Eleanor didn’t have to ask how he knew. She felt it, too. A prickling over her skin. A chill in the air. The People Who Look Away were close.

“It’s time,” Eleanor whispered.

“We’re ready,” Pip assured her.

Eleanor hoped she was right.

Twenty-Four

Wander, Jack, and the hedgewitch emerged from the house. Jack had a sword at his hip—not Gloaming, but one still a little bit magical in its own right. Wander had looped the silver moonlight thread around her wrists, and it gleamed in the dark. The hedgewitch had her bag over her shoulder.

“They’ll be here any minute,” Eleanor said.

“We will be with you,” Wander promised. Jack didn’t say anything—but she could see in his face everything he wished he could have said. They’d barely had the chance to get to know each other, but he had been the best father he could in that short time.

And if they won, they’d have all the time in the world to spend together.

She looked at the hedgewitch. “You can do this,” the woman said firmly, fiercely. Her mother would have told her she loved her. Would have given her words of comfort. But right now, she found that the hedgewitch’s stern gaze was what she really needed. Because the hedgewitch didn’t say things she didn’t believe. She didn’t say them out of hope or optimism or to make you feel better. She believed in facts. And if she thought they could win, maybe they would.

Eleanor took a deep, steadying breath. “This is the part where we have some kind of stirring speech,” she said. “But I can’t think of one.” She let out a shaky laugh, her nerves getting the better of her.

“We don’t need a speech,” Pip said.

“We already know everything that we’d say,” Otto told her.

“You’ve already been through the Wending together,” Wander added.

“And faced mud beasts,” Jack said.

“And survived your thirteenth Halloween, when none of those before you could,” the hedgewitch reminded her.

Eleanor swallowed. “Then there’s nothing left to say. We do this. Together. Win or lose, we see it through,” she said.

“We’re ready,” Pip said. She drew Gloaming. The blade flashed in the darkness.

“We’re ready,” Otto agreed, patting his backpack, which was bursting with potions and tinctures and tricks.

The hedgewitch stepped forward, slipping her bag off her shoulder. “Eleanor. You’ll need this.” She settled the bag over Eleanor’s shoulder and smoothed the strap in place, her fingertips lingering in an almost affectionate touch. “I enchanted that bag myself. When you reach into it, you’ll find whatever you need right away, and nothing inside will ever be lost or damaged. It will keep them all safe for you.”