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T ime slowed down as I turned to face Saanvi, her face stricken with pain as she grabbed the hilt of the throwing knife and pulled it free.

Blood bloomed across her tunic immediately and Puck kneeled at her side, pressing his hand to the wound.

Kenna ran towards her, falling to her knees and grasping her around the shoulders.

“We need to get her to a medic or a healer, and quickly .” Puck’s voice was strained as the blood pooled around his fingers.

“I didn’t—” The words were swallowed before they could even come out.

I hadn’t even seen Kane pick up my throwing knife where it had been discarded.

I should have been paying closer attention.

My ears were ringing as I frantically searched up and down the cobblestone street, thinking of anywhere we might be able to go for help.

We were still deep within The Shadow, far from any of our contacts in the resistance.

“What do we do?” I asked, raking a hand through my hair, my gaze falling back on Saanvi as she slumped against Kenna.

Tears streamed down Kenna’s dirt-stained cheeks as she squeezed Saanvi tight. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose another person I loved.

“I’ll run for help,” Tess offered, standing from her squatting position and moving towards the mouth of the alleyway.

She stepped over the dead bodies strewn about the cobblestone, her boots splashing in the darkened puddles of their blood.

“There isn’t time,” Puck replied through clenched teeth.

I shook my head back and forth. This couldn’t be happening. This was my fault .

As Tess neared the mouth of the alley, her eyes fell on something, or someone, and she stepped backwards slowly. Her gaze cast back towards us before she unsheathed her dagger, grasping it tightly in her fist.

“Gotten yourselves into quite the pickle, haven’t you?” The familiar voice sounded as he rounded the corner, taking in the scene before him.

He crossed his arms over his chest, a knowing smile across his lips. His dagger hung from the strap on his thigh, his jacket clinging against his muscles as he gave his salt and pepper hair a shake.

“ Phineas Wolfe .” The name left my mouth sounding as if it were a curse .

I couldn’t think of a worse time for him to show up. We needed to get Saanvi medical attention, and quickly. We didn’t have time to deal with him or his men. He had warned us not to come back to The Shadow, and I feared what would happen to us now that we had.

“The one and only, darling,” he replied, a glint of mirth in his eyes.

“Please, just let us go,” I ground out, my voice pleading.

I wasn’t beneath begging in order to save Saanvi’s life. We couldn’t let her die here, in the depths of The Shadow, surrounded by blood and grime.

Phineas raised a brow in my direction. “Appears you are in dire need of assistance. Might I offer you some?”

“What’s the catch?” I asked, deadpan.

I didn’t trust Phineas for one second, and whatever he offered would come at a price. He was in the business of stealing spells and information; I doubted he would willingly do something out of the kindness of his own heart.

“No catch, love, you simply need to come with me,” he replied.

“We aren’t going anywhere with you,” Tess responded, her lips thinning.

“Not sure you have much choice in the matter.” He nodded towards Saanvi as her body slumped against Kenna even further, Puck still putting pressure on the wound at her chest.

One of Phineas’s men appeared right over his shoulder, his hand moving towards the sword in its scabbard across his back. Phineas gave an infinitesimal shake of his head and the man relaxed his hand back to his side .

“What will it cost us?” I asked, my jaw clenched.

“Ah, you are correct that it won’t be free. But it is a fair price, if I do say so myself.” He laughed, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes.

What was he playing at?

“And the price?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“You tell me everything you find out when you track down Alastir.”

I couldn’t keep the surprise off my face as my mouth parted. “How do you know we are searching for Alastir?”

“Let’s just say I have eyes and ears in this realm. I make it my business to know everything .”

I swallowed hard, my feet moving to gaze at the puddle of blood I stood in.

I wasn’t sure what he would need with the information we were searching to get from Alastir, but it seemed harmless enough.

We were hunting for a cure or an antidote for Noctani, to return the witches to their natural states.

What nefarious things could he do with that information?

If he or his men had already spotted us on this side of the realm, as had Kane, we were running out of time.

“Done. Now help us get her out of here,” I replied, my voice tight.

“Diana—” Tess spoke, but my glare cut off her words.

We needed to do this for Saanvi, and if that meant Phineas would need to sit in on our meeting with Alastir, then that’s what we would do.

Phineas’s gaze moved from Tess to me, and he shrugged. “Very well then. ”

He motioned for his man to join us, and he moved forward, helping Saanvi to stand and slinging her arm over his shoulder. Puck held her other arm around his neck, his hand still pressed to the wound.

“Can you walk?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper in Saanvi’s ear.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, pushing her feet beneath her. As soon as she did, her knees gave out.

“We have to carry her,” Puck said, grasping Saanvi behind the knees and lifting her into his arms. Phineas’s man moved forward to wrap a strip of fabric across her back and chest to put pressure against the bleeding wound.

“Where are we going?” I asked, a weight of uncertainty filling my gut.

“You’ll see,” was all Phineas replied, a lilt of a smile lifting the corner of his lips once more.

He turned out of the mouth of the alleyway and walked down the street at a clipped pace, not bothering to glance behind him to ensure we were following. My palms were sweating as I slid Stormslayer back into the sheath at my thigh, rubbing the sweat off onto my soiled pants.

Tess cast me a wary glance, but I only shook my head in response.

We couldn’t trust Phineas, but it was our only choice.

He could easily be leading us into a trap.

If we tried to take Saanvi up and out of The Shadow to get her help, she might not make it.

Her face was chalky, her eyes squeezed shut.

The natural golden pallor was draining from her face as Kenna walked beside Puck, grasping her thin hand within her own.

Saanvi would be alright. She had to be .

I cursed myself for leaving a throwing knife. It was a mistake I would surely never make again. I had been so incensed by the sound of Nik’s name coming out of Kane’s mouth that I had been distracted. I had allowed him to harm one of us in his final act.

We had left their bloody bodies in a heap across the alleyway’s dead end and it was sure to stir up some questions.

So much for keeping a low profile in The Shadow.

We needed to help Saanvi, find Alastir, and get the hell out of here before Donika’s men found us.

We were practically leaving a physical blood trail behind us.

I pinched the bridge of my nose hard enough for black spots to mar my vision.

This had all gone to shit, and we didn’t have much time left.

We needed to get out of Prins sooner rather than later and return to the seaside cabin to regroup.

We needed a new plan. We were leaving ourselves vulnerable wandering around the realm for this long, unprotected.

We twisted and turned along the streets of The Shadow, going back the way we had come when we were fleeing from Kane and his men.

We made our way towards the Siraway mountains and the sea beyond, the area where the shop worker had told us we might find Alastir.

Maybe we would get lucky and we could kill two birds with one stone, help Saanvi and speak with Alastir all at once.

Kenna whispered an incantation under her breath as we took another twisted turn, her eyes closed in concentration. She didn’t have healing powers as Annelise and Amiyah did, but I prayed to the Mother whatever healing magic she did have would help .

The uneasy sensation of being watched settled deep within my core once more, and I picked up my pace, joining Phineas as he stalked ahead of us.

“Are your men following us?” I asked, my brow lifted at him as I pulled up at his side.

He shook his head. “It’s only Baron with me today.” He nodded back towards the man who walked at Saanvi’s side with Puck and Kenna.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” I told him, my hand against my stomach to quell the growing nausea. “It felt like it did when Kane and his men were watching us, stalking us. Someone is here.”

Phineas glanced at me, holding my gaze for one long moment before putting two fingers in his mouth and letting out a sharp whistle.

His speed increased, his long legs moving faster, and I increased mine as well to match pace with him.

I practically had to run to stay at his side.

A bald man with a long goatee exited the door ahead of us, and I skidded to a stop.

Phineas said nothing as the man joined us, walking among our group.

After the next corner we turned, a man with a fedora pulled low over his brow joined the group, meandering out of the pub as if he were only a drunk patron on his way home.

He kept his head low, his eyes darting left and right.

Something soared in my vision to the left and I turned my head sharply to see a boy no older than fifteen scaling the rooftops.

He was matching pace with our group as he jumped from one rooftop to the next, watching us from above the tattered and ripped awnings that shielded the street below .

Phineas’s men.

He would not let us be outnumbered. Whoever was following us had better turn back now, as more and more of Phineas’s gang came out of the woodwork to form a pack around us. Whatever we were going to find out from Alastir, Phineas wanted that information. Badly .

Phineas came to a stop at a closed shop, his hand on the door knob.

He stopped suddenly and I almost skidded into him.

He whispered a spell quietly enough that I couldn’t make out any of the words, and the door popped open beneath his touch.

He ushered each of us in as he pushed everything on the large wooden table that spread across the open space onto the floor.

It was a modest shop with three large wooden tables, two of which were covered in beakers and bottles of liquids. There was a young man restocking the shelves against the left wall and he dropped a beaker and balked when he saw us come in. The bright green liquid spilled across the concrete floor.

“So sorry, sir. I will go get him.”

The young man scrambled up the staircase to the right of the cashier counter and disappeared onto the second floor.

Get who , exactly? A healer?

My heart was beating out of my chest as they laid Saanvi across the table. She had lost consciousness at some point during the journey here, and her head fell limply against the worn wood beneath. Her hand was still clasped within Kenna’s, unwilling to let go.

Phineas moved towards the shelves on the left and scanned them quickly, muttering under his breath .

“Aha! Here it is,” he exclaimed, reaching out and snatching a test tube full of pink liquid off the shelf.

He moved to Saanvi’s side, helping Puck to sit her up.

“Time to wake up, love,” he said, shaking her shoulders not-so-gently before giving her a few slaps across the cheek to try to rouse her.

Saanvi stirred, grumbling complaints escaping her lips as she peeled her eyes open.

“Drink this.” Phineas’s voice brooked no argument as he tipped the test tube of pink liquid to her lips.

Saanvi coughed and sputtered, choking on the pink liquid as she made a face of disdain. She ran a hand across her lips, catching the droplets that had run down her chin. “That is awful .”

“Nothing that is going to save your life is going to taste good, I fear.” Phineas took a step back, his hands on his hips as he watched Saanvi.

“What was that?” I asked, moving to his side.

“A healing potion. Won’t be enough to close the wound itself, but it works by healing the wound from the inside out,” he replied. His eyes narrowed on Saanvi to watch for any changes in her condition.

I nodded in response.

I was relieved he was helping us, but make no mistake, Phineas Wolfe was a dangerous man. We couldn’t trust him. He had betrayed my mother and stolen the key spell from the Kotova grimoire, and he had insinuated it wasn’t the only spell he had stolen from my book of shadows .

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” a gruff voice sounded from the stairwell.

My eyes floated up to watch as the older man descended the stairs, one hand on the railing and one hand clasped to his chest. The young man that had been stocking the shelves was right on his heels. How had Phineas known where to find him?

“I never thought I would see you here again,” he spoke to Phineas as he made his way to the wooden table. His wrinkled hand moved the tunic of Saanvi’s shirt aside to inspect the wound in her chest.

Phineas simply laughed. “It’s good to see you again, Alastir.”