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Gideon nodded. Alex had been the last unspoken threat hanging between him and the witch queen.

He’d started drinking after that. Every day. Sometimes as soon as waking up. It was the only way he could bear crawling back to her bed every night.

Sometimes, it felt like Cressida preferred Gideon unwilling. Like it brought her more pleasure to force him.

He recalled the night she branded him. She’d pinned him to the wall with a spell so he’d be helpless to stop her from searing his flesh. He remembered his body spasming beneath the glowing iron, every muscle tightening at the lightning-hot pain.

It’s a curse, Gideon,she said, pressing harder as he tried not to scream.One I will activate if you betray me again.

“That’s why Alex killed her,” murmured Rune.

Gideon heard the hush of waves in the distance. The smell of the sea was strong here, and when the trees thinned, he saw the gentle roll of the dunes. As they emerged from the woods, he could see the entire shoreline stretched out before them. There was a causeway to the east, separating this shallow bay from the open sea beyond, where the water shimmered turquoise beneath a pink sky.

“I’ve spoiled a perfect evening,” he said, awed by the view.

He wanted to dive in and let the sea wash over the stain he could never scrub clean. But as he started toward the water, Rune grabbed his hand to stop him.

“You’ve spoiled nothing.”

He looked down to find their fingers entwined. When he glanced back, her eyes held a storm so fierce it took his breath away.

“You are not the things that happened to you, Gideon.”

He wished that were true. “None of us can escape our pasts.”

Gideon’s past had shaped him. Haunted him.Ruinedhim. Everything he did on the eve of the New Dawn—helping Nicolas Creed and the other rebels take the palace, shooting Analise and Elowyn in their beds, hunting down Cressida only to be stopped by Alex, who had found and dealt with her so Gideon didn’t have to—he did it all because of what the witch queens did to him and his family.

It was why he hunted witches still. Because so many had it as bad or worse than him. Harrow was only one example.

Witches were wicked to the core. If given enough power, they would abuse it. To stop them from rising again, to ensure no one was ever at their mercy, every witch needed to be eradicated.

At that thought, Gideon pulled his hand free of Rune’s, remembering why he was here.

He suspected Rune Winters was a witch hiding in plain sight. To catch her, he needed proof. And there was one telltale sign every witch carried on them.

He remembered tracing Cressida’s silvery scars in the dark while she slept.

Remembered Harrow’s advice from two nights ago.

The sun was slipping below the horizon. Soon it would be gone, and the only light remaining would come from the small lantern in Rune’s hand. Before the darkness descended, Gideon unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt.

Rune’s forehead creased. “What are you doing?”

“Going for a swim.”

“Now?”

“The water’s calm. The night is warm. Perfect conditions for swimming.” When the shirt was loose enough, he tugged it off and dropped it into the sand between them.

Whatever objection Rune was about to make died on her lips. At her startled expression, Gideon nearly laughed.

He cocked a brow at her. “You coming?”

THIRTY-ONERUNE

THE SEA WAS FREEZINGthis time of year. Rune had opened her mouth to tell him so when Gideon shucked off his shirt.

The words died on her lips.