“Those are the other Weavers,” Connor said, following my gaze. He looked at them and then at each of us. “You may want to sit down for this. It’s a little intense if you haven’t been through it before.”

We all stared at him, but none of us sat.

“Suit yourselves.” He shrugged, turning back to watch Adne.

A new sound echoed through the hall. Low, deep like the striking of an enormous bell. Its note reverberated through the Academy, settling into my bones. I shivered and Shay took my hand. I threaded my fingers through his. The bell sounded again and I saw Adne shudder just like I had. She didn’t open her eyes. The bell rang once more. The echoes layered one on top of the others. The air was so thick with the deep tones I thought I could almost feel it pouring over my skin.

When the bell rang a fourth time, Adne began to move. She bent forward gracefully, almost in a bow. Farther along the hall I could see the other Weaver making an identical motion. Adne’s head lifted, her arms twisting and curving as her body unfolded. New sounds trickled through the lingering sound of the bell. Tinkling and bright, notes rippled through the halls like the music of a wind chime. Along with this light music came color; the patterns in the walls were coming to life, their jewel tones glittering, casting rainbows along the floor and over our bodies.

Adne was moving faster now, leaping and twisting in the dance I’d come to associate with her portal weaving. On both sides of her the other Weavers swirled in perfect imitation of Adne’s lithe body. She was breathing hard, sweating, but not once did she hesitate or break her rhythm. The ringing notes around us grew louder, piercing my sensitive ears so hard that I had to cover them with my hands. The rainbow patterns on the floors and walls began to spark, exploding in the air like fireworks. The dazzling colors grew ever brighter, blinding me. The floor beneath my feet felt like it was shifting. I dropped to my knees, still covering my ears. I curled over, burying my head against my thighs. I felt Shay’s body wrap around mine, shielding me from the deafening cascade of sound and the bursts of light.

Fur brushed against me. I heard a whimper, then another as Bryn and Mason, now wolves, snuggled up against me, shoving their muzzles under my arms to rest their cold noses against my jaw. The sound was so loud it didn’t even seem to matter that I was covering my ears. I thought I might scream.

And suddenly there was only silence.

I lifted my head, taking a slow breath. A strong, unfamiliar scent filled my nostrils: a mixture of salt and lush, green leaves and . . . fish? I took another breath; it was the same scent, but I couldn’t recognize it. I thought I might also smell lemons.

“You all right?” Connor was looking down at us.

Shay stood up, rolling back his shoulders. “I guess.”

“I told you,” Connorsaid, grinning. “Intense.”

“No joke.” Adne stumbled toward us, moving unsteadily, as if she were drunk.

Connor caught her as she ungracefully fell into him.

“Nice job, kid.” He brushed his lips across her forehead.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. “I think I’ll sleep for a week now.”

Mason had shifted back into human form. He walked over to the tall windows of the outside wall. The light pouring into the hall was a gold-tinged red. I heard him gasp.

“Is that . . . the ocean?”

Bryn and I followed him to the windows. Staring out at the setting sun, I couldn’t breathe. The Academy rested atop a steep terraced slope, stretching down for miles. The landscape was filled with carefully manicured rows of stunted trees with twisting branches, dark green leaves giving glimpses of sunny yellow. Lemons.

In the distance I could see a village that jutted out of the rugged terrain. Other villages speckled the coast, hanging on to cliffs as if they were suspended over the sea.

The sea. Waves lapped the shoreline. The sunset washed the rippling surface with color, rendering it a deep violet with the occasional flash of rose. I stared at the water that stretched beyond the horizon, understanding why people once believed the ocean led to the edge of a finite world.

It wasn’t until Shay put his arm around my shoulders that I noticed I was trembling.

“You’ve never seen it before, have you?” He gazed out the window.

I shook my head, still numb with the shock of the move and flustered by the way this new place seemed to reach inside me and squeeze my heart.

“Yeah, it’s the ocean,” Adne said. “Unless we landed in the wrong place.”

The ocean. That was the scent I couldn’t identify. I’d never smelled anything like it.

“Where are we?” Bryn went to the window.

“Cinque Terre,” Connor answered.

She frowned. “Where?”

“Italy.”

PART III

PARADISO

You shall leave everything you love most dearly: this is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first.

Dante, Paradiso

TWENTY-SEVEN

“ITALY?” MASON EXCLAIMED. His hands were pressed up against the glass. I knew how he felt. The barrier to the outside world made it hard to believe the paradise beyond these walls was real.

“Sorry.” Connor grinned. “I know you’re gonna miss the cornfields.”

Adne rolled her neck back and forth, grimacing. “That was rough.”

“You okay?” Connor asked, his smile vanishing.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Tired but fine. They’ll be expecting us to assemble in the main hall.”