“Amity, you need to say thank you—”

“Blaise’s thread,” she says, pointing to something in her grimoire.

I raise a brow.

“Flax is used for making thread,” says Amity, rushing toward the baggage, rummaging through Blaise’s things, which overprepared Amity had packed in haste in case we needed anything of hers. “I knew Blaise didn’t seem like the kind of person who likes to weave for fun…”

She pulls out a bundle of thread, then throws a string into the fire, collecting the ash in a jar.

“What’s she doing?” asks Evander.

“I’m saving my father, obviously,” she says.

Three days later, Evander paces outside my and Amity’s tent, rubbing a blister into the back of his neck.

I let him for a few minutes, then decide it would be kinder to put my poor friend out of his misery. I recognize the source of his anxiety and could probably give him a break by telling him I already know what he’s going to say.

Evander needs to learn to say these things himself, though, so I drag my still-exhausted body out of my tent and wait.

Evander halts, sweeping his gaze over me. “How are you feeling?”

I shrug. “My muscles still feel weak, but I can tell I’m at least headed in the right direction. Better than I was a few days ago.”

“So Amity’s drug is working then?”

“She has me on a strict regimen. Apparently the drug isn’t a cure for the poison, but it keeps it from progressing and alleviates most of the symptoms.” I can’t help but beam. “She’s a genius, that one. Not sure where she gets it.”

My joke doesn’t land, which is a testament to how consumed Evander’s attention is with whatever he’s about to tell me.

Evander nods absentmindedly. “Ellie’s getting her strength back too.”

The corners of my mouth lift into a smile that I hope comes across as patient.

Evander stops and takes a deep breath. “Marcus, I…I can’t tell you how much it means to me, and to Ellie, what you and Amity have done for us. For Cecilia. I don’t…I can’t imagine going through the past few days without either of you.” He puts his hands on his hips and stares at the ground, biting the inside of his cheek as he shakes his head. “But I have to take them back home. Ellie’s getting better, but she’s been through so much. And Cecilia is still so young. I want both of them seen by a healer. I can’t…” His sea-green eyes water with sorrow. “I can’t go with you to find Piper. And I know that makes me a cruddy person, after all you’ve done. I know…” He trails off, looking me in the eye.

“I know,” I say, clapping Evander on the back. He startles.

“You know?”

“You’re not responsible for my family. I am. Piper and Amity—they come first. And you have to do the same for Ellie and Cecilia. It’s what’s right.”

Evander looks as if he doesn’t believe me. His shoulders are tensed, like he’s awaiting a blow to the jaw.

“Listen to me,” I say. “It’s not that Amity and I won’t miss your company. But it seems to me that you got yourself into this mess by putting someone else’s needs above your family’s. Am I right in thinking that?”

Evander clenches his teeth. He says nothing, but that’s answer enough. After a moment, he swallows and says, “You stood watch. You protected us from the Others while Ellie was going into labor.”

“Need I remind you that the entire reason Ellie went into labor is the fact that she threw herself between Amity and an Other? For which I am eternally grateful.”

Evander nods. “Any resource you need—if I don’t have it with me, I’ll find a way to get it for you when I get back to Othian.”

I’ve been considering this the past few days. “Any resources your father could spare to help me locate Piper would be helpful. I know he isn’t the most amiable person, but if you could convince him, I’d be grateful. Either way, if you could use your royal influence to get a message to the Avelean court quickly, I’d be appreciative.”

Evander raises his brow, so I explain, “My sister is employed by the King of Avelea. She might also be able to convince him to help.”

“And what about you?” Evander asks. “What’s your next move?”

I think of Piper, my lovely wife, her thoughtful ponderings, her cleverness, the beautiful way she loves Amity, the way she gets lost in her music. “Me? I’m going to track down my wife.”

CHAPTER 52

BLAISE

“You’re saying that you believe the Old Magic cursed me instead of you?” Nox enunciates his words carefully, one after the other, as he stares me down.

I’ve backed all the way to the other side of the cave now, unable to bear the humiliation of the one-sided passion that’s threatening to shred my heart into ribbons.

“I don’t know for sure. But he seemed so intent on punishing me for threatening Asha’s life. And he did say I wasn’t the one he cursed. But think about it, Nox: I betrayed Asha to get you back. The Old Magic told me himself that when Abra betrayed him all those years ago by going back on her promise not to tell anyone about him or his siblings, he cursed the fae with the inability to lie. It’s what killed Farin.”

Nox flinches at the name, and I can’t help but wonder what happened on the island that he hasn’t divulged yet.

“The Old Magic likes for his punishments to be poetic. And what’s more poetic than taking away your love for me, when you were exactly what I betrayed Asha for in the first place?”

I feel stupid as soon as the assumption leaves my mouth. “Of course, I’m not saying I deserve your love. I understand if it’s just that you’ve realized what kind of person I am. I understand if all it is, is that you don’t want to be with someone who is so willing to betray her friends…”

Nox shakes his head. “Blaise, stop, please. I think you’re right. I’m not…” He winces, but continues. “I’m not happy with you right now for what you did. It makes me sick, honestly. But I crossed realms just to get to you. I sacrificed… Blaise, that kind of love doesn’t just vanish overnight. The feelings I had for you before—they were gone as soon as I woke. Before I had any idea the lengths you had gone to in order to rescue me.”

The smallest gasp of pain escapes my lips.

He looks up at me and frowns. “I’m being too technical, too blunt.”

I cross my arms and fight back the tears, but I shake my head. “I don’t want you to sugarcoat it for me.”

“I think you’re right, that I must be the one the Old Magic cursed.”

I let out a huff, a mingled laugh and sob. “You came back for me. You stepped between me and Evander back there.”

Nox’s voice is steady. “I did.”

“Why?” I ask.

Nox blinks, as if unsure where the disconnect between us is. “Because he was about to break you.”

In other words, Nox would have done it for anyone.

We spend the day discussing a plan, even though formulating one feels futile.

“I have to get Asha away from Az,” I say. “I can’t just let him…” My throat closes up as my imagination runs away with all sorts of violence a male like Az might enact against the object of his obsession. But there’s a wicked, selfish part of me that longs to go to Asha for another reason, a part of me that hopes freeing Asha will somehow aid me in convincing the Old Magic to break the curse on Nox.