“Ah, Lemuel,” Kaz said, warmth somehow seeping into his voice. “What brings you here?”

Illius grabbed his own hand before it could knock into the wall.

“Think of me,” Eric whispered, squeezing his hand. “Think of me.”

The Awakened strode over to Kaz’s desk and leaned over it. “Where is she, Kazure?”

“I believe your grandmother is somewhere in the children’s ward?” Kaz told him.

The Awakened—Lemuel—sneered and snapped his fingers. Two of the four men with him surrounded Kaz and grabbed his arms. “Think of me.” Lemuel put his hand on Kaz’s arm and let ice flow from his fingers, enveloping the other man’s arm. “Do you know what extreme frostbite can do? Your skin, your blood, even your bones will freeze.”

“What do you want?” Kaz struggled, but they held him firmly.

“You think you’re so smart, hiding down here under the pretense of ‘good works,’ but we know you harbor fugitives.”

“We give shelter to the homeless, and we help orphans and widows.” The Seratian’s voice wavered. “We have reported any fugitives in accordance with the laws.”

“Where is she, Seratian scum?” Lemuel roared, reaching for Kaz’s neck.

Think of me. Bright blue eyes.

“I don’t understand!” Kaz’s voice sounded frantic for the first time.

“The Witch? Where is the Witch of Dotric?”

“She’s dead!”

“You took her food at the Akagnian library! We found your signature on the portal. Don’t play the sad, exiled prince with me. We know who you are.”

“She’s dead!” Kaz insisted. “I was helping Lucy with her research. She asked me to take her food every week because she didn’t want to be disturbed. I only saw Lucy at the library. I knew Lucy from our days together at Megaliotechnica—I thought Syphora was dead.”

“I will freeze your hands from your body!” The ice crawled down Kaz’s fingers. “How badly is that beast inside you screaming right now?”

“You better hope for both our sakes you don’t find out.” The Seratian gritted his teeth.

Illius felt a wave of cold hit him. Kaz growled, letting out a cry as the temperature seemed to drop in the room. “Think of me.” “Eric Vagamon, lake spirit!” “What do you think?” Please, please make it stop. Make it all go away. Eric’s eyes. Eric’s blue eyes. Focus. “Think of me.”

“Fine. Maybe you don’t know where she is, but you’re going to tell me everything you know about her,” The Awakened demanded.

“I don’t know much,” Kaz seethed. “And I would have told you everything over a cup of coffee. She was quiet—always sat in the back of class and never said much.”

“Tell me about her magic,” Lemuel prodded.

“It’s black,” Kaz said, “but it isn’t natural. It was implanted or something.”

Everything in Illius screamed of betrayal. Why is Kaz telling him this?

Lemuel paused and pulled back. “You’re sure?”

“She mentioned it once,” Kaz told him, “but it was always unstable. She couldn’t control it. Sometimes it did strange things—like a heat rune would explode or a sound rune would only hum.”

The Awakened motioned to his soldiers, and they let Kaz go. “What were her magic levels?”

“Somewhere around three-hundred in school,” the Seratian said. “I’m guessing that with the war, they’ve probably doubled.”

Lemuel scoffed. “So, it isn’t that special after all.”

“No.” Kaz seemed irritated. “I never understood why everyone lost their minds about her magic—sure, it’s black, but it’s temperamental, and she doesn’t have that much of it. She would have been nothing without the Demon Lord.”

“You put on a good show,” Lemuel told him. “But I see through you. You still love her.”

“I lost my family and my country,” Kaz spat. “If I knew where she was, I’d tell you.”

“Think of me.” “Any chance you want to run away this afternoon? Because I’ll go with you.”

At that moment, someone at the door knocked. Lemuel kept his eyes on Kaz as he opened the door. A woman waddled in, one hand on her pregnant stomach, ebony skin shining in the rune light. “I got papers for you.” Her eyes widened as she saw what she’d walked into. “What in the Allfather’s name is going on?”

“Jash.” Kaz took a sharp breath, “It’s fine.”

“This is not fine!” She snapped, turning on The Awakened. “What do you think you’re doing to him?”

“It doesn’t concern you.” The Awakened glared at her. “Get out.”

The woman’s eyes glanced between the men.

“Jash.” Kaz nodded toward the door. “Why don’t you go help out with the children?”

She took a shaky breath and sent a murderous glare at Lemuel. “You hurt him, and you will not hear the end of it.”

When the door closed behind her, Lemuel walked back up to Kaz, crowding him, “Consider this a warning. If I hear so much as a whisper that the Witch of Dotric or that therian she’s protecting is here, I will tear this place apart.”

“Think of me.”

“I hope you realize that this will go up to the Grand Cardinal,” Kaz told him.

Lemuel paused.

“I’m certain he’d be interested to know how the Amber Order spends its days torturing an exile trying to clean his conscience by serving the Allfather’s widows and orphans.”

“You dare threaten me?” Lemuel walked closer. “I am the Allfather’s Chosen! I hold his might in my hands; you are a cursed creature. I could steal the breath from your lungs if I wanted to, and the Allfather would give his blessing.”

“A wise man knows discipline and restraint, but a foolish man gives in to the boastful pride of life,” Kaz told him.

The other man bristled. “I hope you’ve made your peace.”

“Think of me.”

The door burst open, and a little woman with long, gray hair burst into the room, followed by the pregnant woman from before. “Lemuel!”

The Awakened’s furious gaze softened as he turned. “Grandmother.”

“What on earth is the meaning of this?” She took in the scene before her and marched over to him. “You should be ashamed of yourself! Your grandfather will be hearing of this. And your father, too! You apologize now!”

“I won’t apologize to this sandwalker.” Lemuel snapped his fingers at his men and stalked out.

His grandmother turned to Kaz. “I am so sorry. I promise this won’t happen again. What you have done here—the way you’ve have helped everyone—it has more than paid the debt.”

“Thank you,” Kaz told her.

She swept out of the room after her grandson.

Before the door swung closed, a hand appeared from behind it, and Twig whirled inside, somehow arriving without The Awakened noticing. Kaz sagged into his chair.

The pregnant woman glared. “I don’t know why you put up with either one of them. Every time, she says it won’t happen again. Every time, she pretends to be appalled at his behavior, and every few weeks, he’s back. Like she isn’t a spy for those bastards, herself.”

Kaz laughed lightly. “Jash, don’t ever change.”

“I won’t. You can count on that. Oh, what did they do to you?”

Flames burst from Kaz’s arms, melting the ice. Twig stepped forward and started examining him.

The Seratian looked over his shoulder toward Eric and Illius, who still huddled together in the corner. “You can come out now. They’re gone.”

Jashanna and Twig both looked toward the corner of the room. Illius didn’t move. He didn’t want to move—he probably couldn’t move, either. And by the expressions on Kaz’s face, he must have looked like a mess. Kaz sighed. “Jash, can you grab us a couple blankets?”

“Sure.” She nodded and left the room.

Illius stayed still.

Kaz gave a deep sigh and turned to the druid. “Say what you want to say.”

“There’s no point in saying anything, if you already know what I’m going to say. And you won’t take my advice, either.”

“What am I supposed to do, Twig?”

The druid held up Kaz’s hand, inspecting it. “What you always do—deflect and protect.”

“Thanks,” the Seratian muttered.

Jash came back in with a stack of blankets. “Tell me you don’t have the Witch of Dotric in that corner.”

“Nope.” Kaz tossed the bundle toward Eric, and the man caught them, breaking the illusion.

“Good heavens.” Jashanna took them both in. “The therian. Someday, that witch is going to get you killed.”

“Guys, this is Jashanna.” Kaz motioned to her. “She has a bigger heart than anyone you’ll ever meet—she’s among the few people I trust here.”

“Oh, stop.” The woman waved her hand at him.

“Jash, this is Illius and Eric.”

“A pleasure to meet you both,” she said, stepping around the desk and plucking the blankets out of Eric’s hands. “Here, let’s get you a little more comfortable.”

Eric climbed to his feet, and Illius followed. He pulled his hand away from Eric and instantly hated it, reaching for him again. Every thought shot fire down his spine at this point. Everything felt so extreme—Hireth might be dead, Kaz might have betrayed them, and his eyes kept darting from everyone in the room back to the door.

“Let’s get you down to Shimol.” Kaz beckoned to them.

Illius couldn’t move. He didn’t trust the Seratian.

“Here.” Jash unfurled one of the blankets and swung it around Illius’ shoulders. Somehow, she reminded him of Hireth. The kindness. The gentleness. “Don’t tell the others, but I hide this blanket in the back because it’s one of the best. It’s so soft and it’s got these cute little kittens all over it.”

Illius hadn’t noticed the kittens. They were batting little balls of yarn all over the blanket. He took a moment to feel the weight across his shoulders. Kaz and Twig were talking to each other, ignoring him at the moment. Eric laced their fingers together, squeezing his hand. His lungs ached as he filled them with air. When he let the breath out his mouth, he took the time to notice it blowing across his lower lip. So maybe Hireth’s meditation wasn’t completely useless.

“Are you ready?” Eric asked softly, so only he and Jashanna might hear, and Jashanna pretended she didn’t.

He nodded. They needed to move. And if Eric was going, he could go too.