“The door is still open, it obeys me, I can go in and out. It’s the Other Place, no doubt about it. Stephen is working on getting a house for us nearby. We shouldn’t talk about the Other Place, I can’t keep up the secret with you and for now we can’t go somewhere we won’t be heard, because frankly I can’t get up from this chair. Are you going to take my brother? It was impossible to let you know we were both coming.”

I moved back to get a better look at his face. He was telling the truth about the doorway. When he was feeling better, we’d have to go to our private place near the beach, where we held our secret conversations. I had a moment of euphoria. The Other Place had returned. It was ours. We could ask for things, ask for Juan’s health, ask for wisdom about how to maneuver politically in the Order, finally ask for Mercedes’ death and my entrance into the power of the Three. And, of course, we would also ask for the seal to mark our son and save him from his destiny.

“Yes, I can take him,” I said, drying my tears. “The soldiers know us. I’m going to tell him, though, that he can’t talk about this with his comrades. We can’t be an exit door or put this place in danger. Betty is already putting us at risk, in my opinion. She can’t find out about this, either. She would beg us to get her and Adela out, and that’s impossible. There are plans for the girl. Does Stephen know?”

“He’s looking for a house for them, too.”

Juan massaged his temples and I recognized the signs of a migraine, his red eyes, the right side of his face a little paralyzed. I took his pulse: weak and dangerously fast. It was a severe arrhythmia.

“I can go with you,” he said. “When it’s all ready, we have to give our address to Luis. We can’t lose contact with him. Your parents aren’t going to understand why we want to live in that neighborhood, and I don’t want them to suspect anything. It’s far from Libertador and near the hospital, just like we thought.”

“They’re going to think we want to antagonize them, that’s all. You know why they want Beatriz and Adela to live near us, right? They got it into their heads that the girl will grow more powerful if she’s near you and Gaspar. It’s not the best time to move to Buenos Aires now, but I no longer expect anything to be easy, and I can’t stand this house anymore. I need to work.”

I pulled Gaspar out from under the table so he wouldn’t hit his head, and picked him up. He was sleepy.