know it.”
“It’s not invisible,” Tadg said. “It’s a mirror.”
“Abel and Ethel,” Barclay breathed.
“But we don’t have reflections,” Viola pointed out.
“Ethel and Abel lied. Think about it—they’d traveled from the middle of nowhere in the Woods to find a Master. They were probably thrilled when Soren offered! After all, they collect things, don’t they? Just like he collects Beasts,” Tadg said. “In the third exam, Abel barely attacked me before he let me finish the fight. And Ethel waited until it looked convincing to forfeit her match. Do you think she’d have lost to an Elsie otherwise?” He glanced at Barclay. “No offense.”
“Too late,” Barclay muttered.
“Ethel and Abel probably didn’t intend to stay for the final match—they’d planned to leave with Soren,” Tadg said. “Just because we beat them then doesn’t mean we know what Lore they’re really capable of.”
Tadg pressed his hand against the glass, and droplets began to trickle down from his palm. Then a spark swept across the mirror and shattered it. Behind it was a new path deeper into the Woods.
And blocking that path were two figures, side by side.
“We were hoping you wouldn’t notice our trick,” Abel called.
Barclay, Viola, and Tadg walked toward them, Root and Mitzi creeping at their sides. Once they got closer, Barclay saw a wall of mirrors behind the twins, where their Doppelgheists lurked. Barclay had never realized how creepy Abel and Ethel’s Beasts were until this moment, the way they looked so similar to them yet so… wrong.
“We don’t want to fight you,” Ethel warned.
“Then you shouldn’t have helped Soren,” Barclay told her. It was hard to imagine that the two of them were the same friends who had helped him study and shared pitchers of pear cider.
“And you have fish food with you,” Abel said, a smile stretching across his face. “You know, I’ve been wanting a rematch. A real one, this time.”
“I’d be more than happy to give you one,” Tadg growled.
“Careful—there isn’t any water nearby. Your Beast is at a disadvantage.”
They were all at a disadvantage, Barclay realized. Viola’s light would only be reflected off mirrors. His wind wasn’t strong enough to shatter the glass. Tadg might have a better offensive chance with Abel and Ethel’s powers, but without his Beast out of its Mark, he would be the weakest among them.
“I wouldn’t worry about me,” Tadg threw back.
Suddenly several mirrors appeared around them, forming—not a wall—but a circular enclosure. Each of their reflections stretched out endlessly in every direction, as did the Doppelgheists’. As always, Abel and Ethel slipped inside the glass.
Viola, Barclay, and Tadg stood back-to-back. “How do we stop them from jumping out if they’re everywhere?” Viola asked.
“You don’t,” said Tadg. “Whatever you do, don’t let the water touch you.”
Water bubbled up from the grass and seeped across their enclosed circle. Viola and Barclay nervously backed up to the glass.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Ethel told Barclay, directly behind him.
Tadg pressed his palm into the puddle and let out a spark of electricity. One of the mirrors shattered, but it was quickly replaced by another.
“You can’t trap us in the mirrors when there are this many of them,” Abel told him.
“And you’ll electrocute Barclay and Viola if you’re not careful,” Ethel warned.
Tadg’s expression darkened.
One of the puddles beside Barclay rippled from an invisible splash, and he looked at the circle of mirrors to see it was Abel’s Beast advancing toward him. Barclay froze. The last time he’d faced one of their Doppelgheists, he’d run. But now he had nowhere to go, no idea how to fight against something you could only see through its endless reflections.
Root lurched forward and tackled it, and Mitzi pounced on Ethel’s Beast on the other side of the ring. It was very strange to watch them wrestle with something invisible, as though they were thrashing in midair.
“If Root and Mitzi handle the Beasts,” Barclay said lowly to Viola and Tadg, “then we only need to overpower Ethel and Abel.”
“But how?” Viola asked.
As she spoke, Ethel darted across the mirrors. With so many of her reflections surrounding them, it was impossible to guess where she’d emerge.
Then she leaped out behind Viola and tripped her. Viola landed in the puddle, soaking herself. By the time she had gathered herself enough to grab at Ethel, Ethel had already jumped back into her reflection.
Abel darted out from the glass behind Barclay. Barclay whipped around in time for Abel to punch him in the stomach. He doubled over, and Abel fled right back into the mirror.
“We