I decided I should sit and settled into my chair. “Do it now, while you still have a few days before the new moon comes again. Summoning her will undoubtedly require much of your reserves.”

“Have you ever summoned someone before, Miss Neven?”

“No. You?”

“Never. But perhaps you’re right,” he said. “I should summon her now, while you’re here with me.”

“And why is that?” I asked. “Do I need to protect you from her?”

He laughed. I realized I had never heard his laugh before. The sound was bewitching, even if it held a hint of scorn. “Yes, you might. She’ll probably set a curse upon me when she realizes I’ve summoned her in such a way.”

“Then maybe you should practice on me before you cast.”

“Practice for what?”

“The words you will say to this magician when you summon her. How will you explain yourself? You’re about to burn her artwork.”

Phelan groaned and paced the library. In and out of the firelight, the candle flames wavering with his apparent distress. “I don’t know what to say to her.”

“Well, that does present a problem,” I said. “You need to have that figured out. What have you done to this magician? Why does she hate you? Is it justified?”

Phelan stopped, his back angled to me. “Yes. I stole her home, her territory. I disgraced her.”

I rose and took a step closer to him, my blood singing. “Then you should start by apologizing to her. Genuinely. And then by telling her why you did such a terrible thing to her. And then ask for her forgiveness, preferably on your knees, for burning her drawing. Perhaps she will grant it to you.”

He was silent, but he turned and stared at me with a ferocity that made my breath hitch.

He said, “That sounds a bit excessive, don’t you think?”

“I suppose it depends on how badly you want to win her over.”

“I don’t want to ‘win her over.’”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want to apologize,” he said. “And I want to change what she thinks of me. Then, hopefully, speak candidly with her about the information I need.”

“Do you remember what you once said to me, Mr. Vesper?”

He was quiet, regarding me.

So I continued, “You told me that you are not a kind person. So why go through all the trouble of apologizing?”

“Have you ever wanted to change someone’s opinion of you, Miss Neven?”

“Not really,” I replied. “You care very much for what others think of you.”

“Don’t you?”

“Does it look like I care?” I said, opening my arms.

His eyes searched mine, as if my secrets hid within them. “If you don’t, then I wish you would bestow such magic upon me. I would like to not care as much as I do.”