No one had been looking for me back at the party. The Chambers men still appeared to be having a heated discussion, and Tamsin stood close to Warren across the room, laughing at something he told her. I watched them a few seconds, still unsure about that match. Old words of hers replayed in my head, words that felt as though they’d been spoken a lifetime ago: You’re right that I’ll choose success over anything else, but I hope I don’t have to. I hope I’ll love him—or learn to.

   Adelaide was asleep when Tamsin and I returned home, much to my dismay. I’d wanted to spend time with her before she and Cedric left in the morning. I paused near her bed, studying her lovely features and sprawling hair. A lump formed in my throat, and Tamsin slipped her arm around me, guiding me away.

   “She’ll be okay,” Tamsin murmured. “She’s tougher than you think.”

   Tamsin fell asleep quickly, no doubt exhausted by her work on Warren, and I left for Silas’s office shortly thereafter. He looked me over when he opened the door and nodded in satisfaction. “You found it.”

   We leaned over the desk as he spread it out. “Hmphf,” he said. “I don’t suppose you speak Lorandian?”

   “Some. I looked at it earlier, but it doesn’t make sense.”

   “I’ll be the judge of that. What’s it say?”

   I touched the words of the first line. “I don’t know what the second one means, but the rest is ‘my map rabbit short to dance to stop.’ Is that a code you know?”

   “No,” he admitted. “Maybe that word you didn’t know is key.”

   “What I can read of the rest doesn’t make much sense either. Just words in no logical order. No consistency with verb conjugation. I have a Lorandian dictionary back at the house. Maybe it’ll make more sense once I translate the whole thing. Maybe words just need to be moved around.”

   He didn’t answer and instead pulled a wooden box out of one of the desk’s drawers. When he opened the box, I saw a dozen small vials. After a little more thought, he selected one and dipped a small brush into it. The liquid in the bottle had a metallic smell, and he dabbed a little of it between the first two lines. Nothing happened. He tried a second bottle and then a third.

   “You think there’s an invisible letter in there?” I asked.

   “It’s not looking like it. None of the common reagents are working. People are always coming up with their own, but that takes a fair amount of chemistry. I don’t know if the conspirators have those resources.” He tapped the words. “They could certainly come up with their own code, though.”

   “Can you figure it out?”

   “I’ve got a few resources to consult.” He hesitated. “How fast can you translate it all?”

   “Tomorrow,” I said promptly.

   Silas glanced over at me and grew thoughtful. “Why are you even doing this? Grant said you didn’t want to do it anymore and backed out.”

   “Did he?” I asked casually.

   “He wouldn’t talk much about it. Was pretty worked up. The only other thing he said was that it was for the best you were gone and never crossed our paths again.”

   I flinched, and he noticed. “Well. I’ve got a lot to worry about with the Glittering Court. And didn’t you want me out anyway?”

   To my amazement, Silas looked abashed. “I did—back in the beginning. I thought you’d be a distraction and do more harm than good.”

   I lifted my chin. “And now?”

   “I think you do more good than harm.” He smiled at my indignation. “For the case, that is.”

   “Let’s make a copy, and I’ll get to work back at the house.”

   He hovered over me as I worked, brows knit as he studied the words, as though some revelation might hit. When I finished, he sighed in irritation and stepped back. “So close,” he muttered. “We’ll get there. Thank you.”

   “I’m glad to help.”

   He walked me to the door but didn’t open it. After clearing his throat, he said gruffly, “Grant’s south with the patrol for a couple of days. He hates those damn zealots, but it’s keeping his cover. Anyway. Is there . . . is there any message you want me to give him?”

   I had a sudden fluttering in my chest as all the memories from the night of the Flower Fest seemed to whirl through my mind at once. And then I thought about our encounter at the store, in which he’d refused to acknowledge my existence.

   The only other thing he said was that it was for the best you were gone and never crossed our paths again.

   “No,” I told Silas. “No message.”

CHAPTER 27

   ADELAIDE’S DEPARTURE HIT ME HARD THE NEXT MORNING. No matter how busy our lives had been in Adoria, I’d always had the comfort of knowing I’d see her back at Wisteria Hollow. That wasn’t the case anymore. Her future was off in the foothills of western Hadisen now, away from Tamsin and me. She was going to a dangerous land with dangerous people, and that scared me. I wouldn’t be able to keep track of her anymore. Adelaide was on her own.

   Well, not entirely on her own. Cedric was with her. And despite the mess they were caught up in, both of them looked radiantly happy at the Hadisen party’s send-off. The expedition west was huge, comprised of wagons, animals, and almost two hundred people. Some were going to find gold, others were going to farm. Some people just wanted any kind of work at all.

   Adelaide’s happy because she’s free, I thought, watching her wave at us from a wagon. Maybe she wasn’t free of her contract yet, but it was within grasping distance for her and Cedric now. And if nothing else, she was free of deception. I envied her that.

   Warren Doyle gallantly rode at the front of the caravan, ready to lead them to a better life. He looked very dashing atop his stallion, but his role in organizing the heretic patrols still bothered me. It had been bad enough when he had his eye on all of Denham and parts of neighboring colonies. Now his focus was narrowed in on this group, his new citizens. And Cedric—the man who had both taken the woman Warren wanted and practiced an illicit faith—would be locked into that group as they made the ten-day trip to Hadisen. My gaze fell back on Cedric and Adelaide, and I prayed they’d never let their guards down.