“Don’t worry, Jeremy,” she said reassuringly. “You may still have your privacy, but I will always be here. And anywhere within the mansion and the grounds, I will always be able to reach out to you.”

“Jeremy? Is everything all right?” It was Astrid’s voice, and I snapped out of my mental communication with Kyrine to find that I was just standing in the doorway staring out into the dark.

“Sure,” I said, turning to face her. “I’m fine. I was just… thinking. What about you? I thought you were going to get some sleep?”

“I have!” she laughed. “You’ve been out for more than an hour!”

“Have I?” I said. “I didn’t realize. Time passes more quickly here than outside, it seems.”

She nodded. “It’s an effect of the dimensional magic that influences the mansion and the grounds. We don’t always notice it, but it’s some side effect from making the internal spaces bigger than they seem from the outside. You saw how big the grounds are?”

“Yeah, huge,” I said.

“From outside, or from above, the mansion seems no bigger than any of the other houses in this suburb. Once you’re inside, there are acres and acres of grounds, and somehow that messes with the passage of time as well. We’ve never quite managed to figure out how it works.”

I nodded slowly. “That’s some crazy shit!” I said, and Astrid laughed.

We both turned to look out the still-open door when we heard the distant sound of tires crunching on gravel, followed by the bleep of a keycard activating the outer gate. After a moment, a car door slammed and we could see headlights approaching, illuminating the trees that lined the main drive.

“Must be Selena,” I said to Astrid.

“You got in touch with her then?”

“Yep,” I said. “She said she was on her way. I got in touch with my uncle, too. He set my mind at rest about a couple of things, and assured me that he’ll tie up the loose ends of my old life. Here’s your phone back, by the way.”

Our hands brushed each other as I passed her cell back to her, and she looked up, smiling, her eyes meeting mine. That glance was electric, and I was reminded again of the kiss we had shared.

I was almost going to say something, when Selena’s car pulled up in front of the house, illuminating the scene for a moment with two bright cones of white light from the headlamps before the engine was switched off. The car’s hot engine clinked and hissed in the cold evening air. Then the door opened and Selena herself jumped out.