“This is how crowded the place was. We all were crammed into this nothing world, first to be all up in each other’s personal space. I was so confused and freaked—totes freaked. Wherever I was, it wasn’t dope or gnarly. Then a couple of moments later, I was thrust back to here. That place, though. It was...” He floated back, shaking out his shoulders. “It was empty, Trinnie. It was full of people but empty.”

The fog of sleep and exhaustion cleared as I stared at him. This wasn’t one of his normal overreactions to something extraordinarily common. He was being serious and—

I lowered the can of soda. “You said there was a pop of bright, falling light? Around what time?”

“I don’t know. A few hours after the sunset? I wasn’t really paying attention.” Peanut started to rise. “I was watching Poodle Exercise with Humans on YouTube.”

My brows knitted and I started to question that, but shook that idea out of my head. “And you don’t know where you went to?”

“No, Trinnie. I mean, I don’t know if it was it,” he said, getting very close to one of the ceiling fans.

“What do you think it is?”

“You know, it.” He reached the fan. The blades sliced through the top of his head. “Purgatory. I was sucked into purgatory.”

Okay. I hadn’t expected him to say that. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been, so I could be wrong. The place doesn’t sound rad at all,” he said as the fan continued to churn through his head. It was a very disturbing thing to witness. “But that’s how I imagine such a downer of a place to feel. Like there is no hope and there is just...nothing.”

“That sounds...weird,” I murmured, concerned. It was highly unlikely that what had happened to him had anything to do with Zayne, but a falling bright light that sucked him into what could possibly be purgatory around the same time Zayne arrived? Even if it didn’t, could it happen again? Peanut could be superannoying, but I...well, I loved him like I imagined one grew to love an annoying sibling or something.

I guessed I’d add that to the ever-growing list of things to be stressed about.

“Anyhoo, so obviously I was super-freaked-out and I came to find you, but you weren’t here.” The ceiling fan was now cutting through his face. “What were you doing? It couldn’t be hunting demons or the Harbinger of Doucheness?”

Harbinger of Doucheness? I almost laughed. “No, I wasn’t hunting. I just needed to get out, clear my head and...” I frowned. “I know my vision is bad, but I can see you. Can you please get out of the fan. I don’t think you understand how freaky that looks.”