She looked sideways at me, and half smiled. “I was thinking, after I saw you yesterday. It’s not like I can’t speak to you without trying to kiss you. You’re not that irresistible.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I wish I could print up a sign and tape it to my forehead. I OFFICIALLY DO NOT WANT TO KISS ETHAN WATE. NOW PLEASE LET ME BE FRIENDS WITH HIM.”

“Maybe we could make T-shirts that say PLATONIC.”

“Or NOT DATING.”

“UNATTRACTED.”

Liv took the returned letter out of the pile with a sigh. “This was me feeling sorry for myself a few weeks ago. I wrote home and asked if they’d have me back.”

I realized I knew next to nothing about Liv’s family. “Home home? Your family?”

“Just my mother. My father’s long gone. You know, the glamorous life of a theoretical physicist. But no, this was a feeble attempt to get her to send me to Oxford, actually. I turned the university down to come here. And it seemed like it was time for me to go, or at least it did then.”

“And now?” I didn’t want her to leave.

“Now I feel like I can’t leave Marian until this whole mess is sorted out.”

I nodded, picking at my shoelaces. “I’d be happy if she would just come out of her house.” But I didn’t want to think about the future she might be facing if she did.

“I know. She isn’t at the library either. Maybe she needs some time.” Of course, Liv had been making the same rounds I had. We were so alike, in more ways than one. More than being the only Mortals in the equation.

“You know, you were pretty brave back there in the library.”

She smiled. “Wasn’t it amazing? I was quite proud. Then I got in bed and cried for about ten hours straight.”

“I don’t blame you. It was hard-core.” And she’d only seen the half of it. The Far Keep was so much worse.

“Last night—” I started in, just as she said, “You know, I have to go—”

My timing was off, as usual, and our sentences tripped over each other. We sat there for a minute while the awkwardness set in. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

She stood up, brushing off her shorts. “I’m glad we had a chance to catch up.”

“Me, too.”

As she walked down the carefully kept path that led to Marian’s gate, I had an idea. Not a perfect idea, but a decent one.

“Wait up.” I pulled a folded orange flyer out of my pocket. “Take it.”

Liv unfolded it. “What’s this?”

“An invitation to Savannah Snow’s party, after the basketball game against Summerville on Saturday night. It’s the hottest ticket in town.” That was hard to say with a straight face.

“How did you and Lena get invited to a party at Savannah’s house?”

“You underestimate the combined powers of a former Siren and a Linkubus.”

She put the paper in her pocket. “So, you want to add an expelled Keeper-in-Training into the mix?”

“I’m not sure we’ll actually go, but Link and Ridley definitely will. You should come, too, and hang out, like old times.”

She hesitated. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it?”

“Won’t it be a little awkward if you and Lena are there?”

Of course it would.

“Why would it be awkward?” I tried to sound convincing.

“Why do people say things like that? I don’t know how comfortable Lena will feel around me.” She searched the sky, as if the answer was hidden in the unbroken blue universe. “Which is why we need those T-shirts, I suppose.”

I jammed my hands into my pockets, trying to come up with an answer to that. “You brought Macon back. You stood up for Marian. Lena respects you and what you did to help both of us. You practically live at Ravenwood—under it, at least. You’re like family.”

She narrowed her eyes, studying my face as if she didn’t quite believe me. Which made sense, since part of it wasn’t true. “Maybe. Possibly. That’s the best I can do, under the circumstances.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I have to get back. Macon’s waiting for me. But I’ll consider going to the party.” She took a key out of her pocket and held it up. It was a crescent key, like the one Marian had. Now Liv could open the Outer Doors that connected the Mortal and Caster worlds. There was something right about that. She waved and disappeared around the corner while I turned back to the dark house. Shades still drawn.

I left the mail in a pile on the rocker by Marian’s door and hoped it would be gone in the morning. I hoped my memories of the Temporis Porta would be gone even sooner.

“You did what? Please tell me you’re joking.”

We were at the Cineplex, standing in line for popcorn. Lena wasn’t as happy about the whole making peace with Liv thing as I had hoped. Actually, she was exactly as unhappy about it as I’d predicted. But if Liv decided to come to the party, Lena was going to find out that I was the one who had invited her. It was better to take the hit now. An angry girlfriend was one thing. An angry Caster girl meant you could lose a limb or step off a cliff.

I had planned to tell Lena about finding the Temporis Porta with Liv last night. But considering her reaction to the party invite, it seemed better to wait on that one.

So I had to come clean about the rest.