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The way to Silas is second nature to me by now.

I push Kaelis from my thoughts; I’ve wasted enough time on him.

The notion that he might have been intentionally stalling me has my feet moving even faster.

He’d know that Silas had given me the Chariot, too.

What if Kaelis was on his way back from punishing Silas?

“Silas!” I throw open his door. The man in question nearly levitates with surprise. I don’t bother hiding my sigh of relief. “Good, you’re still here.”

“Where else would I be?”

“Not here, shortly.” I cross to his desk and begin to take the liberty of packing his inking supplies. I’ve seen him do it enough times that I know what goes into the bag. “We’re leaving.”

“Leaving? What? Clara”—he grabs my hands, stopping me—“what’s happened?”

I can’t look him in the eyes, so I stare at my hands instead. “I’m sorry.” The silence that follows is unbearable.

“You used it, didn’t you?”

I nod.

“Ravin saw.”

Another nod.

“He knows you’re helping me.” I manage to pull my chin up. “The club is moving tonight. We’re all leaving through the mountains. Come with us and—”

“I can’t,” Silas says gently, taking both my hands in his and squeezing them. “You know I can’t.”

“Your family?” I suspect. He affirms with a nod. “Silas, we’ll find them. But you won’t be reunited at all if you’re dead.”

“Nor will I be if Ravin kills them.” He wears a sad smile, one of defeat. “If I go with you, he’ll kill them. If I stay, then I can claim you stole the card from me and beg forgiveness.”

My knuckles are white, hands shaking. “He will never set them free no matter what you do. Silas, please. We can find your family together and save them. If you leave, you’ll keep them safer.

He’s not going to kill them as long as you’re alive because he wants you—needs you. Your card is too powerful.”

“He’ll find the next Chariot if I die.” Silas is so bloody resigned it makes me want to fight even harder.

“It takes time that he won’t want to spend.”

“They have the Hierophant in their service; his innate ability can help locate Majors.”

“Do you want to die?” The question comes out harsh, but I mean it.

“Of course not.” He seems taken aback that I’d ask.

“Then come with me.” I’m not going to have Silas’s blood on my hands. I’m not going to risk it. “He’ll use your family as leverage to force you to come back, and that’ll be his error. That will be how we find them.”

Silas seems to brace himself, his attention leaving me and sweeping across the room. I wonder what he sees in this small place. Is it all the hours he was forced to spend here? How much he committed to this place when, all along, he could’ve left?

I see in him the same man I saw when we first met. Nothing has changed. He still fears the outside world. He’s still trapped in stasis by Ravin’s cruelty. I can’t leave him like this. I couldn’t from the day I first met him; I won’t start now.

“Trust me, please.” My words seem to finally make it through to him. Silas swallows his fear and nods. “Good. The club is leaving soon; I need you to get us to the townhome.”

He packs quickly and lightly. When he’s done, the room has been turned over. Clothes are scattered. Drawers have been emptied. I assist with the inking supplies I’d started gathering, shoving them all into the bag.

“Are you ready?” I ask, holding out a hand.

“As I’ll ever be.” All the apprehension in the world is in his eyes. “You’re certain you’ll be able to help my family?”

“I swear it on my life.”

“Right, then.”

A silver-inked card rises into the air between us. The whinny of a horse reverberates through the air. The world flashes, light and then dark once more. As always, Silas teleports us with a deft hand, and I’ve none of the dizziness that I’d experienced when I used the card.

We’re in the garden of the townhome, not far from where Arina was laid to rest. I’m going to have to say goodbye to her again, I realize. Just as I go to cross over to the flowers that mark her grave, a commotion rises from within the house.

Silas and I both turn toward the shouting.

Right as we do, the windows explode.