“I turned thirteen,” she said, looking way up at his face. He was even taller than Paxton, but he’d filled out with muscle, too. They had met in dream worlds as little kids until the dream worlds had disappeared along with the immortals’ ability to teleport. It was because Quade Kayrs, another greatish uncle of hers, had returned from a world far away—somehow that had screwed everything up. “I didn’t create this dream world, though.” It was too cold. Too scary looking.

Drake watched the water spray up from far below. “Can your people teleport again?”

“No,” she said. “This is different.” She didn’t know how, but she felt the truth in her bones. She looked up, way up, to another cliff and saw the edge of her book. The green one she could never reach but had always been with her.

Drake followed her gaze. “Have you figured out what’s in that weird book?”

“No,” she said quietly. They’d agreed, years ago, not to tell each other the secrets of their people, and that was one of them. The book was for the Lock, and only she could open it. That was all she’d figured out so far.

He looked at her, his eyes filled with a light she’d never seen. “Thirteen, huh? You wear it well.”

She’d heard the expression on a television show, and she blushed, her face heating. Flirting was new to her, and she was a dork about it. Man, he was cute. Like the boys on television but taller and stronger. She kicked a pebble. “You got a lot taller.”

He nodded, sweeping an arm out. His hands had gotten bigger, too. “What do you think this means? That we can meet again?”

“I’m not sure.” For a while, they’d tried to communicate over the internet, but the grownups had found out and shut them down. It had been nearly two years since they’d talked. Were they still friends? Their people were enemies, but they were going to change that someday. Somehow. The wind whipped up, feeling unfriendly.

Drake grasped her arm and tugged her closer to the rock wall. “Let’s sit.”

She sat with her back to the rock and her legs extended, watching the churning water spread out to the far distance. Drake sat next to her, and for the first time in a long time, she felt right. Was he gonna hold her hand? Should she grab his? What if he didn’t want to hold hands?

He took her hand in his, and her stomach got all squishy. “How are Pax and Libby?” They’d all met once, and all had gotten in trouble because of it, too.