Nausea rose in my throat. Lee smiled at the shock in my eyes.
“Surprised? I know all about you, little mage. Your brother-in-law liked coin well enough.”
My breath caught.
Felipe.
I’d never wanted so badly to murder him.Poor Kelara.
Thomas’s eyes bore into mine, pain and anger sparking within.
“I didn’t forget about you, Thom. How could I, when you have been a thorn in my side my entire academic career?”
Thomas’s jaw was clenched tight. He closed his eyes. A book slowly hurtled across the room at Lee.
Lee caught it with a hand and snorted. “You always hated potionwork. I’m amazed you found the cure at all. Didn’t notice the draught slipped in your drink, did you?”
“What did you do to Caleb?” Thomas asked.
Lee gave a wolfish grin. “Your palace guards will sleep it off.”
I made a gurgled sound, trying to talk. The taste of metal flooded my mouth.
“I’m not done speaking, little mage.” He turned back to Thomas with an apologetic expression. “After Autumnfest, I sent word in your lover’s hand that she needed you to come back.” He grinned at the confusion and anger in my face. “And you lovesick fool,you came running.”
“You didn’t write,” he said breathlessly, his eyes locked on mine. My chest chilled.
I gurgled again.
I had. I’d told him everything I discovered. I asked Mrs. Calloway to—
I suddenly remembered the stacks of letters tucked in the housekeeper’s drawers. Perhaps my message to him had never arrived, instead doomed to the inside of Mrs. Calloway’s office. She would see it as looking out for me, just as she did with his letters.
And if true…
He didn’t know about my magic. My year without him. He didn’t even know about my premonition.
My stomach dropped.
I should have told him. I should have talked to him.Stupid, stupid pride.
“No, you idiot,” Lee said. “That love confession was from me.”
“I can’t wait to read your obituary,” Thom muttered.
My heart ached as Thom avoided my gaze, his face flushed.
Oh, Thom…
“And I yours,” he returned. “But this,” he said, picking up the other vial and giving it a shake. The transparent blue liquid swished within, a dark green mist floating at its center. “This will help.”
Thomas jerked beneath his ropes. “The King will know it was you.”
He laughed. “You went out for a night walk, as you’ve always done, and never came back. Your guard was drugged—your cauldron will have remnants of a sleeping potion that matches his symptoms.”
Thom stiffened, and Lee smiled and continued. “You were… too heartbroken over Lyranore. Decided to leave the royal lifestyle for good.”
He furrowed his brow. “That’s not—”
