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Elodie shrugs, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. “It was a lucky guess, nothing more.”

Our eyes lock, and though I sense there’s more she’s not sharing, Elodie leaves it at that.

“And if Arthur is really there when we return—” she starts, but I cut her off.

“He is,” I say, my annoyance flaring. “I know it for a fact.”

She lifts a hand, her expression softening. “Sorry, let me rephrase that. If Arthur is actually waiting for us, then you need to let me handle it, okay?”

“Why, because you’re his favorite?” I snap, instantly regretting my words when I see the hurt look on her face. “Oh…” I say, voice small and contrite. “You’re actually trying to cover for me, protect me.”

Elodie tosses her head, tilting her face toward the sky, her long blond hair glinting silver under the glow of city lights. “Sheesh, Nat,” she says, shaking her head with an exasperated sigh. “Don’t go getting all maudlin on me.”

I smile to myself. This is possibly the strangest, most complicated friendship I’ve ever had, and yet, it’s a friendship all the same.

“Thanks,” I say, watching her give a quick lift of her shoulders and quickly avert her gaze.

As we approach Belvedere Castle, its silhouette looms starkly against the night sky. I’m reminded of my arrival at Gray Wolf and how massive, unwelcoming, and foreboding it seemed that first night.

After we’ve made our way to the top, I dip a hand in my backpack in search of the book. My fingers graze the cool metal of the key my dad gave me, the counterfeit Antikythera Mechanism, and a mysterious slip of folded paper that I don’t immediately recognize but plan to examine later.

When I find the small, leather-bound book, I pass it to Elodie. She flips through its time-worn pages with practiced ease. Finding the marked passage, I lean closer, and together, we recite:

“By the waxing moon’s guiding light,

We wade into the river of time tonight.

Through unseen veils where eras intertwine,

Grant us passage through the flowing stream of time.”

When it’s done, Elodie decisively snaps the book shut, and our gazes lock in a profound silence that’s charged with a shared understanding. Whatever happens next, we are in this together.

All around us, the atmosphere pulsates with an ancient energy—its invisible power a closely guarded secret, whispered among only the select few who know its full truth. Closing our eyes and clasping hands, a tangible electricity sparks between our fingers as we draw in a deep, unifying breath.

“To Gray Wolf?” Elodie says, her voice trailing into the night.

“To Gray Wolf,” I echo, acutely aware of the gravity of our choice, the wrath we both risk should Arthur be waiting for us.

The next thing I know, we’re lifted onto our toes, gliding effortlessly across a vast cosmic sea like sailors venturing into uncharted waters, trusting they’ll carry us to our intended destinies.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

-Shakespeare,HamletAct I Scene 5

16

We land inside the dimly lit lighthouse, its walls humming with the distant roar of the sea—a sound that mirrors my own erratic heartbeat.

“You expected the launchpad?” Elodie’s voice, tinged with amusement, slices through the dim interior.

I look around, memories of the last time I was here flooding my mind—the night Elodie, Jago, Song, Oliver, and Finn basically abducted me, hypnotized me, and tested my loyalties by making me choose between my old life and Gray Wolf. To my surprise, I chose to stay on the Rock, and now I know why—this is where my destiny lies.

“If we’d used the portal made from the launchpad,” she says, “we would’ve returned to the launchpad. But because we used the book, we ended up here.”

As we make our way through the ancient structure, I can’t help but think about all the lighthouse keepers who went missing through the years, whisked away from the life they knew, never to be seen again. The thought sends a chill straight through my bones.

“We’re lucky,” Elodie continues. “It could’ve just as easily been the tarot garden, which is tricky, you know? It’s so visible, you run the risk of someone seeing. But here, it makes it easier to sneak back inside. Especially since I’m pretty much the only one who still uses this place.”