“How could I be so senseless?” she cried. “I feel awful!”
Feeling overly warm, he unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. “How many guests were at this luncheon?”
“Hmm. Hard to say.” She twisted her lips. “A few dozen, maybe?”
Knowing the way gossip spread in Rune’s social circles, that number had likely ballooned long before tonight. And if dozens of people knew the location he’d given Rune as of noon today, any one of them might be the Moth, or in league with her.
Anyone could have been at the mine tonight.
He stared at Rune, unsure if she was obtuse, or a master of deception. She had drastically widened his net of suspects—but intentionally or unintentionally?
Is she actively sabotaging me? Or is she innocent?
He didn’t know. And either way, he could no longer arrest her. Not without further evidence.
Gideon ground his teeth together. He was back to square one.
“Rune, we’re leaving now. Are you ready?”
They turned to find Alex standing several paces away in a crisp white shirt with his usual brown suspenders. It made Gideon realize whose coat hung from Rune’s shoulders.
“Verity has an exam tomorrow morning,” Alex explained to Gideon. He pushed back his lion mask from his face and locked eyes with his brother.
The girl in question—Verity de Wilde—stood next to Alex, her face half-hidden behind a raven mask. She crossed her arms tightly over the bodice of her scarlet dress as she stared down Gideon, like she did not approve of how close he stood to Rune.
“What does Verity’s exam have to do with you?” Gideon asked Rune.
Verity’s clipped voice answered for her. “Rune and I came with Alex tonight. He’s taking us both home.”
Oh.
Gideon stepped back, away from them all. If Rune had come to this masked ball with his brother, she couldn’t have also been in Seldom Harbor.
It was another strike against him.
Rune might lie, but Alex wouldn’t. His brother would never knowingly sabotage him by aiding a dangerous witch. Not after everything their family had been through.
As the three friends turned to leave, Gideon watched Alex press his hand to the small of Rune’s back.
At least he’s taking my advice.
For some strange reason, this didn’t make Gideon feel better.
It made him feel much worse.
TWENTY-SEVEN
RUNE
THE CARRIAGE BUMPED AND jostled Rune as Alex’s driver took them down the cobbled lanes of the city. Verity and Alex sat facing Rune, who sat alone on the opposite bench.
She should have felt victorious at the look on Gideon’s face when he realized she’d turned the tables on him. Instead, she felt … drained. Like she could sleep for a month straight if given the chance.
Maybe that’s what I’ll do in Caelis, she thought. Then caught herself. She still hadn’t decided if she was going with Alex, never mind going for a month.
An unfamiliar tension radiated between them since leaving the warden’s study, and she could feel his eyes on her from the other side of the carriage. What had he been about to say before Verity barged into the room?
“Let’s get a look at this map.”
Right. The map.
Outside, the moon was almost full. It cast just enough light through the windows to see. Sinking down to the floor of the carriage, Rune pulled out the tracings and unrolled them, piecing them together.
Verity and Alex leaned forward to get a better look.
“There are seven sections,” said Rune, squinting at the circles she’d traced. A gate marked the entrance to the first and biggest section, the outermost circle. In each concentric circle after it, moving toward the center, were more gates. Seven in total. And each entry was named after one of the seven Ancients.
Mercy, Liberty, Wisdom, Justice, Amity, Patience, Fortitude.
Rune remembered when the opera house columns still bore the painted likenesses of the Ancients. The images were destroyed by fire when patriots ransacked the building during the revolution. The columns had since been painted over, but Rune could still picture the renderings of the witches in her mind: Amity, mid-laugh and her hair a wild tangle; Wisdom, with her secretive smile; Justice, turning her face toward the sky …
“Do you know which section they’re keeping Seraphine in?” asked Alex.
Rune shook her head. Not only did she not know what section or cell Seraphine was in, Rune didn’t know how many guards she’d need to evade. Or how one passed through the gates, which would be locked. Who held the keys? Once she was on the other side of all the gates, how would she get back out?