Sel stands, both hands on the end of the couch. “We need to proceed as if this ‘broker’ at least knows that they’ve arranged an assassination, and that they have an interest in ensuring that arrangement went as planned. If they find out that both parties ended up dead, we might have a serious problem. I’d say we have until the end of the twenty-four-hour window before they come looking for Jonas, Kizia, or both. That’s tomorrow night. We should leave in the afternoon if not earlier.”

“Terrific,” I drawl.

Sel eyes me. “This information also means we have a new unknown entity to avoid. If this underground magic broker is aware of the Legendborn and the war, and they figure out who you are, Bree, they’ll come after you, too.” His face darkens. “That’s the thing about kings. They’re just as valuable dead as they are alive.”

The room grows silent. “Well,” I say with an exaggerated sigh, “I’m a Medium, so I’m a living king with a dead one in her head. Double points for assassinating me, I guess.”

Alice thumps my shoulder. “Not funny, Matty.”

Sel looks at me for a long time. “I agree with Alice.”

Her jaw goes slack for a second before she recovers. “See? Even the grumpy wizard agrees with me.”

“Sorcerer, if you must,” Sel retorts. He taps the phone with a finger, pulling our attention back to business. “We need to tell Gill about Jonas and Kizia. If nothing else, so that she knows to watch her back.”

A flutter of anxiety appears in my chest. “You think there’s a chance Jonas was working with other Lieges?”

“I’d say we need to seriously consider the possibility. After all, he’s not the only Liege who has lived the same story. We need to treat Jonas as a potential symptom of a greater problem. Any grieving, angry former Scion with nothing to lose could wake up tomorrow and come to Jonas’s same conclusion.”

If you ask me, there are Lieges in the field more dangerous than any Merlin.

Sel’s lip curls back in anger. “Remember, Jonas knew you’d be vulnerable tonight. He’d had time to plan.”

A sick feeling swims in my belly. “The serum,” I whisper. “He thought I was still powerless.”

“It wore off quicker than he’d anticipated,” Alice says. “Thank God.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I figured out the Regents were dosing me in the food at the Institute. Stopped eating yesterday morning.”

William sucks in a breath, eyes widening in understanding. “You missed three doses in a row. If you hadn’t—”

“If you hadn’t, your root wouldn’t have stopped Kizia,” Sel finishes, voice deadly. “And she would have killed you just like she was hired to do.”