At first, I don’t think he’ll respond, but after a moment, he says matter-of-factly, “You learn.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Anora and the Train Yard

Once we’re back in Thane’s car, he twists toward me in his seat.

“Samael said Lily is at the train yard. Are you up for investigating?”

“T-tonight?”

“Do you really think we have the luxury of time, Anora? Who’s to say Lily’s murderer won’t exchange another soul?”

Yeah, like his or mine.

I hesitate. If Mom discovers I snuck out, I’ll be grounded forever, but that’s far better than another murder. Also, there’s a better than good chance that Mom will be in her room for another few days.

“I’ll go.”

On the way to the train yard, I think about what Thane said—I need to learn to open the gates, to save souls, to rid the world of Influence. For such a heavy burden, I wonder why I was so alone in the discovery of my power. It had been just after I found Poppa dead and witnessed a plume of black explode from his body. Influence, I now know, but then, I’d been so afraid. So fearful. The thread had burst from me then and every time after that, responding to those same emotions. This can’t be how it’s meant to be, summoning the thread when I feel the most distress.

I know I need to learn to control it, and it would be best if I could summon the gates. Having a box of coins lying around is dangerous. Look at the chaos losing one caused. But how am I supposed to learn? How am I supposed to stay under the radar practicing?

The headlights of Thane’s Charger only provide a few feet of visibility against the night as we approach the train yard, protected by a locked gate and a tall fence. Thane stops, exits the car, and unlocks the padlock.

“What?” he asks when he returns to the driver’s seat.

“Where did you get that key?”

“My uncle owns this property,” he says, as if that explains everything.

I look at him suspiciously. “That’s…convenient.”

“Don’t overthink this, Anora. My uncle owns half the town.”

“So you stole his keys?”

“I borrowed them,” he corrects. “Don’t make everything I do sound like a crime.”

He inches the car forward until it’s inside the gate and then shuts the engine off. I follow him as he exits the car; the wind roars around me, picking my hair up, tangling it around my neck. It also carries the distinct smell of rot. It’s faint, still some distance away, but chills spider down my arms and back, making my skin feel like canvas stretched too tight. Thane doesn’t seem to notice as he walks, the crunch of loose gravel grating under his feet.