I couldn’t bear to answer. Instead, I crouched in the dirt, wedging my knife into the keyhole, and released the lock with my hand before twisting the blade with both hands. The lock popped open, along with a row of metal thorns along the edge of it—a booby trap, designed to release when anything that wasn’t the exact shape of the sole key tried to turn it.

I grinned. Welcome home, Andi.

Magnus started coughing as soon as I opened the double doors. I couldn’t blame him—the air inside was thick with dust, so much so I was sure that attempting to light a candle would set the atmosphere ablaze. His eyes were wide as he said, “We can’t go in there.”

I could picture Saba giving me a knowing, feisty look at her son’s protests. She would’ve followed me in without a second thought. God, my sweet friend … I’d never had such a mutually supportive relationship. I was glad she was at peace, but I missed her presence keenly.

“You lived in a cursed castle for three years but you’re scared of a cellar?”

“True love shouldn’t judge, Andromeda.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, covered his mouth and nose. “I’m with you. Lead the way.”

Everything was as I left it, with the addition of about six more layers of dirt, and a few rats. It smelled like rotting produce. Dancing dust and shadows looked like ghosts come to protest our intrusion. But there was nothing to fear here … only memories. Those could only hurt you if you let them.

“It’s a literal storage cellar,” he said, between coughs.

“True love shouldn’t judge, Magnus,” I teased.

I went into the bedroom, directly to the side table where I knew there would be an oil lamp. Rats and insects scattered at the invasive light. My heart was suddenly in my stomach, pulsing and aching and making me nauseous, but it wasn’t due to the new occupants.

Jember’s indent was still in his side of the bed. His clothes were still on the floor and folded on the shelf on the wall. I knelt down to open the supply chest, and the familiar scent of incense, trapped inside the chest all this time, tickled my nose. I grabbed Jember’s debtera robe from the top of the pile and buried my nose in the fabric.

“I miss you,” I whispered into it, and for the first time in a month tears began to well out of me.

I felt Magnus crouch behind me, rubbing my arms. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this today.”

“It’s okay.” I wiped my tears quickly and shut the chest. “This is long overdue.”

I moved to the bed, a puff of dust rising around me as I sat, but I barely noticed Magnus’s coughing as I opened the dresser. His pipe. His pills. His …