If he’d been asked ten minutes ago how he’d react if the Iridescences knocked on the door, Kai would have seen himself flying down and spitting in their eyes, secure in the knowledge that he had Colwyn and his nieces backing him up.  But when it actually happened, it was like running into a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour.  The only reasonable reaction- the only possible reaction- was to fly away and hide in the furthest, darkest corner of the house.

He just couldn’t stop shaking.

It couldn’t be right for them to be in Dovecote Gardens.  Nothing good could come from them being here.

Kai was in a house that contained the Iridescences.  He’d been in a house that contained the Iridescences for most of the last fifteen years, but this time it felt like the end of the whole damn world.  And so much for spitting in their eye- one look at them had been like gazing into the eye of a massive tornado.  Kai couldn’t stop them from whatever they were about to do any more than he could stop the wind from blowing.

But the Iridescences were right here in Dovecote Gardens.  Colwyn wasn’t actually here, and Jeanette didn’t know what she was dealing with.  He had to do something.

He was small, but not too small to light a match, if he could find one.  If he could move.  If he could just stop shaking.

(To be continued)