Chapter 10
“Can I help you?”
The salesclerk behind the counter gives me a courteous, if cautious, smile.
“What?” The word emerges with more breath than substance. Noise from the mall surrounds me. The piped-in music, of course, but also chatter and laughter, the sound of water splashing. The fountain? I resist the urge to spin around to check.
Instead, I focus on the woman in front of me, the one with the patient expression.
“Are you shopping for a gift?” she asks.
“Browsing,” I manage.
This can’t be real, and yet it undeniably is. My mind scrambles to make sense of it all. Gateways, other planes of existence.
Other realities?
No.
And yet?
“Excuse me.” I push from the counter and race for the Crystal Court.
If I retrace my steps, I can get back to where I belong. I pause under
