Cole felt deflated. Joe’s news meant he knew less than he had previously believed. “Including Junction City,” Cole realized. “They might not have gone with the slaves sent for training. They could be part of something else.”

“Entirely possible,” Joe said. “But I do know that the High Shaper has been acquiring slaves with shaping talent wherever he can find them and sending them to be trained all over the Outskirts.”

“We’ll help you find them,” Mira said, rubbing Cole’s shoulder. “I promised to help you. I haven’t forgotten.”

Joe looked a little uncomfortable. “You may be needed elsewhere, Mira. At least in the short term.”

“There are ways we can investigate,” Liam assured Cole. “The five kingdoms are large, but we aren’t without allies. I’ll give you all the help at my disposal. You could come with me and wait, or I could probably figure out a way to contact you if you’d rather stay with Mira.”

Cole frowned. “Thanks. Right now information is what I need most. I can’t really help my friends until I know where they went. In the meanwhile, I’ll stick with Mira.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“They’re as likely to be in Elloweer as anywhere,” Cole said.

Mira hugged him tightly. Cole tried to avoid eye contact with Jace. “I’d hate to lose you. You saved us back there. You saved me. Cole, if I live forever, I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“I couldn’t believe it worked,” Cole said. “I thought it was a long shot.”

“It was,” Liam said. “If Mira hadn’t planted a lot of doubt in Carnag, and if the essence of Carnag wasn’t eager to rejoin Mira, I don’t think it would have succeeded. The shawl was a potent tool, but not strong enough to harness something like Carnag—not unless she was already pretty conflicted.”

“Anyway,” Cole said to Mira, “until I have a clear idea where to find Dalton or Jenna, I’m coming with you. Without a plan, or at least someplace to go, I can’t imagine leaving you. I’d be utterly alone.”

“Ouch,” Liam said.

“Not if I went with you,” Cole hurriedly clarified. “Which I would do, except . . . I’ve lost enough friends already. I don’t want to lose any more.”

“Ouch again!” Liam said. “Seriously, stop talking.”

Cole gave an embarrassed laugh. “I don’t want to lose you either, Liam, but you’re heading off to a hideout. I need to keep moving. And I want to help Mira.”

“In that case, I’ll contact you if I learn something,” Liam said.

“I’d appreciate it,” Cole said.

“Go ahead and give us the message,” Mira prompted.

“As you can probably guess, this concerns Honor,” Joe said. “Her shaping was always strongest in Elloweer. Your mother fears that her protector is dead and that she has been captured. I was going to take you and Durny to try to help her.”

“How would we find her?” Mira asked.

“Her star is in the sky,” Joe said. “I know how to recognize it. Just as I know yours.”

“I can’t believe it,” Mira said. “I haven’t seen Nori in so many years. I’m surprised she’s in trouble. I can much more easily picture her rescuing me.”

“The message had few details,” Joe said. “We’ll only learn more by following her star.”

“When do we start?” Jace asked.

“As soon as you choose,” Liam said. “It’ll mean going our separate ways for now.”

Mira sighed. “I had hoped that getting my powers back would mean the end of my troubles for a while.”

“Not yet,” Cole said. “But we hurt your dad. And we’ll hurt him more. The best way to help my friends will be to bring him down.”

“No problem,” Jace said. “We’ll take out the High King. Twitch will love that. We should tell him.”

“We won’t beat the High King tomorrow,” Cole said. “Probably not the next day either. But helping Honor will be a good place to start.”

“This may not stop with the High King,” Liam warned. “We also have to worry about Quima’s group of shapecrafters.”

“No,” Cole said. “They need to worry about us.”