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Aimee’s interest in his brother was no secret. Truly, she and Kato had so little in common that Skylen was often the only thing to talk about while she systematically emptied his pockets.

Kato complained mostly. And Aimee listened.

He didn’t know much about his brother—most of what he said was pure invention—but there were still sometimes a few nuggets of information to glean. Like Skylen’s love of art, specifically the metal clockwork sculptures from Pyralia Starforge. Or his favorite dessert, which was winterspice pudding. These facts might seem inconsequential to most, but they were things a wife would need to know.

It was hard giving up all that work, all that careful maneuvering, all the effort she’d poured into making herself his inevitable choice. Even if she had been duly compensated, as Kato pointed out.

Aimee forced a smile. “I am thrilled beyond words that my dearest cousin has finally come home.”

“Are you?” Kato pressed. There was another question beneath it, but she couldn’t quite suss it out.

He dropped his cards on the table.

“Flame.”

“Curse beats Flame.” One by one, she flipped her cards over. “And that, of course, gives me a double Curse, which is triple points.”

Kato groaned and dropped his head back against his chair. “Unbelievable.”

Aimee snickered, gathering the cards with an elegant sweep. “Are youtryingto make this easy?”

Kato glowered at her and shoved the rest of his coin into the center of the table. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Oh, with pleasure,” Aimee drawled, deftly shuffling the deck. The next hand landed in front of him, one card at a time.

Kato didn’t immediately look at them. Instead, he stretched, rolling out his shoulders as if this entire conversation had been nothing but a warm-up.

“Where did you find her, by the way? Talya. What happened to warrant this level of”—she gestured vaguely—“concern?”

Kato glanced at Taly’s door, still closed. “Oh, this? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. Skye and I were sort of… preoccupied with the whole spider situation.”

“Spiders?”

“Yeah. Big ones. We got sucked into this portal and fell right into their nest.”

Aimee stared at him. Kato was a terrible storyteller. All he did was create more questions. “So, that’s where she’s been then?” she pressed. “Captured by… portal spiders?”

Suddenly, the idea of Talya missing fingers didn’t seem so far-fetched.

“No, by the Time Queen.”

Aimee blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, I know, right? Mind-blowing. I didn’t get to meet her. Skye left me lying in a pile of horse shit while he was off discovering the secrets of the universe.”

Skye gave a heavy sigh, head still in his hands.

“Also, Vaughn—traitor.”

“No.”

“Yes. He turned on me. I fought valiantly—obviously—but, outnumbered, got apprehended and left to die. I spent the next three days—”

“Threehours,” Skye corrected.

“—fighting for my life, my sanity, coming face-to-face with the demons and ghosts of my past.”

“Poor baby,” Aimee cooed. “You’re so brave.”