“Dead is pretty final,” said Hermia.

“No doubt,” said Pat. “Except for one tiny thing.” And right in front of Hermia’s eyes, Pat shifted about a meter to the left. Without changing her posture or moving her hand or anything.

What was the girl trying to show her? “You have an amulet to move you a meter? Do you get to choose the direction of this incredibly useful move?”

Pat shifted rapidly from point to point around the room. Then disappeared completely, and returned about ten seconds later.

“How many gates were created?” asked Pat.

“None,” said Hermia. “None at all.”

“Not surprising, since I’m not a gatemage.”

“So Danny’s doing it.”

“Danny is with Veevee, teaching her how to do what I just did. In fact, while I was out of the room I checked in and told Danny you were about ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“For him to decide whether you can be trusted with any of the things we’ve recently learned. Or whether he should just get you out of here. Me, I’m for leaving you right where you are, but he thinks he owes you something for past help. Danny’s even more loyal than I am. Though perhaps that will turn out to be momentary, too.”

“For an American high-school girl, you certainly have mastered snottiness.”

“For American teenage girls, snottiness is an Olympic event, and we’re all training to qualify for the national team. Starting in middle school.”

Hermia laughed. “I can see why Danny likes you,” said Hermia. “I like you, even though all I really care about right now is how Danny was able to give gatemaking abilities to a windmage, when he could never give them to me.”

Pat cocked her head a little. Thinking? Listening? “He didn’t give them to me,” said Pat. Apparently she had reached her decision, and she was going to tell Hermia something about what was going on with these gateless gates.

“Oh, please,” said Hermia. Because challenging Pat with scorn seemed to work better than simple inquiry.

“Everybody has the ability to move like that,” said Pat. “It’s not even a secret, if you just think about it. We all get from Duat to our newborn baby bodies, without any detectable gate, and when we die, back we go. Gateless again.”

Hermia realized Pat was right—it was obvious enough. “But those aren’t gates.”

“They’re not only gates, they’re Great Gates, since they go from one planet to another. And we all know the way. We just don’t leave a trace of our path behind us.”

“Somebody from Duat manages all that,” said Hermia.

Again, the cocked head. The decision. “No,” said Pat. “Not the way you think. The ability to move from anywhere to anywhere is inherent in all of us. What’s tricky is bringing along our baggage.” And she indicated her own body.