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portal, we would all go through, and then we would find Simeon. We decided to start in the North Woods to look for Simeon’s paramour (his word, not mine), and then venture close to areas of water because it would be the most likely spot for someone to want to stay. Electricity was sparse in the Enchanted Forest simply because it wasn’t a land full of technology. It could be manipulated, as shown by Maleficent and her surprising BBC addiction, but it took someone with wicked smarts and ample power. I wasn’t sure Simeon had either one of those. However, I did not discount Naomi’s smarts. It was likely she would be looking in the same places as us and we needed to stay on our toes if we ran into her.
    In my rampant, overly superhero-ish daydreams, I always imagined running into Naomi and completely destroying her. I’d crow in delight as I held her severed head up for an adoring audience who would scream with delight at the gore and my victory. Alas, real life didn’t actually go like that, and Naomi was crazy powerful. I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe it was wits that allowed us to win last time—more like sheer, dumb luck. That seemed to be my thing lately. Some wits, some strokes of sheer genius, and a whole lot of how-the-hell-did-that-happen luck. I also wasn’t naïve enough to think my luck would hold out, especially when a power hungry tyrant was involved.
    Soon, it would be do or die. I just hoped it would be me with the doing and Naomi with the dying. A girl could only dream, right?
    The atmosphere was subdued, but underneath it all was an air of excitement. We were about to have another adventure. Finally! We’d been close to living out the rest of our days over literature and a Scrabble board if we hadn’t found anything. In which case, I would have been on the hunt for a ceiling rafter, a rope, and a rickety chair. I was only halfway kidding about it, too. When things were normal, I would either be working or hunting for some new artifact. Cyndi would be out doing her wish thing—which still freaked me out by the way—and Belle would have been doing her thing. Never the twain would have met and all that.
    Now, we were all inexorably bound by friendship, hope, and a little bit of terror. We would stick together to the end because we were friends—no, we were family. I just hoped by the time the cards fell, we were still strong in our relationships with each other. Right now, I could feel the secrets between us. Even though I wasn’t sure we all knew what our secrets were, all of us would be exposed soon enough—for better or worse.
    There was only one odd man out here: Rumple. I was comforted by his presence simply because I knew the odds of some supernatural power screwing with us and getting away with it within the next twenty-four hours was extremely low. I could probably go to sleep tonight with no worries…unless he tried to slit my throat in my sleep. I sighed. My paranoia sure was good for giving me insomnia.
    I looked at him underneath my lashes. Belle cooked tonight and from the expression on his face, he was doubtful but enjoying it. Goodness knew how different the food was. Rumple was used to hunting and gathering, then making stew. We were blessed and a little spoiled with a massive abundance of food. Even without leaving the house, we were still blessed with groceries because of home delivery. She’d baked chicken with some sort of sweet sauce, fried potatoes, and mixed together a salad of greens with a mild vinaigrette. It was healthy enough for us not to regret it, but decadent enough for us to eat more than we should.
    Once dinner was finished, we all said an awkward good night with plans to leave by 6:30 in the morning. Time didn’t run the same in the Enchanted Forest, so it was anyone’s guess what time it would be when we arrived.
    Once I was in my bedroom, I slipped out of my regular clothes and into my trusty pajamas. A quick scrub of my face and I was ready to turn in