I walk over to my father, who hands me the key, and then take two more strides to where the veil ripples silver and unnatural on the back wall. This is the closest I’ve come to it. It makes me feel as if there are a million insects buzzing under the surface of my skin. It takes all the strength I have not to put my hands on my knees and wretch up the contents of my stomach.

“Do you feel it?” I ask weakly.

“Feel what?” Lena asks at the same moment as Finn whispers an emphatic “Yes.”

Despite the sickening feeling, it pulls me closer. It feels familiar somehow, as if we are made of the same stuff.

Suddenly Finn appears at my side. I extend a hand, fingers nearly brushing the quicksilver surface before he swats my arm down with an elbow.

“Curious,” he breathes.

“I know,” I whisper in return.

From behind us, I hear faint voices. But the buzzing in my ears is growing louder by the second, a swarm of locusts descending on my mind.

“Frances.” The name is faint; I can’t tell who is calling me.

“FRANCES!” A hand fists the neck of my dress and yanks me back. I stumble and catch my breath, coming back to myself.

Maxine pulls Finn back too. I imagine the glassy look in his eyes is the same as in mine. The rest of them look at us confused and concerned.

My mother’s mouth is moving quickly, her words too faint to hear.

“Do we just say the spell then?” I ask.

“It seems as good an idea as any.”

I search the hallway for any visible keyhole, but there is just dirt and bones and the rippling wall.

My father nods. “Go ahead.”

“I say go for it,” Maxine speaks up, sensing my hesitation.

My mother’s breathing is ragged and wet. I need to finish this quickly and get her to safety. I take a deep breath, filling my bruised lungs to the apex. I close my eyes and attempt to feel the words with my soul as the boy to my left once taught me to do in a forest far away from here.

I place the key in the center of my palm and say the spell, “We will be deathless.”

The veil ripples, indifferent and unchanged.

I glance back to my father, who looks just as confused as I am.

I place the key on the ground on the edge of the veil next, like I laid out the items that allowed me to speak to my brother in the basement of the Commodore Club. “Si sin morte,” I try this time.

Still nothing.

It seems reckless to toss the key, but I don’t know what else to do with it. “Si sin morte!” I shout so loud it reverberates off the walls.