I turned to him just as he held the thin wood over the candle by the bed.

“It was perfect,” I said, “admit it, old man.”

“I admit nothing.” He let the wood burn a little before dropping it in the dirt, and my eyes lit up as he nodded his head at our shelf of amulet supplies. “Go get your silver.”

CHAPTER 22

Jember refused to come with me to Thorne Manor, so I had to spend a good chunk of the morning bribing anyone who would listen to take me anywhere close. This merchant was at least a little more generous than the last—I only had to walk a mile this time. But even more disappointing, Jember hadn’t given me a letter to bring back to Saba. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t ask about it.

But the journey had given me plenty of time to think. If I was going to cleanse Magnus, we would have to find a way to release the hyena. Which meant we would need a well-thought-out plan … and a willing volunteer.

Esjay could help with that, I was sure of it. Of course, he wouldn’t be the volunteer, but he probably had connections, someone who could help. My first thought was Kelela, but there was no way she’d volunteer or he’d allow it. Which was a shame, because I would’ve loved to see her sweat a little, for once.

I was only a few yards from the castle when the door swung open. Peggy stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. I sighed, wiping sweat that threatened to drip off my chin.

“Where have you been, child?” she scolded, blocking the entire entryway so I couldn’t get in.

Momentum had been the only thing keeping me from needing to sit, and now between the heat and lack of water on the trip I felt like I might collapse. “I sent word to Magnus that I’d be a few days.”

“You did no such thing. What you did was take the coach without permission, then send it back to us with nothing inside but a few bags of supplies. We thought you’d died out in the desert somewhere.”

“Did you mourn me, Peggy?” I gathered a bit more strength and shoved past her into the house. The cold felt good for a moment, but I’d need to get a sweater on quickly. My body didn’t seem to like the extreme heat exhaustion followed by the bitter cold, and I suddenly felt nauseated.

“And I’ll bet you convinced Emma to run away with you,” Peggy went on, following me to the stairs. “I read the note she left on her bed. Ungrateful girls, both of you.”

“Emma’s husband is dead.” The conversation was over as far as I was concerned, so I rushed up the stairs before her look of shock could turn into a response.