Seekers of the Wild Realm meets My Diary from the Edge of the World in this second “lively adventure tale” ( Booklist ) in the heartwarming and witty middle grade Secret of the Storm series from author of Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls , Beth McMullen! When twelve-year-old Cassie found a small, abandoned kitten by a dumpster, she never dreamed that taking little Albert home would change her life forever. And she certainly never imagined that Albert would turn out to be a dragon in disguise. All she wants now is to keep Albert safe, but in trying to protect him from ill-intentioned humans, she’s accidentally just sent him back to Vayne, the dragon king who is hunting him. With the help of Joe, her mom, and Miss Asher, Cassie sets off on a quest: find Albert, and find somewhere he’ll be safe. But in the process, she learns more about the prophecy that’s put him in danger—Albert, with the help of a second dragon, will overthrow Vayne and bring peace to the dragon world. Who is this second dragon? And how exactly can Albert save anyone when he’s being hunted in two different dimensions? Braving new enemies, unlikely allies, and strange new powers, Cassie is determined to help her kitten—even if it takes her into the Land of Dragons itself. Beth McMullen is the author of the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series; the Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter series; the Secret of the Storm series; and several adult mysteries. Her books have heroes and bad guys, action and messy situations. An avid reader, she once missed her subway stop and rode the train all the way to Brooklyn because the book she was reading was that good. She lives in northern California with her family and two cats. Visit her at BethMcMullenBooks.com. Chapter 1: Mercy Grove. Again. Chapter 1 MERCY GROVE. AGAIN. PLANS ARE ALWAYS PERFECT right at the beginning, before any action has been taken, before they encounter reality. For example, this morning, on the first day of Thanksgiving break, I was convinced I was fully capable of opening a rip, a kind of doorway to the dragon dimension. All I had to do was rub my hands together and produce the necessary golden mist, just like Albert did in this very spot, a mere seven days ago. Albert, in case you are wondering, is my kitten, who is actually a dragon, who came to our dimension to hide out from the vengeful dragon King Vayne, who wanted to kill him because he might be the marked dragon prophesized to end Vayne’s reign. Simple, right? The reason I need to generate the glitter, open the rip, and jump through is to rescue Albert. I mean, Albert gave me the means to make the glitter, and I know I can do it because I have done it before. But right now, when I really need the glitter to happen, nothing. Total fail. The only thing that happens is my palms get hot and sweaty from all the rubbing. No golden mist. No rip. No Albert. “This is not working,” I say. My mother, Miss Asher, and Joe watch me. This is partly their fault, as they helped with the rescue plan. I drop my arms to my sides. “You said you practiced,” Joe says, unable to hide his exasperation. Joe is my best friend. My best friend used to be Mia, but it turned out she wasn’t any sort of friend at all, and Joe is a way better friend. This does not mean we don’t annoy each other sometimes. “I did practice,” I shoot back. “Maybe the missing element is the weather,” he suggests, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Whenever Albert turned into a dragon, there was horrible weather. And when he opened the rip, it was like the storm of the century.” “It wasn’t that bad,” I counter. “It was pretty bad,” Joe replies. Okay. Fine. It was bad. But maybe I should add a few more details before this gets even more confusing. I found Albert the black kitten in a dumpster here in Lewiston (the most nowhere of all nowheresvilles, if you ask me) during an extreme weather event—think lightning, thunder, hail, wind, freezing rain, and mini tornadoes, all at the same time. And Albert was the best kitten! Cute, soft, funny, and curious, but he was also… strange. Odd things started to happen, and before too long, I discovered Albert was a dragon. After that, things took a turn for the seriously weird. Like, grade-A, eyes-crossed bizarre. But the most important thing to know is that Joe and I figured out how to open a rip to the dragon dimension and help Albert get back to his dragon family. Which is what he wanted. Or we think it is what he wanted. Hard to be sure because Albert couldn’t speak our language and we couldn’t speak his, but we’ll get to that. Another thing we’ve learned is that nothing is simple when it comes to cats who are really dragons. Almost as soon as we sent Albert back through the rip, we discovered that bit about Albert hiding here. Once the dragon world prophecy claimed that the ruling class, the Silvers, would be overthrown by a dragon marked with a golden blaze, Albert was doomed. There is no missin