“Either give your sons to Marion and Leslie, or stay here with them,” said Loki. “With you or without you, I’m returning to Westil now.”

“If I let you,” said Danny.

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried,” said Loki.

“I could eat that Wild Gate,” said Danny.

“If you could, you already would have,” said Loki.

“Can you?” asked Danny. “Because if you can, do it.”

“Three-fourths of that gate is yours,” said Loki. “I don’t have the power to swallow any gate of yours. But the quarter of that gate that isn’t yours—you don’t know how to disentangle it. You don’t know how to swallow an active gate that isn’t your own.”

“Teach me,” said Danny.

“It can’t be taught,” said Loki. “It can only be learned. I can’t even demonstrate, because I don’t have enough outself to make a Great Gate and show you, and besides, I would never be so arrogant as to make a Great Gate with angry captive outselves bound up in it.”

“In other words,” said Danny, “you never thought of it, you never tried it, and now you want me to feel stupid for doing it.”

Loki stared at him for a long couple of seconds. “Gatemages all think they’re so smart,” he said.

“You’d know,” said Danny.

Loki reached out a hand to Anonoei. “Are you coming with me or not? I’ve been in the same world with the Belgod longer than I should. He knows me. And I’m in no shape to meet him now. So I’m not waiting any longer.”

Anonoei gave her sons one more agonized look. “Eluik, Enopp, I love you,” she said. “I promise I’ll come back. Please obey these people. And above all, find a way to separate and become yourselves again.”

“Now,” said Loki.

Anonoei took his proffered hand.

In that instant, they were gone.

Danny felt the gate that Loki made, and felt it disappear the moment they had passed through it. Loki had gated to the barn, and no sooner had he and Anonoei got there than Danny felt them pass once more through the Wild Gate, back to Westil.

“Is Mother going to die?” asked Enopp.

“No,” said Leslie.

“Let’s not start by lying to these boys,” said Marion. “We don’t know what she and Loki are going to do or how well they’ll do it. But I believe she does mean to come back for them, if she possibly can.”

“I wasn’t lying,” said Leslie. “I was encouraging.”

“Loki is the oldest, wisest mage in either world,” said Danny. “And he’s looking after your mother.”

Enopp nodded. “And are you going to teach me how to be a gatemage?”

“If that’s what you turn out to be,” said Danny. “Which we won’t know for at least a few more years.”

“Is that a promise?” asked Enopp.