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But I’m not ready to paint Rook a villain. In fact, that’s why I’m here.

“Tin told me about how your power comes and goes.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” He starts to circle the fountain and I mirror his steps, keeping the marble between us. I may have absorbed a terribly large amount of divine power, but I still barely know how to use it. Rook has decades on me.

“He told me that it failed you when it came to saving Gabriel.”

Even from across the fountain, I can feel his tension, can see it in the sharp line of his jaw.

“I think I know why.”

He snorts. “An expert on me, now?”

“I think you need a source to burn.”

He comes to a sudden stop.

“I think your source is the dark.”

If he planned to argue my theory, all the energy for it dies immediately and he pulls back like I’ve hit him.

“Do you remember when Ana was telling us about the Wizard clashing with the West? How it was their fighting that created the dark cloud overhead?”

“I remember.”

“I took that as fact at the time, unaware that the Wizard was sitting right beside me.”

He takes another step. I stay in place.

“Is that really what happened?” I ask.

He looks away. “No.”

“Who created the dark cloud?”

“Glinda.”

This is not unexpected, but the more truth I uncover, the more worried I become.

“Did she say why?”

“She said it was to teach the West a lesson. She wouldn’t elaborate. And once the cloud appeared, the West did back down. So I didn’t question it.”

“The provost, Ana, she told me the West was afraid of the dark, that it was one of her Great and Terrible Curses,” I say, and he nods. “But maybe there was more to it. She knew your source of magic was the dark.”

His teeth clench, his jaw tensing.

“And do you remember what my father said in the square in Emerald City?”

He sighs. “How could I forget?”

“The divine shall not permit the might of false idols.”

The illusion disappears and we’re back in his room, the stifling closeness of the dark, the heavy energy hanging in the air. He’s at the window, gazing out.

“You are not the descendant of a Cardinal God.”

He leans into the stone, head bowed.