Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children, #9)

by Seanan McGuire

“I get … static … in my head sometimes. Like a radio that’s not quite tuned to the channel it’s supposed to be tuned to. When that happens, it’s because there’s something that wants to be found, and I can find anything. Anything at all.” “You would have been great help when I lost my keys,” said Eleanor, in a flippant tone.

Sumi, who was exactly the opposite of either steady or calming, whose parents were dead and who talked about the time she’d been murdered and resurrected in the same airy, careless tone she used when explaining why maple syrup was a natural topping for spaghetti and meatballs, why wouldn’t you want a little sweet with your savory?;

They meant you existed all the way, so even the computers knew you were there. And if she had the same last name as Eleanor and Kade, that meant she had a family again. Last names could change, and being a part of a family didn’t mean people wouldn’t hurt you, but it was still something wonderful.

“Just like that,” she said. “Everyone’s a monster on Halloween, and that means no one’s a monster, and if there aren’t any monsters, you get to decide what ‘monster’ means.”

‘Semantic satiation.’ It means when you say the same thing too many times it stops meaning anything.

“None of us is normal, and we’ll either figure out how to pretend we are, or we’ll find our doors home, and then we won’t have to worry about it anymore, because all the ways we’re not normal are the way our real homes want us to be. We’re perfectly normal in the right environment.”

“But it’s going to let the light in. They may see us. Is your head clear enough to let you run?” “I think so,” said Antsy. “Good. Make like Eurydice, and don’t look back.”

“I swear, if I ever figure out how I turned out the responsible one, I’m going to start setting fires for fun.”

“Christopher traveled to a world of dancing skeletons, and fell in love with their princess,” said Kade. “He calls her the Skeleton Girl, and swears one day he’s going to go back to marry her. Which doesn’t sound like fun to me, since marriage in her world involves flensing the non-skeletal spouse, but what do I know?” “Since you’re still carrying a torch for a ghostie-girl who’s never coming back and doesn’t believe in the pleasures of the flesh, I’d say not too much,” said Sumi. Kade blushed. Antsy shook her head, looking at Cora.

“When they can’t find something beautiful to fight over, they make it. So they lure pretty girls through Doors, and they … pearlize them, sort of. Make them the most beautiful things that ever were.” “It’s always girls,” said Kade, with an odd sort of bitterness. “What happens to the girls they take?”

Oof I feel you bud

I’ve got some laundry sacks over there. Go ahead and grab one.” “Why?” asked Christopher, already moving to do as he’d been told. “Because you’re going to put it over Seraphina’s head before the rest of us can see her.” Christopher stared at him. “You’re joking. That’s not a solution. That’s a comedy routine.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” said Kade. “It’s Prism, and we should leave as fast as we can,” said Sumi. Christopher swore. Emily looked confused. “Why? Is it dangerous?” “This is the world Kade’s door took him to,” said Christopher. “The one that threw him out because he wasn’t what they expected.”

“Hey,” she said, voice gentler than Antsy had realized Sumi’s voice could be. “The door wasn’t there because you have any obligations left to these people, or this world. It was there because sometimes people can’t let go of who they thought we were, and so they keep trying to tangle us in nets and drag us back. That doesn’t mean we have to go. Or if we do go, that doesn’t mean we have to stay.” Kade looked at her, tears running down his cheeks. “I just … I loved it here so much, Sumi. So, so much. It was perfect. Everything here was perfect, except for me, and so they made me leave instead of changing enough to let me be perfect, too.”

“People who can’t change aren’t really perfect, and no matter how much we love it somewhere, that doesn’t mean it’s good for us,” said Sumi. “You have to listen to me. I died, and that means I’m clever now.”

“So we’re heading for the trees,” said Sumi. “Come along, Kade, you can tell me what mushrooms not to eat.” Kade stirred himself, focusing on Sumi for the first time. “All of them,” he said. “All of the mushrooms are not for eating. Sumi—” She was already laughing and skipping away, and Kade had to hurry to catch up with her, leaving the rest of them to walk more slowly behind.

“Most of us want to go back. Want to go home. Kade never has. That’s why this feels sort of like a mean trick.”

“When I was a kid, I thought broccoli wasn’t poisonous.” “Sumi…” Kade shook his head. “Never mind, there’s no point. Got a Door yet, Antsy?”

“If we all paid for everything we’d done, there’d be nothing left in all the worlds but debtors’ prisons.”

“We’re your penance, silly, the whole chaotic bunch of us, and as part of your penance, I say you’re not done suffering us yet. You have to come and keep paying before you’re allowed to go and get your head chopped off for the sins of your past. Now come on.”