Obscura dropped a few grains of whispering dust into Maren’s palm, and Maren propped Lishta’s mouth open. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she tipped it inside. Lishta shifted and muttered and went still.

“Go on.” Obscura gave Maren’s shoulder an impatient shove.

“Gran-Gran?” said Maren. “Can you hear me?”

“Maren?” Lishta’s voice was startlingly lucid. “Is that you, sweetheart? Watch out for the stinging nettles. They’re trying to catch us.”

“I’ll be careful,” said Maren.

Lishta let out a little cry and clutched her arm, then her chest. “They’re so angry. Oh, sweetheart, you’d better run. My arm is stuck, so they’ll get me instead.” She swatted at her face and neck and hands. “Run, Maren!”

Tears sprang to Maren’s eyes. Her grandmother was trapped in a nightmare she’d made. Obscura elbowed her out of the way and bent over the old woman’s ear.

“The thorns are as big as knitting needles,” she whispered.

Lishta’s frail body twitched, and she flung both arms over her face. “Run, sweetheart! Get out of here!”

Maren turned away, but she could still hear her grandmother’s panting breath, her gasps and cries. “Where is Amos?” she said, hating herself for wanting to leave, but she couldn’t, couldn’t stay for any more of this.

Obscura gestured at the wall behind Maren. “Next door.”

Maren kept her eyes averted from her grandmother. “Can I see him?”

A triumphant leer slid across Obscura’s lips as she inclined her head toward the door. “After you.”

In an identical dressing room next to Lishta’s, Amos lay fast asleep.

“I read his text messages and figured out he was supposed to stay at a friend’s house for the weekend,” said Obscura. “So I texted his mother and said he was heading to his friend’s, then texted his friend to say he was sick and couldn’t come.” Her face fell into a fake little pout. “It’s rather irritating that you brought him along. Now I’ve got to take care of all three of you.”

Take care of could mean two very different things, and Maren didn’t think Obscura meant the good one. On trembling legs, she crossed the room and checked to make sure Amos was breathing. She hadn’t really expected that his mom would connect his disappearance with hers, but it was unthinkable that not a single person would start looking for either one of them until Sunday night. Maren backed away from Amos before Obscura got any ideas about giving him nightmares or whispering dust.

Radiating smugness, Obscura followed her out into the dark hall. She didn’t turn the flashlight back on.

“Now you see, Maren Eloise.” Her whisper was sharp as knives. “You really are mine.”