He grinned at her, his teeth rank and rotting. “Lass, open the gate and I’ll tell you all. My stash means nothing to me if I’m trapped in here. I was the one who captured him. But I was paid to do it by someone who knew about the grove. Who knew about the silver dish and what would happen if water were poured from it onto the slab. That was the trick, you see. That was how we got him. I had some sanctuary men with me.”

“You cut off his hand and left the ring in the grove,” Trynne said, barely controlling the fury she felt as she stepped forward again, gazing into his green eyes.

He shook his head. “No, lass. That wasn’t his hand!” he said. “It was only made to look like it. It was meant to throw you off the trail, looking for a one-handed man. But I kept the ring, sez I. And I know where it is. You have a decoy. A copy. She’s very good at copying.”

Trynne jumped on the clue instantly. “She?”

Dragan’s cheek twitched. He’d revealed more than he’d intended. “I will be killt for what I know, lass. Come, little dove. Open the gate. I’ll tell you all. You’ve a spider in the corner. A spider with fangs.”

Morwenna.

The grating of an iron door startled her. Her heart raced as she turned toward the sound of approaching bootfalls. Dragan tried to gaze past Trynne, but the light had made it impossible to see.

Trynne turned sideways, shifting enough to watch the newcomer’s approach but not enough to lose sight of Dragan. She recognized the sound of the stride. From the shadows of the corridor, Fallon emerged.

“What are you doing down here, Trynne?” he asked. He had a dark countenance, a brooding look.

“Hello, Master,” Dragan said.

“I’m tempted to reach through those bars and throttle your neck, thief,” Fallon said grimly. “I am not your master, as you well know. Trynne, come with me.”

“If you leave me here alone, I’m a dead man,” Dragan said to Trynne, his eyes widening with fear.

Fallon glowered at him. “Your death is already a foregone conclusion.” He had reached Trynne and stood by her, almost in a protective stance. “I hope you don’t give too much credence to anything he’s said to you. He’s liable to say anything to save his skin from frostbite.”

Trynne looked up at Fallon, feeling the familiar feelings at war inside her—the desire to trust him and the fear that she could not. “Why is he even here, Fallon?”