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“Then I fail to see how you were tormented.”

“Cora, leaving was the torment.”

The admission ripped at my heart. Desire I could dismiss as a touch-starved appetite, but tenderness was different. It made promises neither of us had spoken and tempted me to believe them.

I looked down at the hand I had pulled from my face, and realized I still holding it. I should have let go. Instead, I traced the edge of one of his rings, giving myself something to look at.

“You could have woken me.”

The words escaped before I could decide whether I wanted him to hear them.

I kept my attention on his ring, wishing he would say something before I found a way to ruin what I’d admitted, when his fingers closed around mine. “I’ll remember that next time.”

The wheels crunched over gravel, and the carriage slowed. Through a gap in the curtain, I caught sight of iron gates and the pale tops of gravestones.

It was time.

Chapter 35

Avouée

CORA

Yves raised the hood of his cloak, concealing most of his face, before exiting. I followed, joining him on the darkened road. The moon was new, and the road was dark as we made our way toward the iron gates of the Old Town Burying Ground.

If anyone happened to glance through the window of the groundskeeper’s cottage, they would see only a woman dressed in mourning and the anonymous man accompanying her.

We kept to the low cemetery wall as we made our way toward the iron gates. Before we reached them, we passed a brick alcove housing a single pillar of dark stone. Chiseled onto the front was the picture of a ship riding an enormous wave. Just below were the words:

CLAIMED AT WIDOW’S REACH.

Hundreds of names followed.

“A storm drove six Trenali warships onto the reef nearly two hundred years ago,” Yves explained at my curious gaze. “I ordered a rescue mission and captained one of the ships myself. But the sea took them too.” He was quiet for a moment. “A few bodies washed ashore, but most were never recovered. That storm still haunts me.”

I wondered how many times Yves had returned to this road and imagined a rescue that ended differently.

My hand found his before I could think better of it. “I’m sorry.”

He nodded once. “It was a long time ago.”

I glanced toward the harbor, which was just visible from the top of the hill, and for half a second, I swore I saw Mama’s ghost hovering behind one of the trees.

“No,” I whispered.

Yves cast his attention in the same direction. “Did you see someone?”

“Just Della.” I pointed to the white raven who swooped overhead. She landed conspicuously on top of the cemetery wall with a long key clenched in her beak, which she dropped into my waiting palm.

“Right on time,” I said.

Yves and I continued toward the tall gate. Before fitting the After Dark key into the heavy padlock, I asked, “What about Adrien? Aren’t you worried he’s going to follow us?”

He shook his head. “Not this time.”

My hand stilled. “Really?”

“I explained that we both were helping you perform a ritual. I was to go with you as your guard, and his part is to remain with Severin, keep his balcony lantern burning, and watch for Della through his telescope. When she returns wearing the black ribbon from my wrist,” he said, holding up his hand and showing me the ribbon he’d tied around it, “he’ll know part two of our plan is underway.”