A shiver came over her. Those words had made no sense at first, but Amy suddenly understood what they meant. The discovery of her pendant in the attic, the cab mysteriously appearing at the ranch gate—these weren’t random coincidences, nor were they the work of Ryan’s spirit, either. These events had led Amy to the lighthouse, where she had ultimately uncovered the truth. These events had helped her, not him. They were manifestations of Amy’s spirit, her own attempt to fight back in a world in which she didn’t belong—a world in which the rules could be bent. This was how her mother could shine a lamp that wasn’t there, or how Chloe had been able to lift furniture around the room with such ease, or how she magically had all that money for the cab. Though this world felt tangible and real, it was just an illusion, and inside this illusion Amy had the power to exert her own influence, just like her mother did, just like Chloe did. All she needed to do was believe that she could.

“Ryan, hold on tight . . .”

“What are you doing!”

“I’m going to stand, I’m going to lift you up.”

“Are you crazy ? We’ll both fall!” Ryan resisted and made a desperate attempt to wriggle free, but Amy had clenched her hands so tight that he couldn’t shake her loose.

“This isn’t a debate!” Amy shouted. “I’m about to save your ass, so shut up and hold on!”

Amy focused her mind, steeled her resolve, then drew a deep breath and began by bringing one leg forward. Her arms felt the downward pressure at once, but Amy was equal to it and dragged her other leg forward, forcing herself to her knees. Then, mustering her will and every scrap of strength she could, she closed her eyes, planted both feet, one after the other, and heaved Ryan out of the darkness, back to the surface.

They clambered away from the edge and fell to the ground, neither able to let go of the other. Ryan stared at Amy in dismay, needing a moment to find his voice.

“How . . . did you do that?”

“Never mind that,” Amy said. “Are you all right?” She set about inspecting him, patting his back, his shoulders, squeezing his arms, running her fingers through his hair, every square inch she could reach.

“I’m okay, I’m fine, but—” Ryan turned back around, hesitating as he gazed at the cliff.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Amy, while I was hanging there, something happened to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw something.”

Amy’s eyes flicked back and forth between his. “Saw . . . what?”