“So,” Nemo said.

“What happened?” Ghost asked. “On the roof of the hotel, I mean. All I remember is looking at you. Then everything hurt.”

Nemo hesitated, as if she didn’t want to tell the story. “You got hit by one of Boomer’s explosives,” she said. “He was trying for me, but you kind of got in the way.”

“Oh,” Ghost said, not sure what to say. “Is he . . .”

“Yeah,” Nemo said, nodding. She looked like she might cry. Then she did. “It’s all my fault.”

Instinctively, Ghost reached out and took her friend’s hand. Nemo startled, then relaxed. “Sorry,” she said, almost laughing while she wiped her eyes with her free hand. “I thought you were going to teleport us somewhere else.”

“Not this time,” Ghost said. “Unless you want to go to Disneyland or something.”

Now Nemo did laugh. “Maybe later,” she said. Then she turned serious. “We’ve been through some tough shit.”

“Yeah, we have,” Ghost agreed. “And nobody is . . . mad at me?”

“Well, I’m not,” Nemo assured her. “And I don’t think Max is. You know he can’t stay mad at anyone for very long. Especially you.”

“What about, you know, the others?”

“Nine will definitely have some questions for you,” Nemo said. “And they’ll probably want you to talk to someone about what happened. You know, to make sure you’re really okay.”

“In the head, you mean,” said Ghost.

“Well, yeah,” Nemo said.

“I kind of went off the deep end,” Ghost admitted. She waited for Nemo to comfort her, to say again that everything was going to be fine. When her friend didn’t respond, Ghost said, “Are we okay?”

“We will be,” Nemo said, adding, “You’re not going to disappear on me again, are you? That Legacy of yours can be really annoying, you know.”

Ghost shook her head. “No more disappearing,” she said. “I promise.”

Another uneasy silence settled over them. Ghost knew it was going to take time before things were back to the way they were before. There was nothing she could do about that. And it was okay. She still didn’t entirely understand why she had done the things she did either, so how could Nemo understand them?

“You should get some rest,” Nemo said.

“Yeah,” Ghost agreed. “Thanks for coming.”

“I’ll be back later,” Nemo promised her, letting go of her hand and standing up. “I mean, you saved my life. The least I can do is bring you some chocolate, right? And I’ll bring Max with me.”

Nemo left, giving her a wave from the doorway. When she was gone, Ghost felt herself start to be afraid again. She’d done some things that seemed unforgivable. She was especially nervous about seeing Max. She knew he must be disappointed in her. For a moment she considered breaking her promise and teleporting away. Then she forced herself to calm down. Maybe Nemo was right, and everything would be okay. Not easy, but okay.

She looked out the window and saw a blue sky. For the first time in a long time, she felt hopeful. For now, that was enough.