She took it, resisting the urge to shake it. “A present?”

“I surely hope so, or I grabbed the wrong box.”

“Smart-ass.”

“I’ll take the gift back if you don’t want it.”

“No, I do!” She laughed, and then realized, “Wait, did you just use contractions?”

He touched his fingers to his lips in surprise. “Oh. I guess I did.”

“If this is another glitch, you’re keeping this one,” she said with another laugh, and he gave a strained smile.

“Why don’t you open your present?”

“Fine, fine.” She busied herself setting the box on the bed. It was a simple beige box tied with string. She pulled it loose and quickly opened the box—and stared down at the mountains of supple red wool and brass buttons.

Di came up beside her, his hands patiently behind his back. “I seem to recall you were eyeing it in a storefront window a while ago. This one’s a little different, but I think it suits you better.”

E0S peered over her shoulder and gave a long, awed beep.

Inside the box was a coat as red as blood, its collar black to match its cuffs, brassy buttons gleaming. She ran her fingers along the intricate details of the lapel, suns and moons and stars in a tapestry that reminded her of Siege and Talle and the nights on the Dossier when she couldn’t sleep, so she and Di watched the stars instead. It was built from the best parts of everything she loved. Its insides were a soft cotton she could sink into. The coat was so sharply fierce, she was afraid the threads themselves would cut.

Gingerly, she held it up. “Oh, I can’t take this.”

“It’s a gift, so I insist.” Then he outstretched his hand to the mirror.

Excitedly, she shrugged out of the purple coat and raced to the mirror to put it on. And Goddess, it was a perfect fit, brushing just above her knees. She spun around in it, grinning, as E0S swirled around her, obviously happy. It even had room for her pistols, and a flash grenade, and—

Except Empresses never wore pistols. They didn’t carry flash grenades in their pockets.

And in the mirror, there was a bittersweet look on his face, one he tried to hide but couldn’t. She could never read him before, but the more she studied the slant of his brow or the dip in the corner of his mouth, the easier he was to translate.

And no one gave gifts like this unless something was wrong.

Her smile began to drop from her lips.

Di asked, “Do you not like it?”

She turned to him, pulling at the cuffs. “Why does this feel like good-bye?”

“Ana . . . I . . .” He tried to find the right words, but he seemed not to be able to find any. He turned his moonlit eyes down and pursed his lips together tightly. “I can’t—” He winced suddenly, his hand quickly going to the injury at his chest—and froze.