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“I was kidnapped when I was eight and brought over to Verlanti as a slave. I escaped, and the rebellion found me half-dead by the side of a road. I don’t remember it, if I’m honest—Ever told me I was delirious at the time—but, since I had nowhere to go after they saved me, I stuck around. Iamloyal to the rebellion…it just isn’t where I want to be my whole life. And perhaps my sense of humor doesn’t exactly make it seem as if I care about the people who saved me.” He shrugged halfheartedly. “But I do.”

Wren squeezed Leif’s hand, feeling wretched for questioning his intentions. Her friend hadn’t had an easy life so far, not in the least. She could not possibly understand his way of coping with things. Could she expect him to understandherway of coping in return?

Are you even coping? You’re haunted by the past and keep trying to push it away so you don’t break down. And you keep seeing—

Wren froze, catching sight of a dark-skinned man on the street.

Rowen.

It’s not real.

She rubbed at her eyes and looked again. He was still there.

“Get me down there. Now.” Her voice rose an octave.

“Wren?”

She rushed to her feet, wobbling like she was drunk. “I need to go. That’s Rowen. That’s—”

“Your dead husband?” Leif murmured, following Wren’s gaze to the man currently standing below them, talking with another man with even darker skin.

Wren didn’t trust her voice. She merely nodded as the man began to waver before her very eyes. She glanced at Leif, who studied her, lips pressed firmly together.

He’ll call me crazy. I’m seeing ghosts, that’s all.

“Then let’s ask your dead husband why he’s not so dead,” Leif said, not letting go of Wren’s hand as he led her toward the easiest way to scale down the building. They descended as quietly as possible and, though Wren’s muscles heavily protested against it, she followed Leif when he redirected their descent in order to land in a very narrow side street barely wide enough for them to squeeze through.

She dropped his hand and raced forward, only for Leif to catch her by the arm. She frowned. What was he doing? He held a finger to his lips, then interlaced his fingers with Wren’s once more and carefully crept to the end of the side street. Wren pressed into his space and peered around the bard’s head.

The man was gone.

Rowen had disappeared.

You’re losing your mind.

“I’msureI saw him,” Wren whispered into Leif’s ear, feeling crazy and overwhelmed. “He was there. He was—” Grief clogged her throat and she swallowed hard. Rowen was dead and yet she kept seeing him everywhere. Had she finally cracked? “I saw him,” she choked out.

But can you really trust your mind?

“I believe you. I’m not saying you didn’t. But he isn’t there anymore, and we’re still wanted. So let’s make sure we’re safe before trying to find him.”

Wren stilled, eyes filling with tears as she stared at Leif. “You really…believe me?”

Leif turned his head in the narrow space, locking his dark eyes on hers. “People always see more than they admit to seeing. We call folk mad just because we don’t want what they see to be true. Then we discount them and throw them away. Butyou…you looked out for me in the Verlantian dungeons and saved my life even though it meant you were almost captured once more. It did not matter to you if I was ‘mad’ or not.”

“I don’t understand how that relates to you believing what I saw,” Wren said, wiping her tears away. “Do you think I’m insane?”

He laughed softly. “It means I trust you. And if you saw Rowen, then I know you must have, or your mind at least believes you did. Either way, we’ll look for him.”

Wren’s chest constricted, though the pain was welcome. Leif really was on her side. He might be part of a rebellion that wasn’t convinced of her trustworthiness, but that did not matter to him.

He was her friend. Perhaps the only one she had.

“Thank you,” she murmured, feeling exposed and comforted at the same time.

“You don’t need to thank me. We’re family now, you and I.”

She blinked repeatedly, trying to break into sobs. Since her capture, she’d felt so alone and adrift. “I always wanted a brother,” she managed to reply.