Page 93

GIDEON

Her shoulders fell, along with her hopes. This was the first she’d heard from him in three days, and there was neither an apology nor a promise to make it up to her.

Is there truly some urgent matter, or is he avoiding me?

“Who is it from?” asked Verity, peering over her shoulder.

Rune shook off the sting and held the telegram out to her friend.

“Gideon’s going to be late.”

Verity’s eyes narrowed on the message. She glanced up. “Will your spell last long enough?”

“It should last until midnight.” The magic would fade a little as the night wore on, but that wasn’t what she was worried about.

What if he doesn’t come at all? What if he’s changed his mind about me?

Maybe their conversation had convinced him she was exactly as shallow as she pretended to be. Or her kissing wasn’t up to his standards. Or maybe, upon seeing her fully undressed, Gideon had decided he was no longer interested.

Rune chewed at her thumbnail. She wasn’t used to being rejected. She hated feeling like she wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough. Was this how a real courtship made you feel? Fragile and unsteady? Like the slightest breeze could knock you over?

Worse than all of this, if Gideon didn’t come tonight, he’d ruin her plan before she could even put it into action. She needed him to come, to beinterestedin her, so she could get the information required to rescue Seraphine.

“I’m coming with you,” said Verity, wrenching Rune from her thoughts.

“What? No. Don’t ruin your evening.” Rune sat on her bed. “You have homework to do, and tests to study for.”

“And you have to give that dreadful speech. All alone. The least I can do is provide moral support. Who knows? Maybe I can do some poking around while I’m there. I could pretend to get lost, and when some helpful guard escorts me back, I’ll ask a few innocent questions about the prison’s security …”

In truth, if Gideon was going to jilt her, and so publicly, Rune wanted Verity close by. Looking her friend’s uniform up and down, she said, “You’ll have to borrow a dress.”

“Obviously,” said Verity, smiling as she moved toward Rune’s closet full of clothes.

“Take whatever you like,” said Rune. “Except for the green one hanging on the door.”

It was the gown Gideon had made her.

She’d sewn a hidden pocket inside it. As her friend searched for something to wear, Rune opened the false wall of her casting room and stepped inside. As she went to retrieve her blood vial—in case she needed any extra spells tonight—a book on the desk caught her eye.

Rune rarely left spell books lying around, and she didn’t immediately recognize this one. She stepped up to the desk, glancing down at its gilt edges and thick spine. Opening to the first page, she realized it was one of Nan’s rarer spell books, full of powerful curses.

That’s odd.

The spells in this book were too powerful for Rune to cast. So why was it on the desk? She didn’t remember bringing it down from the shelves.

Maybe Verity did?Her friend liked to search these books for new spells that might be useful for Rune to learn.

The only other person who knew about this room was Alex.

And Lizbeth.Lizbeth sometimes came in uninvited to dust the shelves and sweep the floor.

Symbols graced the spell book’s pages, along with stylized illustrations and detailed descriptions. As she flipped through it, the book fell open near the middle, to a spell calledEarth Sunderer.

On the left page were seven golden spellmarks, each one more complicated than the last. Beneath them lay a description of what the curse did. The opposite page contained an illustration of a town carved in half. An earthquake had ruptured the city, breaking buildings and severing streets while the town’s inhabitants screamed in fear.

“Don’t even think about trying that one.”

Rune glanced up to find Verity beside her, peering down at the page, a dress hanging over her arm.