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I reached the bottom step and Nellith stood there. She didn’t even turn, instead grabbed at my middle as I tried to squeeze past. I squirmed and caught sight of little Dyota.

Her face broke into a grin. “Iddy!”

But father held her back as well.

“I’m taking Dyota,” Father said. “She can’t survive here.”

I stared up at Nellith, tears brimming in her eyes. My bottom lip trembled as understanding washed over me. I was about to lose my sister.

“I won’t come back,” he said. “This is the only way.”

Dyota looked between us all; she was on the verge of tears as well. I struggled more in Nellith’s grasp, eager to pull Dyota into my arms and let her cry.

Like paper burning in a fire, Idonea’s vision crumpled up on itself. The world under her feet shifted. At once, it was black and spat her back out.

A voice in the void whispered, “Deeper.”

She cried in agony and collapsed in on herself.

The front door opened. I sat next to Nellith in the sanctum. I didn’t jump up or move, not wanting to interrupt whatever Nellith was doing, yet my eyes kept darting over to the door.

My hands couldn’t stay still, and Dyota and father’s voices carried through the closed door. Nellith’s eyes snapped open, and she looked down at me.

“You can go,” she said, and waved her hand at me.

I grinned and scrambled up from the cushion. They were no longer downstairs. I raced down the hallway and found them both in Dyota’s room.

Her face lit up when she spotted me. “Iddy.” She held her arms open and waited. I stooped and pulled her into a big, smooshy hug, just how she liked them. She giggled in delight.

“Daddy is taking us on an adventure,” Dyota said.

That’s when I noticed him packing clothes away into a trunk.

“Nellith didn’t mention it,” I said and blinked up at him.

He stopped packing and looked down at me. “That’s because she’s not coming.”

My bottom lip stuck out. “Then we can’t go.”

Dyota tugged at my dress. “But he said it’d be fun.”

Footsteps moved along on the floorboards and Nellith stood in the doorway.

I pointed a finger at Alcaeus. “He said he’s taking us somewhere and you can’t go.”

Nellith raised an eyebrow. “Come here, Idonea.”

She stretched out her long fingers to me and I went straight to her. Her hand rested on my shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going, Alcaeus?” she asked.

He continued to pack the trunk with Dyota’s belongings. “Away from you. These girls aren’t safe with you. I know that now.”

“And you’d think I’d let you?”

“He won’t take us away?” I said, “Will he?”

Nellith shook her head. “He wouldn’t dare.”