I search my memory, but I can’t find this version of him there. Maybe all the other iterations are too powerful to be overwritten. My arm lifts without my permission, as if good manners are more instinctual than common sense. His hand folds around mine and I resist the urge to yank it away.

I’ve tried so hard not to think about Latham over these past few weeks. I’ve tried to stem the tide of hatred that spills over my heart like poison. I’ve thrown myself into doing well on our last bone game, tried to distract myself with perfecting my charming skills. But in quiet moments—when I have too much time to think—my heart still feels dark with hate. I wanted this man dead, and yet he stands before me with so much of what he wanted. A seat on the Grand Council. The power he always craved. He radiates contentment.

And a storm rages in my chest. Bram’s palm rests on the small of my back. He doesn’t say anything, but the reminder that he’s there—that if I bolt, he’s ready to go with me—is a comfort.

“I was so sorry to hear of your mother’s passing. She was a good friend.”

A good friend. To Latham. I swallow.

My mother didn’t come back to me when I remade the past. Neither did Gran. I can only assume it’s because their bones were used in the magic that changed everything, which made them lost forever. I know from Ami’s letters that everyone in Midwood remembers Gran dying of old age, and my mother dying of illness.

“Thank you,” I manage.

And then my gaze falls to his wrist. It’s bare. A spark of panic zips up my spine. What if I erased Avalina when I remade the past?

“What is it?” Latham asks. “Are you all right?”

I take an unsteady breath. “I just—I thought my mother once mentioned you being matched. But I must be thinking of someone else.”

His expression grows wistful. “Avalina.” He says her name tenderly. “You’re not mistaken. She trained at Ivory Hall with me and your mother, and we were matched back then. But I had all sorts of ambitious plans, and Avalina wanted a quiet life. We decided we were happier apart.” He leans a little closer, as if sharing a secret. “I adored her, but she’s better off. I’m not the easiest man to live with.”

Relief washes over me. Avalina is safe. Her parents are safe. Latham still had to choose between love and a path toward power—he wasn’t emotionally healthy enough to have both—but at least in this life he didn’t leave a trail of destruction in his wake.