“Yep, that’s a bridge,” Pinta said. “Half of one, anyway.”

The group stood in a massive tunnel between two marble pillars at the foot of a cobblestone bridge. It arched up and away before disappearing into a wall of darkness.

“That’s disturbing,” Jeremy said, staring at the blackness. The bridge didn’t fade away; it simply ended in the air at a solid wall of blackness at the apex of its arch.

“Have you traveled this way?” Sinta asked as she walked up to one of the pillars and placed her palm on its smooth surface. They contrasted the bridge’s worn cobblestone, and each one had a face etched into it, one joyful with a gaping smile, the other a grimace with pinched features as if in tremendous pain. Sinta’s hand rested below the grimacing face.

“I have not,” Adelia said.

“This is not a simple journey,” Sinta said, peering into the eyes of the stone face.

“We have,” Ulrich said.

Otto offered his usual scowl.

“It takes you anywhere in the world,” Adelia said.

“But it is not for lesser folk to travel,” Ulrich said. “You must have focus and the energy to bend the bridge’s will to your will, at least for a time. The farther you travel, the longer it takes and the more energy it takes to master.”

“How do you know?” Pinta asked.

“We came by a similar bridge,” Ulrich said. “In fact, many believe that it is the other half of this bridge in the London underground, but that is just speculation.”

“How did it get here?” Jeremy asked.

He was not excited to walk across this bridge. What would happen to a seer? He wasn’t even folk.

“Allegedly, powerful folk moved it here ages ago, during the—” Adelia said.

“Who cares,” Otto said. “We go.”

He took a step onto the bridge.

“Wait, we are lesser folk,” Des said from Jeremy’s shoulder.

“How will we make it through?” Hope said.

“And we don’t even know where we’re going!” Pinta said.

“And I’m human,” Jeremy said. “Can I even travel this way?”

“I will guide you,” Adelia said.

“But you’re not at your usual strength,” Sinta said.

“And I may never be if I don’t get to St. Francis and unbind,” she said. “But we will overcome this. Our Sanctuaries are depending on us.”

Otto snorted. “I doubt you’ll be back to save your little Sanct—”

“Our power will sustain the group if you provide the location, Adelia,” Ulrich said. “We will bind ourselves together, so we don’t become lost in the bridge’s ether,” Ulrich said.

“We’ll see how that works out,” Otto said, glancing at Jeremy.

“Give us a moment,” Adelia said, turning to Jeremy, she placed her hand on his shoulder. “You should wait for us here and learn everything you can about Crag. The market is a good place to find out what’s happening in other Sanctuaries, and no Folk will be able to hide from your sight.”

“And we will stay and guide you,” Hope said.

“Folk are very shifty,” Des said, “you’ll need us.”

“We will make it back,” Adelia said.

“But you’ll need me to escape from St. Francis,” Jeremy said. “They aren’t going to let you come back.” He could not believe they were thinking about leaving him behind. He was Adelia’s seer. Wasn’t that the deal? “But I’m your seer. We have a bargain. I get you to your Sanctuary and stay with you until you are unbound.”

“That is our deal, but things have changed,” Adelia said, glancing over at Otto and Ulrich. “They are greater Moirai, like me, and they can carry my gold. They can’t connect with me through it like a seer, like you, Jeremy. But they can carry it and spend longer time away from Sanctuaries.” Adelia moved close and gently pressed herself against him, pushing him back from the group and the bridge.

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A tremor ran through Jeremy’s body, and he didn’t know if it was excitement at being so close to her or something else. “What are you doing?”

“I have veiled us,” she said. “They cannot hear our true words.”

He glanced over her shoulder at Otto, who was glaring at them. Ulrich had his hand on the other Moirai’s chest. Pinta and the others stepped between them.

“I may not be greater Moirai for long if I don’t unbind,” she said. “And if I don’t unbind or if I don’t make it back, Crag still has to be stopped. We can’t let him enslave all those Folk.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You, Jeremy, are a seer of great strength.”

“But I’m not. I can barely do anything.”

“Your strength comes from deep within. There is compassion in you.”

“I’m not, I don’t—”

“Think about Frank and what you did for him. And what about Zitkala Sa, who helped you. Do you think she helps just any wayward traveler? You’re a great seer and you—”

“But Crag is the devil!”

“He is not, Jeremy. Look at me,” she took his cheeks in both hands. “He is not even a greater Folk. He is using some artifact hidden in the south. Without that, he is nothing. Easily defeated.”

“But what can I do?”

“Here.” She slipped her hands to his neck and pulled him close. He tensed, and his heart skipped in his chest. She smelled like flowers and earth. Even the green streak in her brown hair seemed right now. He closed his eyes, but instead of their lips touching, he felt her forehead pressed against his. A searing heat spread through him. Images of muddy trenches invaded his mind. He wanted to scream at the pain, at the explosions and blood. Bodies lay everywhere, and he looked down to see a dark-haired soldier lying below him.

“Logan,” he said.

He watched the life leave the young soldier’s body and felt agony coursing through every pore. Fear of being lost in the world without a seer. But Kenneth would take her gold home, Logan had made him promise. The vision melted into another one, much more peaceful. It was a courtyard on a river, surrounded by stone. This must be the Church of St. Francis, he thought. He could move around now. He was Adelia many years ago. Somehow, he pressed back into her memories even further. They were mostly of the Church and the city, hundreds of years, they went back. Loneliness even though she was surrounded by her kind. Back he went until finally a huge wall of red pain and storm clouds repelled him. There was more beyond this mental block, but he could not move into it, no matter how hard he pushed.

“What was that?” he asked, chest heaving as Adelia’s face came back into focus.

“I don’t know,” she said breathlessly. “My memories begin at St. Francis, and now you have them. Sometimes, I think there is more to my life before that, but there is a rage that fills my mind when I try to remember back further. I have glimpses sometimes, though. Things I don’t understand. And now you have it all. Nick said I inherited the soldier’s pain from our Sanctuary when it was a hospital, but I’m not sure that’s true now.” Adelia lowered her hands, and they stepped apart.

“Why give them to me?”

“I don’t know. I had to.”

“I’ll find you if you don’t come back,” he said.

She lowered her forehead to his chest, pressing her green-striped hair into him. “I know.” Spinning around in a flurry of skirts, she walked away. Jeremy shivered as the wall of silence fell away from them.

“Let’s go,” she strode up the bridge and the group scrambled to catch up. Sinta and Pinta spared a brief, fearful glance back at him.

“I’ll find you!” Jeremy called.

Sinta raised his hand, and Pinta nodded curtly, hand resting on the handle of his mallet. Nod dashed up and caught Adelia’s skirts. A yellow band of energy poured out of her and into the other Folk. A tether to keep them together on the journey. She didn’t look back before stepping through the wall of blackness, and the next moment he stood alone at the foot of the bridge.

“You look pale,” Hope said.

Jeremy jumped and spun around, raising his hands instinctively.

“Easy, tiger,” Des said from his other shoulder.

“What happened to you?” Jeremy asked. His heart pounded in his chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“We flew off when Adelia wove the silence. You were so smitten with her you didn’t even notice,” Hope said.

“You wanted to make out with her,” Des said, chuckling in her little voice.

“She gave me her memories.

“What do you mean?” Hope asked.

“All of them, I think,” Jeremy said.

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Des said.

“I need to get outside,” Jeremy said. His stomach churned, and he thought he might be sick.

“I saw the stairs in the market,” Hope said. “They probably lead outside.”

He stumbled through the marketplace, walking where Hope directed until they stood at the bottom of the old concrete stairs. What would he find in New York City? Imagining a city this large was impossible, but it didn’t matter; he just needed to get out of the underground and take a deep breath. Looking back, he marveled at the vibrant market and hordes of colorful Folk moving from stall to stall. How does something like this exist? As the thought passed through his mind, the scene before him blinked out of existence, replaced by a dark, damp, abandoned subway station. The brilliant blue vaulted ceiling was replaced by dingy blue tiles.

“Come on,” he said, spinning on his heel. Hope and Des fluttered on his shoulders as he took the stairs two at a time. Finally, he reached a locked iron gate. Peering up a long stairway, he saw people rushing past on a sidewalk. The smell of car exhaust and food vendors overloaded his senses.

“She’s gone,” he said. “This can’t be it.”

“We’ll find her,” Hope said.

“Or Crag will kill us,” Des said.

“Shut up!” Hope peered around Jeremy’s chin and glared toward Des.

“You know, I don’t even feel panicky when I look at all those people. Maybe it’s Adelia’s memories. Maybe she gave them to me so I’d be stronger. Not afraid of crowds.”

“Look at all those humans,” Des said. “Fools looking for—”

“Jeremy!” A man said, pausing at the top of the stairs. A woman cowered behind him. Jeremy shook his head and blinked rapidly, but they didn’t fade away.

“Father?” he whispered. His dad wore stained overhauls, and his mother was in an old flower print dress. Her hair was pressed down flat onto her head, and his father wore the typically stern, disapproving scowl.

“You ran away, boy,” his father growled, stepping down. “You brought the devil to our door.”

“Who is that?” Hope asked.

“It’s, it’s—”

“Oh, Jeremy, how could you?” his mother asked. Her hand rested on his father’s shoulder.

“How?” Jeremy asked.

Crag strode out from behind them with a wide grin. His orb-like black eyes shone bright, and his red skin stood out in stark, unnatural contrast under an expensive gray suit. He held up a small book, shaking it at Jeremy. “It’s like a roadmap, boy.”

“Oh no.”

“What?” Hope asked.

“He has my journal.”

“Run,” Des said.

“Now!” Hope cried.