Leo sat on the edge of the long sofa with his wooden horse between both hands. I sat at the other end. Mara took the chair near the door. Lucian stayed outside.

He had asked if Leo wanted him in the room. Leo had said, "No. I want to ask her." Lucian had gone pale. Then he left a

The records chamber was colder than I remembered Blackthorn being. Not physically.

The room itself was warm enough. A fire burned behind an iron grate, and the shelves smelled of paper, dust, wax, and old leather. It was the labels that made me cold. POISONING. SEVERIN

Eli's testimony began with a bottle. Not poison. Not Camille. A bottle. That distinction mattered.

We moved from the records chamber to a smaller room across the hall. Marin sat at the table with a neutral recorder from Northlake. Isolde stayed behind me. Lucian did no