“That was quick thinking with the spell,” I said, needing to break the silence before I broke down. “How did you get free?”

Opening her balled-up fist, she held out a hairpin decorated with a jeweled flower. I recognized it, pain stabbing through me anew. “She fixed my hair just before…” She swallowed hard. “Take it.”

It felt like punishment, but I plucked my mother’s hairpin from Cécile’s palm and placed it in my pocket. One final gift that seemed laden with foresight; because without it, Winter might have come out ahead in our transaction.

“Your aunt left me with some things to tell you,” Cécile said, squeezing my hand.

“They will have to wait. We need to get out of Trollus before someone discovers I’ve recovered my magic.” That no one had come down yet was concerning. Marc was supposed to have bargained for the safety of trolls and humans alike before releasing her from the circle, but what if she’d gotten free some other way? What if everyone in Trollus was dead?

I helped Cécile to her feet, then lifted her into the air. She’d been pushed to the point of death and beyond in this past day, and we weren’t done yet. I needed her, and that meant conserving her strength. “I can’t risk an encounter with Roland within Trollus,” I said, cloaking us in illusion and dimming my light. “The city would be destroyed along with everyone in it. We’ll need to lure him out to fight, but I don’t know how.”

“We lure him out by capturing the one who holds his strings.”

I risked a glance down at my wife. She was so very pale, skin marked with livid bruises and scratches. What had happened to her in the days that she’d been gone? In the days where I hadn’t cared whether she lived or died? One thing was certain: I needed to get her help immediately. “That would be a good plan, but I don’t know where Angoulême is.”

A faint smile cross her lips. “But I do. He’s with your ancestors,” she said, then she passed out in my arms.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Cécile

I woke to the smell of wood smoke and roasting meat, my body sore, but the worst of my aches and pains gone.

“She’s awake. I’ll give you two a moment alone,” I heard my gran say, and as I blinked away the stickiness in my eyes, Tristan leaned over me. “How do you feel?”

“Better.” I looked around the interior of the cabin. “I don’t remember getting here.”

“That’s because you slept the entire way,” he replied, then twisted from side to side, cracking his back. “You’re heavier than you look.”

I made a face, allowing him to help me upright. “I meant, how did you find the camp?”