The crowd breaks into raucous applause. Their enthusiasm is unsettling.

We wait for the group to disperse, but Rafe seems intent on shaking hands with every single person in attendance. It takes an excruciatingly long time for the people to return to their homes.

I want to urge our horse forward so I can ask my parents how she is, but my mother catches my eye across the short distance and gives a quick shake of her head. Then she points south. She doesn’t want to speak in public. It’s possible she just wants to be away from prying eyes, but it’s more likely that she wants me to ditch Henry somehow.

“Let’s go straight to Carrenwell House and settle in,” I whisper. “My parents will join us when they’re finished here.”

Gaven leads the way through town, with Carter and Bryce behind him and Henry and me holding up the rear.

We’re quiet as we ride through the city. It’s not as busy as it would usually be this time of day. Shop owners turn signs in store windows to Closed and mothers rush their squealing children into cozy homes for supper.

If I hadn’t lived here for so long, it might look like a normal evening. But the lack of pedestrians milling the streets and the way the few that are out and about are constantly looking over their shoulders is very telling to me. The people of Lunameade are used to living in the shadow of fear, but the moment when our borders are truly tested always brings out this wariness.

Bryce and Carter peel off before we enter the southern half of the city. I don’t ask where they’re going because I know Henry won’t tell me.

Once we cross through the southern safety gates, things seem a bit more normal. People chat outside of pubs and couples walk down the street arm in arm. The more distance from the breach, the less immediacy the people carry. Still, there’s a part of me that wonders if this is the result of the excessive number of breaches over the last six months.

“Why wasn’t your sister out there with him for the speech?” Henry whispers.

I swallow the dread caught in my throat. Just being back inside the city walls makes the need to get Aidia away from Rafe more urgent. I have more questions than answers, and while I’m glad Aidia is safe from the Drained, I know the real reason she wasn’t out there holding court beside her husband.

“She’s probably too bruised.”

“Is she not a glamourist?” Henry asks.

I can’t stop the bitter laugh that slips out. “She won’t cover up for him. She likes to make my parents and Rafe look at it. They’d rather hide her away than have her look weak, and Aidia would rather endure any punishment than perform for them. It’s always been like that.”

This is too close, too intimate, just too much. I need anything else to deflect from the sore spot he’s prodding.

Henry hums low, but his aura curls around me in an almost protective way. “I should come in with you when you go to speak with them.”

“You should stay the fuck away. Henry, my family is private.”

“I’m your family.” He says it so calmly.

“You’re my duty.”

“What’s the difference at this point?”

It’s a fair question, but I don’t need to explain this to him now. “I am duty-bound to you. I am blood-bound to them.”

“Which comes first?”

A test of a question if ever there was one. “Whichever will deal me the least damage today. I come first.”

He laughs, a real laugh. When I glance over my shoulder at him, he looks as surprised as I feel. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer honestly.”

“Have you not learned yet, Henry? It’s not about your agenda or their agenda. It’s always been about my own.” I peek at him out of the corner of my eye. I need a way to get him out of the house so I can figure out what’s going on with my father and Able. “When we get to the house, my mother is going to want to hear everything about the wedding. I know she’ll invite us both for dinner, and I’ll be stuck there for hours. Would you go check on Aidia?”

I sense his surprise more than feel it. “She hasn’t even met me.”

“Yes, but if I go, Rafe will be awful and he’ll make sure to keep her from me. You have to understand that he’s the kind of man who wants to humble the world. Just your presence will be a challenge, and while Aidia won’t glamour herself for anyone else, she’s nosy enough that she’ll do it so she can meet you.”

The more I talk, the more I realize how insane it sounds. But I honestly believe what I’m saying.

“You were so anxious to see her,” he says.

“I know,” I say, craning my neck and shifting in the saddle to look at him. “And I still am, but I will just feel better if you set eyes on her today. I know these politics are complicated, but Rafe will know how much I want to see her, and there’s nothing he loves more than to make a woman miserable. She always finds a way to sneak out, but if you go, she’ll know I’m here to check on her.”

The longer Henry is quiet, the more certain I am he knows I’m just trying to get rid of him for a few hours.

“What reason do I give for being there?” he says finally.

“An invitation to Aidia and him for a post-wedding family dinner tomorrow night. You want to invite them as the newest member of the family.”

“Rafe’s magic?”

The thought of it sends a violent shiver through me. My mouth is so dry I can barely get the word out. “Polm.”

If ever there was a man who was made in the image of the Divine of Malice, it’s Rafe Mattingly. Most of the time, I put it out of my head so I don’t have to think about how he might be using that blessing on my sister.

A wave of nausea sweeps through me.

“Worried about me, wife?” Henry’s teasing voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

“Of course not. Rafe is not the creative type, and you’re indestructible. I’m only worried about myself and my utter lack of imagination. I’m so disappointed I haven’t found a way to take you out yet.”

He laughs, and the sound warms me.

When we finally reach the gates of Carrenwell House, I expect to feel relieved to be home, but I still feel like a tightly wound ball of stress. Leaving did not, in fact, make this house feel like a home. It still feels like a museum where my behavior needs to be as curated as the art on the walls. After acting like a wild woman in Mountain Haven for a few days, I’m not as anxious to walk these familiar halls again.

Gaven busies himself speaking with the stable hands tending to our horse, but I feel his eyes on me as I smooth Henry’s coat and fluff my windswept hair.

My parents’ carriage pulls through the gates as we’re dismounting. Able hops out first, gives me and Henry a withering sneer, and then storms into the house, slamming the door behind him. He’s devolved into a forty-five-year-old toddler.

My father helps my mother down from the carriage and they turn their assessing gazes on us. I wonder what they’re looking for. I make sure to take slow, deliberate breaths to smooth my feelings into a blank canvas so that my aura will stay steady.

“Congratulations on your nuptials. We wish you were back under better circumstances, and we weren’t counting on seeing you so soon, but we’re happy to see Harlow looking so well,” my mother says with the imitation of a warm smile. “Doesn’t she look vital, Harrick?”

Vital. I wince. She means I look terrible, which I probably do. I went straight from my run and only changed into riding clothes before we took off for the city.

“Marriage suits you, Harlow,” my father says. “I’ll leave your mother to get you settled, but we would love to hear about the wedding. Join us for dinner.”

He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He turns and walks into the house as if my agreement is a certainty.

My mother smiles, like that alone can balance out my father’s rudeness. “We’ll make the most of this unexpected visit. We’ll catch up tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll invite the high houses for a post-wedding reception. Nothing fancy. Just allow everyone to get to really meet you and your new husband—since the engagement dinner was interrupted.”