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“We found her casting signature under a table.”

“Does Rune know?”

Gideon shook his head. “I haven’t told her yet.”

“Shouldn’t you? If Cressida—”

“I believe Rune is aware of the danger she’s in, but yes: she should know. I haven’t had the chance to—”

“I’ll tell her.” Alex ran long fingers through his hair, walking on, like he was still trying to make sense of what Gideon was saying. “I’ll ride to Wintersea first thing in the morning.”

“Fine,” said Gideon.

As they arrived at the entrance to Thornwood, Alex pulled open the front doors while Gideon shrugged on his coat. Rain dripped from the lintel and splashed across the slabs of stone. The sun had set a long time ago, and darkness cloaked the woods beyond the doors.

A question was burning inside Gideon. Before he stepped out into the rain, he turned to ask it. “Alex? Is there any chance Cressida wasn’t dead after you shot her?”

Alex stared at him. “I shot her three times.”

Gideon nodded. Alex hated revisiting that night. His brother didn’t have a violent urge in his body. It would have gone against everything he stood for to take a girl’s life. He’d done it for Gideon’s sake.

The bodies of all three sister queens had gone missing the next morning. Defiled, Gideon had always suspected. But if Cressida was truly alive, what had happened in her bedchamber that night? Had Alex unknowingly not finished the job, or was some dark magic at play? There were stories of witches in the past powerful enough to raise the dead, but Gideon had always assumed those were tales witches used to frighten people into obedience.

He wondered now if they were true.

“Never mind.” He put a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It might not be her. It could be another witch impersonating Cressida. Either way, we’ll catch her. And this time, I’ll finish the job myself.”

Alex only nodded, saying nothing. Feeling like he’d ruined his brother’s night, Gideon dropped his hand and changed the subject.

“When do you leave for Caelis?”

“Four days from now.”

So soon?thought Gideon, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Will you come to see me off?”

“Of course.” Gideon turned to leave, thought better of it, then pulled his little brother into a tight hug. “I’ll miss you.”

As hard as it was to say goodbye to Alex, there was something that was going to be a lot harder.

If Alex was leaving for good in a matter of days, and if Gideon had truly decided Rune wasn’t a witch, now was the time to step aside. That way, his brother could make his feelings clear to her before he left.

It was the only decent thing to do. And it would make amends for his previous betrayal.

The next time I see her,thought Gideon, stepping miserably into the rain,I’ll tell her it’s over between us.

FORTY-FOURRUNE

A KNOCK ON THEfalse wall broke Rune’s concentration. She glanced up from theEarth Sundererspell, which lay open in front of her, and found Alex standing a few feet from her desk. He wore a collared white shirt and pinstripe trousers. His hair shone like spun gold.

“Am I interrupting?”

She shut the spell book. “Oh. No. Of course not.” Glancing down, she found herself still in her nightgown, and blushed. “I …wasn’t expecting any visitors this morning.”

He stepped further into the room, leaving the passageway open. Alex was always forgetting to shut it behind him. If anyone wandered into her bedroom and saw the wall opened, and the spell books beyond …Rune would be finished.

Rising from the desk, she went to close it.