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"Lucy is harmless," Emma lied smiling.

Victoria narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to argue, but a loud crackle echoed over the speakers. The music faded. The fairy lights flickered.

Then, everything went pitch black.

The courtyard plunged into darkness. A collective groan rose from the crowd.

"Trevor!" Emma shouted into the void. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Trevor yelled back from the sound tent. "I just plugged the projector. I think the main breaker tripped!"

Panic bubbled in Emma’s chest. People had driven from three towns over to see this. If they didn't fix it immediately, the crowd would disperse.

"The breaker is in the garden shed," Emma said, her voice rising. "Behind the hedges."

A beam of light sliced through the darkness. Victoria had already pulled out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and was heading toward the back of the property with brisk strides. "Lead the way."

Emma rushed past her, guiding them across the dark lawn. The garden shed sat at the far edge of the property, hidden behind overgrown hedges. Emma reached it first, yanking the heavy timber door wide and stepping over the threshold to illuminate the panel on the wall.

Victoria stepped in right behind her. To block out the mounting noise of the crowd, Victoria reached behind her back and pulled the heavy door shut.

Emma spun around, her eyes widening. "Victoria, do not close the—"

Click.

The latch engaged with a heavy, metallic thud. The sound echoed through the tiny space. Emma stared at the wooden planks.

"Tell me you didn't pull it all the way shut," Emma whispered.

Victoria frowned, holding the phone light steady. "I closed the door so we could hear ourselves think. What is wrong?"

"There is no inside handle," Emma said, pressing her palms flat against the rough wood. "Joe broke the internal mechanism three years ago. If the latch catches from the outside, it locks."

Victoria tested the flat brass plate where a knob should have been. It didn't budge.

"You are telling me this shed turns into a vault the second the door closes?"

"Yes! I was going to prop it open with a brick! We are trapped."

"Calm down, we are just temporarily contained," Victoria corrected.

"In a shed. During the biggest event of the year."

Victoria sighed. The flashlight illuminated the sharp line of her cheekbones. "Emma. Breathe. Panicking will not generate electricity."

Emma leaned her back against the locked door, clutching her plastic cup of spritz with white knuckles. Victoria didn't waste another second. She propped her phone on a dusty shelf, angling the white beam onto the rusted metal box on the wall, and popped the latch open.

"Which one tripped?" Victoria murmured. She rolled her linen sleeves higher up her forearms.

Emma stepped closer, her shoulder brushing against Victoria's shirt. The cramped space suddenly felt suffocatingly small, thick with the scent of lavender and orange blossoms.

"The main switch should be on the top row," Emma said, trying to steady her breathing. "The black toggle. But Joe rewired half of this himself. It never makes sense."

Victoria scanned the rows of fuses, her fingers hovering over the switches. "It is a basic dual-phase system. He simply added secondary loops without labeling the circuits."

"I don’t understand one single thing you’re saying Victoria. But I need you to hurry, I can hear people murmuring outside—"

Victoria stopped. She turned her head, fixing Emma with a direct, steady look. The golden light from the phone caught the subtle amber flecks in her eyes.