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“Then we’ll just have to break into both apartments.”

“And there’s more.”

Her breath shortened. “What do you mean?”

I paused, double-checking what I was seeing, but there was no doubt. “There are more shards back in the guest wing.”

“Oh.”

This was more than I had bargained for. It was a relief to know we were so close to our goal. And also, we had so much more to do in Mer than planned.

I found Ayla tense beside me as I resurfaced with the living. “Everything okay?” I asked.

She shook it off. “I always get nervous when you’re in the Underworld. I’m still afraid you’ll get trapped down there.”

“Never again,” I promised her.

Her lip quivered, but her gaze darted back toward the royal wing and the circling guards. “We’ll just take this one shard at a time, starting here.”

“Agreed,” I said, grabbing her wrist and preparing to shadow-step.

She pulled away. “What about the wards? Iona said—”

I shook my head. “I think I can work around them.” My skills were so much stronger than they used to be.

The shadows were quick to obey and easy to manipulate, and twisting them just right, the ward could be bypassed. Soon we had vanished from the courtyard to stand just within the apartment door.

Ayla followed as I led the way deeper into the rooms, drawn by the source of the purple light. The living space was filled with stiff ornate furniture, the walls cluttered with shelving that sealed countless items behind glass, including a collar similar to the one Calindra had sent to Inarus.

Ayla glanced at it and then to me. “I hope they’re not making more of those.”

I didn’t answer, leading the way to the back of the apartment. “The shard’s this way.”

We walked to the back of the suite and passed by two bedrooms, one far smaller than the other and decorated with fresh flowers and cozy blankets, the room at odds with the rest of the apartment. Ayla paused at the door with a frown on her lips. “Iona’s room? She really is different from her mother.”

“I hope so,” I agreed.

Together, we reached an office at the back of the apartment. Thick curtains covered the back of the room where a beautiful window should be. Ayla approached the large desk on the opposite wall.

“This is Calindra’s,” she confirmed, indicating an unfinished letter on the desk. “Where is the shard?”

I pointed to the floor beneath an ornate chaise lounge that never looked sat in. “I think it’s under the floorboards.” I pushed the couch to the side, and we lowered to the ground, our fingers spidering in the search for loose boards.

“Found it,” she said, gripping a panel and shifting it out of place.

Outside, I heard the mumble of voices.

“Quickly,” Ayla whispered.

I reached inside, my hand searching.

The voices grew louder.

My heart raced as my fingers brushed something rough. Shifting, I curled my hand around the object, pulling it free, and purple light flashed across my vision. A rush of Gloom’s stagnation filled me, slowing my breath.

Ayla shoved the floorboard back into place, jolting me back to reality. I shoved the shard into the pocket with the shattered shard, then helped her heave the couch back into its place.

Footsteps neared as I grabbed Ayla’s hand, prepared to shadow-step out of the suite, but I paused at the sight of Ayla, her ear tilted toward the long hallway.