Chapter Thirty-One
My footsteps are quick and quiet as I make my way to Vandenberghe, my mind clear for the first time in a week. Saint Waffles’s little feet pound on the stone behind me—he refused to be left behind in the tower.
First, I need the Grimmstones.
As I enter Habert House, I have no idea which room is Fletcher’s, but there’s candlelight flickering in one of the private study rooms. I follow it on intuition, and sure enough, I find him bending over a large text, his eyes focused and a crease between his brows.
“Late night or early morning?” I say.
His head snaps up, and he blinks. “Scrivener.”
I smile grimly. “I need your help.”
Minutes later, we’ve woken Ed. He rubs his eyes in a chair in the Habert common room, Waffles hopping up onto his lap like they’re good friends.
“All right, Princess,” Ed says. “Why am I awake at this Saintsless hour?”
I take a deep breath.
“Roze has done something,” I say, looking pleadingly at their sleepy eyes. “If we don’t stop him before sunup, something terrible is going to happen to him.”
I thought I could do this. I thought I could get the next words out. But they turn to ash on my tongue.
“What’s he done?” Fletcher asks.
I take a deep breath, readying myself to trust them with my deepest secrets.
“I’m a meiga. Queen Maria’s spirit is still alive, and she wants me dead.
Roze is making a bargain with her to save me.
He’s forfeiting his life so that his mother can regain the power she lost when she created him, on the condition that she lets me live. ”
They both stare. Ed speaks first, cursing colorfully, and runs a hand through his hair.
“Please,” I say, leaning forward, “we don’t have much time. I need you two to find Roze. Do whatever you have to to stop him.”
Fletcher sets his jaw. “We’ll find him.”
“I can’t come with you. There’s something else I have to do,” I say. “I can’t tell you what, and I’m sorry. But trust me, it’s necessary to save Roze.”
“We’ll do our best,” Ed says. He stands and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Stay safe, Princess. Roze would kill us if something happened to you.”
I steel myself against the ache in my heart. “Thank you.”
Ed squeezes my shoulder, his face grim for once. “Fiat tenebrae.”
I nod. “Let there be darkness.”
“Roze fucking Roquelart, making a mess for the rest of us to clean up, as usual.”
Cerise grumbles as she pulls on her boots and tucks her night shirt into her pants, but I don’t miss how quickly she agreed to help me. Perhaps I should be more afraid to involve my best friend, but I can’t push her away any longer. I need her. Guilt is a knot in my chest, but I have to ignore it.
Cerise pulls on her trench coat as we march down the hall. “It’s cold as death out here. Where are we going?”
“You said Professor Borges is in the dungeons?”
Cerise nods. “That’s what I heard.”
“Do you think there’s any way we can get her out?”
Cerise clenches her jaw. “I don’t know. The dungeon cells are supposed to be nearly impenetrable.”
I sigh. “So that won’t work. Maybe we can sneak in. If I could just speak to her—”
Then Cerise stops, grabbing my arm. “Viola, Kole had that special key thing.”
A rock sinks in my stomach. “Cerise, we can’t—”
“We have to.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
I balk. “What do you mean, why not? I—I killed him, Cerise. I can’t just take his things like he’s not dead because of me.”
She puts both hands on my shoulders. “This will work. It won’t change what happened to Kole, but it will help you save Roze.”
I bite my lip, not meeting her eye as nausea roils in my stomach. I glance at the window, though, the Mists still swirling black. Dawn is coming. There’s no time for my guilt.
“All right.”