breathed.

The Major said, “You were really convincing when you had that needle pressed against me asking where your friends were. And here you knew all along.”

Safa steered the boat out into the lake, pushing it along with currents created by her magic intonations. Paz and Barry enjoyed the scenery, a cool breeze rustling the collar of Paz’s jacket.

“If either of us had hair, it’d be blowing right now,” Paz said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Barry chuckled.

They skimmed to the southeastern end of Merriam Cone, the only other island that poked out from Crater Lake’s placid surface, and less than a twentieth the area of Wizard Island. The hull coasted to a halt over indigo waters.

“So that goes almost tw...

Please subscribe to keep reading.