“Then Celane and Morwin and Verje gorged? They just…” I gestured helplessly.

“We think so. I’m sorry, Elfreda.” Rhyanon folded her hands in her lap. “And it’s also why Saskia’s gorge sickness came on so quickly—consuming Morwin’s heart, when Morwin herself had already gorged? Practically toxic.”

It was hideous, but it made sense. Celane was responsible after all. And a tiny part of me felt relieved—at least it wasn’t the Resistance, at least Finn and Millie weren’t tied up in the atrocities, even indirectly. I rubbed my head. The left side was swollen where Lucian had struck me.

“What does this have to do with my … death?” I asked.

Rhyanon picked up her cup of tea, and offered me a wry smile.

“Played their own trick against them,” she said. “Saskia arranged it. Between Osan’s blood and the dead mercenary, there was already plenty of evidence of a struggle on that street. She simply ornamented things. Animal organs, a set of stained Acolyte robes, a few messages in blood. Down with the Order, Death to the Corpse Eaters, that kind of thing. You get the idea. Then she took a statement from your friend, saying you were supposed to meet him but never showed.”

My chest tightened. “Finn testified?”

“I would rather Osan had done it, but he wasn’t in a state to talk much.”

“But—but the people who attacked me will just tell Celane that I survived,” I said. “Not to mention the fact that Enforcement chased them off.”

“Of course they will, but think, Elfreda. What can Celane do with that information? Yes, she knows that you survived and can probably guess that we have you, but where does that leave her? She can’t exactly reveal how she came upon this information; that would be as good as confessing to the previous murders. ‘I know that Elfreda Raughn is still alive, because the people I sent to kidnap her told me so.’” Rhyanon shook her head. “Currently the only thing that’s stopping us from exposing her is the absence of hard proof. But she’s on the back foot; the stakes are too high, and she can’t call Saskia’s bluff without drawing attention to herself. A single mistake, and all her plans go up in smoke. That doesn’t mean that she’ll give up, not by any means, but her priority will be trying to find you. Which means that all we have to do is keep—”

The door burst open.

Rhyanon moved faster than I would have expected. She leapt to her feet, spun to face the entrance, and raised her uninjured arm to shield me.

“—absolutely have no right!” snarled Asan.

“El!” cried Millie.

She had a sickly, haggard look, and her clothing was rumpled. Her eyes swept the room and found me, and she took three strides toward the bed before colliding with Rhyanon’s lace. She froze and her eyes flew wide with alarm.