“A door?”
“Yep. I saw it, Pie. And then… I thought I went in. I thought I followed a passageway into a forest. And found another door. You were on the other side of that door, but it wasn’t you, not the way you are now. It was some other you. A little you. Then a more grownup version. And I was there too. You were calling me to you. Well, you calling other me.”
“Oh, man. If the universe made two of me, and I’m just finding this out now, I’m gonna be pissed.” Her words are teasing and mischievous. Like she’s deliberately trying to keep the conversation light.
“And then after that I turned back and there was a whole line of doors. Like… all the doors.” I spread my arms wide. “Thousands of doors. They were all open and on the other side was a view of… here.”
Her perky expression falls and turns into concern. “The sanctuary?”
“Yes. Like… that black tomb is the key to opening all the other tombs.”
“But wait.” Pie puts up a hand. “Why would they lead to the sanctuary? What’s the point of opening those doors only to find yourself back in the sanctuary?”
“No. I agree. That makes no sense. But you know what does make sense? I wasn’t in the sanctuary when I saw the doors. I was somewhere else. I think when you’re here, and you step into the tombs, you don’t see the sanctuary—you see whatever world is on the other side.”
“Oh, I get it. You were on the other side looking back.”
“Yes!” I point at her. “Yes. I think I was seeing the doors from the other side.”
“Weird.”
“That’s not all. Grant was there.”
“Grant? But I thought we decided he was Saturn, or whatever?”
“Yeah. We did. But maybe he wasn’t always Saturn. Maybe… maybe Saturn did something to him. It’s not like Grant was pressuring me for anything during his time at the sanctuary. It’s not like Grant ever cared what I was up to. Why would Saturn spend fifty years cooped up with me?”
“Good question. Why would he?”
“I think Grant was a real person. Maybe he was real the whole time he was here, but when he left the sanctuary Saturn got a hold of him?”
“Well, that does make sense from a sanctuary perspective.”
“He told me how to break the curse.”
“What? How?”
I shrug with my hands. “I didn’t catch the answer. I don’t even think I was really inside the tomb. I wasn’t, was I?”
“Well. No. Not when I came up to you.”
“I think the whole thing was a vision. I can’t walk through doors.” This makes me sigh heavily.
“Well.” Pie holds up a finger. “Not true. You can walk through one door.”
“A lot of good walking into my own tomb does me.”
Pie angles her body into mine. “I had a very interesting day as well. And most of it pertains to that one door you can walk through.”
“What about it?”
She claps her hands and wiggles her butt—like she’s settling in to the stone. Her jovial nature is back now, her face lit up with a smile. Like she’s about to deliver some really great news. This girl. She is so damn cute. “I can spell now, Pell! I wrote a good one too. Like… the perfect spell. And that’s not all! Holy shit! Sex with you last night erased an entire page of debt. Let me show you!” She shuffles through her messenger bag, pulls out the Book of Debt, and opens it up. Look!” She points to a blank page.
“I don’t get it. What am I looking at?”
“My debt! It’s gone! And it’s because we had that sexy sex last night.”
There is no way to stop my grin. Or the chuckle that follows.