It was Mandoran who joined them; Kaylin half expected Terrano. “You haven’t found the kids?”

She shook her head.

“Mrs. Erickson is starting to worry.”

“She can stand in line,” Kaylin snapped, and then instantly felt guilty. “Sorry.”

“You want to feel guilty, you’re going to have to work harder,” was Mandoran’s cheerful reply. “You’ve got nothing on Sedarias.” His wince made clear Sedarias didn’t appreciate the comparison. “She thinks the children were trapped here for a reason. They were afraid of the painting; they couldn’t leave the house. I think any attempt to leave the house might land us someplace we don’t want to be—but Sedarias thinks otherwise.”

“What does she think?”

“She thinks this house is still attached to, still part of, the phantom house you can see with the aid of your familiar. If it’s the house we want to examine, she thinks our only option is to open that door.”

“The windows still opened to the street, though.”

“Yes. Bakkon has decided to remain where he is, which gives us a window: we probably don’t want him standing outside of Mrs. Erickson’s house when the sun rises. Whatever Serralyn was afraid of, he’s considered, and he’s decided that there’s a risk. He also had choice words—according to Terrano—to say about Starrante, so I imagine the Arbiter is going to get what passes for an earful if we manage to escape things unscathed.

“I’m sorry I can’t help you look for the children. I’ve never gotten the hang of the eye shifts. I can shift my entire body in certain ways, but I can’t just shift random parts of it.”

“But you’re...”

“Yes. I can do most of what Terrano can do, and if anything had happened to Terrano, I’d’ve been next in line to carry out our plans. I don’t have to warp my eyes for most things, though.”

“Why does it involve a change of eyes?”

“He could explain it better. Or at all. But it’s a recent addition to his metamorphic stable. I think he picked up the idea from Serralyn’s contacts with the Wevaran. He can see the ghosts here if his eyes go strange. Serralyn can as well—but she sees other things when she does it; she finds it really, really uncomfortable. She’s doing it because she actually likes Mrs. Erickson. And Bakkon. She’s really worried.”

As he spoke, Kaylin headed to the living room—the other room possessed of a window. If a giant spider was present, she would have expected Jamal to be here, staring out through the windows he kept promising not to break again. None of the children were here, either.