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“There are many Draguns here.” Only Draguns are allowed to draw toushana from outside of themselves, to use it. She must train the others how to do it.

“You’re quite observant. Every House has its secrets, Quell. Ambrose’s immortality. Darragh’s garden of black roses.”

“But they’re here. Not at Dragun Headquarters.”

“I’ve given them a safe place to explore the things they’re naturally good at. They love their Mother. Can you blame them?”

Mother. The word ricochets like a bullet through my chest as Beaulah leads me into a quaint lounge separate from the reception. We settle into a pair of leather armchairs, and she pours brown liquid into a glass.

“How did you find Hartsboro’s entrance? I’d have known if the blood of a Marionne was offered at my gates.”

I explain how I ran into Charles and how I used his date’s dirty knife.

“Powerful, observant, and clever.” She swishes the liquid in her glass. “A débutante, bound to toushana, in this day and age. I never thought I’d see the day.” Her gaze traces me, pausing at my head. I’d almost forgotten. I tighten from my center and shove my magic up through me until my black diadem shows itself, brilliant and defiant.

“It’s a spectacle.”

I shift in my seat. But I can’t stop watching the gleam of awe in her eyes.

“You have nothing to fear here, Quell.” Her gaze falls to the tiny scar on my chest where my dagger disappeared. “People are gifted in different ways. Who are we to judge those gifts?”

“I’ve lived my entire life on the run. The Order judges me.”

“Yes, I suppose history proves they are very hard on people like you.”

“I was speaking for myself, personally.” There were others like me. Bound to the toushana they were born with. But they did horrific things! They earned that name: Darkbearers. “I’m nothing like those the Order judged.”

She crosses and recrosses her legs. “The Order did make a point to get rid of known bloodlines with dark magic after Misa fell.”

I think of Knox. Not all of them.

She smirks knowingly, as if she can read my mind. “And the Dragunhead remains committed to sniffing out any remaining, of course. This makes your predicament curious, to say the least.”

“I won’t apologize for what I did.”

“And no one in this close circle of my friends will ask you to.” Beaulah raises her glass and offers me one. I wave away her offer. She flinches ever so slightly, trying to hide it by taking a sip of her glass. But I don’t miss it.

“To be clear, you and I, we’re not friends.”

“I hear my nephew is looking for you.” She smooths her skirt.

I stiffen, and a smile tugs at her lips. And I feel like that’s the first glimpse of the Beaulah I’ve heard about. Delighting in making others uncomfortable. But I’m not the scared little girl at Chateau Soleil anymore. I’m also not one of the others here who appear to tiptoe on eggshells around her.

“I didn’t come here to answer your questions. I want to know where my mother is.”

“Ah, yes.” Warm light glints in the amber stones arced above her head. She has a confident yet ominous presence, like the rest of this place. “Rhea was here recently. What do you want to know?”

“Is she still here?”

“No. I’d have mentioned that right away.”

“Why did she come here? Did you help her?”

“One of my Draguns brought her in. I’d originally asked him to bring you to me because I’d heard rumors that you were different. I wanted to see and assess for myself—without telling your grandmother, of course. Darragh would run you off like she does everyone else in her life.”

She heard of my toushana and wanted me here? I push my hair behind my shoulder and hook my hands onto my knee, listening. It occurs to me that my grandmother and this woman have known each other a very long time.

“I wouldn’t put anything past Darragh Marionne. This Sphere business is no accident. Someone wants to take down our great Houses, and who has better motive than someone with no allies?”