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“You’ve said it’s an enormous mistake. I also believe you’ve called it gargantuan in the past. Mammoth another time,” I reminded him. The expression etched into his face was something I’d seen a million times. It was the one that warned he was on the verge of a lecture that would make his father proud. “At this point, you’ve got to be running out of adjectives.”

“I have a whole list stored up, starting with humongous.”

I laughed. “You’re starting to remind me of Emil, you know.”

Kieran snorted. “Unlikely.” His pale blue gaze turned serious. “You’re not going to be swayed about this whole Duke thing, are you?”

“No.” I figured it was best to keep the others I wanted dead to myself. “I believe he will be an unfortunate victim of the attack the night of the Rite.”

He squinted. “The Descenters won’t be laying siege to the castle.”

“No, but I will make it look like at least one managed to infiltrate,” I said. “Either way, we will be gone, so it matters little.”

The pinch of his brow said that it still mattered. “How the fuck did the Maiden learn how to use a bow?”

“That’s not all she can do. She can also fight hand-to-hand. She almost took my ass down.”

“Well, I want to know more about that.”

A dry laugh left me. “It’s not as interesting as you think.”

“Disagree,” he murmured.

“I think it was her other guard. Vikter,” I answered his question. “He must have trained her.”

“That is unexpected, and a potential problem down the road.”

I sighed, looking at my empty hand. “Don’t I know it?”

A heartbeat passed. “Caning her?”

Anger simmered in my gut as I nodded.

“Fucking gods.” His eyes, a brighter shade of blue now, met mine. “Make it hurt.”

“I plan to.”

“Good.” He scratched his jaw. “I cannot wait to be free of this cesspool.”

“You and me both,” I said, and we would be. Soon. Our plan would work.

But things would get messy and bloodier than they already were, and I didn’t want Kieran anywhere near any of it. I hadn’t wanted him here at all.

He knew that, and still insisted on joining me. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t try to talk some sense into him.

I rose, and Kieran’s eyes immediately narrowed. “You know I’d prefer if you—”

“Don’t start,” he interrupted, his voice dropping low, even though not a soul could hear us. “I know exactly what you’re going to say, Cas.”

“I didn’t want you here in the first place,” I told him. “If I had my way, you would be back in Atlantia, or at the very least, in Spessa’s End, annoying the hell out of your sister.”

“Didn’t I just ask you not to start with this shit?”

“You didn’t ask. You demanded that I not, and I’m ignoring that.” I clasped his shoulder. “Besides the risks—”

“What you mean to say is besides the fact that my father would have your ass if something happened to me.”

“That, too.” I cracked a grin despite the truth of what Kieran said. His father would have my ass if something happened to his son. Who I was wouldn’t stop him. “I know being here, having to stay in this form, hasn’t been easy.”

“I make do. I’ll keep making do, so don’t worry about me.”

Of course, he’d say that. But no wolven enjoyed being confined to their mortal forms, even if it was by choice. “You can ride ahead to New Haven.”

“I’m with you,” Kieran said, folding his hand around my outstretched forearm. “Always. Even if I think what you’re doing is idiotic.”

Just like he’d known there would be no changing my mind about the Duke, I knew there was no chance I’d change his regarding this. I had to try, though. I squeezed his shoulder, then dropped my hand. “I’ve done far more idiotic things.”

“Name one.”

I knocked back a strand of dark hair. “I could name a hundred, but then we’d be here until the Rite.”

“We would be.” The humor dissipated as he bent, picking up the sack. “If all goes well, the next time we see each other…”

I took a deep breath. “Will be when we’re leaving Masadonia.”

MISS WILLA COLYNS

I didn’t know if I should laugh or shout.

The very ill-behaved Maiden had snuck out again, and I only knew because I had entered her chambers when there’d been no answer to my knock. I’d been bored. Vikter was nowhere near, and it was the perfect opportunity to get closer to her. But her quarters were empty.

My suspicions concerning that door by the windows had been spot-on. It led to a dusty-ass, cobweb-filled stairwell that appeared as if it were mere minutes from crumbling.

I’d figured she would use the broken section of the inner wall to leave the castle grounds and then take Wisher’s Grove to wherever she planned to go. I’d been right, catching up to her just as she left the woods.