She stepped forward.
Two fingers raised.
Snapped.
The yellow portal opened directly in front of Vivienne.
Not large. Not dramatic. Just a clean circle of amber light that existed in the office air where nothing had existed a half-second before, edges sharp, interior depth suggesting somewhere else entirely.
Vivienne looked at it.
She looked at Thalia.
Then, with the resigned acceptance of a woman who had run out of options before breakfast, she stepped through.
Gone.
Sugar walked through after her without adjusting her pace.
The portal closed.
The office was silent.
Thalia exhaled.
She pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.
"Sigh."
She actually said the word.
Not the sound. The word.
She opened her eyes.
Looked at the desk.
Looked at the city through the glass.
Rolled her neck once.
"Right. Jenny is still somewhere in the—"
The floor disappeared.
