Tessa sighs. “I keep thinking about Latham. How you told me he wants you to know you’re not safe.”

“Yes?”

“What if you’re wrong? How do you know for sure that’s what he’s doing?”

“It’s hard to explain,” I tell her. “I just know.”

But her question unlocks something in my mind. I understand Latham. As much as I despise him, I understand how losing someone you love—being prevented from living the life you imagined for yourself—might drive a person to unspeakable actions. In his mind, he’s trying to right a wrong.

That’s how I know deep down that the key to stopping him isn’t searching his old office or finding him through a reading. I’ve known since he showed up in Midwood and killed my mother that the key to finding him is Avalina.

What I don’t know is how to find her.

I think of the first time my mother told me about Latham. I’ve thought about it every day since she died. My mother said Latham was friendly when they first met. Likeable. He was bone-matched with a girl named Avalina. From all appearances they were deeply in love. But halfway through the year, she abruptly left Ivory Hall, and no one ever saw her again. After that, Latham was different. He kept to himself and seemed to resent everyone around him. My mother hinted that there were swirling rumors. A scandal that changed Latham forever.

I might have thought nothing of the story—young love gone wrong is unlikely to turn a man into a monster—but, before he killed my mother, Latham mentioned Avalina. He said they would be together if not for the Grand Council. Which makes me think that my mother was on to something. She clearly had a gut feeling about his motivations. If this woman was the branch point for Latham turning down a dark path, maybe finding her will give me the answers I need.

Tessa makes a sleepy, disoriented noise at the back of her throat. I doubt she’ll remember much of this conversation in the morning. So, for just a moment, I pretend that Tessa is Ami. That I can trust her with my secrets.

“Latham was in love once,” I say out loud. “With a woman named Avalina. I need to find her.”

“Did she train here?” The words slur blearily together, and I can tell Tessa is drifting off.

Still, the question makes my mind spark with possibilities. If she was an apprentice at Ivory Hall, there should be records.

“Tessa, that’s brilliant,” I say. But she doesn’t answer. Her breathing is deep and even. Suddenly I’m homesick, not only for Ami, but for the Tessa on my other path. The one I knew, and who knew me.