Jack did exactly that, stepping across the uneven ground with the graceful ease of long practice. The others followed, some more easily than others. Sumi skipped, as carefree as if this were a trip to an amusement park built on questionable design choices. Cora took quick, careful steps, skirting the various gopher holes—which, she suspected, hadn’t really been made by anything as friendly as actual gophers—and questionable vegetation. Christopher, on the other hand, managed to trip three times in the first minute and a half, causing Jack to look at him and mutter caustically about setting records.

The whole time, Cora could hear the singing of the sea. It was a soft, ceaseless sound, and it matched the timbre of her heartbeat, echoing through her entire body. Maybe they could go there, when they were done at the windmill.

Maybe she could touch the waves. Maybe the waves could touch me, she thought, and the idea was and wasn’t hers at the same time, and it was as enthralling as it was horrific, and she kept on walking.

None of the others noticed the growing vacancy in her eyes. Maybe that was for the best; there wasn’t much they could have done about it. Kade fell back until he was walking alongside Alexis. “Hey,” he said, voice pitched low, in the hopes that it wouldn’t carry to Jack. “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk. I’m—”

“I know who you are,” said Alexis, amused. “I know all of you, except for the girl with the ocean in her hair. You’re the stories Jack tells me at night, when my scars ache and I can’t get to sleep. You’re the children of the doors. You share something with her that I never will, and I suppose I ought to resent you for that, but honestly, I’m just glad you were there for her when I couldn’t be.”

“Ah,” said Kade. “I’m not sure how I feel about being someone else’s bedtime story.”

“Everyone is somebody’s bedtime story,” said Alexis. “Most of us just don’t have to face it so directly. I thought you’d be taller.”

“I wish I were taller.”

Alexis smiled, a twinkle in her eye. “Don’t say that where Jack can hear you. She likes any excuse to grab a shovel and get to work.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Kade hesitated before saying, with as much delicacy as he could manage, “The lightning that summoned the door seems to have given you your voice back. Do you know how long that’s going to last?”