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she scolded.
    Cole considered a joke about going to the bathroom but reconsidered given her stern expression. “An echo led me,” he explained. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œAny respectable echo knows to stay on the paths,” she complained.
    â€œIt’s my first time here,” Cole apologized.
    â€œAnd your last if you don’t watch yourself,” she said.
    â€œIs there a problem?” Joe asked, approaching. He was tall and well-dressed, with a stubbly beard. Cole could imagine Joe back home in California, playing with his band. Joe flashed his most disarming smile.
    â€œHe’s with you?” the woman asked.
    â€œYes,” Joe said. “Thanks for finding him. I’d lost sight of him.”
    â€œDon’t give me the lovable-scoundrel routine,” the woman said. “It carries no weight at the Seven-Cornered Shrine. Is he Cole?”
    â€œThat’s right,” Joe confirmed.
    She squared up to face him, hands on her hips. “Please don’t raise your voice in the gardens. You were crying out like you would for a dog lost in the wilderness! Have you no sense of decorum? This is a place of tranquility. Be responsible! The boy wandered off the path.”
    â€œMy apologies,” Joe said, placing a hand on his chest. “Won’t happen again.”
    â€œIt won’t for sure if I ban you,” she said. “Watch yourselves. You’ve been warned. You’re on your way out I hope?”
    â€œYou guessed it,” Joe said. “Good day.”
    He laid a hand on Cole’s shoulder and guided him along the path toward the shrine.
    â€œWhere are the others?” Cole murmured as they entered the ornate building.
    â€œOut in front,” Joe said. “Sally got a disturbing tip, so we all cleared out. You were the last.”
    â€œDid she get any leads on her sisters?”
    â€œWait until we have more privacy,” Joe said.
    A large coach awaited them in front of the shrine. Joe guided Cole to the horse-drawn vehicle, and they both climbed inside the compartment. Cole joined Hunter and Dalton on a cushioned bench facing Mira, Jace, and Joe. Jace drew the curtains closed as the coach started rolling.
    â€œWhere were you?” Mira asked Cole. “We looked all over.”
    â€œHe was right by the shrine,” Joe said. “He’d gone off the path into the bushes.”
    â€œI needed a restroom too,” Dalton said.
    â€œNo,” Cole said. “I was with an echo.”
    â€œHow much did you spill?” Jace asked, an edge to his voice.
    â€œI told who I was looking for,” Cole said. “I didn’t say anything about you guys.”
    â€œWe can speak freely,” Hunter said. “I’m blocking the area inside the coach from echoes.”
    â€œSally learned some scary stuff,” Dalton explained to Cole.
    â€œI met a woman from my childhood,” Mira said. “Zelna Laperne. She was a maid who spent time with me at the castle. She’s been an echo for decades now.”
    â€œDid she have any leads on your sisters?” Cole asked, unsure what exactly he hoped to hear. Part of him wanted the info he got from Sando to save the day.
    â€œZelna could only confirm that Nazeem is looking for them,” Mira said. “It sounds like he’s hunting you too, Cole.”
    â€œHe didn’t seem happy the last time we met,” Cole said.
    â€œZelna warned me that the shrine is swarming with his agents,” Mira said. “Nazeem’s influence in the echolands has grown really strong almost overnight. Nobody had heard his name until recently. When Zelna recognized me, she made contact to caution me to stay away from shrines. They’re being heavily watched. I thought we should regroup before asking more questions.”
    â€œI helped Mira round up the others,” Joe said. “We told everyone to abort. Nobody gained any vital knowledge about Honor or