“Sel was right. There was someone on the inside opening the Gates on campus. You.” Memories piece themselves together faster now. “The night of the First Oath, you asked him if his abilities were failing him—that was just to make him question himself. And your threat to remove him as Nick’s Kingsmage, that was just to get him out of the way.”

“I can’t take all of the credit for Selwyn’s paranoia, Briana. Gates are opening at an increased rate up and down the coast, at every chapter. I simply pushed things along where I could.”

“You were going to torture him!”

He shrugs. “The Kane boy needs to be leashed.”

My teeth grind together at his flippant response to Sel’s pain. The disregard for the child he raised.

I cycle through all of the Shadowborn attacks in the past two weeks, starting with the first at the Quarry, the hound on campus, the Oath—“You’re the one who brought the hounds and the uchel to the Oath that night, aren’t you?”

Lord Davis tips an imaginary hat. “I suppose I have you to thank for that, don’t I? Nick’s unexpected arrival made things a bit more dramatic than I’d planned, but you helped serve a great purpose. He saw you injured, saw me fall to the uchel.” He drops his hands into his pockets, clucking his tongue. “It was a strong start, but I still needed to open the Gates at other chapters so that all of the Lines were at risk. And now there are only two Lines left to Awaken.”

“You’re putting your own son at risk,” I sputter. “And all the Lines, too. If Nick falls—”

“Nick will not fall. I’ve trained him far too well for that. He is a natural-born leader and does not tolerate harm to innocents. He’s made for this war.”

“This manufactured war, you mean,” I spit.

“The world is a great chain of being, and everyone has their place. Even you. Even me. The hierarchy that holds the Order together has lost its value because the danger has appeared distant. Once the Vassals are reminded of the destruction we prevent, they will be reminded of their place in things. Their place under the king.”

“You mean Nick,” I retort. “Your time as the Scion of Arthur has passed.”

That makes him angry. “Nicholas is a hero to his core. If it’s necessary, I will show him how I have learned to open the Gates, and how I will continue to if he doesn’t follow my lead. He will be Called by Arthur and take up Excalibur tonight and, as king, he will do as I say. Then the whole of the Order and its Vassals around the globe will bend to our will.”

“Well, I won’t,” I say, clenching my fists against the ropes.