“I want to say yes, of course, but…” Lowry turned toward the window, his hands twisting together. The clouds beyond the glass were a solid gray wall. “That storm is nothing to trifle with. Once night falls, you’ll never find your way back.”

Wren tucked her bloodless hands into her pockets. Speaking slowly to edge the impatience out of her voice, she said, “In the military, I braved things far worse than a storm. I’m afraid I must insist. This is a matter of life and death.”

Lowry’s face paled, and she could see him wrestling with indecision. The choice was dire: risk his favorite servant, or risk the healer herself. “Perhaps I can order your ingredient for you? I understand it’s not ideal, but—”

“He’s getting worse.”

“Please, Ms. Southerland, take pity on me. My nerves can’t bear it.”

Lowry laid an imploring hand on her arm. His grip was surprisingly firm—enough that she flinched back—and his eyes were too pleading, too wounded. This close, she noticed a burst blood vessel leaking red into the sclera. Against it, the milky blue of his irises shone like ice.

Frozen in the intensity of his stare, she had to wonder if he could have done it. If he could be lying to her.

“I simply cannot let you leave the house in good conscience,” he continued. “I’ll have nothing but terrible visions of the spring thaw. Just imagine it. Me, unearthing your frozen corpse from the garden like some sort of spud. It would be macabre!”

The wind wailed like a keening ghost, and the whole house groaned with strain. As Wren shivered, all of her fight went out, extinguished like a tapered flame. Alistair Lowry wanted her to believe he was a man concerned with the well-being of his servants, including her. And right now, with the genuine quaver in his voice, the artful fall of his hair across his furrowed brow … it worked.

He was right, after all. Night was creeping down from the mountains now, and wandering into a storm to find a town she only approximately knew the location of guaranteed death by hypothermia. Hal would do her no good if she was dead. Until the weather changed, she’d have to depend on her magic to keep him alive.

Her shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I appreciate your understanding. Truly.” Lowry heaved a sigh of relief and let go of her arm.