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The words bothersome witch sent irritation prickling through me. Before Alaric could turn away from me, I grabbed his forearm and yanked hard. He whirled back to face me, eyes flaring wide with surprise.

“Don’t you dare dismiss me so easily,” I growled. “I don’t care who the hell you are, you need my help. You want to know the places Gran visited? The people she knew? I can help with that. But if you’d prefer to wander the fae lands on your own, trying to find clues and simultaneously dodge the fae authorities, then be my guest.” I scowled and crossed my arms, waiting for his response. My heart thundered a maddening rhythm in my chest, but I tried to maintain my composure. He could likely hear my racing pulse, but I didn’t care.

I refused to back down.

Alaric glared at me, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as if he were winded. Several long, tense moments passed. I sensed Reid glancing between us uncertainly. My insides roiled, and I resisted the urge to fidget or wiggle. My eyes were starting to water from staring for so long without blinking.

But still, I waited.

At long last, Alaric muttered a curse and ran a hand along the back of his neck. “Fine,” he seethed. “Have it your way. We leave for the fae lands at Forenoon.”

“Forenoon?” I asked. “Why not now?”

Alaric’s eyes raked over my body in a way that felt far too intrusive for my liking. “I assumed you would need rest, food, and… other accommodations?”

Next to him, Reid chuckled, and I felt my face flame. I could hardly blame them, though. After all, I had been the one announcing I smelled bad.

But the thought of returning to that prison cell was about as appealing as spending the night in the Oracle. “Your dungeon is hardly accommodating.”

Alaric dropped his gaze with a weary exhale.

To my surprise, Reid interjected, “Seeing as her innocence has been proven, perhaps we can… provide her with a guest suite in the castle?” He looked to Alaric for confirmation.

Alaric’s face paled a fraction. “What?”

“What?” I repeated, dumbstruck. Reid had to be joking. All this time, he had treated me like shit. Now, he wanted to put me up in the castle?

“She has committed no crime,” Reid said. “The Oracle proved her innocence, and she’s our only lead. We need her. Where else would you have her stay?”

“In her home,” Alaric said with a tone of incredulity. “In the fae lands. Certainly not here. Witches don’t belong on the Isle, Reid.”

“The castle is heavily guarded. She’ll be safest there. If she goes to the fae lands, whoever killed her grandmother might go after her, too.”

My thoughts were spinning. If Reid and Alaric hadn’t killed Gran, then another Wolven Mage had. And the only way to find out who was to investigate here on the Isle.

“I’ll stay in the castle,” I said quickly.

The two Wolven Mages gaped at me.

“I want to be a part of this investigation,” I said, trying to ignore how hot my face felt. “If that means staying here on the Isle, then so be it.”

Not to mention I didn’t have a home to return to in the fae lands.

Alaric’s scowl deepened, and Reid looked like I’d just slapped him in the face.

“You… agree with me?” Reid sputtered.

I snorted. “Yes, it’s a shock to me, too.”

Alaric’s mouth twisted in a grimace, his wary gaze shifting from me to Reid and back again. After a moment, he sighed. “Reid, go to the barracks and take charge of the training drills. Cerise, come with me.”

Reid obediently crossed the courtyard toward the barracks while Alaric escorted me up the massive set of stairs that led to the double doors flanked by the four white animal statues. My eyes lingered on the wolf statue, whose fangs were bared, his fur standing on end as he glared at an unseen enemy. A stitch formed in my side when we reached the top of the stairs, and my stomach growled loudly enough for Alaric to hear.

My face flushed again, but thankfully, Alaric ignored the sound. He pushed open the double doors and strode through. Heart pounding, I followed him inside and gasped in awe. Moonlight poured through floor-to-ceiling windows, making the marble floors practically sparkle. I could see a perfect view of the gleaming stars in the sky.

Alaric’s stride quickened, as if he realized the sooner he escorted me to my rooms, the sooner he could be rid of me. I struggled to keep up with him with my shorter legs. My stomach made another ravenous growl.

Servants and other attendants bustled past us, most of them paying us no heed. I marveled that none of them stopped to glare at me like the Mages had in the courtyard. I supposed it seemed customary for the captain of the Wolven Mages to escort strange people in and out of the castle. Even if one of those people was a witch.