“You’ll be provided with what you need at the castle. You need to come with us now.”

I drew on the earth’s magic. I only needed a few more minutes – a chance to select something of my mother’s so I could find her. To retrieve my supplies where they sat on the desk in my bedroom.

“Wait downstairs. I’ll be with you shortly,” I said, forcing every ounce of my power into the words, feeling the force ripple out.

And fall away.

The guard shook his head, coming forward to grab my arm. “Now.”

And it was then the meaning of the berries struck me. The memory of Chris telling me the wooden charm he’d purchased would ward a person from magic, and my dismissal of the very idea. Of the strange wooden earrings that Lady Marie had worn, and the sprig of those very same berries pinned into her hair.

Rowan. The witch’s bane. And its presence rendered our plans useless, and put Anushka back in control.

If she’d ever lost it.

Chapter 49

Tristan

“They refused me entry to the castle,” Sabine snarled, her boots leaving tracks of mud across the floor. “Told me that Cécile would not be requiring my services tonight.”

“Did they refuse any of the other crew?” I asked, scratching Souris behind one ear because watching Sabine pace was only adding to my nerves.

“No.” She spat the word out.

“They’re cutting her off from the herd,” Chris muttered.

Sabine stopped moving. “That’s morbid.” I felt her gaze turn on me. “You’re awfully calm, all things considered.”

I shook my head, picking at a frayed stitch on my boot. My anger was a slow burn, boiling hotter and hotter and threatening to erupt. Every minute seemed to pass interminably slow as I watched the sun track across the sky, and instinct told me to act, to go to the castle and find Marie and extract Anushka’s identity from her with whatever means necessary. Only the finest filament of control kept me in my seat, reminding me that only strategy and wit would win us success.

“There’s something I need to tell you both. You might want to sit.”

Sabine stayed where she was, crossing her arms.

“Cécile’s hypothesis about the alignment of the winter solstice and full moon has been proven correct,” I said. “If we don’t stop her, Anushka will kill Genevieve tonight and perform whatever spell she’s been using to maintain her immortality. Even without the cost of Cécile’s mother’s life, given that we’ve lost the ability to track her, tonight is our only opportunity to catch her.”

“And you’ve sent Cécile into the lion’s den alone?” Sabine’s cheeks flushed red with anger. Spinning on her heel, she started to the door. “I’m going to find a way into the castle. I’ll swim across the cursed river if I have to.”

“Sabine, come back here,” I said, jamming the door shut.

She jerked on the handle. “Open it. Let me out.”