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And waited.

“Was that supposed to be impressive?” Ilyana asked after a lengthy pause. “Or is this another of those flower power things where, five hours later, I’m free?”

Just as I was about to send the signal a second time, the window began expanding. Winifred had been paying attention after all. The opening grew until it took up nearly the whole of the wall and the bars were far enough apart to walk through.

“All right, you win, I’m impressed,” Ilyana said. “What the puck was that? Flowers don’t make windows grow.”

“I have more than one sister.” I reached out with my senses and found the closest liana vine, a good strong monkey ladder plant. With a bit of encouragement, it started snaking its way up the tower, sprouting small white blossoms as it went. There were some things flower power could do in less than five hours.

“Neat,” Ilyana said. “Um…Are you safe to go down without falling off? Your hands are shaking and your eyes are as red as your hair. Honestly, you kind of look like spit.”

“I’ll be fine.” I hoped.

Alexandra climbed out as soon as the stem was thick enough, but Ilyana paused on the lip of the window.

“His mother’s going to sniff me out again when morning comes. You know that, right?”

“It’s taken care of,” I said. “I’ve got a plan.”

“Don’t tell me. You’ve got another magic sister.”

“Well…yes.”

“Fascinating family you’ve got.”

“You have no idea.”

She was halfway out the window when the door slammed open.

“I knew it,” the genius’s mother snarled. The finger she thrust in my direction was quivering with rage. “I knew it was you all along. Weak dungeon wall, my foot. How does that explain the pinochle cards under the dirt?”

Ilyana flung herself down the monkey ladder plant while the genius’s mother scraped her hand across her head-flames, gathering a cantaloupe-sized mass of blue-white fire in her palm. I dove between the window bars as she threw it, dropping six feet down and barely catching hold of the vine. The fireball detonated over my head in an explosion that shook the tower. Blazing embers rained down on us. Ilyana stopped climbing for a moment to pat out one that landed on her short long curly straight hair.

The genius’s mother stuck her head through the bars. “Come back here at once and marry my son, you ingrate!” she roared at Ilyana. She threw another handful of flame that passed so close to me I could hear it sizzle. It exploded in the swamp below, lighting the canopy on fire. Even wetlands can burn if the fire is hot enough.

We scrambled down the vine. Alexandra had almost reached the bottom. Above us, the genius’s mother tried to muscle her body through the bars, but her shoulders were too wide. With a growl of frustration, she grabbed two bars and began pulling them apart. The metal made a squealing noise as it bent.

“Do you have a plan for this?” Ilyana yelled up to me.

“Yes!”

“Another sister?”

“Yes!”

Not a moment later, the genius’s mother halted her effort at wrenching the bars open, and sneezed.

Twin jets of flame erupted from her nostrils. Alexandra yelped and leapt off the vine as one of them set her sleeve on fire. She fell in the mud with a wet squelch, rolling until the flames guttered out.

The top of the monkey ladder plant had been set ablaze as well, leaves and flowers turning black as they burned. Nicki’s powers weren’t going to save us. The opposite might even be true; one more sneeze would be liable to kill us all.

The genius’s mother ripped the bars free of the window and clambered out onto the vine, treating the crackling flames as little more than a mild annoyance. As soon as Ilyana touched the ground, I slid the rest of the way down, scraping my hands on the rough bark. Forget-me-nots exploded out of the mud where I landed.

Everything beyond a few feet was obscured by smoke, which scalded my throat with every breath. I couldn’t see anyone but Ilyana; Alexandra had vanished into the murky clouds around us, and none of the others were visible.

The monkey ladder vine shook against the brass wall as the genius’s mother descended.

“Can you use your sword to Jack-and-the-Beanstalk that thing?” Ilyana asked.