“Why not?”

“Because I think they may be right.”

I looked up in surprise. Dr. Shirland was looking steadily at me. “What do you mean?”

“Anne was held by Sagash for a period of nine months,” Dr. Shirland said, “beginning almost four years ago and ending a little over three years ago. Has she spoken to you about what happened over that period?”

“She doesn’t talk about it.”

Dr. Shirland nodded. “During our conversation, Anne spoke freely about her life since she and Variam moved in with you. However, the closer we moved to that time, the more reticent she became. I could feel it casting a shadow over everything she said.”

“Yeah, but . . .” I raked my fingers through my hair. “The whole reason Anne got involved in all this was because Sagash kidnapped her. And the reason Vari got involved was because he went to try to rescue her. They’re the victims in all this. It’s not fair to blame them.”

“It’s not a matter of blame. If I approached anyone to refer Anne as an apprentice, the first question they’d ask would be whether she was potentially dangerous. And I wouldn’t honestly be able to answer no.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “Anne’s probably the nicest person I know. She won’t even kill flies. She might be powerful, but she’s not dangerous. She’s . . . I don’t know. Innocent.”

Dr. Shirland gave me a look. “I don’t think she’s quite so innocent as you believe.”

I started to answer and then stopped.

Last winter I was called in on a missing-persons case. A contact of mine from the Council had noticed that apprentices were going missing but didn’t know who was doing it or how, and he sent me to find out. I found out. It led to me and Anne being trapped in a room stacked with dead bodies, being hunted down by a once-human creature called Vitus Aubuchon. I’d distracted Vitus and Anne had killed him. Don’t get me wrong, it had been more than justified—not only had Vitus been the one responsible for all those dead bodies, he’d just cut Anne’s throat and had been in the process of trying to kill me too.

But looking back on it, I had a disturbing thought. Getting good with spells takes time and effort. When apprentices try something new they usually spend ages fumbling around before they can make it work, and even then they’re clumsy. Anne hadn’t been clumsy. She’d ripped Vitus’s life out of his body in a single action. It had been very quick and very efficient.

I looked up to see that Dr. Shirland was watching me. “What happened to her when she was with Sagash?” I said.

“Anne did not volunteer details.”

“Did you find some out anyway?”

“You mean by entering her mind?”

I gave a nod.