“No,” Lucius said. “Hana wasn’t a saint, and you were no demon. You were human, is all, and ambitious, and you trusted the wrong people.” He bent his head, rubbing his forehead. Finally, he looked up, eyes swimming. “I’ll answer any question you ask, and I’ll tell the truth,” he said, “on one condition.”

Crow cocked his head as if puzzled by Lucius’s unease. “Why would you—?” He stopped then, and nodded. “All right—what is it?”

“If I tell you the truth, will you remove this curse on me?”

“What curse?” Crow asked, mystified.

“This curse of living forever,” Lucius said. “I’m done. I don’t want this anymore.”

Crow shrugged his shoulders. “I’m dead,” he said. “I have no flash at all. I can’t conjure anything outside of Aediion.”

“You have the knowledge,” Lucius said. “And the boy has the flash. You can work together. Undo it. Please. That’s all I ask.” It was jarring, hearing Lucius speak through this young man’s body.

“No!” Han protested. “I’m not going to collaborate in killing you.”

Lucius leaned forward, looking into Han’s eyes. “Imagine, boy, if you had to live forever, with all your guilt and all your regrets, and there was no escape, ever. Imagine that and ask yourself—wouldn’t it be merciful if someone gave you a way out?”

“No,” Han said, with less certainty.

Lucius touched Han’s arm. “By all rights, I should have been dead a millennium ago.”

“All right,” Crow said. “Of course I will remove the charm, if that’s what you want. After we talk. If the ‘boy,’ as you call him, agrees.” He shot a warning look at Han.

Lucius smiled, looking happier than Han had ever seen him. “What do you want to know?”

“Come. Let’s sit,” Crow said, as if he were trying to hold on to this moment, to put his old friend at ease. The scene changed, and they were on Bridge Street, at the Mystwerk end. It must have been near winter solstice—the air was crisp and cold. Crow led the way into a tavern crowded with students wearing old-fashioned garb. All wizards, Han guessed, from the amulets glittering at their necks.

They found a table by the hearth, each settling into a chair. Three clanks of ale appeared before them.

Crow took a long draft from his cup and looked around. “This brings back memories, doesn’t it? Sometimes I wish I had never left school.”

Lucius shifted in his seat, wiping his hands on his shirtfront, leaving his ale untouched. Obviously, he had no intention of reminiscing.

Crow sighed. “Very well. There is one question that has dogged me ever since the siege at Gray Lady. Why did Hanalea betray me?”

Lucius began shaking his head, but Crow rushed on.