So, the curly-haired ex-Patrolman nodded. “I’ll scuttle off then,” he said, turning for the door.

“I don’t think so.” Kaley came closer and pressed the shotgun’s barrel against his bicep. “You’re going to take me to the train, Eliot Gray. You’re going to board it with me. And once we’re in the care of Cornelius Britley, we’ll have words.”

Eliot’s large lips tightened. “Ragnashuck, you’re not like your frostbit sister, are you?” His eyes slid over to take her in.

“I’m more like her than you think. But you’ll be staying far away from her.” Kaley nudged him forward with the tip of the gun and shuffled back to the closet to steal one of Grandma’s old coats. She tossed the coat over the shotgun but kept it aimed.

Eliot’s nostrils flared but he turned toward the door, even raising his hands. Kaley stole one last look at where I peeked around the corner. She cast me a small nod, and I envied her confidence as she disappeared outside.

Porethius had given Kaley one single instruction and one single warning: Read and preserve the Volumes of Wisdom, and Eliot Gray must not find Helen under any circumstances. The time pocket had shattered a haunting second after the door back to our world had reappeared and Kaley had jumped through. It had sealed just in time to stop her from being followed.

But the intersect was open now. Which was why neither Kaley nor I could be anywhere near this house if that shadow came looking. I doubted Eliot would go to the train kindly, but I knew Cornelius Britley’s rules would keep Kaley safe once they were on board—she just had to make it to the train.

I crept to the front door to get my leather bag, aware the neighbours had probably called the cops and I had to move. Every moment, warmth grew in my chest, and I found myself rubbing circles below my throat, smile spreading. I knew he was here—in Waterloo. I knew Zane had reached the intersect.

I took one last look at Grandma’s abandoned house: at those four empty chairs. And then I raced out the door and banged down the front steps.

I didn’t stop running when I reached downtown. I didn’t look for the red-painted Steam Hollow or stop to study the towering Winterblood Elves in the streets. My orb necklace warmed at my throat, reaching for the other side.

I skidded to a halt at the field where everything had evaporated in front of me eleven months ago; the train whistle in the distance giving me hope that Kaley had made it. My eyes scanned the white drifts, the hills, the trees at the field’s edge. I spun around, looking up and down, right and left. The weight of my book bag, combined with my poor-diet-dizziness, sent me toppling knee-first into the snow.

A loud laugh reverberated through the air, and I spun on my knees, a smile already stealing my face.