As much as she hated to admit it, Hal was right. They needed Byers. She’d sensed something in the east wing the other night, but even if she could trust that feeling for certain, would he still be alive by the time they returned?

No. She couldn’t give up on him just yet. Whether it was a live victim or a body to autopsy, she could easily draw the connection between all these disparate pieces if she found signs of goddessblood poisoning in someone’s system. But even with her and Hal’s testimony and all the scientific evidence she could unearth, they were missing the most fundamental piece of the case: a motive.

Wren took another apple in hand, as thick and red as a heart. She sliced carefully into the skin until the knife struck the table with a dull sound. “That means we have to go back.”

“We do.”

“But we still don’t have any idea where the key is, and I don’t know how Lowry will react when he finds out we left. He made me sign an agreement that I wouldn’t leave without his permission, lest I face some horrible, undisclosed penalty.”

“Concerning,” Hal said neutrally. Then, ever helpful, he added, “That was unwise to sign.”

“Well.” She punctuated it with another decisive cut into the apple. “I didn’t exactly have many options at the time. I hadn’t met you yet.”

He seemed ready to deliver some retort. But then, finally realizing what she was doing, he blanched. “Where did you get that?”

“Oh, this?” She turned the knife over in her hands. “I took it from your coat while you were making tea.”

“That’s not what it’s for.”

“Oh, is it not?” Wren waved the point loosely in his direction. “I had no idea. Silly healers and our oaths of nonviolence! It makes a very good kitchen knife, all the same. Nice and sharp.”

He held out his hand expectantly, and she reluctantly gave it back to him. Absently, he wiped it clean with his coat sleeve, then inspected the edge as if concerned she’d dulled it. “You should know how to use one. It would make me feel better.”

“I don’t need to know how to use a knife. I know how to kill someone if I really want to.”

“Yes. I suppose that’s true.”