“We’ll stay here tonight,” Frankie said. “Get rested. And don’t stay up late!”

They’d hobbled into the lobby of Le Canapin hotel in central Paris a bit after sunset, when the sky was the color of port wine and most tourists had already left to enjoy an evening on the town. Every one of the group was worn to the bone, and they looked like a rock band returning from a long tour, sweatshirt hoods pulled up over their heads, and even over their eyes in Ina’s case. Each of them ached physically, save for Safa, but even she walked a bit hunched over, feet dragging. The princess might be invincible to physical harm, but after invoking so much elemental power over the past day her level of mental fatigue had reached a new record.

Here I am, back in Par...

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