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She watched Will’s face change as he began to understand what she meant.

“You knew?” Zani’s mouth fell open.

“You all need to go home,” she said. “Take the compendium. Take everything we came for and go home. Do not follow me.”

“Amrita—” Buffalo’s voice had gone rough. “I’m not leaving without you, love.”

“I will be fine,” she said, though now that this moment had come so unexpectedly, she suspected her voice lacked conviction. “Go home. Please.”

Buffalo stared at her, the anguish in his eyes almost too much to bear. She regretted her choice to bring him along now. But there was nothing she could do about that. It was impossible to change the past.

“I will be alright, Buffalo, and I will find my way back to you someday. When I do,” she paused for a moment, “we’ll go see the pyramids.”

He made a sound that was somewhere between choking and a laugh.

Raya Tufan moved swiftly then, seizing the book and tossing a bag over her head. The choice had been made for all of them.

The last thing she saw was Buffalo’s face, furious and flushed, and Zani’s hand closed tight around his arm.

Then she was back out in the early morning air, tossed roughly into a wagon that was racing for the port, the library and her past receding behind her.

THINGS THAT COME IN THREES

Three sneezes bring a letter, best check the post with care.

The postman’s coming soon for you,

something’s in the air.

Three magpies on a garden wall? A secret’s drawing near.

Something hidden finds the light

before the new moon’s here.

When strangers come to you in three, receive them without fuss.

The oldest things upon this earth

still walk at times with us.

FROM THE LITTLE GLASS OWL’S BOOK OF LUCKY CHARMS AND AUSPICIOUS OMENS, COMPILED BY ELECTRA GLASS

THIRTEEN

THE LOADED SPUD

The Loaded Spud tavern was a little rough around the edges. The black siding was faded and peeling, and someone had stenciled a smiling baked potato wearing a pink cowboy hat on the side. A neon sign flickered above the weathered front door. One letter wasn’t working, so it read “THE L ADED SPUD.” Tempest could see the silhouettes of people moving around inside, backlit by warm amber light. There were more of them than she’d expected.

The gravel lot beside the freestanding structure was ringed with Douglas fir. The lot was almost full, but she found a spot to park the bus, just under the tallest trees. The trees were another detail that had been filled in on the map on the first page of the atlas.

Tempest sat in the driver’s seat for a moment after she cut the engine. Fortune was napping on the bookshelf behind her. She turned around to address the bird.

“Wish me luck, Fortune,” she said.

But Fortune was too deep in a feathered dream to answer. She made a muffled sound and tucked her beak beneath her wing.

“Thank you,” Tempest said. “That is incredibly helpful. Especially considering you’re the whole reason I’m here.” Then she noticed the graying feathers beneath Fortune’s wing and immediately felt guilty for chiding the bird.