There was no question that Nashville slowed them down, what with so many skinjacking opportunities. Mikey was the only one annoyed by how few miles they were covering. “I thought you wanted to find your family,” he reminded Allie.

“I do, but I’ve waited this long—a couple of days won’t make a difference.”

She could have told him then about how she’d be stuck in Everlost for a long, long time, so there was no hurry to do anything—but she knew Mikey would ask her a million questions she had no answers to. Like what it meant to be consigned to Everlost for her “natural life,” as if the universe knew when she would have died if she hadn’t been in the accident. How can a date be assigned to something that will never happen?

An exploration of Nashville had turned up a sizeable vapor of Afterlights in an old burned-out factory that had crossed over. They were friendly but guarded, not trusting of outsiders—least of all a foreigner like Milos. The Nashville Afterlights made room for them in their sizeable deadspot though, and were happy to listen to all their stories of faraway places—and to them, every place was far away.

“So you’ve all been into the Everwild?” their leader asked—a kid who had blue hair for no reason anyone could fathom.

“Where I come from, this is the Everwild,” Allie told him, and that made the other kids laugh, thinking she was making a joke.

One kid didn’t laugh, though. A bone-thin, sad-eyed kid who was so hunched the other kids just called him Igor. “It’s all wild,” he said. “No one knows anything about anywhere—’cept of course for the Sky Witch.”

Both Allie and Mikey shifted uncomfortably at Mary’s mention, but neither of them said anything. Neither of them felt like sharing tales of Mary Hightower.

“But the real wild places are to the west,” said Igor, and the other kids murmured their agreement. Then he whispered, “Have you felt the wind?”

“What wind?” asked Mikey.

“We don’t feel wind in Everlost,” Allie pointed out.

“You’ll feel this wind,” said Igor. “If you’re goin’ to Memphis you’ll feel it sure enough.”

Allie looked to Milos, but he just shrugged. “This is as far west as I’ve ever been.”

“Great,” grumbled Mikey. “Another problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” said Allie. “It’s just wind.”

But the looks on the Nashville kids’ faces said otherwise.

* * *

While Moose and Squirrel bargained with the Nashville Afterlights, hoping to provide various skinjacking services, Milos invited Allie for another lesson.

“Enough talk of winds and worries,” Milos said. “Tonight we have fun.”

“If it’s an evening of fun, then we should invite Mikey,” she said, more of a reprimand than a suggestion—a little jab to remind him that their lessons were serious business.