Seraiah wasn’t surprised Kai had been the one to disagree with her. She’d expected he would. She’d hoped he would have a better plan, something she hadn’t seen or thought of yet, but it seemed he was also grasping at straws.

  “I need to talk to you,” Kestrel said, appearing by her side. “Come on, let’s step outside. It’s crowded in here.” Kestrel took her arm and tugged her toward the door, giving Seraiah no chance to argue.

  The cabin felt incredibly small with their entire group inside of it. They wouldn’t be able to stay here for long. Tensions had already been high on the journey to the cabin, where they’d had plenty of space to avoid each other. Sooner or later, they would boil over, and they didn’t have time for petty squabbles.

  The two of them slipped out the door and into the woods. The late summer air was only slightly cooler than it had been inside, even with the shade of the trees. From the corner of her eye, Seraiah caught a flicker of black and turned just in time to see Ren ducking under a low-hanging branch.

  “He said something about checking the wards,” Kestrel said, following her gaze.

  “That better be all he is doing.”

  “What’s the worst he could get up to? It’s not like he would give us over to Gavaran. I doubt Gavaran has any interest in us now that he has Sterling. If he did, he would’ve ordered us taken outside of Nyrene. He got what he wanted, and he believes there is nothing we can do about it.”

  “And Gavaran would be incorrect on that count, but that still doesn’t mean I fully trust Ren. Why didn’t he tell us the Summer King offered information about the shadows? And why didn’t he take it? He was supposed to be learning more about them. It would have been the perfect opportunity. He says he is on our side, but it’s like he wanted this to happen.”

  Kestrel shrugged. “I doubt it was on purpose. We also could have asked about the shadows when we were there, but we didn’t. You asked about the madness, and I tried to get us an army. Why didn’t either of us think to ask?”

  “That’s different. We were focused on other objectives.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, you know how you could find out why Ren didn’t tell us? Try asking him. See what he says.”

  “Oh, I will,” Seraiah said, staring at the spot where Ren had disappeared.

  “Anyway, I didn’t bring you out here to talk about Ren. You didn’t do it, did you?”

  “Do what?”

  “You know what.”

  Seraiah folded her arms over her chest, avoiding Kestrel’s eyes.

  “What were you thinking? He never would have asked you had he known. You know what it will do to you.”

  “Yes, I know. I know what I agreed to.” She didn’t need to ask who Kestrel was referring to or what she was supposed to tell him. “And I will tell him. It didn’t seem right to blurt it out in front of everyone.”

  “When?” Kestrel pushed. “Are you going to wait until after the visions have driven you into madness, and he figures it out on his own? You know what it will do to him if he realizes it was because he was the one to ask you to do this.”

  “I’ll talk to him soon.”

  “Before we leave.” Kestrel leveled a stare at her. “Promise me. Or I will do it for you, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

  “Fine before we leave, but don’t be surprised when Kai then refuses to go to the Summer King, and we have to change all our plans. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather sacrifice my sanity than murder my sister.”

  “That’s not what you said back there.”

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  Seraiah threw up her hands. “So I lied. Of course, I don’t want to murder my sister, but I also don’t want her to destroy the worlds. You were there. You saw the way she used her magic and kept us from getting to her. It’s only going to get worse. Now that she has the throne, she is one step closer to becoming what I’ve seen in my vision and what Atherly wrote about. It’s either sacrifice my sanity, murder my sister, or watch everyone and everything I love die. No matter how you look at it, the choices aren’t good. What am I supposed to do?”

  Kestrel gripped her arms and gave her a little shake. “Listen to me. The first thing you are going to do is breathe. The next thing you should do is talk to Kai before he moves any further with his plans. We need everyone on the same page if we want a shot at this, all right?”

  Seraiah nodded.

  “Good, and while you’re at it, maybe talk to Ren too. I’ve told you before, but we need to trust our allies, or this won’t work.”

  Seraiah raised one brow. “I might say the same to you regarding Virelai, then.”

  “I haven’t yet decided that she is an ally, but I will consider it.” Kestrel took a breath. “Not to add to your burden, but there is one other concern I have about paying a visit to the Seelie Court. After what happened with the Winter Queen trying to keep you, I worry the Summer King might try the same.”

  Seraiah bit her lip. She’d thought about it too. If the Summer King was working with his sister, he might try to trap her, or even if he wasn’t working with her, he might still think her visions would be valuable to him. It was another risk she would have to take.

  “If he asks for you to stay as payment for the visions, you must turn him down,” Kestrel said.

  She shook her head. “I can’t make that promise.”

  “Seraiah . . .”

  “It is just another choice I may have to make. We all will do what we must.”

  Wisteria shifted in her chair, rocking back and forth on its uneven legs. On her left, Seraiah’s father sat cradling his injured arm. He hadn’t spoken a word throughout the entire meeting, even when one of his daughters suggested that his other daughter needed to die.

  “Everything all right?” she asked him.

  “I think that remains to be seen.”

  Well, that was true. It certainly wasn’t looking like things would be all right, but Wisteria was at least grateful to not be stuck in that house anymore.

  Of course, now she was in a different house, and she had no idea if her family in Nyrene was safe or when she might see them again.

  She never would have imagined this was the turn her life would take.

  “I’ve never been to the Seelie Court or met a faery before,” she said to no one in particular.

  Virelai snorted. “And I doubt you will. If they go, you think they will take you with them?”

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  “Do you have skills to offer them?”

  “Well, I—”

  “I don’t mean scrubbing pots. Your magic is related to plants, yes? Is it particularly strong?”

  Wisteria pursed her lips. Her magic was abysmal by most standards. “No, but—”

  “Then I don’t believe you will be going anywhere.”

  “Oh, and you will?” Wisteria asked, growing indignant. “What do you have to offer?”

  “I never said I would be going.”

  “Then what will you do? Where will you go instead?”

  Virelai lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Does it matter?”

  “Of course it matters. We have a world to save. Seraiah and Kai will need all the help they can get.”

  “Hmm,” Virelai said, pushing back her chair and standing.

  Wisteria waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. She left the table and crossed the room to the other doorway, disappearing inside.

  “Do you think you will go to the Seelie Court?” she asked Seraiah’s father.

  “I will go wherever they ask me. I’m not sure I will be much use,” he said, looking down at his arm, “but I will offer what little help I can.”

  Wisteria nodded. “Me too. I’m going to tell Prince Kaimana.”

  Seraiah and Kestrel had slipped outside, followed shortly by the necromancer, but Prince Kaimana and Eryx still stood near the back of the room, talking in quiet tones. Their faces were serious, and neither one appeared happy. When Wisteria approached, they both stopped speaking.

  “Wisteria.” Prince Kaimana gave her a small smile. “Something I can do for you?”

  Eryx only looked at her. She still couldn’t believe she’d once fancied herself in love with him. After nursing him back to health and then subsequently being stuck inside a small house with him, she wasn’t sure what Kestrel saw. He was always so—so rigid. Yes, that was a good word for it.

  “I just wanted to volunteer myself to help in any way you might need,” she said. “I would accompany you to see the Summer King and help with . . . anything.” She’d been about to say scrubbing pots, but caught herself at the last moment.

  “Thank you. That is very thoughtful of you. I will let you know, but please, rest for now. I’m sure things haven’t been easy for you.”

  Eryx gave her an approving nod, with the barest hint of a smile curling his lips upward.

  She was being politely told to go away. Wisteria dipped a curtsy, a habit she was sure she might never break, and backed away.

  Maybe Virelai was right. They didn’t take her seriously or think she could help with this, even after all she had done. She was the one who had snuck out of Nyrene and rescued Seraiah’s father. She was the one who’d kept Eryx alive. Virelai may try to take the credit because it was her house, and she’d dragged him there, but she hadn’t been there to sew up his wounds and make sure he ate.

  That was me. I did that.

  If they thought she was going to be left behind now, brushed off and dismissed, they were sorely mistaken.