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Verity and Alex leaned forward to get a better look.
“There are seven sections,” said Rune, squinting at the circles she’d traced. A gate marked the entrance to the first and biggest section, the outermost circle. In each concentric circle after it, moving toward the center, were more gates. Seven in total. And each entry was named after one of the seven Ancients.
Mercy, Liberty, Wisdom, Justice, Amity, Patience, Fortitude.
Rune remembered when the opera house columns still bore the painted likenesses of the Ancients. The images were destroyed by fire when patriots ransacked the building during the revolution. The columns had since been painted over, but Rune could still picture the renderings of the witches in her mind: Amity, mid-laugh and her hair a wild tangle; Wisdom, with her secretive smile; Justice, turning her face toward the sky …
“Do you know which section they’re keeping Seraphine in?” asked Alex.
Rune shook her head. Not only did she not know what section or cell Seraphine was in, Rune didn’t know how many guards she’d need to evade. Or how one passed through the gates, which would be locked. Who held the keys? Once she was on the other side of all the gates, how would she get back out?
“This feels impossible,” said Rune, her shoulders slumping.
“There’s a reason they call it impregnable,” said Alex.
“Unhelpful,” said Verity, shooting him a look. She joined Rune on the floor, crossing her legs beneath her dress and leaning over the map as the carriage jolted beneath them. Rune’s nose prickled. One of these days, she would gently suggest to her friend not to dab so much perfume on …
But not tonight. Tonight, if Rune felt exhausted, Veritylookedit. There were dark circles under her eyes, and every few minutes, her loud yawns broke the silence in the carriage. Not for the first time, Rune felt guilty stealing Verity away from her studies, certain her friend’s grades were suffering for it.
Verity would scold her if she knew what Rune was thinking. She and Rune were in this together. In it in a way Alex never would be. Rune had lost her grandmother to the purge; Verity had lost her sisters. Both wanted to rescue as many witches as they could—to make up for the ones they hadn’t been able to save.
“I wish I had a spell for walking through walls,” said Rune, leaning her head back against the carriage seat and staring at Alex.
“Is there such a thing?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never come across one.”
Verity pushed her spectacles up the bridge of her nose. “I’m sure there’s a spell forblastingthrough walls. But you’ll need a lot more blood to pull off that kind of thing. Blood you don’t have.”
She pulled a pencil and notepad from her pocket and started writing. The edge of her tongue popped out of the corner of her mouth as she dutifully made a list.
“We’ll need to know: where Seraphine is located; how the gates work; roughly how many guards …”
“How Rune will getoutafter she getsin,” Alex added, sounding displeased but taking part.
“What day they’re planning to purge her,” said Rune.
This was her last chance. If she arrived too late this time, she wouldn’t get another.
When she finished her list, Verity lowered her notepad to her knee and started tapping the paper with her pen. “That’s a lot of information.”
“Laila will know some of these answers,” offered Alex. “Her mother’s the warden, and she’s a witch hunter. She’ll have been inside that prison more than once.”
“The girl who shot me tonight?” Rune arched her brows, remembering the opera house, and Laila’s less-than-playful guesses about why she’d been late.
Verity seemed to remember the same thing. She shook her head. “I don’t like the way Laila looks at Rune these days. Best to avoid her. However …” Mischief danced in her eyes. “Her brother might be helpful.”
“Noah’s not a witch hunter,” Alex pointed out.
“But his sister is, and his mother is a warden. Noah’s smart. He pays attention. And …” Verity spoke to Rune now. “… he’s at the top of your list of eligible suitors. If you got him alone—”
“Eligible what?” interrupted Alex. He looked to Rune. “What is she talking about?”
Rune winced, remembering how they’d excluded Alex from this plan. Deciding it was well past time to fill him in, she said, “Verity made me a list of eligible men to—”
“No.”
The ferocity of the word surprised them both.
