“They were under Becker’s blood magic. They’ll be free now.” Gwen looked at Ellis. “Maybe we’ll all be free.”

Rory felt Arthur’s hand in his, cold and clammy, stiff as a corpse.

It wasn’t gonna be that easy.

Arthur’s body was on a new kind of automatic, not the Puppeteer’s magic but an automation of his own. He jerkily went through with the motions to help the others clean up while his brain tried to bury every feeling, because if he thought too hard about what had happened, he might start screaming and not stop.

Doing even more damage was an unbearable thought.

Zhang found the manor’s telephone and Jade called the police, alerting them to Zeppler as a wanted murderer, with no mention of magic.

As they stood on the drive, hearing the approaching cars, Zhang was frowning.

“You’ve noticed too, then,” Gwen said to him.

Arthur glanced between them. “Noticed what?”

“Zeppler had a relic of his own, didn’t he?” said Zhang. “The brooch he stole from me before the war. But it isn’t on his body, and it’s nowhere to be found in the manor.”

“He isn’t bound to it anymore,” Gwen said quietly. “Two years ago, I could see it in his magic. Tonight, it was gone—or at least, it was gone by the time I got here. Maybe the connection was severed when he put on Ellis’s ring with the magic of the Venom Dagger. Or maybe something else.”

Zhang looked troubled. “But then where is the brooch?”

Jade touched his arm. “We wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we didn’t have a to-do list.”

Zhang snorted softly.

Ellis wandered back to them from a group of shaken-looking guards. “Guards are more than happy to corroborate any story we want to the police. They’re just grateful Becker’s dead. You freed a lot of people tonight, Ace. Glad you remembered how to shoot, because for a man who hates it, you’re damn good at it.”

Arthur took a breath through his nose.

“Hey,” said Ellis. “It was self-defense. He was trying to use you to kill me. He was going to use you to kill your little sweetheart. Good riddance.”

Christ. Arthur couldn’t even bear to look at Rory. He nodded stiffly.

Ellis put his arm around Gwen’s shoulders. “We’re going back to England, after tonight,” he said. “We’ll find Sebastian. He deserves to know he’s finally free.”

Gwen leaned into Ellis. “You all should go now.”

Jade and Zhang exchanged a glance.

“Let us handle this,” said Gwen. “We have ten of Zeppler’s henchmen happy to corroborate our story. We have each other.” She looked at Jade, but her head was tilted meaningfully toward Arthur. “Some of you need to rest.”