My jaw locked.
“She is… exceptional,” Georgina said softly. “And the world outside is not kind to exceptional girls. Especially not ones like her.”
I said nothing.
Her gaze held mine.
“You will bring her to me. Unharmed.”
A pause.
“And your friend walks out of here.”
The chains shifted against my wrists.
“That’s the offer.”
“And me?” I asked evenly.
A faint smile touched her mouth.
“Someone must answer for Muir’s crimes. If he refuses to show himself… it will be you.”
“That’s not much of an incentive.”
“It’s the only one you’ll receive.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“I have no interest in air mages, Kieran. That boy’s life carries no weight with me.”
A pause.
“Yours does.”
“And what makes you think I could bring her at all? You don’t even know her anymore.”
“But I do,” Georgina smiled faintly. “My daughter has always had a weakness.”
I said nothing.
“For the people she loves,” she continued. “Before Darkmoor, she could have run. She had every opportunity.”
A small pause.
“But she chose not to.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“She stayed to protect Sable. Even after what Sable did.”
There it was. The twist.
“She protects,” Georgina said softly. “Even when she shouldn’t.”
Silence.
“And you think she wouldn’t come,” she added, “if she believed someone was suffering because of her?”
