Kayden knew she was lucky that she had her phone with her. She often left it in miscellaneous locations around the house, and she mentally thanked her past self for storing it in her pajama pocket that morning. Despite the inter-dimensional travel, it looked no different than it had back in her room just an hour or so earlier. She could make out a dim reflection of herself in the black screen: a pale, nervous girl, slightly fuzzy from the smear of fingerprints, with a shock of green eyes. It was as if her reflection was trapped inside the phone, a piece of her that had somehow stumbled into a new realm and couldn't break free.

That's not too far from the truth, she thought dryly.

Helio was down the hall unpacking his things in one of the many spare bedrooms. She was thankful he was gone; he was almost unbearably attractive, but his personality was simply unbearable.

Blaze had locked the door to his room and told his father that he was checking up on his illusions to see if they had been affected at all by the warp; that way Mr. Merg wouldn't be suspicious if he heard the sound of Kayden's voice coming from the room. Normally she would have felt uncomfortable being locked in a room with a guy she hardly knew, let alone a wizard, but all she felt right now was an underlying sense of dread. Blaze and Helio had both said it: There was no way things were going to change overnight. She needed to call her mother and come up with some sort of excuse.

"Are you all right?"

Kayden flinched at the sound of Blaze's voice. She turned towards him; he was staring at her curiously. "What?" she asked, realizing that she hadn't heard his question.

"You look out of it."

The way he said it—so blandly—made her want to roll her eyes. "You must be some sort of genius," she said. She could hear the sarcasm in her voice, but she didn't bother to restrain it. "Of course I'm out of it. How would you feel if you were magically transported to a stranger's house and told that you couldn't leave?"

"I get it. I'm sorry." He stood up and began pacing the room, marching through piles of dirty clothes. "You have to understand that this week hasn't been the best for me either. First I blew up that building, which was not only all over the news, but ruined any chance I had of getting a job with the Congregation. Then I got you stuck in this mess which breaks God knows how many laws about non-er-potestas interactions. And then today at Sir Mallard's, I was serving out my punishment when Carlos—" He abruptly broke off. His mouth remained open for a moment before he shut it tight.

"Carlos?" Kayden repeated, but Blaze just shook his head mutely. Kayden frowned. Touchy subject, I guess.

"Let's just get this over with," she said finally, dialing her house number before she could stop herself. As the rings vibrated against her eardrum, she could also feel her pulse pressing against the side of the phone. Ba-dup. Ba-dup. Ba-dup. Almost immediately, someone answered.

"Hello?"

Kayden froze for a second. It was a female voice, but it sounded nothing like her mom. It was too chipper, too high-pitched. "Lexi? Is that you?"

"Kayden? Oh Kayden, thank God you called!" Lexi's voice sounded inordinately relieved on the other end of the line. "We were worried sick about you! Where are you? I stopped by your room to see if you had changed your mind about going shopping with me, but you weren't there. Your mom has been calling all over to see if anyone knew where you are!"

Kayden's stomach lurched. "I'm sorry, Lexi. I just had a bit of a... meltdown," she lied. "I just need some time to myself."

"Is it my fault?" Lexi's voice was a whimper.

"No!" Kayden said quickly. Blaze eyed her from across the room, an eyebrow raised. She turned away from him and continued, "I just need some Kayden time, that's all. It has nothing to do with you."

"So where are you now?"

"My dad's."

There was a slight pause on the other end, then: "Really? Your mom called him like ten minutes ago and he said you weren't there."

"Er... well, I must not have gotten to his house by then," Kayden said, coming up with an explanation on the spot. "I had to walk."

"In the storm? Kay, are you crazy?"

"I promise you, I'm fine. But yeah, um, can you put my mom on the line? I just need to update her on everything."

"Sure," Lexi said. "And thanks for calling, Kay. You don't know how worried we were."

"I'm sorry for making you guys feel that way," she said guiltily. "But I'm fine, I really am. Now let me talk to Mom. I'll see you later, Lexi."

"All right. Feel better."

In the background, Kayden heard Lexi yell "Aunt Karen! It's Kay!" and then the rumble of footsteps as her mom bounded down the stairs. A moment later, her mom's loud voice was barking in her ear.

"Kayden, where are you? What were you thinking leaving the house in a storm like this?"

"Mom, I'm sorry," she said quickly, "but I was just not feeling like myself. I needed to get away."

"Where are you?"

"At Dad's."

"Well why didn't he tell me that when I called him?" her mom snipped.

Kayden winced at the way she had said he. "Please don't blame Dad. He didn't know I was heading over. I walked here... so when you called, I hadn't arrived yet." The lie felt like acid on her tongue. "But yeah, I'm so sorry for worrying you. I should have called earlier. I just really..." She trailed off.

There was a pause on the other end for a second. "Honey, are you all right?" her mom asked softly. "I mean, you've never just left home like this. I'm worried. Does this have anything to do with your cousin?"

"No," Kayden said firmly, "it's not Lexi's fault. Just... can you give me a few days to myself? Just let me stay at Dad's for a few days, please?"

Her mother hesitated; Kayden knew she didn't like the idea. But a beat passed and her mom said, "All right. If you really think it'll help, stay there for a few days and then come back home. In the meantime, put your father on the line. I need to speak with him."

"Yes Mom. One sec." Kayden removed the phone from her ear and gestured for Blaze. "You're up," she mouthed, handing him the phone.

Blaze took the cell phone from her clumsily and put it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked, and then yanked the phone away. Kayden's mother was screeching at him through the phone, loud enough for the scratchy shouts to hurt his ears. Kayden tried to hide her smile.

Blaze glared at her, but patiently waited for the shouting to die down before attempting to speak again, a bit more apprehensive this time around. Thankfully, the conversation didn't last long. After a few "I'm sorry"s and an "uh huh, will do," he finally clicked the end button and handed the phone back to Kayden.

"We have three days," he said. "She wants you home on Thursday."

"Ugh," Kayden moaned, collapsing back onto his bed. "Three days before she completely spazzes. I doubt we'll have this all sorted out by then."

Suddenly there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Kayden shot up into an upright position. Blaze glanced at her, then called out tentatively, "Father?"

"No, it's Helio, you idiot. Open up."

With an audible sigh of relief, Blaze unlocked the door to his room and Helio strode in. He had changed into dry clothing, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows. "So, what did I miss?"

"We have three days," Blaze said.

"You know this won't get sorted out by then," Helio said, slipping his hand in his pockets.

"Well the message online says the Congregation is working on it—"

"And?" Helio interjected, rolling his eyes. "Since when has the Congregation ever dealt with anything this big?"

"Well maybe they have a—"

"News flash: they're lazy old coots!" Helio said with his fingers splayed. "You think they're the ones figuring stuff out? They have advisors, and interns, and a million other people who do all their little shitty tasks for them. And now they can't even use magic, and everyone knows that that's the reason half of them were elected in the first place."

"Maybe they know something that they're not telling the public?" Kayden suggested. "Can we somehow schedule a meeting with them?"

"They're in Los Angeles right now," Blaze said grimly. "They were only visiting New York for a conference. They headed back to LA when I..." His face turned red. "When the building exploded."

Helio shook his head. "Nice going, Blaze."

"Shut up."

Helio raised his eyebrows. "Don't get mad at me for something you did." He crossed his arms over his chest. "But you know, a trip to California sounds like a good idea. Like a vacation. First you guys can sort out your sexual frustration with some beachside humping, and then you can visit the crazy old coots pretending to run the country! Though I wonder how accommodating they'll be once they realize she's a non-er..."

"What's so wrong with being a non-er?" Kayden asked, feeling a surge of annoyance. "You make it sound like it's some sort of terrible disease."

"Nothing is wrong about being a non-er," Blaze said, his voice weary. "It's just that non-ers aren't supposed to know about us—"

"Oh come on, Blaze!" Helio interrupted with a shake of his head and a flash of white teeth. "'Nothing'? Really? You know that's bull." He looked at Kayden, and she felt her blood rush through her veins as he took a slow step toward her. She was still sitting on the bed, and he towered over her. "Do you know why non-ers aren't supposed to know about us, Kayden?" A simpering smile was on his lips, coy and cringe-worthy. "Because you're powerless. That's what sanpotestas means anyway: without power. You're all just powerless cowards—"

"Helio stop it," Blaze warned. "Your mother is a—"

"So what?" Helio shouted, turning towards him fiercely. "So what if my mother's a non-er, and your mother was a non-er. It doesn't mean anything." He flung his arm at Kayden. "They're all a bunch of nothing—"

Kayden didn't know what came over her. She felt a sudden rush of anger, and in one movement, she stood up, reached out, and grabbed onto Helio's wrist. Her nails dug into his flesh.

Helio gasped in pain and pulled his arm back roughly, but she held on. "Don't you ever raise your hand at me like that," she growled. "Don't you ever do that to anyone."

Helio yanked his arm back and this time succeeded in freeing himself from her grasp. He gripped his wrist, his eyes on fire, and then jammed his hand into his pocket.

Before Kayden could figure out what was going on, Blaze sprang to action. "Helio, no!" he shouted, lunging across the room. Blaze reached for Helio's hand and struggled to free something from his grip. It took a few seconds for Kayden to realize that they were fighting over a piece of chalk.

Kayden stepped back and watched with terror as Blaze wrestled Helio across the room, stumbling through the piles of clothes, tripping and bumping and cursing as they went. Finally, Blaze managed to wrench the chalk from his hand.

"Give it back!" Helio growled.

"No!" Blaze shouted, his own brown eyes dark in disbelief. "What the hell were you thinking? You were going to write an attack rune, weren't you?"

Helio was breathing hard. He didn't say anything.

Both of Blaze's hands were in fists, one of them hiding the piece of chalk he had taken from Helio. "What would you have gained from attacking her? She can't do anything back to you! And magic isn't working right. Do you want to die?"

Helio still didn't say anything, but he was slowly looking less terrifying. The fire in his eyes had dimmed to the glow of embers, and his shoulders heaved with each breath. He couldn't seem to make eye contact with anyone in the room, averting his gaze to a wall.

Blaze took a step towards Kayden, looking inordinately embarrassed, but she couldn't keep her eyes on his face. Instead, she stared at the piece of chalk in his hand. She had never been so frightened of a mundane object. This is why we shouldn't know about them, she thought numbly. There would be fear and chaos and war.

Blaze followed her gaze and, as if he suddenly realized he was holding it, he slipped the chalk into his pocket. He rubbed his hands together, self-consciously trying to scour the chalk dust off his skin. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kayden said, but her stomach was still squirming. She looked at Helio again, but now his back was turned, his shoulders depressed downward.

"I'm sorry." His mutter was barely audible.

Kayden took a deep breath, and then let it go. She wanted to be angry, yet she found she couldn't. It was as if all the anger had bled out. "It's fine," she mumbled back. "I'm sorry about your arm."

"Whatever."

Kayden glanced down at her wrist. Unlike Helio, there were no fingernail marks on her flesh, but her skin was still marred by the Bond symbol. The curves and slashes were highlighted in green, like toxic neon paint eating its way into her skin.

"I think we should do it," she said finally, looking up.

"Do what?" Blaze asked.

"Go to California. Helio's right. If the Congregation is there, we should go."

Blaze stared at her for a moment, as if she were speaking nonsense. "It won't work," he said finally.

"Why not?"

"For a number of reasons," he said. "The Congregation is like the President. You can't just go up to them and expect an audience. And the second issue is my father. He can't find out about this."

"So it's all right for me to get in trouble, but not you?" Kayden asked bitterly.

She watched Blaze clamp his mouth shut with the tiniest hint of satisfaction.

"Besides," she pressed, "how long do you think you can hide me here? Eventually your father's going to find me, and you're going to be in trouble anyway. If we confront the Congregation face-to-face, there's a possibility that we can get this all sorted out without your dad ever knowing."

"I doubt it," Blaze muttered grimly, but Kayden could tell that she had gotten to him when he turned towards Helio and asked, "What do you think? The Congregation did say they were going to hold some meetings. Maybe we could find a way to go?"

Helio shrugged. "If you find a way out there, then you might as well."

"'You'?" Blaze quoted, laughing lightly. "Oh no, Helio. It's 'we.' If we go, you're coming too."

"No way," Helio said, his voice rising.

"It was your idea," Blaze reminded him.

"So? I'm not the one who got tricked by a non-er into casting an illegal spell. And California is the absolute last place I want to go to right now. I already got in a heap of trouble last week!"

"Doing what?"

"None of your business, Blaze!" Helio flushed red.

"If you guys are really that worried about being caught," Kayden piped up, "just come up with a good alibi."

"Well," Helio said, his voice as sharp as a slap, "we all don't have the luxury of divorced parents to blame our problems on. Blaze's mom is dead. And my mom wishes I were."

"Helio!" Blaze said.

"What?" Helio snapped, turning towards him, his hazel eyes like steel. "You know it's true. She sent me here because she's afraid of her own son!" He dropped his voice. "Stupid old hag."

Kayden stared at Helio for a moment; she was surprised that she actually felt something resembling pity towards him. Sure, her parents had issues, but they weren't with her. "What about your dad?" she asked cautiously.

"He's in California right now. He works for the Congregation and follows them wherever they go. He was home for a few days, but flew back to LA yesterday."

Kayden's heart skipped. "You can use him as an excuse! Tell Blaze's father that you're heading off to California to be with your dad!"

"That won't work," Helio said. "First of all, my dad won't let us all just crash his place in Cali, especially you. And secondly, if we lie to Mr. Merg, he'll check with my father to see if it's true." He shook his head. "Screw it. Just forget I ever mentioned going to California. It was just a joke anyway."

"No," Kayden said. "I'm not going be stuck here for the rest of my life. If there's a chance we can see them, we have to go for it." She turned towards Blaze, on the verge of begging. "There has to be someone that can vouch for you while we're gone. Another adult."

Blaze ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I don't have any aunts or uncles, and the only other adults I know are my dad's colleagues and they won't be of any help to us..." He froze. "Hold on."

He turned and grabbed his laptop off his bed, tapping the keys furiously to wake it. After a moment, he grinned, leaning into the screen. "I knew it! One of the meetings they're holding is for educators. I bet some of the teachers from Sir Mallard's are going to be there." He turned toward Helio. "Do you think Celery would take us with him?"

Helio shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't know him that well. I switched into Alpha classes in the middle of that year, remember?"

"But if I get him to vouch for you too, will you go?"

"I..." Helio seemed conflicted. "I don't know."

"Do you have his number?" Kayden asked, brushing Helio's concerns to the side; she didn't care if he came or not.

Blaze shook his head. "I have his email though."

"Well write to him!" Kayden urged, and Blaze immediately began to draft a letter to his old teacher.

As Blaze typed, fingers flying, Kayden pulled out her phone and stared at her reflection again.

This is going to work, she thought. This is going to work.

Her reflection looked back at her with a slight glimmer of hope in its eyes and seemed to say, We'll see.