This was not a promising combination: vast ambition, utter fearlessness, and a nearly complete lack of self-control. Pat and Danny had discussed this more than once. Danny refused to believe that human character could really be reduced to these three attributes, and Pat was inclined to agree—“too reductionist,” she said—and yet neither of them could detect any other attributes in the pret of any person’s inself or outself. “Just because we can’t see more doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” said Danny.

“And surely the experiences we have in life can shape our character and change it,” said Pat.

“Or maybe not,” said Danny. “People think that heredity is everything, but we see people overcome both heredity and environment all the time, while others with every advantage collapse into a puddle of ruin at the first challenge. We haven’t been able to see and judge prets for long enough to know if they can change.”

“Maybe when we have children,” said Pat.

But Danny didn’t know if they even should have children. They couldn’t pretend not to know what they would know about their children’s prets. About their deep inner character. About the part of them that quite possibly could not change.

Hermia, however, was not their child. She was an erstwhile friend who had proven herself utterly unreliable. Not for the first time Danny wished that he could have discussed Hermia with the Gate Thief, especially now that they had conversed together for a while. But Danny could not go to Westil to talk to Wad without bringing Set there, or exhausting himself by making another clant. And Wad could not come to Mittlegard without making a Great Gate, which he would not do—especially because Hermia would know he had done it, and then could not be stopped from taking people to the Great Gate and passing them through it.

The Greek girl has us both stymied. So I have to deal with her on my own. I just don’t know how I can deal with her, or what “dealing with her” would even look like.

“You’re not going to forestall me?” asked Hermia. “Gate me somewhere?”

“You’d just come back,” said Danny.

“You’re learning,” said Hermia.

“No,” said Pat. “You learned this from us.”

“It’s not as if you invented it,” said Hermia. “I’m not violating some patent. You died and came back knowing stuff, and I learned it because I’m a gatemage and I could tell more about what was and wasn’t happening. Give me credit here, Pa-tree-cee-ah. I took this from you, you didn’t give it.”

Danny didn’t even bother looking at Pat, and his peripheral vision told him that Pat didn’t look away from Hermia, either.

“Whatever you’re going to do,” said Danny, “just do it.”