Besides, she had another compelling reason to skinjack. The Everlost wind. It was uncanny, and maddening—a gale force that only Afterlights could feel blasting off the Mississippi River. Five miles east of Memphis, where she and Milos had parted company, the wind was just a breeze, but the closer one came to the river, the more powerful the wind grew—and since Memphis rested right on the river’s east bank, there was no way to escape it.

Allie skinjacked a tourist walking toward the river to see what this was all about. From within a fleshie, there seemed to be nothing unusual at all. The river appeared normal … but then she made the mistake of peeling out of the tourist right by the riverbank. The wind caught her like a hurricane, whistling in her ears, scrambling her thoughts. She struggled against it, but in the end it lifted her off her feet, and tumbled her head over heels through building after building, until she was far enough away to find her balance again. In this city—and presumably anyplace on the east bank of the Mississippi—the only way to resist the wind was to skinjack.

Therefore negotiating Memphis required her to skinjack on a regular basis. It was a challenge, because Allie had never stayed fleshbound for long periods of time. The longest had been the recent drive with Milos, Moose, and Squirrel as they drove to Memphis in the bodies of a family. That had taken just a few hours, and Allie found that peeling out had been like trying to take off a wetsuit that was two sizes two small.

The task of finding and approaching her family would require a very specific kind of host, but who to choose? There were so many variables, Allie had to create herself a checklist of all the things that her host should, and should not be.

1) It had to be someone her parents would invite inside.

If she skinjacked a deliveryman, as she had done when she approached her old house in New Jersey, it wouldn’t be good enough. With a deliveryman as her host, any encounter would be brief, and only over the threshold of the front door. What she needed was not just a way to get the door open, but a way to get through it.

2) It had to be someone they would feel comfortable talking with about the accident.

When she finally got inside their new home, she didn’t want to talk about the weather and current events, she wanted to know how it all played out, and somehow give her parents, her sister, and maybe herself, some comfort and closure.

3) It had to be someone who would not be missed for multiple skinjackings.

If Allie was to use someone’s body as a base of operations, it would be a nuisance if that person had a demanding job or a whole lot of personal responsibilities.