Kerrigan thought they’d have to go back down to the surface, back to the spot that they’d ridden out to. But that was another one of Wynter’s performances. Getting Kerrigan out alone before confiding in her about what she knew, trying to make Kerrigan relate to her. She soon found out why this chamber had been chosen above all others.

“Aisling,” Wynter said, her voice dipping low at the sound of her assistant’s name.

Aisling stepped forward, pulled her hands to her body, squaring her hips, and then pushed out slowly. The chamber wall shifted, and suddenly, a wind whipped through the room. The wall was a large stone that filled the opening, leading to a rough balcony and the empty air beyond. It was pitch-black and a crystal-clear night, revealing the completely full moon.

The crowd gasped in amazement. Kerrigan had to admit that it was impressive.

Wynter stepped around Kerrigan and went straight to the opening. She raised her hand into the air, and it encountered resistance at the exit. The barrier had stretched taut over the opening to the outside so that no one could even enjoy the balcony beyond. It seemed a travesty for it to be right there and perpetually out of reach.

“Here,” Wynter said, drawing her hand down. “This is where there’s a breach.” And as she said it, her hand moved just a few more inches forward, as if the barrier could almost give under her palm. She smiled triumphantly. “Come. See for yourself.”

Kerrigan jutted her jaw forward and went to Wynter’s side. Fordham followed, looking none too pleased, but at the same time, interested. Like he hadn’t believed Wynter until that moment. No wonder she’d gained so many followers so quickly.

“What do I do?”

Wynter gestured to where her hand was on the wall. “You cannot see the magic, but its signature matches your own. A bright golden that shines like the sun. The crack is like a fissure in rock. A jagged edge in an otherwise clear film.” She took Kerrigan’s hand and pushed it against the place that she claimed was a rift in the magical barrier that had endured for nearly a thousand years. “Right here.”

Kerrigan closed her eyes, feeling the current of the thing. The wrongness of it. The perfectly rightness of it at the same time. A buzzing and zap against her skin, as if it recognized her. Or was warning her. She wasn’t sure which or if it was both. But it certainly gave off a very chilling vibe. She hadn’t liked coming through or touching it at all, if she were honest, but she was in too deep now.

But it didn’t feel any different. There wasn’t this mysterious gap that Wynter had claimed she could find. Even if her hand pushed through the barrier that was there to hold her in.