Witches were already milling about attending them, and the rest of us assisted wherever we could. The state of these men was truly appalling. I wondered what on earth had happened to them, what they’d actually found on that ship. But I didn’t want to distract anyone by asking questions at a time like this. Once we felt we’d done all we could for the humans, at least until we returned to our island, Grace, Arwen, Brock, Heath and I retreated to a corner.

“What happened to these men?” I asked.

“Ogres,” Grace said grimly.

“Now, dead ogres,” Brock added, retrieving a tissue from his pocket and wiping his singed forehead.

“We got caught in the blaze,” Arwen explained, as she caught me observing his skin—and now I realized her skin was singed too. Her skin tone just made it harder to notice. “If we weren’t witches,” she said, “we would have been burned alive along with the rest.”

I shuddered at the thought.

Then Uncle Derek steamed into the room, along with Ben and my father and mother—all of them looking disturbed and angry as they looked around at the humans.

I went to my parents. “What now?” I asked them.

It was Derek who answered: “We return to The Shade.”

Grace

The journey home passed quickly. Although the witches said we could go, the five of us decided to stay with the injured. We went around offering them water and cold cloths and in general assisted in trying to keep them alive at least until we reached the island, where we could offer them full-fledged medical assistance.

When we reached the Port, we escorted them straight to The Shade’s hospital. A sleek, steel building with many large windows, it had been constructed amid the flower-filled meadows about seven years ago. Meadow Hospital, it had been christened. It had state-of-the-art equipment afforded to us by the government due to the service that we were performing. It was here that all aspiring members of the League came to train in first aid.

Once all the men had been given beds, Victoria, Arwen, Brock, Heath and I continued to assist for several hours until the adults dismissed us. Many of the men were in such a bad state that they were predicted to pass away during the next twelve hours, even with the witches’ assistance, but those who survived and got better would be taken to the Hawaiian government, who would return them to their homes.

We paid a visit to the bathrooms to disinfect our hands and any other skin that had been exposed, and then left through the sliding glass exit. As we emerged in the meadow of sunflowers outside, all five of us were quiet. Contemplative.

We reached the other side of the field and took to the forest path that would lead to the Sanctuary and then further to the Residences.

Passing by her home, Arwen stopped and let out a yawn. “I’m so tired,” she said, her eyelids drooping. She flung herself at Brock, pressing a heated kiss against his lips, before hugging the rest of us. “I’ll catch you around.” With that, she disappeared through her front door.

Brock took this as his cue to leave, too. He vanished himself back to the treehouse he shared with his parents in the Residences, leaving Victoria, Heath and me alone.

I wasn’t used to such early mornings, and yesterday—a Friday—had been busy. First of all there had been school, and then I’d had a lot of homework to catch up on in the evening, so I’d gotten to bed late as it was. I should have been exhausted now, but I felt… strangely invigorated. I guessed, as disastrously wrong as our mission had gone, I was still buzzing from the experience.

The three of us ambled along the path together and decided that, since it was a beautiful day beyond the spell of permanent night that enshrouded us, we ought to head to Sun Beach. We could relax a bit, take time to catch our breath, and then later maybe even take a nap.

As we neared, I could tell from the noise drifting through the trees that it was packed. It always was on Saturdays. When we stepped onto the beautiful golden beach, this idyllic normalcy was bizarre to behold after what we had just been through. Wandering around our island, observing how happily and peacefully we lived, one would never guess in a million years the state of the world surrounding us.

“Hey! Guys!” my fifteen-year-old cousin Hazel yelled to us. She was standing in the ocean, submerged to her waist in the waves, and wearing a bright yellow bikini. Her wet brown hair scattered as she came rushing over to us. “You’re back already! My parents too?” she panted.

“Yes,” I said, giving her a hug.

We soon found ourselves crowded by a whole group of our school friends. We sat down in a circle and told them everything that had happened.

“I can’t believe those people!” Ruby exclaimed. “What if they interrupt another mission?”

We continued describing our mission for about an hour until we’d said all there was to say.

Then my twelve-year-old cousin Benedict plopped himself down between me and Heath, whom I’d been secretly enjoying sitting so close to. Benedict placed an arm around each of us. “And did you two get the chance to work together?” he asked, moving his dark brows in a stupid wiggle.

A familiar warmth rushed to my cheeks as Heath’s breathtaking navy eyes met mine.

“No, we didn’t get the chance,” I said, clearing my throat and making a concerted effort to keep my voice cool and collected… even as I gripped Benedict’s hand—perhaps a little too hard—and shoved it away from my shoulder.

Benedict had somehow found out that I had a crush on Heath, and, of course, being a twelve-year-old, he took every opportunity to remind me of this fact.