He shakes his head with a rueful smile that shows the tips of his canines. “ ‘Huh,’ she says. Completely unaware of what it feels like to have a living promise in her veins that will kill her if she severs it, or drain her humanity if she leaves it unfulfilled.”

“Hey,” I protest. “Just because I haven’t taken an Oath doesn’t mean I don’t understand how they work.”

He stops. “You still haven’t taken an Oath? What about the Rite of Kings?”

Heat claws up my neck. “It got interrupted when the Regents attacked me.” I don’t know why I lie, but I know I don’t want to tell the truth. I change the subject instead. “You told Lark that the Regents were coming for you. Then you ran. Where did you go?”

I watch the urge to shoot back a sarcastic retort pass over his features in the mirror, then vanish. “I was at my mother’s cabin, near the Haw River.”

I stand straight. “You found her?”

He sighs. “No, mystery girl. That first night after you were Called, after I set the ward layers for the first time, I took a car out there to check. It was locked up, dusty as ever. A few rodents had moved in.”

The night I had been swept up in my ancestors’ memories, tossed about like a loose stone in a river—or a stream. I’d wondered why he hadn’t heard my desperate whimpering on the floor. Now I know he wasn’t in the building at all. He was looking for his mother because I told him about my vision.

“She had to know that one day I would learn the truth and come looking for her.” His laugh is quiet and dry. “But if the great Natasia Kane does not want to be found, she will not be found. Apparently”—his smile is all teeth and refined resentment—“she only makes special appearances for you and your mother.”

That stings. “I’m sorry she…”

“Was happy to let her only son believe she was dead?” His eyes narrow. “She made her choice.”

“What did you find at the cabin?”