"What?" Naima breathes.
"How do they know?" Draven's eyes narrow.
"Freida tried to extract him from the Keep. He'd already been moved."
Draven leans forward. "Why that location? Of all the places they could take him?"
"Jordi got arrested on purpose.”
Draven blinks. "He did what?"
“He wanted to move the memory stones underneath the Hall of Gratitude to prevent deaths once the curse is lifted." I swallow. "I can only assume he was caught trying to do that."
“Goddess strike me,” Naima breathes.
"I suppose I'm staying another night," Draven says quietly.
"Can you get past the wards?” Margot asks.
He shakes his head. “I’ve tried.”
"The wards only cover street level,” Kage announces. "I checked last night while you were at the ceremony."
"Wechecked," Naima corrects pointedly. "And we saw something near the red doors. Shroudmaidens, maybe."
Kage sighs. "For the hundredth time, we didn't see Shroudmaidens."
"We saw very dark fog," Naima says through gritted teeth. “Movingfog. For all we know, the Shroudmaidens are down there.”
"Do the Sages know how long he’s been there?” Mal asks.
I shake my head, finally meeting his eyes. I’m grateful for the determination I find in them. He glances at the rest of the table.
“We’re going to get him out tonight.” He slides a newer map to the center of the table and hands charcoal pencils to Draven and Kage. He holds my eyes as he offers me the third. “Mark all the entrances to the tunnels that you know of.”
"While we’re planning our inevitable demise, we should talk about secrets,” Kage says, looking at me and my friends.“Naima's been forthcoming enough, but we need to know what gifts the three of you have."
Margot scoffs. "A little too forthcoming, if you ask me."
"Good thing no one asked you,” he says, winking at her.
"We need to strike at midnight," Draven says, ignoring Kage. "That's when the Council's festivities get ... interesting. If we arrive at midnight and leave by half past one, we'll have a window. Sometimes they bring guests to the Hall. I don't know why."
I check the clock. Eight. Four hours to plan. I startle when Kage claps his hands together.
"As I was saying, I'd rather not walk in there and discover one of you can manipulate time or something equally useful that we could've planned around." He spreads his hands on the table. "Who wants to go first?"
My lips twist. "Why don't you start, since you're so eager?"
He shoots me a look. "We'll have to work on that attitude before the wedding."
A low warning sound rumbles from Malachi's direction. Naima snorts. I cast her a silencing glare.
"If that look held any magic, it would kill on contact,” Kage quips.
"Yosh," Draven mutters. "Can we proceed?"
Kage exhales dramatically. "Fine. I can move through shadows. And ..."
