So far, the oldest minds were still hiding in their mountain lairs. They had waited for thousands of years for this night; they could delay another few minutes until they were sure everything was working. Then they would charge toward Bixby, consuming every human in their way, a linear feast.

Melissa tasted something familiar at the edge of the rip—the quiet, self-assured thoughts of Cassie Flinders. She was surprised at how the world had suddenly changed but unafraid. She’d been inside the rip once before, after all.

A moment later Melissa tasted the other mind beside Cassie, a frightened, mewling, panic-stricken ball of little sister.

“Got her.”

“Where?”

Melissa turned her head, sensing the direction. “Of course. The cave where Rex found Cassie. They snuck out to go back there, figuring it was a magic spot or something.” Melissa shook her head. “Funny. I really thought we’d fixed her memories.”

“She must have drawn a picture of it,” Jessica said.

Melissa nodded slowly, remembering the drawings all over Cassie’s walls. She hadn’t thought to check for that. “The little sneak. Okay, let’s go.”

“No. Just me. I remember the way.”

Melissa frowned. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, but I can—”

“It’s not that.” Jessica glanced at the row of houses by the railroad; more of them had been swallowed by the expanding rip. “They need you here.”

“But what am I supposed to do without you?”

“Light the fireworks when the darklings come. There are other people in Jenks who need protection. Listen, Melissa, I know I’m being selfish. I shouldn’t only be thinking about my sister. So you stay here.”

“But I can’t even…Oh, right.”

Jessica had taken out a lighter and thrust it into one of the hurricane lamps. She adjusted the wick until it was burning bright, then handed Melissa a sparkler.

“Let’s just make sure this really works,” she said.

Melissa nodded and thrust the sparkler into the flame of the lamp. It burst to life, shooting out a blinding shower.

“Damn, that’s bright!” Melissa said, dropping it to the wet gravel and stamping on it until it sputtered out. A swarm of spots remained brutally burned into her vision, but she founded herself smiling.

Maybe Samhain really was a holiday if Melissa was going to do some flame-bringing of her own. “Okay, get moving! I’ll be fine here.”

Jessica nodded, cramming highway flares into her jacket pocket. She skidded down the embankment and thrashed her way into the trees. Melissa closed her eyes, following in her mind as Jessica found the path that Cassie, and then Rex, had taken three weeks before.

She let her mind drift back to the cave. Cassie was getting nervous now, and Beth was a basket case. Their flashlights had extinguished when the blue time had fallen, and though most slithers had left this area permanently after the flame-bringer’s last visit, Cassie still imagined she heard snakes in the darkness. They were making their way slowly out of the cave.