“Ah,” the Editor said, considering. She cocked her head to the side. “Normally, I would say no. But your abilities, Eleanor, may hold the key. It’s possible that you could take the Stories out of their books before putting them inside you. It would spare your memories and personalities—but it would mean the Stories wouldn’t hold their power for very long. They’d fade into you, over time.”

“Assuming it works at all, and you don’t just end up erased immediately,” the hedgewitch said. “It’s a risky proposition.”

“But then we could have their power. Without losing ourselves,” Pip said. “We could use them to fight the People Who Look Away, at least for a while.”

“How would we do it?” Eleanor asked.

“The mechanism is similar to the one used to create the Empty,” Otto said. They looked at him, startled, and he blinked. “Ooh. Hedgewitch knowledge. Let’s see what I know.” His face scrunched up like he was concentrating.

“You don’t have to make that face,” the hedgewitch said, but not very loudly.

“I think . . . I think you should be able to do it, Eleanor. Your abilities can open connections between worlds, but they can connect people, too. You have to make a connection to the Stories, just wide enough to let them in slowly.”

“Wait. Does that mean Eleanor could Empty someone, if she wanted to?” Pip asked.

“Of course not,” Eleanor said, though something twisted in the pit of her stomach.

“I don’t know about this. We came here to destroy the Stories. Maybe we still should. I mean, what if something goes wrong?” Otto asked.

“I could take the Story back from you,” the hedgewitch said softly, her eyes fixed on the slim book. “You could put it into me, instead of risking yourself, Otto.”

“That would be unwise,” the Editor said.

“Why?” the hedgewitch demanded, almost snarling. “Why shouldn’t I have it back?”

“Because you have been completely rewritten once already, and you have not had enough time to get complicated again,” the Editor said. “You are too fragile. That Story would burn through you in an instant.”

The hedgewitch’s jaw clenched, and for a moment Eleanor thought she was going to argue. But she only turned on her heel and strode away, her steps ringing on the marble.

That’s where I got that habit from, Eleanor thought. She always had to just walk away when she got too angry.

“What if we’re wrong? What if they just destroy us?” Pip whispered.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Eleanor said. She squared her shoulders. She stepped forward. And she picked up the book of the world-walker.