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He grimaces. “Not so far.”
“I just—” Alek’s hands clench against the tabletop. He drops his gaze to them before meeting mine again, his bright eyes so intense my pulse skips a beat. “You’ve already risked so much for this investigation. I don’t even know if we could get justice for you if they murderyou.”
“Alek,” I start, not even sure what I’m going to say to reassure him, but he shakes his head as if he already knows.
“I’ve seen records—there’ve been a couple of members of the entomology club who disappeared at different times. One body turned up looking like he’d been mugged. Another was set up to look as if she’d gone boating on the river and drowned. I’d guess they saw something they shouldn’t have… and Ster. Torstem’s people know how to remove ‘problems’ without it even looking like murder.”
So if I die tonight—or later—at the hands of the scourge sorcerers, even my death might be for nothing. My stomach knots tighter in response to the agitation Alek’s failing to hide.
“We’ll know,” Casimir says in his gentle way. “Ivy has all of us on her side. The scourge sorcerers don’t realize that. No matter what happens, we’ll see through their lies.”
Alek still looks so miserable even with his expression concealed by his mask that my heart wrenches. He opens his mouth and closes it again in a tight line, as if there’s something he wants to say but doesn’t feel he can.
Has he found out something else that he doesn’t want Benedikt—or Stavros, for that matter—hearing about?
A chill ripples down my spine.
I make myself pick up one of the glazed puffs from the plate of desserts and take a nibble. The sweetness laces my tongue without providing any comfort.
“Well,” I say with a wave of the pastry, “it seems like that’s all there is to talk about. I’ll go into the woods tonight and not get murdered and find out what the scourge sorcerers are up to. The rest of you can go back to your dinners or what have you. I’ll signal you through the lockets in the morning so you know I’m back at Stavros’s quarters safe and sound.”
Benedikt gets up, though I think the look he aims at the rest of us is a little wary. “I may have to indulge in a second dinner to make up for the first that’ll have gone cold before I could finish,” he announces jauntily, and steps toward his makeshift portal.
Casimir aims a soft smile at me. “I know you’re stronger than them.” He pauses until Benedikt has vanished and then adds, “They might ask about your magic—the magic they’ll assume you have from your dedication.”
I glance down at my right hand with its missing fingertip—what the men around me assumed was a sacrificial offering at first. “I can make up a story. They won’t expect anything major with this small a ‘sacrifice.’”
I’d sooner kiss Stavros’s boots than tip the scourge sorcerers off that I’m godless, let alone what other magic I can wield despite that fact.
“We don’t know what lengths they’ll go to in order to confirm your story.” The courtesan tips his head toward Stavros. “I can use makeup to imprint a believable godlen brand on her chest. I’ll come by a couple of hours before they’re expecting her?”
The former general gives a begrudging grunt. “We should be prepared for every possibility.”
I hadn’t even considered that one. My hand closes against the unmarked spot between my breasts. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
Casimir’s smile comes back. “Even if we can’t go into the woods with you, you’ll have our support.”
Alek clears his throat with an urgent note. “Shouldn’t Ivy be able to support herself in every way she can? If she has to prove something to the scourge sorcerers, or if she needs to defend herself, or there’s a chance to find out more… Her riven magic would allow her to—”
“No.” Stavros cuts in with a tone so dark and harsh it makes my pulse jump. “We’re not adding more horrors to the mix. If Ivy’s looked after herself so well for all these years without her magic, she can continue to do so.”
“But—”
“We arenotunleashing riven sorcery within a stone’s throw of the capital palace,” Stavros snaps.
I hold up my hand, catching Alek’s gaze. “It’s all right. I agree with him. I don’t want to be throwing my power around either—I don’t know what the consequences could be.”
We stand in silence for a few tense moments before the scholar lowers his head in acceptance. I can’t quite believe he’d approve of me bringing out my magic to begin with.
Just how worried is he about what will happen tonight?
“I know you can handle yourself,” Casimir says with a brief touch of my arm. He vanishes through his ring of enchanted cord.
Stavros shifts as if he expects the rest of the meeting to break up, but Alek is still hesitating by the table. If there’s something more he knows, he doesn’t want to reveal it in front of the former general.
I motion to the dessert plate. “Why don’t you have one, Alek? Take a moment to savor a little treat and remember how far we’ve already gotten.”
He studies me for a few seconds and then reaches to pick up a tart.
