“I’ve been asking myself that for months.” I cracked the top on my water bottle, then scooted over to make room for Styx, who seemed determined to burrow into the few inches between us now that she was finished eating. “So, you fell asleep during third period and...?”

“And...I woke up in a bed in the E.R. My throat hurt like I’d been screaming and I had a headache, but other than that, I felt normal. Well, as normal as I’ve ever felt in this body. I’d been there for maybe five minutes when the nurse who came in to take my vitals recognized me. Well, she recognized  Lydia. Then there was a whirlwind transfer to Lakeside—they actually pushed me across the parking lot in a wheelchair—and the next thing I knew, I was a confirmed mental patient.”

“We prefer to be called residents. Remember, ‘crazy’ is not a diagnosis.”

“Whatever.” She actually smiled, then twisted the lid from her own bottle. “Evidently the fact that Lydia never actually checked out the first time led to me being fast-tracked for admission today. That place is scary efficient.”

“Yeah. They’ll bend over backward to get you in, then they’ll move heaven and earth to keep you there.”

And for the first time, it occurred to me that Lakeside and the Netherworld weren’t so very different—given a chance, either one of them would steal your soul.

Chapter Nineteen

“That place was hell.” Em sipped from her water bottle. “It was like walking around in the opposite of a sensory deprivation chamber. I was in sensory overload. Like being assaulted by everything everyone there was feeling. It was crazy—pardon the expression. Those people are angry, and sad, and frustrated, and confused, and...lost.” She stroked Styx’s fur absently. “I can’t go back there, Kaylee. I can’t.”

“I know. You won’t. I’ll make sure of it.” Styx climbed into my lap, trying to make herself the center of my attention. My dog was a fascinating contradiction. She was fierce and deadly, with jaws that opened wider than I would have thought possible and could snap a human long bone in a single bite. But in the absence of danger, she was almost...cuddly.

Though I was surprised that she was comfortable enough to nap in a house full of—

I sat up, suddenly startled to realize what should have been obvious the moment we’d blinked into the house. “Where’re Sophie and Luca?”

Em frowned. “I don’t know. But I’d check your room before you panic. Look for a sequined headband around the doorknob.”

“Ew!” Yet I was off the couch in an instant and down the hall two seconds after that. But my room was empty, except for the furniture, including one unmade bed, which told me Nash and Sabine had slept curled up together on my twin mattress.

I pulled my phone from mypocket and started to autodial my cousin, suddenly glad I’d programmed her number into my phone, in spite of my general disinterest in speaking to her. But my battery was still dead.

“Em, I need your phone!” I called, plugging my own into the charger by my bed. Em brought me her cell, and I dialed Sophie’s number from memory. She answered on the second ring. “Yes?”

I was so relieved to hear her voice that I didn’t even yell at her for the rude greeting. “Where the hell are you? Is Luca with you?”

“I’m at home. And, yes, he’s here. Why? What’s up?”

“What’s up? There are forces of  evil hunting us, Sophie. They may already have your dad. Do you think it’s too much to ask for a warning before you disappear next time?” I sank onto the edge of my bed, fervently hoping Nash and Sabine had only slept there. “You scared the crap out of me.”

Luca said something in the background, but all I could make out was “Nash.”

“Yeah,” Sophie said into my ear. “We texted Nash before we left. How is it my fault you two communicate like you both have bananas in your ears?”

“You...?” Nash hadn’t told me, which was no surprise, considering that I’d been communing with demons and he and Sabine had been dealing with Em’s...breakdown. Not to mention the fact that my phone was dead. “What are you doing there?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I live here. All my clothes are here. My television is big enough to actually see from across the room, and my food isn’t full of sugar and carbs. My dad’s missing, Kaylee. Is it too much to ask that the rest of my life not be missing right now?”

I exhaled slowly, grasping for control of my temper. Reminding myself that she and I didn’t think about things the same way, and that I’d done my fair share of not checking in before I’d realized how badly I’d probably scared my father. Over and over.

“Fine,” I said finally. “Just...stay with Luca, and head back this way as soon as you’ve had your fill of Sophie-land. We really do need to stick together. Em fell asleep this morning and got possessed, then admitted to Lakeside. There’s too much going on for us to be spread out and out of reach. Okay?”

Sophie started to object, but I heard Luca in the background, talking sense into her like no one else ever seemed able to.

“Fine. We’ll come back as soon as the movie’s over.”

“Thank you.” I ended the call and looked up to find Emma standing in my bedroom doorway, a half-eaten apple in one hand.

“They’re okay?”

“Yeah.” I gave her back her phone. “Clueless as usual, in Sophie’s case, but fine.”