“I’m sorry to disturb—” I begin, but she quickly opens the screen door and ushers me inside.

“I was just going to find you,” she says.

“You were?”

She nods. “I’ve been having these strange dreams. You were in them. And Griffin.”

“Yes.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s like he’s here.”

“You’re not crazy, Julia. We can’t find him. And I have no idea what he might do now.”

“What he might …?” she murmurs. “So you mean it’s true? He’s still here? Like a ghost?”

“No. But he is watching you. And he wants you to know he’s there.”

Julia sinks against a wall. “But why?”

“He’s having a difficult time accepting the fact that he’s no longer among the living. He wants everyone—and you especially—to acknowledge him.”

She sniffs. “Sounds like something Griffin would do.”

“Yes, it is a common problem among our kind.”

She brings her eyes up to meet mine. They’re glassy. “Your kind?”

I take a breath. We’re forbidden to speak of the Sandmen to humans, and even though Chimere will probably scold me, Julia needs to know the trouble she is in. “Yes. We were all once human. But now we are”—I brace myself for her disbelief—“Sandmen.”

“Sandmen?” She stares at me, eyes narrowing. “You mean, the men from the legends who put little kids to sleep?”

“We are not legends. We are very real.”

She lets out a sour laugh. “Okay, where’s your sand?”

I reach into my pocket. I still have some left from her afternoon nap. I sift a little through my fingers, letting it gather in my other hand. It sparkles, even in the minimal light, like pieces of crystal. She, predictably, yawns, as the sand has a powerful effect on humans, even when it does not come into contact with them. I stifle a yawn myself, the first one I’ve been challenged to suppress in a hundred years.

This fails to convince her. “I almost would have believed you if you’d said he was a ghost, but this? That’s really out there. And if you’re both Sandmen, why can I see you and not him?”

I rub the back of my neck. Twinge. Oh, not already. I shake my hands to free them of the sand and run them through my hair. “It’s quite a long story.”

“I have time,” she says.

“Unfortunately, I do not,” I say, reaching for the doorknob. “If you do not see me again today, I will see you tonight. In your dreams.”

“But …” She jumps to her feet, readying to hold the door closed so I cannot escape, but then her eyes grow large and I know that she can no longer see me. She waves a hand where I stand, but it slips through me. Her mouth drops open. I want to hold her and tell her it’s all right, but that’s not possible. Perhaps it’s better that she see my transformation; perhaps it will help her to believe the impossible. I pass through the door and into the dying sunlight.

Because, thanks to Mr. Colburn, my other charges didn’t slumber at all last night, I decide to go to their houses first, well before their usual bedtimes. They’ll undoubtedly want to turn in early. As I’m walking across Vicki’s lawn, which is quite long and dotted with dandelions, I see Chimere sitting among the grass, blowing dandelion snow into the air. So carefree, despite our obvious problems, I think.

She smiles without looking up at me. “I made a wish for you, my pet.”

“Thank you, my dear,” I say, surveying the area. “So has Mr. Colburn returned?”

Her pert nose wrinkles. “He has been tending to his work only minimally, but never remains long enough for me to speak to him.”

“Ah, the challenge.”

Her smile broadens. “Yes, he is quite the fascinating one.”

I kneel next to her. The grass is cold and wet on my knuckles. “I thought you would still be trying to capture him.”

“When we do find him, we’ll make sure he’s dealt with accordingly,” she says, tickling her nose with a dandelion.

“Accordingly? You mean the Last Place?”

“Perhaps. But you are here now, where you belong. I’d say all is right with the world.”

I tilt my head. “Pardon?”

“You will be staying with us for the next hundred years, yes? I’ve already informed the elders and we are all so pleased.”

I bristle at the suggestion. “I’ve said nothing of the sort, Chimere. It is only because Mr. Colburn has neglected his duties that I am now more a Sandman. But I firmly intend to become a human when my time arrives.”

“Oh?” She sighs, as if she has just heard that rain is expected. “But your hundred-year anniversary is tomorrow. And without Griffin … Oh dear. I am afraid if he cannot assume his duties reliably before that time, we will have no choice but to keep you here.”

“No choice?” Ire begins to bubble in my chest as I take in all she is saying. “But … then we must find him. What ever gave you the ridiculous idea that I wanted to remain here?”

“Well, Mr. Colburn indicated …”

“You believe him? After everything he’s done?” I snarl.

She recoils, eyes wide. “But after our discussion, after everything Mr. Harmon has told you, I thought your choice would be obvious….” Her eyes fill with such unexpected, unfamiliar rage, I’m forced to stand and back away. “Why do you always behave as though your life here is so torturous?”

“Harmon?” I watch as she seethes at me, her chest heaving underneath her pale blue corset. And that is when something dawns on me, something impossible. But obvious. “Originals study humans for years upon years, sizing up their personalities, before selecting one to be a Sandman. I often wondered why you chose Mr. Colburn as my student, as he is so stubborn, so unlike what you usually look for.”

She takes an uneven breath, looks away.

“And if you wanted to help me, why did you place me with Harmon, a man who would undoubtedly show me the worst side of human life possible?”

“Eron, please—”

“You wanted me to fail, didn’t you? You wanted me to stay here, forever.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she mumbles, but there is no resolve in her voice.

“Is it, now?”

She tilts her face up to the moonlight and for the first time I see that her eyes are wet. “You have always been my favorite. My pet. I can’t bear to imagine my existence without you.”

I walk to her and unfold my handkerchief for her. Her cheeks are a flattering shade of red as I wipe the tears from them. Her eyes are still pooling with water as she watches me, then puts my arm around her delicate shoulders. “My dear, you would still have seen me in my dreams,” I say.

“You’ll never touch me or look me in the eyes again,” she says, sniffing. “I suppose that’s why I can’t be too angry with Mr. Colburn. I understand when he says it’s just not the same.”

I know that my charges are waiting, but Chimere is my dearest friend, so she needs me, as well. I do nothing but hold her, there in the grass, for a long time, then watch her thread dandelions together to make a necklace. As I help her fasten and adjust it on her pale neckline, she reaches up to give me the smallest, saddest peck on my cheek. I made a wish for you, she said. Yet I know that that wish was not for my happiness, but for her own.

CHAPTER 27

Julia

I pop another Dorito into my mouth and chew. Since Eron “disappeared,” I’ve eaten almost an entire bag. Salty foods are my comfort, and right now I need all the comfort I can get. Though instead of just feeling weirded out, I now feel weirded out and sick to my stomach, which isn’t an improvement.

My fingers are coated in bright orange cheese dust, so I lick them and snuggle under the blankets, hoping a Reese Wither spoon movie will keep my mind occupied. It isn’t working.

Eron, before my eyes, disappeared. For the second time. Like, poof.

So either I am having a mental breakdown, or some really messed-up stuff is going on.