The sun has fully risen by the time everyone is on the ground. But before we set off, Niklas quietly collects the tools from each of us and carefully places them in his satchel. Guilt worms through my stomach. He’s obviously worried about what we’ve done.

I touch his elbow lightly. “Thank you.”

He nods. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

I pull out the parchment Avalina gave me and offer it to Talon. Watchers are notoriously good with directions. It’s a must for controlling animals. “Will you lead the way?”

He snatches the page from my fingers. “Yes. I’ll do anything you ask as long as my feet can stay on solid ground.”

We hike down a path behind Ivory Hall in the opposite direction of the pier and I agonize about our half-baked plan the entire time. What if we don’t find the shop Avalina told us about? What if I risked Niklas’s future for nothing? And then we round a bend and the city comes into view. Awe snatches away my worry.

I’ve seen Kastelia City dozens of times in different readings, but I’ve never spent any time exploring on my own. My experience with the capital has been limited to the pier and the view from Ivory Hall.

A beautiful stone bridge arches gracefully over the Shard, and couples walk hand in hand on the cobbled streets that run alongside the river. Sunlight glints on the water. Farther ashore, the boulevard is lined with small shops and bundled shoppers. A flash of memory: warmer weather, full trees, flower boxes spilling colorful blooms perched in every window. I don’t know if I’m remembering my own experiences on my other path or recalling a reading from someone else, but Kastelia City feels both familiar and foreign. Both exactly what I expected, and nothing like I thought.

Talon leads the group, and when he stops walking to study the parchment I gave him earlier, I’m forcefully pulled back to reality.

“I think it’s just up this way,” he calls over his shoulder.

“Relax,” Jacey says, “before you break that in half.”

I follow her gaze and, with a start, realize that my fist is closed around the pendant at my throat. My fingers went there without my permission, needing the comfort of knowing I’m safe from Latham’s prying gaze. My stomach clenches and I drop my arm back to my side.

We pass storefronts painted in bold colors—cobalt, seafoam, coral—with their names brushed in swirling gold script. Outdoor stalls selling bouquets of flowers and fresh vegetables. Magic shops filled with shelves of bones already prepared for a variety of uses.

Finally Talon stops in front of a nondescript shop with peeling white paint and darkened windows. “It looks abandoned.”