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tonight.”
    Outside, something rustled in the bushes.
    “What was that?”
    “Someone’s coming,” Vul said.
    “Someone’s out there?”
    The sound of feet crunching on the grass seemed to be very near. “We need to go now,” Eref said.
    “But—”
    “No time anymore!” Vul hissed. “That could be a guard! Come on. We’ll leave through the back door.”
    Vul pushed Eref through the room and stopped him at one end. The footsteps outside grew louder. “Caer, come on. We’re leaving.”
    Caer seemed to be hesitating. “Who’s out there?”
    “We don’t know!” Vul’s strong hand clenched his wrist and tugged him away as she whispered back into the room. “It could be anyone! But if it’s a guard and he sees the Light Person in here, we’re all going to get arrested. Hurry!”
    At the distinct sound of footsteps before the front door, Eref’s jaw tightened. With his complete blindness, he couldn’t protect Caer and Vul.
    Or himself.
    Someone tried the front door handle. “Yes,” Caer whispered finally. “Let’s go.”
    Four fuzzy hands led Eref out the back door and into the moist, grassy land. He took a deep breath and smelled flowers, leaves, and water. Birds chirped all around him. The air felt warm and wet.
    “Wait,” Caer said, her voice shaking. “I forgot—”
    “Caer, don’t go back in there!”
    Eref stood still, listening helplessly as Caer opened the back door again.
    “Atc! I love you, sweetie! There’s food in the cupboard. Can you get it on your own? Don’t tell them where we’ve gone. I’ll see you soon, and I’ll make you that new collar you said you—”
    She slammed the door. Her breath sounded rapid and heavy.
    “Run,” Caer said. “Now.”
    They ran. Vul set the pace in front, while Caer hurried behind them. Eref followed the sound of their breath and their feet squelching in the muddy ground. They leapt over roots, ducked under branches, and slipped through mud. Finally, they stopped. Caer and Vul pulled what felt like an enormous wet leaf over the three of them.
    “What happened?” Vul panted.
    “I saw someone. He was walking in. He looked… so… horrifying.”
    “Who? A guard?”
    “No,” Caer said. She sounded terrified, and a little bewildered. “A Light Person.”

Chapter Five

    Dark Home

    This had to be the place. Balor looked around the apartment, which comprised just two circular rooms hollowed out beneath a tree. All of the homes in Dark World appeared to have been constructed beneath trees.
    Five small wooden planks and a tree branch handle served as the front door. It didn’t lock, so Balor had let himself in.
    The front room opened like a black hole, reminding Balor of the initial fall from Light World. He adjusted his glasses to improve his vision in the enveloping shadows.
    Brown roots snaked through the walls and ceiling. They poked wooden fingers through lop-sided cabinets. Pillowy furniture with cushions that looked soft enough to smother a person crowded the room.
    Directly across from where he stood, another door hung ajar. Balor walked toward it.
    This next room was just as crowded as the first. Balor squinted at the large bed and chair that seemed to battle for dominance over the tiny space.
    How people in Dark World could live without any structure was beyond Balor. He thought of his own bedroom: square, with stone chairs and a modest bed. That was how people with respect for order lived. No roots running randomly through the walls. No oversized chairs that barely fit the room.
    “What arrre you doing in herrre?”
    Balor whirled around and stumbled, sinking backward into the soft bed. Crouched on the floor, covered in long blue fur, was some kind of animal.
    “What the hell?”
    “You aren’t a friend of Caerrr’s. Why arre you herre?”
    “What?”
    The strange blue animal slipped onto the bed with Balor, who struggled against the sheets to back up against the wall. The plushy mattress undulated beneath him, slowing his