“Very dubious.”
“Maybe. But it’s a way out.”
“Let’s try to find one that doesn’t involve me swimming through frigid water.” The river flowed down from Mount Cennet and carried the chill of melted snow.
I was relieved from listening to any more of Wren’s creative escape ideas when Luna appeared in her moth form, flitting about the room as if to inspect the surroundings. We rose as she transformed, her chopped hair forever sleek and straight despite the flying. She still looked pale, but she didn’t look angry.
“Are you all right?” she signed. I guessed she didn’t want to use unnecessary magic and was probably wary of the guards overhearing our conversation.
“I’m fine. He’s paying me—and the Lady—to stay.”
She looked relieved, then glanced around. “It’s bigger than your room.”
“And fancier and warmer, at least now that we’ve got a fire going. And the food isn’t bad. How mad are you?” I added.
“Mad?”
“I got myself into danger, and you had to rescue me again.”
“I didn’t rescue you. He was gone when I arrived. You stayed alive. You rescued yourself.”
That lifted some of the weight I’d been carrying.
“Tell me what happened before I found you.”
For the third time, I told the story.
“He showed up out of nowhere, wore a cloak and a golden half mask with jagged sides.”
“A golden mask?” she asked, fingers spreading across her face.
“You know it?”
“Worn by the Luminae, when they existed. They do not exist any longer. Not since the god left Terra. And as I said then, he is no Luminae.” She sounded absolutely certain. Which would have made me feel better if I hadn’t seen the scope of his power.
“How did he get the mask?” Wren asked.
“I don’t know.”
“He wants to build an army, Luna, and challenge the Lys’Careths. He knew I could see Anima, and he wanted to see if I was hiding other powers. He said he wanted to test me, and he pulled Aether into the room.”
“He opened a doorway between Terra and the Aetheric, allowed the Aetheric to flow into this world. That is how I located you—I felt the ripple and heard your voice. This time, he failed to hide what he was doing.”
“He was showing off.”
Luna nodded and moved closer. I unlaced my bodice a bit and showed her what he’d done. She lifted her gaze to me, and there was anger and sadness in it. “He did this?”
“I made the scratches. The pain was worse than any I’ve felt before.” My hand was still fisted at my heart, the fire strong enough that it warmed my fingers. “When he tested me, I thought it might kill me. It was like the Aetheric set my heart on fire. It still burns. And at the worst of it, when I was screaming, I felt something break.”
She went ghostly still. “Break?”
“Like something cracked in my soul.”
“Does it still hurt?”
I nodded. “Like a needle. Small, but sharp.”
“What did the practitioner say of your test?”
