Then, he whipped his black robes around him as he vanished. Anahi shot them a pained look before following in his wake. Helly produced a key and opened the iron gate. She bristled as the iron touched her skin as she removed the manacles. The rush of magic returning to Kerrigan sent tears to her eyes.

“Thank you.” Kerrigan threw her arms around Helly. “Fordham found you?”

“He did,” Helly said. “And he’s fully depleted. Nearly killed himself doing it. We were lucky that Bastian was already with me at the time. I gave Fordham a tonic, and he should be out for the rest of the day.”

“Gods,” Kerrigan whispered.

Helly patted her back comfortingly until the tears dammed up. Kerrigan brushed the back of her hand under her eyes and looked to Bastian. “Thank you for your help. I can see that Lorian could have come out ahead.”

Bastian bowed his head to Kerrigan. “Indeed.”

“I still think he’s behind the Red Masks,” she told them both.

“Even if it’s true,” Helly said, “you cannot go around saying so. We’d need definitive proof before we could bring it to the council, and you’re already on thin ice.”

“Do you really believe that he’s behind the Red Masks?” Bastian asked carefully.

“Yes,” she said and then frowned. “I don’t know. I want to say yes. He just let them all go. And the way he treats humans and half-Fae.” Kerrigan sighed. “We need more proof.”

“What you need to do is keep your head down,” Helly said.

“I agree,” Bastian said, “with Kerrigan.”

Helly looked at him in alarm. “What?”

“We’ve been investigating for months. If Lorian is working with the Red Masks, then we need proof.”

“Yes, of course, but Kerrigan needs to finish training first and foremost.”

Bastian nodded. “Let us work on it in the meantime.” He patted her arm. “We will get to the bottom of this.”

36

The Probation

Fordham opened the door to Kerrigan’s room bright and early the next morning. “You’re all right.”

She half-opened her eyes to see him standing in the doorway. She’d slept terrible. It had taken ages for her to fall asleep, and then she’d been racked with nightmares about the riot.

“I’m not in chains anymore,” she murmured.

“Gods,” Fordham growled. He sank into the bed next to her.

“Helly knocked me out when I found her. She wouldn’t let me come see you. This morning, she said you’re on probation?”

She groaned. “Yeah.”

Fordham shook his head. “That’s disgusting. You didn’t do anything wrong. And if you’re in trouble, then shouldn’t I be?”

Kerrigan grasped his hand to keep him from barging off and doing something stupid. “Don’t. I don’t want you to get in trouble too. You wouldn’t have even been at the protest if not for me.”