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“Come on,” I whisper, growing more desperate by the second. “There has to be something.” But after what feels like forever, with my fingers raw from dragging across the surface, I’m forced to accept defeat. There is no hidden exit. No secret passages. Nothing but an unyielding wall.

I straighten slowly and make my way back to the stairs. When I reach the top, my legs are shaking from the exertion, my lungs are tight, and I’m lightheaded.

Sacha is still sitting at the desk, reading, exactly where I left him.

“There’s no way out.” My voice catches.

He glances up, a slight frown pulling his brows together. “As I said.”

I sink to the floor, legs no longer able to hold me up. “This is impossible. Ican’tbe trapped here.”

He sighs, closes his book, and turns on his seat to face me. “You didn’t find a door. You can’t get out. By definition, you are trapped.”

“How did I even get here?” I’m asking myself more than him. “I was in Chicago. It was raining. And then?—”

“Chicago. You mentioned that place yesterday. Is it your home?”

“Yes. Chicago, Illinois.” Names that meant something mere hours ago now feel dislocated from reality. “United States.”

“I’m unfamiliar with these places.”

“That’s not possible. Chicago is a major city.”

“Not in this realm.”

The statement hangs between us.This realm. As if there are others. Like I’ve crossed some boundary between worlds. That can’t be true. It shouldn’t be. But?—

“Where am I then?” Fear for what the answer might be makes my voice shake.

“This realm is called Meridian.”

A name I’ve never heard of. A place that sounds like it belongs in a storybook. A man who looks like a villain from a fairy tale.

My head hurts.

“I need to go home.” The words come out hollow.

“Perhaps you will. In time.”

“I don’t wantperhaps. I don’t wantin time!I want to leavenow.” Anger burns through my fear. “You know something. You know how I got here.”

His expression doesn’t change. “What makes you think that?”

“You’re too calm. Finding a stranger in your home … a place you insist has no door … should have surprised you, but you’re acting like you …expectedme.” I push to my feet again. “Tell me how I got here.”

“How do you think it happened?” One dark eyebrow lifts.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking, would I?” Frustration hits hard, twisting in my gut, threatening to bring up the water I’ve drunk. “People don’t just vanish from city streets and appear in deserts. It’s not possible.”

“There you go saying what happened isn’t possible again.”

“Because things like thatdon’thappen in my world.”

“Don’t they?” He rises from his chair with fluid grace. “Strange occurrences. Inexplicable events. Things that defy rational explanation. Has your world truly eliminated all mysteries?”

“This isn’t a mystery. This is—” The rest won’t come. I don’t have the words.

He moves to a bookshelf, and selects a new book. “When faced with the impossible, one must reconsider what is possible.”