If hearing more about our relationship on my other path makes him this uncomfortable, he isn’t going to like what I’m about to ask him.

“Maybe I should come back another time,” I say, reaching for the doorknob.

His hand darts out and circles my wrist. “No, Saskia, wait.” He gently spins me around. “Don’t go. What is it?”

His eyes are soft. His face is too close to mine. I swallow. “I need your help. If you’re willing.”

“I’m listening.”

“I was wondering if you could teach me …” I bite my lip. It’s the wrong way to start. I try again. “I heard once that you can pull magic from the bones of someone living.”

His face goes ashen. “Where did you hear that?”

“Esmee told me.”

A crease appears between his brows. “You know Esmee?”

“No. But I did on my other path. You introduced us.”

His expression is guarded. Wary. I can tell he’s weighing whether to believe me or not.

“She loved you,” I say.

“Loved? I assume she still loves me unless I’ve done something to offend her.”

A bright spark of surprise goes through me. Esmee is alive in our reality. It hadn’t occurred to me until this moment. I’ve seen the fire that killed her so often in my readings of Gran’s healed bone that I’ve thought of her as gone. But she’s not.

I smile. “I think she wishes she saw you more often, but yes, I’m certain she still adores you.”

“I don’t understand. Why would I introduce you to Esmee? And why would she tell you that?”

“Is it true? Can you pull magic from the bones of the living?”

His gaze holds mine. “Yes.”

“Can you teach me?”

He gives me an uneasy look. “Why?”

“Latham needs my bones to choose which paths survive. It would be nice if I could heal them before he does and save him the trouble of killing me.”

“You want to figure out how to pull magic from your own bones?”

“Well, it’s that or the rest of you are going to have to kill me and then use my remains to stop Latham yourselves.”

“That’s not funny.”

I lift one shoulder. “It wasn’t meant to be. So, is it possible?”

He scrubs a hand over his face. “Maybe? I’m willing to try.”

I let go of a long breath. “Thank you.”

“When would you like to start?”

“How about now?”

He laces his fingers behind his neck and touches his elbows together. “I don’t know. It’s not a quick skill to learn.”

“Maybe I catch on faster than your other apprentices.” I’m teasing him, but a spasm of pain flashes across his expression. He drops his arms to his sides and shifts his weight from one foot to the other.