Blaze stared at the wooden door for a moment in disbelief. He had known telling Russ Naven about the spell would result in some sort of punishment, but he had never expected to be shoved into a supply closet like a used rag.

"That asshole!" Helio shouted, kicking a yellow custodial bucket; it rolled across the floor and splashed dirty water on Lexi's leg.

Lexi barely reacted. Blaze noticed that her eyes were red and her face was puffy, as if she had a mild allergic reaction to something; she clearly hadn't stopped crying all afternoon. "What are they going to do to us?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure," said Blaze, listening to the crackle of the fluorescent light overhead. "We broke the law. He could just release us to our parents, but we've graduated from school already so we could be put on trial. As for you and Kayden... they'll probably wipe your memories." He sat down and leaned his head against the wall. "Though I'm not sure if they'll be able to wipe Kayden's because of the Bond."

"If he can't erase my memories, what'll happen to me?" Kayden asked. Blaze caught the hint of nervousness in her voice and looked up. She was standing, looking slightly ridiculous in the clothes she had borrowed from him. She had rolled the white button-down's sleeves to her elbows and the jeans she wore were much too big; they hung low on her hips, accentuated by the large pockets.

"Blaze," Kayden snapped, and he finally looked at her face. Her green eyes flashed angrily. "What'll happen to me?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I can't think of an instance where they couldn't erase someone's mind. Maybe they'll make some sort of arrangement where they can keep an eye on you, or maybe they'll let you work for the Congregation as some sort of aide."

"But the Congregation is located in Los Angeles."

"At the moment. They change location every five years."

"But what about my family?" Her tone was sharp. "Will they let me be with them?"

Blaze bit his tongue. He didn't know what to say. "It's possible. It just depends on the arrangement they make for you."

"So probably not."

"I..." He knew he wasn't fooling her. "I don't know."

In an instant, all expression left her face, reminding Blaze of a porcelain doll. Lexi took a step towards her cousin and attempted to wrap her in her arms, but Kayden stopped her, forcing her back.

"No," was all she said.

"This is total shit," Helio said, slamming his fist into the wall. "Russ Naven is an asshole. Why couldn't we have just waited for everyone to get out of lunch? If we had asked anyone else on the Congregation, like Lira Fallon or Nicholas Wheeler or even Carsten, I promise you, we wouldn't be in here! This isn't even legal!"

"We just have to wait it out," Blaze said. "Maybe Naven will tell the rest of the Congregation and they'll convince him to let us go. Or maybe if we do have to go through a trial—"

"I'm not going on trial for something I didn't fucking do!" Helio shouted, looking murderous.

"Something you didn't do?" Lexi said suddenly, turning to look at him full on. Her eyes were the clearest they'd been all morning and she pointed a finger at him. "You're the one who told me about magic. That's definitely something you did."

Helio stared at her, and for a terrifying moment, Blaze thought he was going to hit her. Instead, he looked away and mumbled, "It was a mistake." Then he lowered himself to the floor to join Blaze against the wall.

Lexi's lower lip shook. Blaze thought she was going to scream, but she didn't. Instead, she plopped down on the floor beside Helio. He turned to her, opened his mouth to say something, but before he could do anything she had buried her face in his chest. She didn't make a sound, but her shoulders shook. Helio looked down at her with a frown, and tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shove him off.

Kayden was the only one still standing. Her mouth looked tight, as if she was biting the inside of her cheek. Like a wire about to snap. Blaze didn't like it.

Blaze patted the linoleum. "Why don't you sit down?"

"And mope?" Kayden shook her head. "No." She surveyed the cramped room. "We need to get out of here."

"How?" Helio asked. He rubbed Lexi's shoulder as she dried her eyes on his shirt. "We don't know the new unlocking spell, and there's a guard outside."

"Maybe a vent?" Kayden suggested, looking up at the walls. Blaze followed her gaze, but there was nothing there. Just stretches of wallpaper.

"There's no way out besides the door," he said.

"There has to be something," she said desperately.

"Kayden..." Blaze hedged.

She wheeled towards him. Her eyes were dark, like a wild animal, and her hands were balled into fists. "What?" she snapped, but her voice broke mid-syllable. A moment later, her eyes had filled with tears; she slammed them shut and turned away to face the opposite wall.

Blaze started to get up off the ground. "Kayden, I'm sorry..."

"This sucks," she said bluntly. She finally moved to sit on the floor, but as soon as she touched the ground, she winced. "Ouch," she complained. She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small book: A Progressive Book of Magic, the second edition.

Blaze immediately got to his feet. "You still had that?" he exclaimed. "In your pocket the whole time?"

"I forgot about it," she said. "But what does it matter?"

"Matter?" Helio repeated. He opened his mouth, a sharp retort dripping from the tip of his tongue, but he paused when he saw Lexi looking at him. "Kayden," he said slowly, "we could use it to get out of here."

Kayden looked confused. "But Naven took your chalk?"

"There are other ways to write runes," Blaze said. "Chalk is just the most convenient." He had only graduated from Sir Mallard's a few months ago, but his memory was already growing hazy. He knew they had spent a few weeks in 10AS learning about alternative spell writing techniques, but he couldn't remember it that well.

"Blood," Helio listed off, counting on his fingers. Blaze turned to him; he had nearly forgotten how well Helio had done in school. "And people a long time ago used tree branches and leaves."

"And they traced marks in dirt," Blaze said, suddenly remembering one.

"None of that's in here, though," Kayden said, standing up. She walked over to the metal shelf and gestured towards it like Vanna White. "This is all we have."

"Toilet paper and paper towels won't work," Helio said grimly. "Anything else?"

"What about water?" Lexi asked. Her eyes had fallen onto the smeared puddle. "It's all over the floor and there's a ton in that janitor's bucket."

"Water's difficult," Helio said slowly. "But it could work."

"It's the best we can do right now unless we feel like opening a vein," Blaze said, grabbing the large yellow bucket. It rolled easily along little wheels on its bottom. "Now we need a spell."

He took the book from Kayden, skipped past the long foreword, and immediately started rifling through the pages. To his surprise and relief, under each of the Latin titles were English translations. Apparently Voyle had upped the ante with the second edition.

"A transport spell?" Helio suggested.

Blaze shook his head. "No way. Those things take hours, and that was with chalk."

"I'm just trying to be helpful," Helio grumbled, standing up to look over his shoulder. He pointed to a page. "What about this?"

Blaze read the heading. "A transparency spell? How's that going to help?"

Helio looked visibly frustrated. "Transparency spells work by separating molecules."

Blaze's eyes widened. "So you can pass through things!"

Kayden shook her head. "That's sounds dangerous. What if we can't reassemble our molecules afterwards?"

"We don't have to make ourselves transparent," Helio said. "We can make the wall transparent, pass into the next room, and walk out through another door."

"Is it safe?" Lexi asked.

"Magic has shifted; nothing is entirely safe. But it's the best bet out of here," Blaze said. He scoured the rune diagram in the book. "There's no potion component, and the rune is fairly simple. It shouldn't take too long to draw. But if we're using water, we're going to need a perfectly dry floor to start off with."

"Don't worry," Kayden said, plucking a roll of paper towels off the shelf and tossing it at him. "I'm pretty sure we have that covered."