wilhelmina screeched. More sparks filled her hands.

"Yes. Me. I would say it's lovely to see you, Wilhelmina, but" – she glanced at me – "I'm learning the importance of not telling lies. So here's the truth: You suck. And that throne behind you is mine."

The door at the opposite side of the office crashed open, and a dozen guards clambered through. Upon spotting Corinne, they stopped, shocked. A few rejoiced, while others seemed to prefer Wilhelmina and rushed toward Corinne in anger. I stuck out my right leg, tripping them and sending them crashing into the table. One guard recovered easily and jumped at me, but I brought my fist down on his head. (I guess wooden hands are good for something.)

Before I could blink, the office was upended. Wilhelmina waved her hands, creating a tornado that sent me flying and smashing through a conference room door. Chairs splintered, television sets exploded. The floor shook as the fridge tipped over, trapping two men beneath its weight.

I ducked as a body soared over me. Two bodies. Corinne and Mia huddled together, their faces streaked with blood.

The wind died down, stopping with a hiss reminiscent of a snake rearing for an attack. A tall shadow fell across the doorway.

Seeing Wilhelmina up close was terrifying. She wore the same square glasses as my mother. The same powerhouse pantsuit. But there was a coldness in her eyes that froze me solid. The floor behind her was littered with splintered wood and unconscious bodies. I wondered if Leslie was among them.

"Oh, Corinne," Wilhelmina said. "What must it be like to meet the same fate as your parents? Do send them my greetings." She cackled as the door slammed shut. Flames sprung up, engulfing the walls.

Corinne picked up a chair, throwing it at the door. I joined her, turning the table and using it as a battering ram. But it was no use.

"She sealed it with magic!" Corinne yelled as the flames roared. I blinked smoke from my eyes. Wooden boy, plus fire...equaled ouch.

Mia clung to me, teary-eyed. "Leo, I'm sorry! I never should have left."

"Hey. No, stop that." If this was it, if this was the last chance I had to tell her, I didn't want to say it while she was sobbing. "Mia, I can't take back what I said on the ship, but I want you to know that I do care. You're my sister, and...I..." I shrugged. "I kind of love you."

Corinne drilled her elbow into my stomach.

"Okay, I really love you. And that's not a lie."

A buzzing energy rushed through me. My body stretched, burning as it lost its rigidity. I had nails again, skin, those little baby hairs on my arms that didn't serve much purpose except to reiterate that I was human once more.

I broke my curse.

I looked to Corinne. Her face was alight with a smile.

We broke my curse.

But the building was still burning. Of course.

The floorboards cracked. Corinne screamed.

Mia pulled my arm. "Leo?"

"Yeah?"

She pointed at the door, where the flames swirled faster. The air shimmered like a mirage, but the feet stepping through the inferno were undoubtedly real.

Leslie waved his arms, extinguishing the fire in a puff of smoke.

He met my eyes, grinning. I could get used to the idea of my family members having doppelgängers, but I didn't think I'd ever come to terms with the fact that I had one too. And apparently he could do magic. Righto.

"Nice face," Leslie said.

"Um...thanks?" I replied, brushing ashes from my clothes.

Leslie offered his hand to Corinne. "Long time no see, my lady. You're a lot greener than I remember."

I expected Corinne to have some witty reply, but instead she threw herself into Leslie's arms. The tender way in which they eyed each other made me wonder what type of history they'd shared. It also made me majorly awkward. When I cleared my throat, they snapped apart.

"I have something for you." Leslie pulled a jar from inside his coat pocket, showing us a fat brown frog resting on a leaf. There were distinct markings around its eyes in the shape of glasses, and a purple stripe down its back – the same lavender shade as Wilhelmina's pantsuit.

"You didn't!" Corinne grabbed the jar, examining it closely.

"I did," Leslie said, wiggling his fingers. A few sparks shot across the room. "The guards and I" – he nodded outside the door, where several men were stirring from the wreckage – "have been looking to get Wilhelmina off the throne for ages." He smiled at Corinne. "Now that our rightful heir has returned, we could do just that. Welcome back, Princess."

Was I mistaken, or was Corinne making googly eyes at her guard? "Thanks, Les."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interrupted. "You call him Les, but you won't call me Leo?"

She shrugged. "Precisely."

I did not understand girls.

Mia tugged my arm, drawing me out of my confusion. "Leo, are we going home?"

When I glanced at my watch, my eyes bugged out. Two minutes to midnight.

"No worries," said Leslie. With a flick of his fingers, a portal opened near the ceiling. I could see fuzzy images on the other side, twisting like I was watching them from the bottom of a swimming pool. Home.

I turned, meeting Corinne's eyes. I hadn't necessarily enjoyed my time in Pittsborough, but there were things about it I would miss. Like the magic. And the dancing. And her.

When I told her so, she smiled warmly. "Come back and see us again, Leonard." She reached for Leslie's hand. Something inside me felt like it was imploding.

I tried not to show my disappointment. "I promise," I told them. "And that's the truth."

Traveling through the portal was similar to what I imagined flying through a thunderstorm would be like. The world spun like a carousel. Lights flashed. Thunder rumbled – or maybe that was the thoughts rolling in my head. When we landed on the other side, the library was still occupied. It was midnight in Pittsborough, but in Pittsburgh not a single minute had passed. Mia rushed off with the book of fairytales, determined to convince the librarian to let her keep it, while I stared at my cell phone, contemplating asking my parents if they wanted me to pick up dinner so Mom wouldn't have to cook. They would think I'd gone crazy, but I didn't mind. I wanted to do something for them, even if it was something small. Just to show them I cared.

"Oh, sorry!"

A body bumped into me, knocking my phone to the ground. I bent to retrieve it, but my hand collided with another.

When I looked up, I couldn't contain my smile.

Her skin wasn't green in this universe, but her fingernails were. Her hair was the same vibrant red as in Pittsborough, falling in tangled curls over her shoulders. She brushed a lock from her face and looked at me like she thought I was nuts. I realized my mouth was gaping.

She gave me a timid smile. "Can I help you?"

"I – uh – I..." Was I drooling? "Sorry. Uh...excuse me." I started to book it down the aisle, but stopped when Corinne's voice rang through my head. Live a little, she told me. Feel something.

"Actually," I said, turning around, "I just wanted to say your nails look cool. Green's awesome."

"Oh." She picked at the chipped polish. "Thanks. It's my favorite. I have this weird thing when it comes to frogs, and it sort of reminds me of..." She shrugged, embarrassed. "Sorry. You don't care about that."

"That's not true. Frogs are awesome. A little annoying and sometimes pushy, but they're great listeners. They give good advice too."

The girl stared at me curiously, probably thinking I was making fun of her. My stomach squirmed. So much for being truthful.

After the longest moment of my life, she held out her hand.

"I'm Chloe."

"Leo."

We shook. Her fingers were soft and warm. "Leo," she mused. "That wouldn't happen to be short for Leonard, would it?"