The taxi ride back to Le Lieu was extremely uncomfortable.

Kayden, Blaze, and Lexi were shoved in the backseat this time; they had forced Helio up front next to the driver, hoping that separating him from Lexi would make things easier. But tension hung in the air like plumes of black, suffocating smog. The taxi driver seemed relieved when they all got out and filed into Le Lieu.

However, it was a wonder they could get inside at all; the front lobby was packed. Men in black suits were grinning and chatting with one another, filling in every possible open space.

"The meeting can't be over already," Blaze said, reaching into his pocket for the flier Lira Fallon had passed out the day before and accidentally elbowing an elderly man in a top hat. "The education meeting isn't supposed to end for another hour."

"Do you see Helio?" Lexi asked, standing on tiptoe and whipping her head back and forth. Her hair kept slapping Kayden's face, blinding her periodically.

"Lexi, can you please knock it off?" Kayden bit. She scanned the crowd as well, but not for Helio. "Celery!" she cried out when she spotted him, and the teacher's head snapped up. A moment later, he had woven his way next to them.

"Hello," he greeted, his face surprisingly chipper. He looked around for a moment. "Where's Helio?"

"Lost in the crowd. We'll find him later," Blaze said. A man trying to get out through the exit bumped into him roughly, and he winced.

"Want to talk outside?" Celery suggested, pointing towards the doors. "Not as bumpy."

"Actually, we wanted to go to the meeting," Kayden said. "But by the looks of things, I guess it's already over...?"

"Yes," Celery said grinning. "But with good news. Sir Mallard's, as well as all the other schools throughout, are to be reopened in just a few weeks!"

"Really?" Blaze asked, shocked. "How can they do that when magic is all screwed up? What about safety? What if something happens to someone else, like it did to Carlos?"

"It won't," Celery reassured. "Because after the meeting yesterday, someone reached out to the Congregation and showed them a spell book with working spells. No glitches whatsoever."

Kayden felt her heart sink. Blaze's eyes were hard as he looked at his teacher. "You mean A Progressive Book of Magic?"

Celery's eyes widened. "You've heard of it?" Then his face lit up in recognition. "I remember that book! That was the one you used back in my class! Well, apparently there's a second edition out. The Congregation and a whole team of spellcheckers are reviewing the spells thoroughly to make sure they're safe, but all the ones they've checked so far are working fine."

"We stopped by the publishing house today," Lexi said.

"Did you buy a copy?" Celery asked. "Apparently Walter Voyle is offering a discount to all the schools that need books."

"Celery," Kayden said, "if everyone switches over to the new book, they won't be able to undo our Bonding Oath."

"There should be a counter spell in the new book—"

"It won't work," said Blaze. His voice was solid. "Walter Voyle said so himself. Any spells cast before the shift can't be undone."

Celery hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head. "I'm sure the Congregation will address all of that once they've finished the book review. They're good people; they won't press on prematurely." When Blaze's expression didn't change, he tried a smile. "Try not to worry about it. Things are looking up right now. Besides, it's just a glowing symbol. Be thankful it isn't anything worse."

But it is worse, Kayden thought. I can't go home. I can't see my parents. I can't even be more than a few feet away from Blaze without feeling like crap

"We're still talking to the Congregation," Blaze said firmly. "I want to make sure they know that the book isn't the answer to all our problems."

"You won't be able to get a private audience with them—"

"They'll have no choice." Blaze gripped Kayden's wrist and started pulling her through the crowd towards the ballroom, leaving Celery to stare after them in shock.

While the lobby was packed, the ballroom was fairly empty with just a few wizards chatting in sparse groups. Helio stood right in the center of the room, his arms crossed over his chest. He was glaring at Blaze and Kayden impatiently—and he actively refused to make eye contact with Lexi.

"The Congregation already left," he said, gesturing towards the table at the end of the room. "Lunch break before the next meeting."

Kayden followed his gesture but was surprised to see that the table was not in fact empty. "No, there's one left." A man with short grey hair was gathering the leftover papers, putting them in a neat stack.

Helio frowned. "Russ Naven?"

Kayden's stomach dropped as the name struck a chord. You do not want to get on his bad side. Trust me.

Blaze didn't seem too happy about it either, but with a deep breath, he started walking towards the table.

Suddenly Helio grabbed him shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Blaze," he said in a low voice, "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Russ Naven is not reasonable. And..." Helio hesitated. "I don't want to get near him."

Blaze groaned. "Come on, Helio. Now isn't the time to be afraid of a politician."

Helio's eyes flashed angrily. "I'm not afraid of him—"

"Then I don't know what the big deal is." Blaze shook him off and kept walking.

Helio groaned. When he caught Kayden looking at him, he rolled his eyes. "Go on. Follow him. This was your idea after all."

"I'm going, I'm going," she mumbled, looking away and following Blaze across the ballroom. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Lexi was just a few steps behind her while Helio reluctantly covered the rear.

"Mr. Naven!" Blaze called as they approached the table.

Russ Naven looked up from the papers he was gathering. "Yes?" he asked. Up close, he looked to be the same age as Kayden's father. He had plain brown eyes, neatly cropped grey hair, and a no-nonsense voice. "The glamour meeting doesn't start for another hour."

"We're not here about the meeting," Blaze said. Kayden could see the color draining from his face, but his voice was steady. "We wanted to talk to you about A Progressive Book of Magic. We don't think you should be recommending it."

"I understand your concern, but it's the soundest solution at this moment," Mr. Naven said. "We have scientists reviewing the book for safety, and so far, everything has panned out. We will be meeting with Mr. Voyle later tonight, and if everything goes as planned, the book will be widely available in a few short weeks."

"But isn't there a way to shift magic back?" Blaze hopefully. "That way we can keep the old books. You're the Congregation—"

"And we don't have time to try to fix a problem that already has a solution," he interrupted. "It would be nearly impossible to shift magic back to the way it was, and there are no benefits of doing so when this new book has a good number of rewritten spells for us to employ. If you're worried about the few spells he hasn't yet translated, we plan on investing in his work and assigning our best spell writers to help him re-write the remaining spells in the upcoming months."

Blaze took a deep breath and looked at Kayden. She could read his expression easily: He's not getting it. Which meant there was only one option left. She took a breath and pulled back her sleeve. Blaze did the same, revealing his wrist marked with the familiar symbol.

Mr. Naven frowned, touching Blaze's glowing skin with his forefinger. "Bond," he read. He sighed, visibly annoyed. "The book will be mass-produced soon enough; you'll most likely be able to get your hands on a copy in a few weeks. Then you can cast an unbinding spell."

"It won't work," Blaze said. "We spoke with Mr. Voyle this morning. New spells from the book won't work on spells cast before the shift."

"Well you should have been more careful then, instead of using magic like a toy," he said bluntly. "Now excuse me, I must—"

"Wait!" Kayden interrupted this time. She pushed back a piece of her hair, her stomach squirming. She felt like she was going to throw up. "I'm a non-er," she finally spit out.

Russ Naven's eyes widened and a silence settled over the ballroom. Kayden suddenly realized that everyone else in the room had left. They were alone with Naven and a few of his security guards.

"A non-er?" Naven breathed. "You mean a sanspotestas?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"How old are you?" he demanded.

"Sixteen."

"And you know about us from...?"

"Me," Blaze admitted. When Mr. Naven stared at him in shock, Blaze hastily tried to explain. "The Bonding Oath was a compromise. She found my father's spell book, and I got it back in exchange for letting her keep her memories. Then when magic shifted, something happened and the spell bound us together."

Mr. Naven didn't say anything for a few moments. His mouth flattened into a thin line. "What is your name, boy?"

"Blaze Merg."

"Merg? As in Silas Merg's son? You're the one who ruined that building in New York, am I correct?"

"I didn't mean to—"

"This is unacceptable," Naven growled. "You do realize that you have broken several laws in performing that Bonding Oath, Mr. Merg?"

"Yes, I do," Blaze admitted.

Naven's eyes fell onto Lexi. "And you. Are you a non-er too?"

Lexi's seemed startled. "Y-Yes," she stammered. "I guess so."

He looked at Helio as well, appraising him darkly without saying anything, and then looked back at the group. "You four must be dealt with as soon as possible."

Dealt with? Kayden thought.

"Wait, four?" Helio repeated in shock.

"You're an accessory to all of this, Mr. Ruke," Mr. Naven said. "And so you'll have to face justice as well." He gestured impatiently and two tall men dressed in black came forward: his security guards. "We have to put them somewhere for the time being," he told them. "Keep them out of trouble for a few days before we can deal with them."

"Days?" Kayden asked as one of the men firmly gripped her arm.

"Don't struggle," the man said. His biceps bulged as he applied some pressure to her arm and grabbed onto Blaze. The other man latched onto Lexi and Helio. Lexi started to shake, suppressing her sobs with her hand. Helio, on the other hand, was livid. He didn't physically struggle, but he began shouting at the men, colorful language punctuating the relative quiet of the ballroom. He even called out Celery's name, hoping that the teacher could hear them from the front lobby, but they had no such luck.

They were led out a side door, down a narrow hallway, and were stopped in front of a door labeled "Supply Closet." Mr. Naven tried the knob: locked. But it didn't faze him. He pulled a brand new copy of A Progressive Book of Magic from the lining of his suit along with a fresh piece of white chalk.

"How can you do this?" Helio shouted. "When my father finds out—"

"Quit yelling or you'll be in even deeper trouble," Naven said, his voice cold. Kayden watched as the guard applied a bit more pressure to Helio's shoulder. He winced and shut up.

Russ Naven drew a rune on the door quickly, copying the symbol from a page in the book. Kayden watched as Blaze leaned forward, trying to memorize the new opening rune, but Naven neatly stepped in front of the mark, blocking his view. A moment later, after a quick "Aknah," the door unlatched with a click and swung open.

Naven flicked on the light inside the supply closet. It lit the room in an ugly orange cast, highlighting a metal shelf stocked high with toilet paper and paper towels, along with a bucket with a mop.

"Put the non-ers in there," Naven said, "and check the other two."

The security guards shoved Lexi and Kayden into room. Lexi slid on a puddle of mop water, stumbled into Kayden, and accidentally jabbed her elbow into her stomach. Kayden groaned as air rushed out of her lungs.

Next the two guards patted Blaze and Helio down. Spare pieces of chalk, pens, and paper were removed from their pockets, and they too were shoved into the room like livestock.

"Zeke will keep watch over this door to make sure you behave," Russ Naven said, pointing to the guard who had steered Blaze and Kayden down the hall. "I'll have some meals sent to you every few hours and Mr. Merg and Mr. Ruke will be notified about this incident."

"Mr. Naven, please," Blaze begged. "We didn't mean for all of this to happen! We just wanted some help with the mark—"

"You should have thought of that before you cast that spell," Mr. Naven said harshly. And then, with a dark glare, he shut the door in their faces.