“That’s my sister!” Cricket whispered to Blue, keeping her eye pressed to the hole. “What is she doing here? Why is she sneaking in instead of letting our mother know she’s here? And who is she with?”

The other dragon was a lot bigger than Katydid, but it was hard to see many details through the tiny spyhole and from such a height. The dragon’s scales that Cricket could see were yellow, with black stripes on the wings, but that didn’t narrow it down very much.

Katydid got the door open and turned back to look at her partner. The other dragon said something, and then they split up. Mystery dragon went to the corner of the avenue where Cadelle had gone, presumably to keep watch. Katydid slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

“I have to talk to her,” Cricket said, standing up.

“What?” Swordtail cried. “That’s a terrible idea! Sundew, tell her that’s a terrible idea.”

“She could turn into Queen Wasp at any moment,” Sundew pointed out.

“Exactly,” Swordtail agreed. “You heard the boss.”

“But as long as she’s herself, I know she’s the one HiveWing I can trust,” Cricket said. “And I need to make sure she’s all right. I never said good-bye.” Her breath caught in her throat and she had to struggle for the next words. “Or … explained or told her I was going or anything. And now she’s here, right where I can talk to her. I just have to.”

“Of course you should,” Blue said. She could hear a thread of guilt in his voice. She knew he was thinking about how she had left her sister behind forever because she’d been helping him. He didn’t have to feel bad about that; it had been her choice. But she didn’t have time to reassure him — she had to hurry before Katydid slipped through her claws.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, flying up to the hatch.

“If you can,” Swordtail said glumly. “If she doesn’t lose her mind and go all white-eyed and take you to the queen.”

“Well,” Cricket said, shooting Sundew a grin as a beam of light lit the LeafWing’s concerned face. “Get some vicious caterpillars ready for me.”

She hopped out onto the roof and as she pulled the hatch shut, she heard Sundew’s voice saying, “They’re CENTIPEDES; what is WRONG with you dragons?”

Cricket peeked over the edge at the dragon standing guard. Whoever it was did seem kind of familiar. But she couldn’t risk them trying to stop her — or deciding to turn her in.

She spread her wings and floated quietly, quietly down to the highest balcony of her mother’s house. The door here was also locked — Cadelle was very careful — but the balcony led to the least welcoming guest room of all time, where Katydid and Cricket had slept on their visits. The sisters had fiddled with the latch until it was just broken enough not to be noticed, so they could get in and out secretly if they needed to.

Cricket slid her claw under the latch and wiggled it up. The doors swung open toward her and she quickly hopped inside and pulled them shut again.

Across the room, Katydid whirled around, clutching a stack of papers to her chest. Her face made Cricket feel as if a thousand butterflies had just burst into the sky at once.

“Katydid!” Cricket leaped over the thin sleep pallets and threw her wings around her sister.

“No way,” Katydid breathed. “Cricket? This can’t be real.” She took Cricket’s shoulders and held her out to study her face. “By the Hives, it’s really you. Are you all right?”

“I am,” Cricket said. “I’m so sorry, Katydid. I know you must have been so worried. Are you all right? What are you doing here?”

“Your face is on posters in every Hive!” her sister cried. “They’re saying you tried to steal the Book of Clearsight! And that you’re running around with a pair of SilkWings! Cricket, you have to turn yourself in and tell them it’s all lies. I’m sure if we explain —”

“But it’s not all lies,” Cricket interrupted her. “Katydid, we did steal the Book of Clearsight. The lie is everything Queen Wasp has ever said about it. Nothing she’s told us is true.”

Katydid sat down suddenly, as though her legs had turned to sand. “Oh, Cricket. Why?”

“I don’t know, to keep power, maybe? To make sure no one ever questioned her?”

“No — why did you steal the Book? What were you thinking?”

Cricket was thrown. “That’s not the important part, Katydid. I was trying to help someone. But didn’t you hear what I said? It’s all lies — everything Wasp said about the Tree Wars, about the SilkWings joining our tribe, all of it!”

“I’m sure she had her reasons!” Katydid said. “But you’re in so much trouble now, Cricket! I don’t know how to help. I don’t know how to fix it!” She pulled Cricket into another hug and Cricket felt how cold her sister’s scales were.

“You don’t have to fix it,” Cricket said, holding her tight. “I just came to tell you I’m all right — and to make sure you are, too. Who’s that dragon outside? Why are you here instead of Cicada Hive?” She glanced around the small, bare room as Katydid leaned back. “And what are you doing in Mom’s house?”

“I came to get these,” Katydid said. She picked up the pile of papers she’d dropped, and Cricket realized it was drawings of her — drawings her sister had done on their last visit, of Cricket sleeping, laughing, rolling her eyes. Katydid was a good artist; they really looked like Cricket. Much more than the Wanted posters did.

“As far as we know, no one has told the queen who you are yet,” Katydid said. “Maybe they haven’t recognized you, or maybe they’re afraid to admit they know you. I don’t know why Mother hasn’t, but I was worried that the queen would see these drawings through her eyes and realize she must know you.”

“But if you take them,” Cricket said, “then isn’t it possible she’ll see them through your eyes?”

“I’m going to destroy them,” Katydid said with a sigh. “The queen has been mind-hopping all over the Hives, looking for clues about you. I’m afraid she must have figured out she can’t get into your head.”

“She has,” Cricket said sadly. “I’m sorry, Katydid. I tried to be so careful. But she was inside the Librarian — did you know that? She’s ALWAYS inside the Librarian. As soon as a dragon becomes the Librarian and joins the Temple of Clearsight, Queen Wasp takes over and never lets her control her own body ever again. Can you imagine how horrible that would be?”

“But everyone wants to be the Librarian,” Katydid pointed out. “It’s such an important position.”

“Only because everyone doesn’t know about this!” Cricket cried. “If they knew it meant giving up your free will forever, would anyone sign up for that?”

“I think you’re exaggerating a little,” Katydid said. She started gathering all the drawings. “Let’s talk about this somewhere safer.”

Why isn’t she listening to me? Cricket watched her sister for a moment, puzzled. These were huge, world-shifting facts. The truth about the Book, about Queen Wasp and the Librarian … why didn’t Katydid want to know more? How could she brush that information aside so easily? If someone told Cricket she’d been lied to her whole life, she’d want to grab the truth and rub it into her eyeballs.

“I can’t go with you, Katydid.” Cricket took one of her sister’s talons in hers. “It’s too dangerous. You could be taken over by Wasp at any moment.”

A fierce struggle crossed Katydid’s face. “That’s true … but maybe we should go to her and confess. I was wrong to help you hide it all these years. Perhaps she can do something to fix you and make you like the rest of us.”

“No!” Cricket said. “I don’t want that! I would never want that!”

“So what are you going to do?” Katydid said, exasperated. “Hide in a water tower forever?”

“I have friends,” Cricket said. “We’re looking for answers. I’m going to finally find out the truth about everything.”

Katydid let out a short bark of a laugh. “That really is what you want, isn’t it? The truth about everything — even if it makes your life a million times harder.”

“Katydid, why are you really here?” Cricket asked. “I mean, in Jewel Hive. You didn’t come all this way for a few drawings, did you? Why aren’t you home with Father? If you’re so sure the queen is right about everything, why haven’t you told her about me yourself?”

Her sister stepped over to the balcony and peered out through the slats in the door. “Because I’d be in trouble, too,” she said. “And Lady Scarab wouldn’t let me.”

“Lady Scarab!” Cricket clambered over the sleep pallets again and peeked out the window next to the balcony. She could see the dragon waiting by the corner, twitching her wings and tail impatiently. Holy mother of trees. That was Lady Scarab.

Cricket had met the grouchy, majestic old dragon a few times in her life, and it had always been very mysterious and alarming. The other dragonets at school whispered all sorts of rumors about her. They swore she was older than the Hives, maybe as old as the Book (which couldn’t possibly be true, but it sounded dramatic). They said she had once been so powerful she could knock over a tree by breathing on it. They said she boiled SilkWings in their cocoons and ate them.

None of that was true, but Lady Scarab never bothered correcting the stories. She didn’t seem to care what anyone thought of her, not even when two of Cricket’s schoolmates saw her in the hall and screamed and flew out the nearest windows.

What was true was that she was Lady Jewel’s mother and Queen Wasp’s aunt. She lived all alone in a giant mansion in Cicada Hive, with no servants or anyone else. No one knew why she didn’t live in the same Hive as her daughter, although she also owned a mansion in Jewel Hive, which she visited from time to time.

One day soon after Cricket’s mother left, Lady Scarab had appeared suddenly on their doorstep. Their father, bowing and confused, let her in and tried to offer her tea in the parlor, but Lady Scarab had announced that she wished to see Katydid and Cricket. So they lined up for her inspection, and she studied them through her spectacles.

“You look healthy,” she’d said to Cricket.

“Yes, ma’am,” Cricket had answered, thinking, Why are you here? Aren’t you the dragon with the telescope? How old are you really? Do you ever eat little HiveWings? IS THAT WHY YOU’RE PLEASED THAT I LOOK HEALTHY?

“Terrarium Academy?” Lady Scarab demanded. “Really?”

“Um,” Cricket said nervously. “My school? I didn’t choose it.”

“I did,” their father interjected. “It’s very practical. A down-to-earth place.”

“No pun intended,” Lady Scarab said with a wintry smile, but Father just blinked in confusion. “Fine, but don’t let them grow moss on your brain, dragonet.”

“I — I won’t,” Cricket stammered, although she had no idea how to stop her teachers if they decided to do that, and could they really do that? Had anyone done that before? What did they do, put moss seeds in students’ ears? Did it really work without any light in there? She’d only gotten rid of the ensuing nightmares later by doing a lot of research and figuring out that Lady Scarab must have been joking, because growing moss on a dragon’s brain was quite scientifically impossible.

“I understand Cadelle has left the family,” Lady Scarab went on, turning to Katydid. “Are you managing without her?”

“Yes, your ladyship,” Katydid said. “Thank you for asking.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” the old HiveWing had said in a ferocious you’d-BETTER-tell-me-if-anything’s-wrong! sort of way. “I’m not far and I’m not dead yet. Don’t be a proud hungry fool. And that dragonet needs new glasses.” She’d flicked a claw at Cricket, and the unsettling thing was, she’d been right. Cricket had needed stronger glasses, but she was still amazed that Lady Scarab had figured that out just by looking at her.

“Yes, your ladyship,” Katydid said, bowing.

And then Lady Scarab had swept back out of their lives.

But here she was, standing guard while Katydid stole from her mother’s house.

“Wait, why?” Cricket asked. “What does Lady Scarab care? Did you say she won’t let you turn me in?”

“She came bursting into the house the day the Wanted posters went up,” Katydid said. “She made me pack a bag and told Father not to tell Queen Wasp anything — about you, or me, or her taking me away. And then she brought me here, over the web bridges. I think she figures Lady Jewel can protect us from the queen, if necessary, but I’m afraid she’s wrong about that.”

She’s definitely wrong. No one can protect anyone, as long as Queen Wasp can take over Lady Jewel or Scarab herself at any moment.

“I don’t understand,” Cricket said, trying to follow the threads. “Why would Lady Scarab have anything to do with us? We’re just a pair of random HiveWings to her. Aren’t we?” Katydid started rubbing her face with a miserable expression. “Katydid, what? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Cricket, why do you always have to know everything?” Katydid cried. “Your life would be so much easier if you didn’t. Wondering about SilkWings, asking impertinent questions about the queen’s powers … and then stealing the Book of Clearsight! I was afraid you’d get in trouble one day, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

“But wouldn’t you rather know the truth than live in a cloud of lies?” Cricket asked, confused. “I mean — wouldn’t everyone?”

“No!” Katydid crushed the drawings between her claws. “Everything was fine! You were safe! No one ever needed to know about you, especially you.”

Cricket felt her wings trembling, the way they sometimes did when she was close to an answer she’d been looking for.

“Katydid —”

“Cadelle is not your mother,” Katydid blurted. “And Father is not your father, either.”

Cricket stared at her. That … was not what she’d expected to hear. Although it explained a lot about the way they acted around her.

“But — then who —” she started.

A loud pounding came from the door downstairs, making them both jump. They peeked out the window and saw Lady Scarab thwacking it impatiently with her tail.

“She told me to be quick,” Katydid said. “Cricket, come with us. I’ll tell you everything, if I have to.”

By the Hives, those were words Cricket lived for. Everything! Mysteries explained, puzzles solved! The whole truth, finally revealed to her!

But her friends were waiting in the water tower. They didn’t know how to get to the library for the midnight meeting with the Chrysalis. They wouldn’t understand if she left with Katydid. And it really wasn’t safe — Queen Wasp could look out of her sister’s eyes at any moment. Cricket had already stayed too long.

“I can’t go with you,” she said. “Can’t you tell me everything now? Like, really quickly?”

Katydid hugged her fiercely. “It’s not that easy. I just want you to be safe.”

“I can only be safe if I know the truth,” Cricket said, pulling back. “Just like our tribe will only be safe if they stop believing Wasp’s lies.”

Her sister sighed. “I don’t see why. They’re perfectly safe now, whatever you think she’s lying to them about. Oh, Cricket, I have to go, but I’m afraid I’ll never see you again.”

“Can I find you?” Cricket asked. “Tomorrow. Around dawn?”

“I’ll be hiding at Lady Scarab’s house,” Katydid said, pressing Cricket’s front talons between hers. “Please be careful.”

“You too.” Cricket hugged her again and let go.

Katydid hurried out of the room with the drawings and Cricket heard her claws on the stairs. A few moments later, she came out the front door and locked it behind her, and then the two HiveWings flew away, with Lady Scarab scolding Katydid in a furious undertone.

Cricket stood in the barren room, looking at the empty walls and toyless shelves. She had cried herself to sleep in this room, wondering why Cadelle had taken Katydid to dinner and left her behind. She had cried in other rooms like this, wondering what was wrong with her, that her own mother didn’t care about her. She had stared across the breakfast table at her blank-faced father, who never asked questions about school or her life unless she got in trouble — and then it was usually something like, “You still here? How long until you graduate? Quit bothering your teachers and stay out of my way.”

A part of her had always thought everything would make sense once she knew why she was different — once she had the whole truth in her talons.

But this wasn’t a truth she could get her talons around.

They weren’t her parents. They never wanted her in the first place.

Someone gave me to them against their will.

So now the question was … who? And why?