“Only two?” Serina repeated, her eyes wide. “But we could have taken it, gotten out of here now. Why didn’t—”

“I kill them?” Val asked, a sudden tension running through his frame. “They were innocent, Serina. They weren’t the usual guards—they had no idea what the normal protocol was.”

Nomi wanted to tell him that the guards weren’t innocent—that they’d just killed the Heir—but she didn’t understand what they were talking about or the stubborn set of her sister’s chin.

“But we could have been off this island today,” Serina said, sounding both wistful and annoyed at the same time.

“We’re not ready.” Val glanced at Nomi and Maris. “Had the boat not returned to the palazzo, we would have had mere hours before the Superior sent someone to investigate.”

Val took a step toward Serina, and something in his expression made Nomi wonder at his relationship with her sister. Why did he look so pained at Serina’s disappointment? “I’m sorry. I had to make a decision quickly.”

Serina’s expression eased. “You bought us time. That’s good. We can stick with our plan.”

Nomi was about to ask What plan? when Serina turned to Maris.

“Maris? That’s your name, right?” she asked. “I remember you. You’re one of the Heir’s Graces too.”

“Not anymore,” Maris said flatly. “The Heir is dead. So is his father. Asa is the Superior now.”

Serina’s eyes filled with questions.

“I’ll explain everything,” Nomi said. She had to tell Serina about Renzo too. A sob lodged in the back of her throat. “It’s… it’s a lot.”

“Grace! Grace!” A girl jogged down the path to them, her freckled cheeks stained pink with exertion. “We need you.”

Serina tore her gaze from Nomi’s. “What’s happened, Mirror?”

Grace? Mirror?

The girl called Mirror paused, eyeing Nomi and Maris. “Who are you?”

“There was an unscheduled boat.…” Serina hesitated. “It’s complicated.”

“So is this.” Mirror beckoned toward the path.

Serina and Val followed her.

Nomi hustled after them, and even though she understood nothing, her heart still pounded at their urgency. Maris kept a hand on Nomi’s arm, as if she were scared to let go.

“You found your sister,” Maris mumbled. “That’s something.”

“This is madness,” Nomi replied.

The black volcanic rock ebbed and flowed along the ground, forever frozen in its onslaught. Trees grappled toward the sky in small breaks, and a hardy yellow grass sprang up wherever it could find purchase. They passed the terrifying building Nomi had assumed was the prison. A few minutes later, another large building came into view, this one half-crumbled and yet somehow elegant, with a chipped marble fountain in front of it. Not a prison.

Serina and Mirror slowed.