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“You’re curious, aren’t you?” the voice asked. “A time will come when your curiosity will lead you to the Lost City, and the door you step through will bring you back again. The same is true for any door you ever leave from—they will always return you should you choose to step back through.”

“But from my world I can open a doorway from anywhere and come straight through to Medora?” Alex repeated, just to make sure she understood.

“That’s correct.”

Something nudged at her then, a memory from what felt like a lifetime ago.

“Did I bring myself here?” she asked hesitantly. “That day—I remember dreading the idea of being stuck at that horrible boarding school for eight months. I remember wishing things could be different. Did I somehow create the doorway that led me here?”

“You were Called,” the voice said, repeating the word Aven had used to describe Alex. “Many are Called, but few answer the Call. Fewer still respond to it and follow where it leads. Your Calling created the door for you, but you had to make the decision to step through it. And when you did, you found everything you were searching for, didn’t you?”

Alex didn’t need any time to think. The answer was simple. “Yes.”

“And that’s why you’re not only Called, but also Chosen,” the voice told her. “Because you’ll continue to walk through the doors, no matter where they lead.”

Alex considered those words as she stared through the doorway in front of her. “I guess this is a good time to test that theory,” she said, before closing her eyes and stepping forward.

As Alex was thrown through the air towards her world, she was filled with a calm reassurance that her journey was not at an end.

It was only just beginning.