I open the door wider, and Willow marches in, tossing herself backward on my bed.

Nadine hesitates before stepping in as well. She appraises me as she does, her eyes sharp and observant, like she’s not one to miss any detail. I wonder what she sees—if she notices the ghosts in my eyes or if I’m better at hiding them than she is.

Willow flops her head to the side and looks at me. “I found a new friend.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

Nadine grimaces just a little at the word “friend,” and it makes me like her immediately.

I shut the door behind them and walk back over to my bed, where I gently gather my papers and photos and set them to the side. I’m not sure I want to share that with them. “So how did you two meet? I mean… after what we did.”

Willow sits up and shrugs. “I just wanted to walk, you know, and focus on something else.” She shudders. “I thought the magic was supposed to take you where you wanted to go. I wanted a nice garden or something. I wanted to feel a little sunshine, even if it was just an illusion, but it just took me to hallway after hallway, then up and down a million creepy sets of stairs, and that didn’t help. I kept thinking I heard…” She turns away and stares up at the ceiling. “I kept thinking I heard little screams from behind the walls. I mean, I know I imagined it, but I couldn’t stop.” She swallows and looks back at me. “You know?”

“I get it,” I say.

She gives me a searching look. She knows my history. She knows I’m not fine either, and I realize she’s partly here to check on me.

“Anyway, I ended up at the front door, and I thought maybe a walk through those dreary roses would suffice, but Nadine was already there, yanking on the handle so hard that I thought she might rip the door right off.”

“Wait. We’re locked inside?”

“Yes,” Nadine bites out.

“It would seem that way,” Willow says way too brightly. Her over-the-top cheerfulness about it makes my skin prickle. She’s scared.

“I think the ones who didn’t make it back from the maze were the lucky ones,” Nadine says.

“They lost,” I say.

“At least two of us in this room have already lost,” Nadine says.

We all stare at each other.

“We knew that coming in,” I remind her.