I shook my head.
He frowned. “The little ones?”
Another shake.
“Oh.”
The jagged ends of my fingernails dug deep into the palm of my hand. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
He paused for such a long moment, I worried he thought me mad, but he nodded. “I do. We need to do something about yourhands.”
“My hands?” I echoed. My hands were the least of my problems.
But Cassius drew me from the solarium and down the hall before I could protest. The sconces were unlit; the corridor was silent. It felt as if we were the only two people awake in the house, in Salann, in the whole of Arcannia.
“Hanna keeps a little box of gauze and ointments in a kit in the laundry room,” I offered, but he walked past the hall without pause. “Where are we going?”
He stopped at the door leading into the garden. Cassius traced his fingers down the wood’s grain, unable to look at me. “You need to know I was going to tell you all of this eventually, Annaleigh, truly I was.”
My guard flared up, gooseflesh scouring my arms. “Tell me what?”
He pushed the door open, letting in a blast of icy wind. “Come with me.”
I dug my feet into the carpet runner. “We can’t go out there like this. We’ll freeze to death in minutes.”
“It won’t take minutes. But I have to be outside.”
“For what?”
He pulled me out after him into the snow. I gasped, my breath squeezed from me as a thousand frozen knives bit in. My feet rebelled, painfully numb with every step I took. The winds sliced through the thin silk of my robe, and my body trembled against his as he dragged me after him.
“Cassius, this is insane!” I protested, shouting to be heard over the gusts.
“I need to be away from the trees. We can’t be under anybranches.”
Once in the open, he pressed me flush against the length of his body. I burrowed into his embrace, seeking all the heat he had to offer, propriety be damned. With my head tucked beneath his chin, nestled close to his chest, I couldn’t see what was happening, but it felt as if we were in a sudden waterspout, all wind and icy water droplets. Pressure built in my ears, making my head spin. I sank to my knees, feeling light-headed and sick.
The air was suddenly warm. Balmy, even, and scented with honeysuckle.
I opened my eyes and let out a shriek of disbelief.
We were in an abbey. Somber gray stones soared stories above us, creating a maze of arched colonnades and corridors. The surrounding forest—lush and verdant—crept inside, claiming the pillars as its own. The roof was gone, letting strange pale light filter in. The shadows seemed sharper, as if two sets were imprinted on top of one another. The sky felt just moments before sunrise, even though I knew it to be late at night in Salann.
“What is this place? Where are we?” My voice was no louder than a whisper. The air felt knocked from my chest, and my hands were shaking.
I rubbed my eyes, certain I was still asleep, collapsed near the door of the solarium. This couldn’t be real.
Cassius stepped back from me, looking toward the sky. “This is the House of Seven Moons. We’re in Versia’s abbey.”
Versia. No goddess was more powerful than she. She ruled the night and its skies, bringing darkness across the kingdoms. The stars trailed behind her like jewels on a velvet train. Pontus himself followed after her, a lovesick swain, his waves ever drawn to the beauty of her moon.
“In the Sanctum? That’s not possible. Mortals can’t enter the—”
He quickly shook his head. “No, no, we’re not in the Sanctum. We’re on the island of Lor, in the southeastern corner of Arcannia. This is where the People of the Stars live.”
“Why are— How did we— How did you…” I trailed off, suddenly terrified I was asking the wrong questions. I backed away from him into a stone archway. “What are you?”
His eyes were dark, unreadable. “I’ll answer everything, but first, just trust me….”
