Girlie’s sunshine friend!she answers.
“What’s gotten into her?” Basten asks, bracing one arm overhead to fend off Plume’s next leap.
“She says Suri sent her to me,” I say, worry drumming against my ribs as I whip back toward Plume.Where is Suri?
Plume jumps again and lands on a shelf high above my head, her tongue lolling, breath thick with the scent of pine needles.Coffin!
I pull in a sharp breath, confused. Why would Suri be in the Coffin?
Basten is at my side in a second. “What?”
“The Coffin. The jail cell in the attic.” The realization hits me as I meet his eyes. “Rian!”
He slams my book closed.
We bolt across the library, weaving past startled maids burdened with stacks of bed linens, and race up the tight, spiral stairs to the top of Mercy Tower. I seize the attic doorknob and twist—only to feel it stick.
A groan tears out of me. “It’s locked!” I cup my hands around the keyhole and shout, “Suri? Are you in there?”
“Sabby?” a muffled voice replies.
“Stand back,” Basten says. He grabs an iron candlestick from a wall sconce and uses the blunt end to slam against the lock. After a few strikes, the wood splinters, and Basten shoves his weight against it to break the final hold.
I spill into the narrow attic hallway, blinking to adjust to the low lighting of a single lantern on the far wall.
Basten draws his hunting knife, ready for anything.
“Sabby!” Suri reaches through the Coffin’s bars.
I stop short, shocked to see her lockedinsidethe cell, but rush forward to clasp her hand.
Her eyes are red from crying, but otherwise, she looks unharmed.
“Suri—what happened?” I breathe.
Basten patrols the corners of the attic, muscles set tense. “Suri, where is Rian?”
“Gods, I was such a fool!” Suri rasps, a hand on her throat. “I mean, he’s the Lord of Liars—and I fell for one of his tricks, even though I knew better!”
“Slow down,” I say, squeezing her hand for support. “Tell us exactly what happened.”
Suri plucks at her lace collar, lips pursed together. “He’s been hounding me for days to bring him something to read to pass the time. Well, yesterday he mentionedDancy’s Forest Tales. He could even quote whole sections. It was my favorite book as a girl. I had a copy with a broken spine and falling out pages from how much I pored through it. I don’t know, something about him liking that book, too, was…charming? Unexpected? That’s the thing about Rian, he’s driving me mad one minute, making me laugh the next.”
She sighs before continuing. “So, I gave in. I brought him the library’s copy. We read the story of Hildy and Lord Vallen aloud, passing the book back and forth through the bars. It was just…innocent fun. Then we got to the part where Lord Vallenasks Hildy for a kiss as payment for her debts, and Rian said…he said…Gods, I can’t! It’shumiliating!”
Basten rests a hand on the bars. “Continue, Suri.”
She huffs up toward the air, pacing, and finally explains in a shaking voice, “He reminded me that I ‘owe him a kiss’ from when he saved me from Gaez’s attack. It was ridiculous. I assumed he was joking. But, I mean, you have to admit it, Sabby. Even a Sister would find Rian Valvere handsome…that’s just a fact. And I haven’t kissed anyone since Charlin…” She trails off, fumbling with her lace collar.
“Lady Suri,” Basten prompts.
She hiccups. “He kissed me. Through the bars.” Her eyes drift off, growing hazy, as if she can still feel the ghost of his mouth on hers. She licks her lips—a tiny, unconscious motion—like she’s chasing the last of it. For a second, something bright flickers over her face—a kind of breathlessness.
Then it collapses.
Her shoulders fold in. She covers her face with both hands, voice muffled with shame. “I can’t believe I fell for it. He was only distracting me so he could steal my keyring from my pocket and swap it out with a chunk of brick of the same weight. He ended the kiss, and I was so…soovertaken, that I barely realized he’d unlocked his cell. He pulled me in to take his place, then set himself free. Hedidcome back briefly to bring me a basket of snacks and some extra blankets, in case I got cold.”
She motions to a small pile of supplies: cinnamon cookies, a bottle of sherry, warm slippers.
