“You sound like Gabriel,” Nic commented with a sigh. Apparently this kind of thinking was as contagious as a new virus.

“Do I?” Alise sat back, easing into a more comfortable posture in the rocking chair and cradling her wineglass in her hands as she studied Nic with canny black eyes. “You almost sound as if you like him.”

She sounded so dubious that Nic laughed, then grimaced ruefully. “I do like him. I’m in love with him. I wouldn’t leave him even if I thought there was a feasible way to do so.”

“Just like Maman,” Alise replied softly, regret in her voice. “You’re Fascinated by him, aren’t you?”

Arrested, Nic didn’t know how to answer at first. “What makes you think that Fascination is real?”

Alise snorted. “Oh, come on, Nic! We grew up in the same house—when we weren’t away at school, of course—and we both saw how Papa ruled Maman and she just smiled and took it, never going against him in the least little way. Convocation Academy might say there’s no scientific basis for Fascination, but nothing else explains the way she adores him. You had to have seen that for yourself.”

Nic had seen, but much too late. Clearly Alise had paid more and better attention than Nic had. “I agree, but I didn’t realize it until just recently.”

“Well, you always were Papa’s favorite,” Alise replied with a resigned sigh. “No reason you would have noticed. But I always hated that Maman never stood up to him, not even for us.” She had a bitterness to her voice that surprised Nic.

“She did, though,” Nic said quietly, reflexively looking around for listeners, though she knew they were alone. “You say I can trust you. If I share a secret, will you keep it?”

“Yes,” Alise replied immediately, surprising Nic again that she didn’t ask to know the nature of the secret first. “I’ll swear by whatever you ask me to.”

“Not necessary,” Nic replied with a smile, realizing that she could have asked Alise to sign the NDA, and that now she didn’t need to. Her sister. “Maman is the one who helped me escape.”

Alise stared, mouth working silently. Then she sighed and dropped her face into her hands. “Now I understand why you were so firm about not giving that information to Iliana and Han.” She lifted her face again, expression bleak. “Does Papa know?”

“Maybe?” Nic took a breath. “Alise, have you heard from Maman at all lately?”

Mutely, Alise shook her head. “I thought it was odd Maman didn’t include a note in Papa’s missives about you.”

“When Gabriel came to collect me at House Elal, he witnessed Papa forcing Maman into alternate form. I’m terribly afraid she’s been a cat since then.”

Alise blanched, evincing the same horror Nic felt at the prospect of being trapped in animal form—and animal thinking—for so long. “If you think that’s the case, why haven’t you done anything about it?” she demanded. “This is Maman you’re talking about!”