“That’s why you were so eager to help us and go to the Archives. You thought we might know something about the soul summoner.” My heart sinks into my toes. “You didn’t even like me and Sebastian. Not really.”

Maeve reaches for me, but I shrink back. “That isn’t true. I’ve grown fond of you both. Wouldn’t you like Sebastian to really be your brother? He could be if you help me get him back.” Terrible hope lights Maeve’s face.

“Never,” I say, louder than I intended. She frowns. “Lady Aisling must have wanted something big in return for such information.”

Maeve snorts. “You won’t let go of that, will you? I have it under control. I agreed to track down a gift giver for her in exchange.”

Horror trickles over me. Gift givers can give someone a talent.

Lady Aisling wants her magic back. And she’s using my mother to do it. She’s playing off Maeve’s desperation and letting her believe she’s in control.

I have no doubt Lady Aisling has a plan in place for every contingency. And if she gets her talent back…

I can’t even bear to think about the ramifications.

My head aches and I sink down the cave wall, wrapping my arms around my middle. “No, no, no. Maeve, no. That’s too awful to even consider. She’ll just imprison you and all of us all over again.”

“She most certainly will not. I made her shake on the deal and gave her a taste of her own medicine. When she regains her powers, she’s promised to leave me and mine alone. And she knows that if she touches my family, I won’t hesitate to use her for my own ends.”

I shudder. “What if she doesn’t keep her promise? What if she gets close before you notice?”

“I won’t be taken unaware again, and she knows it.”

“But that is so risky.”

“As I said, I cannot put a price on the value of my family.” Maeve straightens up. “Now, it’s late. You should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll retrieve Sebastian, and then we’ll find the soul summoner together.”

She leaves the little cave, stationing Melanthe in the doorway. I try to read my old friend’s thoughts, but Maeve is holding the reins too tightly. All I can hear is Melanthe’s faint cry for help. She can’t hear me. It’s unbearable to be this close to my friends and my newfound mother and to know they’re all working against me, willingly or not.

I curl up on the floor near the fire, letting tears fall until they’re all dried up and I’ve drifted away to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning, no light wakes me. Only someone shaking my arm.

“Come, eat. Then we’ll go,” Maeve says.

I rub my eyes. “Go where?”

“To get Sebastian. Remember?” She laughs. “We’re going to fetch him, and then we’ll go far away from here now that I have an idea where the soul summoner is.”

That makes me sit straight up. “You know where they are?”