Amon’s expression said that Raisa was grasping at straws. “She said she wanted to get more evidence before they brought it to me. Micah said he had already warned you about Alister, but you wouldn’t listen. The Bayars wanted me to arrest Alister and bring him in for questioning. When I refused, they said they would press charges through the Wizard Council.”

“You refused?” Raisa said, with a spark of hope.

“That was before I spoke with Flinn,” Amon said. “I wouldn’t act on the Bayars’ say-so.”

“Do the Bayars know? About Flinn, I mean?” Raisa knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help nursing a wild hope that she could keep this quiet, keep this damning evidence out of the hands of Han’s enemies until she had a chance to ferret out the truth.

That fragile hope was dashed when Amon nodded. “They know. I questioned Fiona again after I first spoke to Flinn, to see if things matched up. And they did, more or less.”

“What are you thinking?” Raisa demanded. “That I’ve been taken in by a thief and a murderer? That I am that bad a judge of character?”

“He fooled me, too.” Amon twisted the wolf ring on his finger, looking like he’d prefer to be facing the Ardenine Army than his queen. “Where is the talisman I lent to you?” he said finally. “The one that was found with the Gryphons’ bodies in Ragmarket.”

Raisa’s heart plummeted. She’d expected Amon to remember it eventually. She’d known that one day he would ask about it. But now it seemed that he’d been waiting for her to bring it up. That he’d never forgotten it at all.

She stared up at him, trapped, trying to conjure a response.

“I’ve seen it before, Rai,” Amon said. “I know whose it is. And so do you.”

Raisa bit her lip. “But you never said…”

“I was waiting for you to say it.”

“So you were trying to trick me?”

“I wanted to know your mind, how you…how you felt about him.”

“It doesn’t mean he had anything to do with those murders,” Raisa said. “It’s circumstantial evidence. Anyone could have planted it there.”

“By itself, it’s not enough. But everything taken together—”

“It’s too tidy a package, Amon, and you know it. Like manufactured evidence.”

“Your father also spoke with me, to caution me about Alister.” Amon shook his head. “I don’t get it. The Demonai recruited him, they arranged for his training, they made him come back here to work for them. But it’s as though they’re constantly expecting him to turn on them.” He looked up at Raisa. “It’s almost like they know something about him that we don’t.”