But there was no one on the other side. The house had opened the door.

When I looked down the bright hallway, filled with rain boots, jackets, and one very sharp arrow, I saw a face appear at the other end.

“It’s you!” a little voice whispered in awe.

Lej sighed and went in first. I followed him in, and Ashwini came after me and shut the door firmly behind us.

“Behold,” she said grandly, “our headquarters!”

Crow House was a whirlwind of sunny windows, loud noises, and an immediate onslaught of excited faces and loud questions. It felt like there were at least a hundred of them, but it turned out to only be four.

“Oi!” Lej barked. “Pipe down!”

It gave me some comfort to know he used that tone on everyone, not just me, but it had absolutely no effect on the horde. They just giggled at him before going straight back to crowding around me and chattering at the tops of their voices.

Ashwini put her hand to her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. The house went silent immediately.

“Is that any way to greet our guest?” she asked, mouth twitching as she tried and failed to suppress a grin. “Kiki’s going to think you were all raised by jackals!”

“Not jackals,” said a cheeky male voice. “Just crows.”

“Put a sock in it,” Ashwini said in the exasperated tone I’d often heard Emily use on her little sister. “Give Kiki some space and a chance to take a breath.”

They vanished in a clatter of footsteps and wheels.

I raised my eyebrows at Ashwini, who shrugged and said, “I’m very good at keeping them in line. Lej, on the other hand,” she added, rather smugly, “is not.”

Lej’s only response was to roll his eyes. Ashwini gave him an affectionate elbow in the ribs as she lowered her sword to the floor and shrugged out of her leather jacket. I looked around, one hand touching the pale, sunshine-yellow paint of the hallway wall. I was torn between curiosity about the kids I’d just seen and terror at the prospect of living up to their expectations of me.

I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard Ashwini say, “Let’s go sit down. You must be exhausted!”

I opened my mouth to say that I was indeed exhausted, not to mention starving, but instead I found myself too fascinated to resist asking, “Actually, is it okay if I see the rest of the house first?”

She beamed. “Of course! Come on, I’ll show you around and you can meet the Crows properly.”

The first room she showed me was the front room, just off the hallway, and it was obviously their living room. It was an explosion of toys, books, and plump, faded cushions. The walls were paneled in warm-colored wood and lined with shelves and sketches, and there were two mismatched sofas and one squashy armchair on top of a shaggy rug. The big bright window across the room looked out onto the square and statue.