“No,” Breanna said slowly, “I don’t think so.” She waited until Ashk looked at her. “You freed Morag from what she’d become, for her sake. Morphia would choose a place that gives her comfort, but you’ll choose a place that’s right for Morag.”

Ashk clenched her hands, and Breanna watched strength battling grief. Finally, Ashk said, “Somewhere in the Old Place. A spot where there are shadows and light.”

“As you will, so mote it be,” Breanna said.

She watched Ashk walk down the other side of the rise. Alone.

Chapter 53

waning moon

Ashk took a deep breath to steady herself before knocking on the guest room door. “Morphia? It’s Ashk.”

She waited a long time before she heard a muffled, “Come in if you must.”

She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her—and simply watched in silence while Morphia packed her saddlebags.

“Where are you headed?” Ashk finally asked.

“I don’t know yet. Maybe back to the home Clan for a while.”

“If you can wait a couple more days, you can ride with—”

“I don’t want to ride with you, Ashk.” Morphia’s hands clenched around the camisole she’d just folded. Sighing, she shook it out, refolded it, and tucked it into the saddlebag before looking at Ashk. “I don’t want to ride with you, Hunter. You did what you thought was right—and maybe it was. But you didn’t give it a chance. If I’d had another moment or two to collect myself, I could have put her to sleep for a while—at least until the witches had a little time to discover if they could have changed her back.”

A moment or two, Ashk thought bleakly. You might not have had that moment or two. If she lost control of what was inside her for even a heartbeat of time, you could have ended up dead. Worse than dead. Would you have wanted Morag to fight her way back to clarity to find your torn body, to find no trace of your spirit, knowing what must have happened to it? But she couldn’t say those things to the woman staring at her with dark, grieffilled eyes.

Morphia shook her head and went back to packing her saddlebags. “Maybe if Sheridan had lived…Maybe when enough time has passed…But right now, Ashk, when I look at you, all I see is the person who killed my sister. So I don’t want to travel with you. I don’t want to be in the part of Sylvalan where you rule. There’s work to be done in the world. I’ll find a place to do it.”

“Safe travel, Morphia,” Ashk said as she opened the door.

“Ashk.” Morphia hesitated. “For Morag’s sake, and in her memory, I wish you gentle dreams.”

Ashk bolted out of the room, turned blindly down the hallway, and ran straight into Aiden.