What if that happened to Thisbe? What if she turned into someone as horrible as the Revinir? Was that the kind of person the Revinir had seen in her from the first day in the catacombs? Someone just like her?

Thisbe tried to push these thoughts aside. She hated that the Revinir had gotten inside her head. She could recall her voice too easily from the awful catacombs, and it swam through her ears. Cajoling her. Telling her she was her secret weapon. Now she finally understood what the dragon-woman meant. And that made it even worse. How could Thisbe do this—pretend to join the Revinir, to be the one to carry out her plan? And what would that do to her mentally and emotionally?

And besides all of that, what would others think of her? Rohan and Simber and Florence and Aaron and Maiven and the rest? Those thoughts were the worst. Sure, they’d find out the truth eventually. But they would be so disappointed in her. If there was anything Thisbe couldn’t stand, it was someone being disappointed in her. Like Alex had been the last time she’d seen him. A pain speared through her.

“I’m going for a walk,” she announced abruptly. Fifer and Dev were across the room, examining sticks from a pile Dev had gathered. She didn’t want them to come with her, and she made that clear in her tone, for they didn’t offer. Thisbe needed to get out of there, no matter how her ankle felt. She’d been cooped up since they’d been dropped here. Maybe some fresh air would do her good.

It took her a long time to get down all the flights of stairs, but she finally made it and began a slow walk across the courtyard. The fresh breeze and sunshine lifted her spirits immediately, but now Alex was on her mind. Maybe that was why she’d had such a hard time with his death—his disappointment in her. And yet he had come after her when she’d needed help. Had he died still feeling that same way? Had her mistakes, which had brought him to Grimere, caused his death? And did he realize that at the end? Was his final thought before he died about his continuing disappointment in her?

And now all the rest of Artimé and Grimere would be disappointed too. They’d hardly had a chance to see that she’d grown and accomplished things. Alex had never seen it. Fifer had barely witnessed it. Thisbe pictured what it would be like when Fifer told everyone that she had left to join forces with their worst enemy. She imagined Aaron’s face at hearing that news. The thought made her sick.