Kaylin didn’t understand enough about the dead to understand why this particular space could house and retain them. But the ghosts that had formed lamps and other household accessories could leave, now. They walked through the door that led to Mrs. Erickson’s house. Mrs. Erickson didn’t ask them to stay, either. She did ask them if they would be all right, because she wasn’t certain they knew where they were going—but she had to confess, with some embarrassment, that she didn’t know, either.

The dead did. Kaylin could hear their whispers of gratitude. She could see their tears of relief. And she could see them slowly fade from view—or at least hers—as they stepped across the threshold.

There were many, many questions that Sedarias wanted Azoria to answer. Serralyn wanted answers, too, but in a different way.

Mrs. Erickson, however, shook her head. “It’s not right,” she told them firmly. “We can’t keep her here indefinitely.”

“Why not?” Sedarias all but demanded.

“Because, dear, she’s dead.”

“She wants to stay.”

“It’s not that she wants to stay as she is now. She doesn’t want to be dead. But she is. And it’s time for her to leave. I don’t know where she’ll go,” she added, a hint of worry in the words. “I don’t know how she’ll get there. She is one of a kind.”

“For which we’re extremely grateful,” Kaylin snapped.

Mrs. Erickson looked at Kaylin and shook her head. Kaylin had seen that gesture before, but it had been aimed at Jamal. She reddened.

“I understand that there are many, many questions she might answer—but I don’t believe that those answers serve a useful purpose.”

“And your questions did,” Teela said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. The children have been trapped in my house for the entirety of my life. That shouldn’t have happened. I’m grateful for it, which makes me feel guilty, but...it shouldn’t have happened. By the time I understood that they couldn’t leave, even if they wanted to, I had no idea how to free them.

“I’ve been worried about it for the past two decades. If you hadn’t come to my house, they’d be trapped there for...as long as Azoria lived. She can’t hold them now.”

“But you could hold her here,” Sedarias began. “And there’s so much knowledge and research that we’d lose—”

“I think that’s the point.” Teela’s voice was wry. “Mrs. Erickson doesn’t think that research serves any good purpose.”

“We don’t know that.”

“I think we do. Look at her now,” the Barrani Hawk added, voice softer. “What do you see?”