Page 163 of Smoke, Mirrors, & Misdemeanours

There was something beneath the silence. Something old and slow and deep. Land Magic—not loud or shimmering, but settled into the bones of the land like roots in ancient soil. It wasn’t the same as Starlight’s bright, mischievous hum, but it was there. Earthbound. Watchful.

Hello, she thought gently, letting the word stretch out. My name is Aura Cassia. I don’t mean to intrude—I only seek a home for children who have nowhere to go.

It seemed only polite—to introduce herself to the house, to the land, to whatever unseen presence had stood long before her and would likely stand long after. This place had endured. Not just weather and wear, but the passage of people, of time, of memory.

“This feels a bit like fate, you know,” Ark said. “After you and I made our bargain in that tea shop, I came here. Caius, Rhodes, and I cleansed this home that very night. It was a loving, happy home once. The Memory Magic within should make itself known soon, once you and the children start filling it with love and joy again.”

He looked at her then, something quiet and unresolved in his gaze. “Cassia—” He paused. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get Starlight back from Alderrath. I tried⁠—”

Cassia reached out, pressing a hand to his chest before he could finish. “Ark, it’s not your fault. I tried. You tried. Your lawyer tried. Caius and Rhodes tried.” She let out a breath, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “It’s just not meant to be.”

She looked around. “This place is perfect. The children will love it. We’ll make it our new home.”

But even as she said it, memories of the old Starlight flickered—familiar windows, familiar floorboards, the vigilant hearth, the walls that had protected generations of children. A pang of loss cut through her. She blinked away the burn in her eyes.

“I wonder if that spark we felt in the old Starlight was one-of-a-kind. I hope something so special can be recreated.”

Ark was quiet for a moment, watching her. “Well, that’s just the thing.”

She turned to face him fully, brow arched.

“What if,” he said, his voice gentle, “it doesn’t need to be recreated? What if it can be relocated?”

She tilted her head, frowning. “What do you mean?”

A slow smile spread across his face—that gleam in his eyes again. The one that meant he’d been thinking, theorizing, plotting.

“I have a proposal,” he said. “About the basement.”

40

ARK

Athread of wariness flickered in her eyes. “What proposal?”

Ark reached into his coat and drew out the amulet he’d taken from Aegis & Ash’s collection—shaped like a tiny vial, golden, etched with delicate filigree, faintly humming with restrained power. He held it out between them.

“We know there’s an entity in the basement,” he began, the amulet swinging gently in his hand. “This artifact can store magic. Not forever, but long enough to preserve it. If we can reach the entity, we might seal it inside this, then plant it here—in the new Starlight. Give the children their guardian back.”

Cassia’s gaze dropped to the amulet. Her throat moved as she swallowed.

“You’re talking about pulling it out of the old place and putting it in this one like . . . like transplanting a heart.”

“Precisely.”

She looked up at him, searching his face. “Can it survive that? Can we do that without hurting it?”

“There’s only one way to find out. But I can’t do it alone.” He held her gaze. “The entity rejected me before. It won’t trust me. But it knows you. If anyone can reach it, persuade it to come with us . . . it’s you.”

She was silent for a moment, her gaze dropping back to the amulet.

“If you agree, we should hurry. Alderrath offered to give Starlight back. Just hand it over, after everything he did to acquire it.”

Cassia frowned. “That makes no sense.”

“It does if he’s already found a way to take what he actually wants, and the possession date is all that stands in his way.” Ark’s jaw tightened. “He never cared about the building, Cassia. He cared about what’s underneath it. If he can extract the entity before we move it, he gets the power.”

He saw the urgency land in the way her shoulders squared, her chin lifting.