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Chapter 73

Nora

Nora couldn’t decide whether being stuck on a boat was worse than being stuck at the Holtzfall mansion. She had tried to break away from the knight her grandmother had sent to guard her at the pier, but that had come to nothing. And now she was stuck here, floating in the middle of the Wald. Wearing a dress of stained glass. It was patterned for the silk to look like the panels of a window in a chapel and charmed so the setting sun glowed through it. It had been enough to draw Modesty’s jealous gaze, and hopefully make her regret inviting her. But now the sun had set, her dress had gone dark, and Nora had taken up a position on the stern, watching the city go past, glaring at anyone who was stupid enough to make conversation with her.

“Champagne?” The familiar voice jolted Nora out of her boredom.

August was wearing a waiter’s uniform, doing a bad imitation of a bow while holding a tray carrying a single glass of champagne. Out of sheer habit, a comment was on Nora’s lips— I see it didn’t work out in journalism after all —before she remembered that he couldn’t be here.

“August.” She grabbed the champagne off the tray before he could tip it over and draw more attention. She felt her heart drop, quickly glancing around for anyone else who might have seen him. She sidled up to the barrier, pulling him after her, away from curious ears. “You can’t be here,” Nora whispered urgently, eyes darting around. She had wanted to get him a message. But even she knew seeing him was too dangerous. If her grandmother found out she had been anywhere near him…

“You’re going to want to hear this.”

There was nothing she wanted to hear more than she didn’t want to risk being caught with him. “August—”

“I know where Oskar Wallen is.”

Except that.

Nora had been given a lot of gifts by a lot of suitors in her time, but this was easily the best. “I could kiss you right now.”

August’s smile widened. “I wouldn’t stop you.”

The thrill of danger went through her. What was she doing? She knew how far her grandmother would go. She needed him to leave. But not without answers.

“Where’s Oskar?”

August pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket, his face turning serious. “Nora, if I give you this, you’ve got to promise you’re not going to do anything rash. You have enough proof. If you give it to your grandmother, she can have him arrested.” There was no way Nora was telling her grandmother a thing about Oskar Wallen, she thought, turning the constraints on her wrists. “Nora, you have to be careful. He’s dangerous.”

“I’m dangerous,” Nora countered.

“Nora,” August said, pressing the piece of paper into her palm. “Promise me.”

Nora felt a rush of warmth where his hand touched hers. She leaned forward, pressing her mouth to his quickly.

“I promise,” she lied.

As she pulled away, a sad smile seemed to cross August’s face. A smile so unlike him that it made Nora draw back.

And even as she watched, August vanished like an illusion.