“No,” Dex said, gripping her hand more tightly. She flinched, almost imperceptibly, but didn’t pull away. “Not the Baroness. Cyprian chose you. Androma Racella. The girl who used to love Arcardius with every fiber of her being. Enough to give her life to its cause.”

“That girl is dead, and it’s not like Cyprian had much of a choice in his successor,” Andi said sadly, pulling her hand away from his. Her cuffs clinked against each other as she slid her hands into her lap. “I don’t want the title. It’s worthless, anyway. Mirabel is destined to fall, and all of us with it.”

“This isn’t like you, Andi,” Dex told her. “Where’s your fighting spirit?”

Andi glared at him. “Gone, for the time being.” Then her expression morphed into one of dread. “What if the girls are dead, Dex?” she asked, her voice full of pain. “What if they died in that attack on the Academy?”

“They’re not,” he said swiftly. “They’re too damned stubborn to die. And you’re too stubborn to give up searching for them.” He gave her a grim smile. “Besides, now you know that you have a real bargaining chip, far better than the one we pulled from Alfie. This is our chance to get what we need to rescue the girls.”

“What am I supposed to do? Fly to Arcardius, march into Nor’s estate and demand she hand them over?” Andi shook her head. “Their bodies would be free, yes, but their minds won’t be. Not until Valen gives up control.”

Dex thought of what Klaren had told them—that even if they killed Valen, he would have had to relinquish his control on their minds in order to actually release them from his power. “I hate that sorry bastard,” Dex said with a sigh.

Andi nodded. “I should have killed him long ago.”

She played with the handle of her mug, her breath forming small puffs of white in the chilly air of the ice pub. “You’re right,” she said suddenly. “This is my chance—to use my title as a way to get information. Klaren said she has sources. Eyes all over the place. If she wants me to join her, then she owes me at least that.”

“And a ship,” Dex said, thinking of the Marauder, half-buried out on the tundra. Andi had always cared so much about that damned ship. But now he realized it was the crew within it that she’d cared for more. Without them, the ship was simply an empty, lifeless thing.

“And a ship,” Andi echoed. She sighed again. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know,” Dex said gently. “I really am sorry, Andi. So very sorry.”