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won’t be possible for you to return to Hibernaculum,” Arcadia said simply.
    Shade felt a slap of indignation. Who was she to be telling them what they could or couldn’t do?
    “I don’t understand,” said Frieda calmly.
    “The rest of your colony has already made its choice. They decided not to come with you.”
    “But when they hear about this place,” Frieda said, “they may change their minds.”
    “I believe this place was meant for those who had the faith and courage to seek it.”
    “Do you think that’s a bit severe?” Frieda’s voice was still calm, but Shade could tell, by the sudden ripple of her folded wings, that she was annoyed.
    “This was the way Nocturna wanted it. And it’s already been decided for us. The door only opens one way.”
    “We’re trapped?” Shade blurted out.
    Arcadia looked at him mockingly. “One cannot be trapped in Paradise. This is your final destination. Come to accept that, young bat.”
    Shade bristled. Young bat. I’ve probably seen more things than you have, Beard Breath. But already he could hear a warning shrill of panic in his mind. The rest of his life, here in this one place? Forever? The notion was too big to even get a grip on. He’d never even liked the idea of hibernating, and that was only three months. How could he stay here—anywhere—forever?
    “Got to be a way out,” he muttered, impulsively flying from the tree, back toward the roof. He soon found the opening and dug into the metal flap with his claws. It didn’t budge, even when he slammed his shoulder against it. He scratched at the surrounding stone and metal without dislodging even a speck of dust.
    “Marina, Chinook,” he called out, “give me some help over here!”
    “That’s enough!” snapped Arcadia sternly, flying toward him. “Only Humans open those doors. I’m shocked at this appallingly ungrateful behavior. Look around you. What do you see? Forest as generous as any you could ever find. Who flees Paradise?”
    “If it’s Paradise, why isn’t there a way out?” he demanded, his voice shaking.
    “The door was designed to keep us safe, to keep out our enemies.” Shade could see Ariel and Marina and Frieda behind Arcadia now, and tried to read their faces. His mother, he thought, looked concerned, but did she share his fears, or think he was behavingpoorly? Marina couldn’t even meet his eye. Ashamed of him? Did she think he was cowardly, childish for wanting a way out?
    “If the idea of living here troubles you,” Arcadia said to Shade, fixing him with her cold, flashing eyes, “perhaps you were not meant to come.”
    Goth heard the Humans coming.
    The sound of their flying machine throbbed in the air, and this time he locked on and flew headlong toward it. It didn’t take long before he could make out the machine’s bulbous outline, dead ahead, rimmed in light.
    His wingstrokes faltered, but only for a moment.
    Zotz had made him strong again; Zotz was looking over him. More than that: Zotz needed him to fulfill his designs. He would be king of all the Vampyrum Spectrum, and he would fill his mouth and belly with Shade Silverwing’s flesh.
    The machine’s nose reared before him, sliding sideways through the air. Behind the open window, he could see the Man. He knew it would be him, and he hated the sight of his mangy beard and drooped eyelid. A long weapon was held close to his face and shoulder.
    Goth gritted his teeth, waiting.
    He felt the dart bite into the side of his chest, and had to fight all his instincts not to rip at the feathered tip with his teeth, not to fly. Then the horizon lurched crazily, and he fell.

A W AY O UT
    Five nights in Paradise, and he was still trying to find a way out.
    Every night Shade circled the entire forest, searching. Even now he had to admit it was wonderful, a mix of conifers and leafy trees, a soft floor of mosses, wildflowers, and grass. A pleasantly broad stream meandered through the whole length of the forest, but the