It was well within an angel's nature to judge, but I did my best to listen.

“There’s a train,” Hamilton said, voice low. “Invisible to anyone without magic. I’ve been able to ride it ever since I built my object.”

He shifted his feet unable to find a comfortable stance while the floor was so yielding.Somewhere in the library, water dripped steadily—an echo of past flooding. The air smelled of mildew and old paper, and the carpet squished faintly underfoot.

“First time I boarded, I got lost,” he continued. “The train moves between planes—worlds, even time. I was gone for nearly two years before I found my way back.”

His eyes closed, but not in peace. His brow furrowed, lips curled in a grimace. Maybe it was the stench, or maybe the memory itself.

“I nearly died more times than I can count,” he said. “But I figured it out. Learned how to use the system. I got bold. Confident. Went places I shouldn’t have.”

The silence that followed was heavy. I waited.

“Those places…” he said finally, “they were like dreams. Impossible to describe. But while I was out there, my family was falling apart here.”

He glanced at the warped shelves around us, then back at me.

“Tristan’s magic helped—for a while. I used it to travel, to protect myself.”

Protect himself from what? Humans had the least magic, yet somehow always found enemies in titans and beasts.

“I tried to use it to save my mother,” he said. “What son wouldn’t? But I learned quick—every good deed has a cost.”

He rubbed his hands together, knuckles pale.

“I tried to stop her illness. But the spell transferred it to my sister. She nearly died. When I reversed it, the sickness came back to my mother—twice as strong.”

His voice cracked. “Now I watch over my sister. I try to. I tried to. But we haven’t been the same since Mom passed.”

He looked down at the floor, where mold crept along the baseboards.

“I wanted to fix things. To find some kind of light. But there was nothing—until Evlan saw me.”

He smiled faintly. “She saw magic. My magic. I thought she’d hate me for letting our mother die. But she’s just a girl. Magic lit something in her. Gave us joy again.”

He leaned back against a wall, eyes distant. “Flying. Summoning snow. I even gave her the abilities. It was all harmless fun.”

Then his expression darkened.

“Until I showed her the train.”

The dripping grew louder. Or maybe the silence did.

“She didn’t have an object. No magic. I got her on board easily enough… but I couldn’t get her off.”

He swallowed hard, as if something were blocking the way in his throat.

“She’s been gone a week. I don’t know where the train took her. And without magic, I can’t reach her.”

My mother would’ve called him reckless. I might’ve agreed. But something in his voice made me hesitate.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“With Tristan’s magic,” Hamilton said, “I could summon her. Pull her to me in an instant. But if she’s too far… I may need to send someone in her place.”

He looked at me, eyes hollow.

“It’s happened before. I flew—and another man sank into the ground. I summoned clear skies—and half a city flooded.”

He held out his watch. “If you give me your magic, Black Angel… maybe there won’t be a trade.”

I reached for the watch. As he handed it over, his shoulders rose—hope, or fear, I couldn’t tell.

“We’ll help you find your sister,” I said.

If the state of his library was any indication, Hamilton was already drowning in regret.

“What?” Tristan snapped, yanking me back.

“We have to help him,” I said. “The Train of Sible isn’t meant for a kid.”

“It’s not our problem.”

“But we—”

I didn’t finish. In the heat of it, I’d forgotten Hamilton’s object was still in my hand.

Before either of us could speak again, the stone watch began to vibrate—violently. I dropped it instinctively.

“Trisal?” I said, but the word barely left my mouth before the watch exploded.

A wave of energy tore through the room. Bookcases were flung like matchsticks. Chairs punched through walls. I was hurled backward, crashing through a window.

I knew I’d survive the fall—but survival didn’t mean painless.

Thankfully, Tristan was faster than gravity. His wings burst from his back—white and leathery, like an albino bat—and he shot downward, catching my hand just before I hit the pavement.

“Never hold an object too long,” he muttered as we ascended. “Too much charge, and this happens.”

Back on the third floor, Tristan had to quickly use an obscene amount of magic to keep anyone outside from noticing the explosion that occurred. He stood at the hole in the wall and exhaled a thick cloud of fog that rolled over the street below. It clung to the air for a moment, then vanished. Anyone who breathed it in forgot the last few moments entirely. But the spell drained him too much to fix the building afterward.

Inside, the damage was catastrophic. Hamilton lay unconscious against a wall, breathing but unmoving. His watch was gone—reduced to dust, drifting out through the hole in the wall.

“We have to help him,” I said, stepping onto solid ground.

“Hamilton’s problems aren’t ours,” Tristan replied. “He’s Tarlac’s student. Not our friend.”

“Friend or not, don’t you care?”

“It’s not about care, Aaron.” Tristan’s voice was flat. “In the Underlands, we have a saying: ‘Never rob a man of the opportunity to suffer.’ Hamilton made this mess. He can clean it up.”

“Maybe he could have,” I said, “but now?”

Tristan folded his wings back into himself, avoiding my gaze. I pulled shards of glass from my skin. The wounds closed slowly—slower than they would in the Overlands. Without my halo, I couldn’t accelerate the healing or dull the pain that lingered after the marks were gone.

He looked at me again, sighed, and said, “I was going to take you for pizza. One of Earth’s greatest wonders. It's worth three children, maybe even a baby.”

“We can help him,” I said, ignoring what I hopped was a joke. “I want to save the girl.”

“Noble,” he muttered. “Like an angel.” He kicked a chair out the broken window and it clattered against the pavement below. Then, with a reluctant breath, Tristan said, “Fine. But this is a one-time thing. And Hamilton will pay for every minute of it.”