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Bastien gives me a crooked smile. “You know what else might help us get him back?”

“What?”

“Sharing with me whateverirresponsible mistress-nessyou have in mind.”

“Oh, no, it’s really crazy… like off-the-chart irresponsible and potentially life-threateningly reckless. Bad. Wrong. Naughty. Basically, all the things a respectable mistress should never be.”

His opalescent eyes shimmer with mischief. “Now, I definitely need to know. What’s that human expression…I’m all ears, or all feathers, in my case.”

“Well, for what I have in mind, feathers are much more helpful than a bunch of extra ears.”

Chapter50

Bianca

Out the window.Check.

Across the roof.Check.

Standing above a huge pile of not even remotely clean hay.Check.

“Are you ready?” I whisper as the setting sun decorates the castle walls with gorgeous blue and orange rays.

Bastien’s feathers poof a little, possibly inspired by fear, the breeze, or his innate good sense. I wait to see whether he’s putting the brakes on my naughty, bad mistress plan.

“I’m not sayingnoand I’m still supportive of our mission, but…” His words drop off as he leans just slightly and stares at the literal drop off.

I tug him a few inches away from the edge and pause until his gaze meets mine. “Tell me. Trust me to understand. You can still abstain from joining me in the land ofcrazypants.”

“Mistress, I just need to make sure we’ve thought this through.”

“Okay. Thinking is good, and it’s proof that Remy totally got things wrong. If you were just some mindless minion, you’d already have jumped, right?”

Bastien’s expression takes on a lovely smugness but it doesn’t last. “Have you considered how hurt Archie and Pennie will be that you didn’t share this mission with them? And what about your father?”

“I did consider that.” I rub his feathered hand. “The trouble is that, from everything everyone has said, you and I are not in actual danger from the queen. So, while gravity might prove troublesome, our worst-case scenario is we end up dirty and bruised in that hay down there and sneak back in to clean up before anyone notices. But if this works, I don’t want the queen holding any of this against Archie and Pennie, and they can’t be blamed if they don’t know we’re busycriming.”

He tilts his head from side to side, assessing and then agreeing. “And your father?”

I chuckle. “Earlier today, my dad was not so subtly suggesting I procure some climbing gear and start my way up the side of the tower. WeWestonsdon’t take no for an answer, not when something is important.”

I glance up at the ridiculously high tower and sigh. “It’s more than that though.” After chewing on my lip, I say, “Remember how I pushed to follow Archie when he wanted to deal with his rut alone, even though everyone else thought I was making the wrong choice for both Archie and myself?”

Bastien squeezes my hand. “You saved our family that day.”

“My heart is telling me that this is what’s necessary to save our family again. More than even that, what if the queen needs her grief disrupted? What if she’s forgotten about everyone else’s grief? What if she’s forgotten that beauty still exists in this world and that her daughter would want her to gaze at the stars or pick flowers, find love, whatever?”

A chill wanders through me but I don’t succumb to it. My sense of purpose keeps me warm. “If something happened to me, I would never want my dad to grieve so completely that he lost sight of the life that’s passing every single minute of every single day. The life that might be the only one he ever gets.” I put my hands on my hips and I huff. “I’m not saying I’m a neutral party here or that I’m trying to save the world, but if the queen could get past her sorrow, then all those monsters we met would be free to get past theirs. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“That would be wonderful.”

“Now, tell me…Team CrazyPants MissionorTeam Safe Quiet Cuddly Evening?”

Bastien leans and claims a kiss, before murmuring, “Team Mistress—alwaysTeam Mistress.”

“All right then, let’s do this thing. This isn’t that high of a drop—I’ve had worse—and it will be super educational.”

He blurts a laugh. “Falling is always very educational, isn’t it?”