I shook my head. “You’ve never been disloyal a day in your life. I know Vincent comes first for you, just as you do for him. If what you really want is for the spell to be performed on him now, I won’t stand in your way.” My eyes tracked to Cécile, who was chewing her bottom lip.

“The spell’s not complete,” she said. “There’s more to it, but I don’t know what.”

“She’s right.” Martin had returned, his form shifting from transparent to opaque, the effect dizzying. “I’ve read enough to know that I should sense Arcadia, but I don’t. Changed as I am, I’m not sure I could go back.”

“But you’re still whole,” I said. “Which makes it more than a partial victory.” I turned back to Victoria, who was holding tight to her brother’s hand. “What do you want to do?”

“We’ll see this through,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “The spell will wait.”

That was loyalty, pure and true. Where would I be without my friends? What would I be? And not just the twins and Marc, but Cécile, Chris, and Sabine. My nature was to be distrustful, but not with them. And it wasn’t a weakness.

Angoulême lay unmoving next to the fire where we’d left him, and I considered the state in which we’d found him. Alone and half mad, and not, I thought, from the solitude. It was the lack of control. He trusted no one. Not his mother, nor his followers, and certainly not Roland. The one exception seemed to be Lessa, whom he’d left to execute his plans. Only I didn’t believe for a second that he’d put his faith in my duplicitous sister without certain controls.

“He’s forced her into some sort of promise,” I muttered, knowing in my heart she wouldn’t have sworn to anything except under duress. Which, in its own way, would make him trust her less, because he’d know she’d be looking for ways to get out from under his control.

I was certain I’d rattled his confidence in her with the knowledge that she’d lied about Anaïs’s death, but what if we undermined it further? What would he do if he suspected she’d double-crossed him? What would he do if he thought she’d altered his plans?

“I’m glad of your decision,” I said to Victoria, my mind whirling. “I need you and your magic to take over Angoulême’s containment. And I need you to do a poor job of it.”

Victoria lifted one eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Because I need you two to help me play a trick.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Cécile