Sophie climbed out first, blinking hard behind her sunglasses in the late-afternoon sunshine. Her eyes felt gritty and sore, and there was a ticklish dry patch at the back of her throat. She wondered if she was coming down with a cold. Even though she’d been desperately trying not to think about Palamedes, some of the Witch’s memories had percolated into hers, and she realized she knew a little about him. He was an immortal human gifted with the special ability to move freely through the Shadowrealms and yet remain unaffected by them. Few humans who went into the artificial worlds the Elders created ever returned. Human history-both ancient and modern-was full of people who had simply disappeared. Those very few who had somehow returned, or been brought back, often found that hundreds of years had passed on earth even though only a few nights had slipped by in the Shadowrealms. Many who came back were mad or had come to believe that the Shadowrealm was the real world while this earth was nothing more than a dream. They spent their entire lives trying to return to what they thought was the real world.

“You’re thinking again.” Josh jerked her elbow, distracting her.

Sophie smiled. “I’m always thinking.”

“I meant you were thinking about stuff you shouldn’t. The Witch’s stuff.”

“How can you tell?”

Josh’s smile turned grave. “For an instant, just an instant, the pupils of your eyes turn silver. It’s scary.”

Sophie wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. She looked around at the walls of cars surrounding the rust-dappled hut. “It’s a bit grim, isn’t it? I thought all these Elders and immortals lived in palaces.”

Josh turned in a complete circle, but when he looked back at her there was a grin on his face. “Actually, I think it’s kind of cool. It’s like a metal castle. And it seems to be incredibly secure, too. There’s no way to even get close to this place without tipping off the guards.”

“I caught glimpses of something moving as we drove through the maze,” Sophie said.

Josh nodded. “Earlier, Palamedes told me that the houses in all the streets surrounding this place are empty. He owns them all. He said there are something called larvae and lemurs in them.”

“Guardians.”

“I saw a huge dog…” He nodded toward the pack of dogs lying completely still under the hut. “It was like those, only bigger, cleaner. It seemed to be patrolling the streets. And you’ve seen the defenses,” he added excitedly. “There’s a single heavily guarded entrance that funnels everything into a narrow alleyway. So no matter how big whatever army you have is, only two or three soldiers can attack at any one time. And they’re also vulnerable from above because of the battlements.”