He opened his mouth, closed it again. “That’s...witchcraft?” He sounded strangled.
I changed my eye back to its preferred brown and released the dagger. “No. It’s Zephyrine’s magic. I just get to borrow it.”
“I...”
I waited. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown him that, but something about this man felt so irrefutably safe. Moreover, Ky trusted him. So did Amryssa. Which meant I did, too.
“I’ve never seen anyone wield magic before,” he finally said. “You’re saying you’d share that with me?”
“I would.”
He contemplated the book, then tucked it back into his pocket. Conflict warred in his expression. “That’s kind of you. I just...don’t know if I could trust it.”
“It’s not painful. And if you didn’t like how it looked, I could always change it back.”
“No.” His jutting brow crinkled. “I mean, I don’t know if I could trust how people would treat me. It’s funny. If you’d asked me a year ago, or maybe even a month, I would’ve jumped at the chance. But meeting Dorothea... It’s made me wonder if someone might actually see me, someday. Really see me. If I looked like Captain Dash, I’m not convinced I’d ever know for sure.”
I let that sink in. That was...wow. Admirable. “I get it. But let me know if you change your mind, okay?”
He smiled, his whole face softening. “I will. And thank you.”
“Of course.”
I moved off. I didn’t know what had possessed me to bring all that up, only that the prospect of tomorrow didn’t seem nearly as certain as it had this morning.
Upstairs, I readied Amryssa for bed, but the events of the day formed a dark, sucking hole beneath my feet.
What would Vick do once the effects of my assault wore off? Would he come after me? Ruin Amryssa’s wedding?
Bile slicked the back of my throat. I was such an idiot. I should never have pissed him off like that, except he’d threatened me and I’d just...lost myself. Seen red.
Now I drew up Amryssa’s coverlet and extinguished her lamp. After locking her door, I made for my room, hoping to find Ky waiting.
But the bed was empty.
My heart slid into the bottom of my stomach. A glance outside confirmed he was still hard at work with the stewards, digging up the glowing bits of rot they’d missed during daylight. From the looks of it, they’d be out there for another few hours.
I grumbled and changed into my gauziest nightgown, then tried to read. But the words swam before my eyes, and I eventually lowered the book, my head swirling.
Vick. The liberators. Ky. Whatever he’d tried to tell me in the swamp yesterday taunted me—I had all the pieces now, I could feel it. But they were jumbled and out of order, and no amount of mental rearranging produced a sensible answer.
With a scoff, I tossed my book aside. Ky would tell me his big secret as soon as he came upstairs, and it would probably be something stupid. Something that wouldn’t change anything, becausenothingwould change anything. We’d annulour marriage, then he’d marry Amryssa and leave. I’d take her to Hightower, and that would be that.
I just had to make sure Vick didn’t screw it up.
A knock broke the silence, and I frowned. That wasn’t Merron’s signature pattern. And Ky would’ve come right in.
Sure enough, when I opened the door, Olivian loomed in the hallway. He held out a letter—one with an ornate seal stamped across the front.
My heart splattered against my ribs, then went quiet.
The annulment certificate. Three days earlier than expected.
I made no move to take it. Instead, I just stood there, wondering how something so innocuous could wield such power.
“Well?” Olivian said. “I don’t have all night.”
I shook off my stupor and grabbed the thing, resisting the urge to pinch it by a corner, like I would a rat dangling by its tail.
