Three

“The Wending isn’t a thing or a place. It’s the roads between worlds,” Wander explained. “It connects all the worlds that are, that were, and that will be. Even some that might have been. You could step through the Wending and into ancient Greece, or the Library of Endersea, or the halls of Atlantis.”

“Atlantis is real?” Otto asked.

Wander smiled. “No, but it might have been, and so the Wending can take you there. My abilities allow me to open doorways between worlds that are close to each other—the ones pressed up against each other’s borders. But if you know how to navigate the Wending, you can enter any world you wish.”

“And what does this have to do with Mr. January’s sister?” Eleanor asked.

Wander looked grim. “The man you know as Mr. January comes from a place called the Pallid Kingdom. A horrible place, with a king and queen intent on devouring all the good of every world. So wicked were they that long ago, their world was cut off from all the rest. But their children were trapped outside the Pallid Kingdom. They have been trying to get back and free their parents ever since.”

Eleanor nodded. They knew this, or at least bits and pieces of it.

“The youngest of the siblings studied the ways between worlds, hoping she could find a way to open the path back to the Pallid Kingdom directly. Her search brought her to the Wending—and at last, recently, she became its mistress. She commands the umbral hounds, and she controls the Wending’s many roads.”

“So why doesn’t she just use it to get home?” Eleanor asked.

“The way to the Pallid Kingdom she seeks is barred. Even the Wending can’t reach it—not without breaking reality entirely. Your mother knows more about the Wending, Eleanor, but I have been unable to contact her.”

Eleanor flinched. Her mother had been missing now for almost a year, ever since their house burned down with Eleanor in it. At first, Eleanor had thought her mother set the fire and abandoned her. Then she found out that her mother had to run away because an evil society of the descendants of Eden Eld’s founders was after her. And last spring, she’d discovered that her mother had been chosen by the hedgewitch, one of the Prime Stories, before Eleanor was even born. Her mother had tried to resist the story as long as she could, but eventually it took her over and erased the person she’d been before. When Eleanor had seen her a few months ago, she hadn’t even remembered Eleanor.

“Okay, so sister number two is the queen of the Wending, or whatever,” Pip said. “What does it mean that it’s open?”

“Most of the time, the Wending is impossible to access,” Wander said. “If its mistress has opened it, it’s because she needs to use it. The timing suggests that you are the reason for that.”

“The clock in the hall isn’t ticking. Or running backward,” Eleanor said. She checked every day. When Mr. January and Mrs. Prosper came after them, the clock warned them, but it had been quiet for months.

“So maybe we still have some time,” Otto said, but he looked as uneasy as Eleanor felt. “What do you think she’s going to try to do? Bring some big nasty monster from another world?”

“Monsters aren’t a problem,” Pip said, tapping a finger against Gloaming’s hilt.

“I dunno, I have a pretty big problem with monsters,” Otto muttered.

Eleanor didn’t reply, lost in thought. The People Who Look Away—Mr. January, Mrs. Prosper, and their sister—each had a special day they claimed as their own. For Mr. January, it was Halloween. For Mrs. Prosper, it was the spring equinox. They’d considered everything from the summer solstice to National Ice Cream Day as dates of interest for the final sister. Pip had also suggested the last day of school, which was a couple weeks away, but Eleanor had tactfully pointed out that the Eden Eld Academy academic calendar probably didn’t have mystical significance.

“The summer solstice is in three weeks,” she said.

“The timing seems about right,” Otto said, following her train of thought.

“And National Ice Cream Day doesn’t have quite the right mystical ring to it,” Pip agreed. “Three weeks, huh? Well, it’s more warning than we’ve had so far.”

“Wander. If I could speak to you for a moment in private,” Jack said. She nodded and rose from her spot, and the two of them drew off to the side as Jack spoke in low, serious tones.

Pip glanced at Otto and bit her lip. He met her eyes, and just like Jenny and Ben had, they seemed to be holding a whole conversation. Pip widened her eyes meaningfully. Otto tilted his head toward Eleanor. Pip scowled. They had been best friends since they were babies, and they were always doing this.

“What is it?” Eleanor asked, sighing.

“It’s about the Stories,” Otto said. He wetted his lips nervously. “Eleanor, I think the other Stories might be . . . noticing us.”

“What do you mean?” Eleanor asked, her voice hoarse. She hadn’t told him about his eyes—about how they’d been flashing gray since they’d escaped from Mrs. Prosper. Ever since Otto had performed a ritual given to them by the hedgewitch—exactly the sort of thing the Stories might be drawn to.

He took a deep breath. “Eleanor, we haven’t told you because we didn’t want to freak you out until we were sure. But I saw something after we got back from the Wickerwood, and I keep seeing it. Pip has, too.”

“Your eyes,” Eleanor whispered. “They’re turning gray.”

They stared at her. “What?” Otto said.

“That’s not what you were going to say?” she asked him, panicky.

“No, I . . .” He swallowed. “My eyes are turning gray?” His voice was tight and fearful.

Pip stared at him. “Oh no,” she said, looking stricken. “I didn’t see.”

Eleanor nodded, tears pricking her eyes. She shouldn’t have kept it a secret. She just wanted it not to be true. “But if that’s not what you were going to tell me—” she started.

Pip swallowed. “We weren’t going to tell you that Otto’s eyes were turning gray.”

Eleanor felt something squeeze behind her ribs, like a knot pulling tight.

“We were going to tell you that yours are.”