We leave Agra the evening Paheli and Widad return from their day of spying. They tell us nothing except that we have to leave immediately, so we do. Settling the hotel bill on our way out, we find an expanse of uninterrupted wall a few streets away. Talei lays a star-embedded palm on the wall, and a second later, a door to the Between glimmers into existence.

We are three-quarters of the way to the door leading to Arijejen in Nauru, where Taraana is staying with Assi and her group, when the Between’s lights flicker violently. A minute later, we see Taraana sprinting toward us. Behind him are three silver-scaled middle worlders, Baarish’s minions. Taraana has a split lip, a blackened eye, and cuts on his arms and face. His knee is battered and his clothes are torn.

It will be a long time before we can forget the look on his face the moment he glimpses us. He flings himself at us and we catch him and bring him in, shielding him with our bodies. The hum in the Between deepens—an ominous sign. Anger, a furious storm of it, rises in us.

The scaled creatures see us and hesitate. They know we are not to be trifled with. “You should let him go,” one of the scaled creatures says. There is an odd quality to the way he shapes words, as if his tongue is not used to speech. “You cannot keep him safe forever.”

Taraana shudders at his words.

“How can you be sure?” Valentina raises her chin at the challenge in the creature’s words.

“Do you think the Dar is alone in his desire for the Keeper of the Between?” another scaled middle worlder asks with a smile we can only describe as fiendish. “He is but one of many.”

“So? Are we supposed to hand Taraana to you based on that?” Kamboja scoffs.

“Enough,” Valentina says. In the next moment, entirely without warning, she screams. Like the last time, the creatures fall into themselves, ending as liquid, which might be water but we’re not going to get close enough to truly identify it.

“You! Give us some warning so we can cover Taraana’s ears!” Daraja scolds Valentina.

“Our screams don’t affect him.” Valentina rolls her eyes. “Do you think the Between would let us scream if they did?”

We look at Taraana; he looks shell-shocked but otherwise fine. He flinches when Paheli takes his hand before he realizes it’s her. When he does, he holds on. Tight.

“What happened?” Valentina asks him as we turn around and make our way to our next destination.

“I was betrayed.” Taraana’s voice is flat.

“Assi?” Areum asks.