“Strange . . .” she murmured. “I feel like something just locked into place.”

“Those rings bind the spells to you now,” said Maude. “Take them off, and your original appearances will return. Otherwise, they should last for about a week.”

“That’s your real deadline,” added Inez. “You can probably hide when your strength’s gone. But when your face comes back, the jig is up. Then you really will have to rely on your smarts to explain that away.”

Her voice was as sarcastic and crotchety as always, but underneath, I could tell she was worn out. A quick aura check proved as much. The magic they’d just performed here had been substantial, and it was only part of what had been started earlier today with the help of other witches. Sydney turned to Maude and Inez.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Really. This means so much to me and—”

“No need to gush,” interrupted Inez. “We know you’re grateful. And you should be. But now you need to prove it and go clean up Alicia’s mess. Save your friend.”

Sydney straightened up. “I will, ma’am.”

The witches gave a few more last-minute instructions, both for Sydney and for me since I’d be joining them later to release Alicia, and then went on their way. Eddie and Sydney made a beeline for a mirror and exclaimed in amazement at their change in appearance. They had previously been mistaken for siblings, and now they just looked like a different set of siblings. They had the same blue eyes, and Maude had done a neat job of making them look pleasantly average. Hopefully it would ensure no one gave them a second glance.

I’d just finished helping them dye their hair “Burnished Chestnut”—a shade that was dark brown with a faint red cast—when Sabrina showed up. Her normally cocky persona faltered a bit as she took them in. She’d grown used to a number of weird realities, but human magic wasn’t something she’d had a lot of experience with.

“Incredible,” she murmured, looking back and forth between their faces. “I’d never think it was you. You could walk right past the Alchemists now.”

Marcus, watching with amusement, crossed his arms and leaned back into Howie’s overstuffed sofa. “Maybe your friends can hook me up with that spell once in a while. Going incognito would be pretty handy.”

“I’ll let them know,” Sydney said. To Sabrina, she held up the hand wearing the silver ring. “Are there any rules about jewelry? Will they let us wear these in?”

“They should,” she said. “They’ll search for weapons or anything else they think is suspicious. Cell phones too—they don’t want any way for people to track you. You’ll go blindfolded when I take you in.”

“Sounds a lot like when I went to their arena,” Sydney remarked. She took off her engagement and wedding rings and walked over to me. “I don’t want anything to happen to these while I’m there.”

I clasped both of her hands in mine. “It’s not the rings I’m worried about.”

A faint smile crossed her lips, and even though the face was different, there was a feel to that smile that was uniquely Sydney. “I’ll be fine . . . but I want you to hold on to these for me until I get back.”

“Deal,” I said in a low voice that only she could hear, “but I get to put them back on you.”

“Okay,” she said.

“On my knees,” I added.

“Okay.”

“And we both have to be nake—”

“Adrian,” she said warningly.

“We’ll discuss the terms later,” I said with a wink. But I felt a pang in my heart as I squeezed the rings and let go of her hands, hating the danger she was about to walk into. Her appearance might be different, but her aura shone to me like no one else’s—so brave, despite the dangers ahead. I wanted so badly to go with her but knew there was nothing I could do there. My biggest help would be with Alicia when the witches unfroze her.

“We should grab something to eat and then hit the road,” Sabrina said.

“Hope you like Oreos and cheese puffs,” Eddie told her.

We ate a bizarre meal of junk food while Sabrina elaborated on a few more things for us. “We’re going to Calexico, down by the border,” she said. “But you’re not supposed to know that. We have to keep up appearances. Once we go in, we’ll probably be separated, but I’ll be around. They’ll also let me keep my phone, so I can send messages to Marcus.”

“And you’ll then update me, right?” I said.

Marcus gave me a tight smile. “Right. Don’t worry. Sabrina will look after them.”

It was a hollow reassurance, since we all knew things could go very, very badly at the Warriors’ place and that Sabrina would probably be able to do very little. In her usual way, Sydney was more concerned about me as they were leaving. “Be careful, Adrian. I want to find Jill too but not at the cost of losing you.”

“It’ll be remedial compulsion,” I assured her. “You’re the one walking into a hornet’s nest.”

“This is what we do,” she said simply. “You have your job. I have mine.” She stood on her tiptoes to give me a light kiss on the cheek. No way was I settling for that. With a quick maneuver, I swept her into my arms and gave her a long, deep kiss goodbye, not caring about the witnesses. When she finally pulled back, that new face was blushing in a very Sydney way, but she stayed in my arms.