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Taly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her aether was gone, and it left her feeling cranky, sore, and itching for a fight. But even she knew not to push Ivain’s buttons when he gave herthatlook.

“For now, regardless of thehow…” Ivain took a long sip of tea to steady himself. “Taly was able to gather some valuablenew information. One,” he said, holding up a long, thin finger, “Aneirin is not only in the city, he can come and go as he pleases. Two, he can possess the bodies of both the living and the dead. Three, he can create portals through space. Four, those portals seem to have some sort of… degrading effect on magic. I can think of no other explanation for what happened to Taly’s glamour.”

“It’sshredded,” Aimee said with a mournful little sniff. Her fingers hazed blue, her magic probing at the bracelet’s many layers of enchantments. “This was some of my best work.”

“There’s a reason we can’t have nice things,” Skye said, chewing. Taly glared, but he only smiled and took another bite.

“Does the glamour explain why she’s…encrusted?” Sarina aimed a bleary look across the table. “Or what happened to her aether?” She flicked her fingers, and a bright spark clipped a crystal from Taly’s collar. “Seriously, what is that?”

“I would also really like to know,” Taly said. Picking one of the larger pieces of stone out of her hair, she dropped it into an empty sugar bowl.Plink. “Also, how to wash it out.”

Adding water had just turned it into cement.

“I may have an answer for that.”

All eyes turned to Aiden as he shuffled through the mess of folders spread out in front of him.

“So, with Eula’s help, I’ve been able to retrace Taly’s path through the city following a map of localized blackouts. 32 reports came in last night, and we’ve found bodies at 27 of them.”

I hope you’ve been counting.

Taly tried to shake the memory, but Bill’s voice was as vivid as ever.

For all your talk of the sanctity of life, time mage, you exercise very little regard.

She didn’t want anyone to get hurt. But letting him get away with those keys would’ve hurt even more people.

Skye’s hand slid into hers, and she gave it a grateful squeeze.

“I know how it sounds,” Aiden said gently. “But we’ve only counted two casualties so far. The shopkeeper and his wife, who were already showing symptoms when Skye and Taly arrived on the scene. The primary being a dark, web-like rash spreading over the body. In fact, every…host, I suppose? All presented with similar symptoms.”

Skye idly rubbed his shoulder, some phantom pain. “So, they were Cursed?”

Aiden shook his head. “No. Not a single one.”

Ivain’s brows rose. “Explain.”

Aiden shrugged. “They’re not Cursed,” he repeated. “We tested them, and they came back healthy. All of them. Even the shopkeeper and his wife.”

“But we saw them die,” Taly pointed out. “They were definitely Cursed.”

“Or they just looked like it,” Skye offered.

Ivain raked a hand through his hair. “So, what? Now we’re chasing something that mimics a Curse but isn’t? Surely, there must be something else at play here.”

Aiden grinned. “That’s because there is.” He slid a folder across the table to Ivain, who flipped it open and began reading. “So, when we break down the pool of hosts into bloodlines, Shardless fared the best. Some confusion and dehydration, and there were a few broken limbs that needed to be set. Otherwise, they were fine. With the Lowborn, however, we saw a much broader range for severity of symptoms, but no casualties until we get to the shopkeeper and his wife, whose symptoms were, by far, the most advanced. Anyone see the pattern?”

The comb in Taly’s hand stilled. “It’s human blood.” Aiden nodded, grin widening. “The Shardless who fared better—they had more human blood.”

“Or put another way,” Aiden said, “those with Fey blood fared worse. Pretty exponentially, in fact. In a typical case of possession, the dynamics would be reversed—the Shardless body would expel the Fey presence. I have no explanation for what we’re observing here. And while I’m not sure yet what makes it fatal in some cases and not others, you’ll never guess the cause of death.”

Aiden let the silence hang, clearly savoring the buildup. His eyes gleamed. “Acute aether-induced thrombotic occlusion leading to a catastrophic circulatory failure.”

“You’re enjoying this too much,” Sarina muttered, holding her head.

“Sorry,” he said, sheepish. “But seriously, does no one else think that’s interesting?”

“We don’t know what it means,” Kato said around a mouthful of porridge. “Can someone translate?”