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I think back to the conversation I overheard between the king and the Eagle. Their talk of progress and other options slots alongside the list of names and the missing nymphai. “You think the Eagle is rounding up people with theïkós for this…transference?”

She nods. “Like the royal bloodlines, the nymphai possess theïkós. Only, instead of it being gifted from the Anemoi, it’s passed down from nymph heritage, and there are significantly more of their kind than there are royals.

“I’m not sure if it’s solely nymphai from within our kingdom that he’s attempting this with, or people he’s finding elsewhere. Like Xan. The few we have witnessed have come from the lower class, people who are more likely to go unnoticed or unreported.”

My hands curl into fists, nails pressing into my palms as a bitter heat rises in my chest. People are being hunted and torn from their lives, their families, their futures. And I know all too well what it feels like to be hunted. Only they don’t know. They don’t see the shadow stalking them, the hand guiding the blade.

The thought twists something inside me, a raw, festering anger that I can’t quite contain. “Where are they taking them?”

“We haven’t been able to find out yet,” Lucaz says.

“But you will?” I press.

He exchanges a glance with Myna that I can’t quite interpret.

“It won’t be safe for us to meet again,” he says finally. “I’m being watched. Right now, anyone who’s watching me thinks I’m upstairs with a lovely couple of courtesans.”

I swallow past the tightness in my throat. “Because of me?”

“Because of the entire situation,” he replies firmly.

“So, what do we do from here?” Maxim’s gaze darts between us, a frown creasing his forehead.

Lucaz shoots him a grateful look, and Myna squares her shoulders.

“I’ll continue trailing this new Flight and find out where they’re taking the nymphai,” she says. “It’s best if none of us meet like this again; even passing messages directly could be a risk. And Nyssa, you should limit leaving the palace grounds. Lark has been taken off missions for now but Raven and the rest of Alpha Flight have been reassigned to searching for you.”

“Nys and I have a drop site,” Lucaz says. “We could use that.”

“Done.” Myna jerks her chin in a nod. “You’ll show me where it is.”

Kallias clears his throat. “That’s the second mention of this Raven. Who is that?”

“He’s—”

“The commander of Alpha Flight,” I say, shooting Lucaz a warning look. “He can’t be trusted.”

“Fine,” Kallias says slowly, relenting. “Poison, you’ll show Maxim this…drop site too.”

“Give us a couple of weeks before you check,” Myna says.

Maxim frowns. “A couple of—”

“We cannot rush this. The risk is too great.” Myna stares at him, unflinching, until Maxim finally offers a reluctant nod. From her satchel, she pulls a familiar book, its gilded edges glinting as she sets it down. “Now that that’s settled, I also wanted to show you this.”

The Book of Names.

The first time I saw it, it seemed far more ominous, perched atop the gilded eagle pedestal in the Aviary’s ceremonial hall. Back then, on Naming Day when I had finally graduated from a Fledgling to a fully inducted spy of the order, it felt monumental. But that day seems like a lifetime ago. Now it appears unremarkable, ordinary even. Yet within its pages lies the record of every Songbird, Nightwing, and Owl to ever be inducted into the order—a history etched in ink, far from ordinary.

“I took this before we left the Aviary tonight,” she says as she cracks open the book and flips through it. “But it’s not the first time I’ve scoured its pages.”

She must have found the right page because she steps back and gestures at it. I approach and scan the words. It takes me a moment to find it, but when I do, my heart stumbles.

Amon Malis.

The ink is darker on his name, fresher than the others on the page. But what strikes me harder is its placement. It doesn’t sit neatly between the rows of names. It’s…an afterthought.

“The Eagle,” Myna says, staring down at the page. “It’s as if he wasn’t even raised in the Aviary’s system. Someone put him there. Someone with enough influence to rewrite the rules.”