“Rook! Are you all right?”
It was Jace.
Rook looked up to see the young constable standing at the shoreline, hands cupping his mouth as he shouted to her. “You did it!” he cried, his voice quavering with excitement. “You saved us!”
The rest of the constables were pressing forward now, clapping each other on the back. A few cheers even went up along the shoreline.
And Jace sounded…grateful. It was the last thing Rook had expected. She’d been sure the constables would be terrified by her display of power, that they’d put her in chains like Dozana.
“Hold on!” Jace called out to her again. “We’re coming to get you!”
And then what? Rook thought. She’d saved the city, but she was still an exile. Would the constables really let her go after everything that had happened? Rook let out a sigh and leaned down to press her forehead against the wet stones. She was too exhausted to think about it. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Suddenly, there were more shouts from the shoreline, this time in agitation. Rook raised her head to see what was going on.
A thick mist had gathered around the pillars, rolling across the surface of the lake. In seconds, it obscured the constables and filled the sky above her, until Rook was lost in the dense fog. All she could see was the stone ledge beneath her.
What was happening? Was it some leftover magic of the Wasteland? Rook had no strength left, no power to draw on. Whatever happened next, she was helpless.
A shadow fell over her.
Rook looked up in time to see a large shape descending from the fog. It parted the mist, revealing a long, graceful wooden hull and white sails.
Rook’s heart leaped.
It was the Chase.
Danna stepped into view on the main deck, putting her boot up on the rail. She grinned and called down to Rook. “Need a hand?”
One of the crew lowered a rope to her, and together the children hauled Rook up on deck, where Heath was waiting.
“Are you all right?” he asked, looking her over in concern. “You’re drained almost to nothing, aren’t you?”
A girl hurried over with a blanket and wrapped it around Rook. She didn’t realize how cold she was until the warm softness fell on her shoulders.
“How did you get here so fast?” Rook asked, her teeth chattering. “You were…halfway around the world.”
“The time distortion,” Danna reminded her. “To you it hasn’t seemed long, but it took us a day and a half to get here after Heath got pushed back out your door. We don’t know what went wrong, but we set a course and came as fast as we could. Some of the children have been using their magic to help speed us along. It was a wild ride, I can tell you that.”
“Let’s get you belowdecks,” Heath said. “We can talk later.”
The Chase was already rising back into the fog. The pillars and the lake disappeared from view amid the confused shouts of the constables, who had never even known the ship was there.
ROOK SLEPT THROUGH MOST OF the journey back to Heath and Danna’s house. When they docked and approached the door to the manor, it opened before they could reach it.
There, standing in the doorway, were Drift and Fox in his human form.
At first, no one could speak. Rook was too busy being swept up into Drift’s arms. Fox hugged her from behind, and they wouldn’t let go as they led her into the house.
“Are you all right?” Drift demanded. Without waiting for an answer, she guided Rook to sit by the fire. Some of the older children were there too. They must have stayed behind to look after the younger ones while Heath and Danna and a skeleton crew went to rescue Rook. Everyone pressed close, wanting to hear the story of Rook’s adventures.
“Give her some air,” Danna said as she kicked off her boots, but she was smiling in amusement. “She still needs to rest.”
“I’m all right,” Rook assured her, hugging Fox and squeezing Drift’s hand. She smiled at her friend, feeling safe, feeling at peace for the first time she could remember.
The children gave her space but still demanded she tell them everything that had happened at the portal. So Rook did, leaving nothing out. She told them about the plan of escape she’d come up with and described how her memories had started to return each time she passed through a door into and out of the Wasteland. Was it the strong magic gathered in that place that had done it? Rook would never know for sure, but no matter how it had happened, she was grateful.
She told them about the moment she realized who Fox was and what his paper birds meant, and how she used one to get a message to the boy and help foil Dozana’s plan. She described all the doors she’d created to funnel the magic out of the Wasteland, and the children gasped in wonder, while Heath just watched her with a slight, proud smile curving his lips.
By the time Rook finished her story, she was exhausted again, so Danna herded the children out of the room and left Rook, Drift, and Fox alone by the living room fire with Heath. The wizard hadn’t spoken much. His brow was furrowed, and he appeared to be in deep thought as he stared at the flames.
“What’s going to happen to the Wasteland now?” Drift asked.
Heath scratched the beard stubble at his chin. “I’m not sure,” he said. “It’s possible now that there’s no longer magic running wild in the Wasteland that the area and the affected plants and animals will begin to heal and return to their natural state. That’s what I’m hoping, at least. Once things have settled here, I’ll travel to Regara to see what I can do to aid the process.” He glanced at Rook, smiling. “Maybe I’ll take a shortcut, if someone will open a door for me.”
Rook grinned and nodded.
“Well,” Heath said, standing, “I’m sure you three have a lot to talk about. I’m going to see if Danna needs help calming the other children. We’ve had enough excitement around here to last for weeks.” He paused on his way out of the room. “You should also think over our offer of a home here. We’d love to have you all.”
He left the room, but before Rook could say anything, Drift stood up as well. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving!” she declared. “Maybe I’ll go to the kitchen and dig up a snack for all of us.”
Fox perked up immediately. “Cheese?” he asked.
“Well, of course, cheese,” Drift said, as if that should have been obvious. She glanced at Rook. “Any requests?”
Smiling, Rook shook her head. “Just hurry back,” she said. Heath was right. They did have a lot to talk about.
When Drift was gone, Rook was struck by the realization that this was the first moment she and Fox had had alone together since before they’d gone to meet Dozana that fateful day in Rill Park.
It was the first time they’d been together since finding out they were brother and sister.
Rook clasped her hands in her lap, feeling suddenly awkward and shy. What could she say to Fox? It had been so much easier to talk when she’d been sending him a message in her mind. Part of her wished she could do that now.
No, they’d spent too long apart already. She’d almost lost him so many times. Never again.
“Fox,” she said, and the boy looked up at her, blinking curiously. She could start with the question that had been on her mind ever since her memories came back. “Did you know?” she asked. “Did you know all along that I was your sister?”
Fox’s eyebrows scrunched as he considered the question. “No,” he said, but then his mouth twisted, as if he was unsatisfied with this answer. “But I knew…something. Like knowing a story without the words.”
Now Rook was confused. “I don’t understand,” she said.
“I had the story, but it didn’t have any words,” he said. “They were missing. ‘Sister.’ ‘Brother.’ ‘Family.’ But I felt it here.” Fox pressed his hand against his chest, over his heart.
“Oh,�
�� Rook said, suddenly finding it difficult to speak. “You felt it, and that’s why you came through my door in the forest. That’s why you came to find me.”
He nodded. “I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew it was a door to the right place. I just had to get through.”
Rook’s vision blurred. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m glad you did,” she said. It had taken her a long time to figure out where she belonged and with whom. All those nights she’d spent trying to open a door back to Vora, her magic had been trying to take her to the next best place—to Fox, and to Heath and Danna’s sanctuary. She’d thought her magic was failing her, but it had been trying to save her all along.
Now that they’d started talking, Rook realized she had so many questions she wanted to ask her brother. She wanted to know whether he remembered anything about their parents or their life together in Vora. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, Rook could almost see her mother’s and father’s faces. All the missing pieces of herself were slowly coming together, memories mending. She knew that with them would come sorrow and grief, but having Fox there would help ease the pain.
And as much as Rook wanted to talk about the past, the question remained of what their future held.
“Fox, what do you think about what Heath offered?” Rook asked. “Do you want to stay here with them?”
Fox shrugged and settled back against the couch cushions. “We can stay wherever you want,” he said. “Here or there—doesn’t matter as long as we’re together.” He added, “As long as Drift’s there too.”
Rook smiled. “Agreed,” she said. “Why don’t I go find her so we can all talk it over?”
Thinking about it, Rook realized Drift should have been back from the kitchen by now. She rose from the couch, leaving Fox snuggled under a blanket by the fire, and went to look for her friend.
She checked the kitchen, but there was no sign of Drift, no sign that anyone had been in there. Concerned, Rook went to the window and looked out at the snow. There were footprints everywhere from when they had come in from the ship. As she scanned the ground, she noticed that a single set jutted off from the others and headed back in the direction of the ship.
Without hesitating, Rook grabbed one of the coats from a hook by the door. It was too big for her, but she didn’t care. She threw it on, buttoned it hastily, and went out into the snow.
She followed the footprints back to the skyship. Drift was nowhere in sight, but Rook looked up at the masts and caught a flash of color in the crow’s nest.
Drift was leaning against the crow’s nest railing, staring off into the distance. She hadn’t heard Rook approach.
“I think she’s too big for you to fly her,” Rook called out.
Startled, Drift looked down and saw her. “I didn’t hear you,” she said.
“I noticed.” Rook walked up the gangplank to the main deck.
“I can come down,” Drift said.
“It’s fine,” Rook said, approaching the crow’s nest ladder. “What are you doing up there?”
“Nothing really,” Drift said. “I was just…getting some fresh air.”
Her friend’s voice was strained. Rook scowled as she began climbing the ladder. “Wow, that was a terrible lie. Your worst ever.”
Drift snorted. “Thanks.”
Rook didn’t understand. Everything should have been all right now. They were safe, and she thought that her and Drift’s friendship was safe too. But maybe she’d been wrong. The thought of that, that she could still lose Drift, filled Rook with dread as she climbed.
When she reached the top, Drift was waiting to pull her up, using her wind to hold Rook steady until she could secure a grip on the railing.
“I could have just come down and flown you up,” Drift said.
“You’re changing the subject,” Rook countered. “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Drift insisted. “I’ve just been thinking, that’s all. Mostly, I’m relieved that everyone’s all right. When I disappeared through that trapdoor, leaving you alone with Dozana—Rook, you don’t know what that did to me.”
Rook reached out to take her hand. “It’s all right,” she said. “It’s over now.”
“We’re not separating like that again,” Drift said, mimicking Rook’s tone when she’d said the same thing.
“I won’t even bring it up,” Rook promised. She looked closer at her friend. “That isn’t all you’re upset about, is it?”
Drift hesitated. “You know when you had that vision about Fox? When you went through the doors? Well, I had a vision too, and some of my memories came back.”
“Really?” Rook was delighted. “That’s great! What did you remember?”
Drift’s face clouded. “For one thing, I remembered enough to know for sure that Dozana wasn’t my mother.”
Rook nodded, recalling what Dozana had confessed to her, that she’d never had a daughter at all. Of all the things the woman had done, Rook hated that the most, that she’d used her friend in such a cruel way.
“Was there anything else?” Rook asked. “Any good memories?”
“Yes,” Drift said. “I remembered something my parents left for me, a part of my power I didn’t know about, like you with the messages. They were the ones who created the house, Rook. The place where we’ve been staying.”
Rook’s mouth fell open. “But how?”
“I’m not sure,” Drift said. “It’s strange. They put it sort of…between worlds. It exists in this little pocket, a place that’s just the house and the meadow outside. Because the world is so small, it’s easy to get to, or something. I don’t understand it all, but I know my parents created it for me when the wars in Vora started. They left enough animus there to do little things to take care of me. I think originally they meant it to be temporary—a safe place to hide. But when the chance came to send me to this world instead, they took it.”
“But a part of you must have remembered the house,” Rook reasoned. “Or my power must have tapped into your memory somehow, and we found the house again, even between worlds.”
“I think so,” Drift said, looking thoughtful and sad.
“Drift, what’s the matter?” Rook pressed. “You remembered something from your past, a part of your family. Doesn’t it make you happy?”
“It does,” Drift said, but there were tears in her eyes. “I just thought maybe I’d remember something different. I didn’t see you in any of my memories,” she confessed, and Rook didn’t think she had ever seen her friend look so miserable. “I thought…I hoped that we might have been sisters. I’ve just always felt so connected to you. We were drawn together from almost the first night we got to this world.”
And it was the best thing that could have happened to me, Rook thought. Drift’s friendship had saved her that night and every night after.
“But it was you and Fox who were related all along,” Drift went on. “And I’m not jealous,” she said quickly, her gaze straying over her shoulder toward the house. “I’m glad you two found each other. I just thought maybe if you found out we were sisters, that would mean we’d stay together. You’d always have a reason to come home.”
Rook looked up sharply. “I already have a reason,” she said, surprised that Drift would even think it. “I don’t need for us to be sisters for me to come home. All I need to know is that you and Fox are there. I couldn’t always see that—I was too obsessed with finding a way back to Vora—but I see it now.”
“You’ve faced every one of your fears,” Drift said, looking at her in wonder, “while I haven’t even had the courage to tell you what I’m afraid of.”
Rook blinked. She hadn’t thought Drift—bright, unquenchable, unstoppable Drift—was afraid of anything. “What is it?” she asked.
Drift hesitated. “I’m afr
aid of being alone,” she said. “Every time I saw you and Fox together, you looked so happy. It made me think I was losing you. I know that’s a terrible thing to say, because I want you to be happy, Rook.” She stared at the ground, biting her lip. “But what if you and Fox left, and I was all alone? Dozana turned out not to be my mother, and that hurts, but it’s…it’s okay. I knew I could survive if I had you and Fox. But I couldn’t lose the ones I loved a second time. I knew I wouldn’t survive that.”
Rook was speechless. She’d been so worried about losing Drift’s friendship, that the terrible things she’d said, all the times she’d neglected Drift, would mean she wouldn’t want to be around Rook anymore. But Drift had been worried about losing her too.
Unexpectedly, a giggle rose up inside Rook. She tried to stifle it, but it escaped anyway, and she found herself grinning at Drift.
“What?” her friend demanded. “What can be funny right now?”
Rook shrugged. “I can’t help it,” she said. “I just—” But she couldn’t finish because she was laughing. She was laughing and yet there were tears running down her face. And because she didn’t know what else to do to show Drift how she felt, she threw her arms around her friend and hugged her so hard Drift squeaked.
“I love you,” she whispered in Drift’s ear. “Sister or not, we’re family. With us, it’s clear skies and smooth strides.”
Drift hugged her back, sniffling. “You promise?”
“Always.”
When they pulled apart, Drift wiped her eyes on her sleeve and cleared her throat. “What about Heath and Danna?” she asked. “I want to live here with them, but…” She trailed off, wearing a faraway expression.
Rook thought she could guess what her friend was thinking. “You want to live in the house your parents gave you,” she said.
Drift nodded. “But I want to be with you and Fox most of all, so if you decide you want to stay, I’ll…I’ll let the house go.”
“Oh no you won’t,” Rook said. “It’s your house—Drift’s Roost now—and it’s kept us safe for years. We’re not abandoning it either.” She tapped her chin, considering. “I think I have an idea,” she said.
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