The first thing Solene knew in the morning was the light—not so bright as most mornings, more gentle in the promise of autumn's pale ghost. The next thing she recognized was the distinct chime of the fuzzy pink phone on the far table next to the door. Solene gently pried herself out of Dorian's grip. She moved as swiftly and silently as she could, and managed to pick up her phone on the third ring.

"Hello?" She turned away, towards the window. Gray skies overcast the ocean, turning it a deep teal-green and indecipherable. An uncanny reflection of the uncertainty of what took place last night—and what would come next.

"Solene, is that you?"

"Willa?" Solene glanced over her shoulder—Dorian had shifted, but did not stir.

She dropped her voice to a whisper. "What's going on?"

"Why are you whispering?"

Solene winced—Willa was astute as always, but now wasn't a time she was grateful for the attribute. "It's not important—you never call this early."

"I need you to pick me up with your car and take me somewhere."

Solene raised an eyebrow. "Somewhere your parents wouldn't approve of?"

She had a hard time thinking of what that might even be. Willa had described her father as cold and absent, her mother a cheerful free-spirit. There was likely little that they'd refuse for her, especially as Willa wasn't the type to make trouble or ask for a ride anywhere that wasn't the book store or the library.

"I don't know, but I'm not taking chances." Willa sighed. "Look, I need you to take me to Gardenia Renoux. As fast as possible."

"Castletown?" Solene realized as she'd said it that she'd been too loud, too urgent. Luckily, Dorian was still out cold. She dropped her voice lower again. "What in the spirits do you want there?"

"Listen, it's a long story, but I got some information on what happened to Valo."

Solene's stomach sank. She recognized the hope, the desperation in Willa's voice. It was how she would have spoken about Dorian last night. There was danger in that hope, the peril of going too far for someone who likely didn't deserve it.

But wouldn't she be a hypocrite to point that out?

"He tried to kill us, Willa."

"I don't think he did, not really." Willa's voice had turned less urgent, more contemplative. "He was trying to keep us there for the Astarte Coven to arrive—but I doubt their plans were to kill all of us."

"I don't know about that." Solene pictured the plaque commemorating the six murdered students.

"They're going to transfer him to Gardenia Rosalia, the Empress has been holding him since the Covenant captured him at the Institute." Willa was back to business. "You don't have to agree with me, but I have to talk to him, Solene. I need to know—so many things, really."

The desperation was back.

"My father told me some of the story, but there has to be more and I just. . . " she trailed off. Her voice returned as a whisper matching Solene's. "I need to know if it was real."

Solene looked back at Dorian one last time and reluctantly, she understood. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

...

She left a note on her nightstand, warning him to take the window out, and then took off herself before her mother could rise or ask any questions. A part of her suspected that after what had happened when Soleil had brought her back that Luna wouldn't want her doing something like this.

Her stomach lurched with guilt—but one look at the lilac tree and her resolve strengthened.

It was all connected somehow. Solene knew it. The Astarte, Valo Durendal, and her and Dorian's curses, then the incoming end of the world. She couldn't place her finger on exactly when or where that intuition appeared. But it was there all the same, blazing like a bonfire in her chest with certainty.

That was one of the first things Luna had taught Solene about being a witch, before she'd ever attended the Institute or done any magic at all.

Trust your instincts. Follow your heart. That's where the magic lives.

...

Gardenia Renoux, the kitsune borough of Ventura Sound, was located on an island connected to the infamous crimson Dragonsgate Bridge. Due to the castle-like structure that surrounded the entirety of the neighborhood, some of the non-kitsune locals referred to it unofficially as Castletown. Within its walls, just barely peeking over the pale gray stone was the Magnificent Palace. The ancestral home of the Imperial Family of the kitsunes, it more than earned its name.

Solene had never seen it up close before. Any time she'd been over in Gardenia Renoux previously had been for cultural exchange field trips in mortal-school before she'd attended Anouir, or visiting the outdoor markets with Soleil or Helena. She knew that the kitsunes loved their flowers, but she hadn't expected them to be inside the palace like this, artfully wrapped around walls and filling in the space between diamond chandeliers in the open ceilings.

Willa marched straight in from the parking lot to the open doors of the shining palace. She stalked through the flower-entrenched halls like a fox on the hunt, and Solene wondered how she ever could have missed Willa's true heritage. Then again, didn't they all have traces of magic in their blood at this point? Plenty of generations of mortals, witches, and other magical folk had made families together. Pink hair and a few eccentric traits would hardly stand out amongst them. It wasn't long before an attendant found them.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you two to leave if—"

"I was told to bring this to a member of the staff, and you'd know what to do with it." Willa slipped a pale pink envelope with a rose-gold seal out of her lace-lined dark brown cardigan.

The attendant paled, her multicolor eyes widened. "How did you get this?"

"She sent it to me." Solene couldn't help but admire the sheer nerve and courage of Willa, of her imperious dark-green gaze. "If you check inside, you'll see everything is in order."

The attendant shook her head and closed the envelope. "I see, I'll fetch her at once."

Her eyes darted to a nearby guard. "Make sure these two stay here." With that, she bounded off, leaving Solene to look at Willa quizzically.

"All will be revealed," she said, sounding a little too pleased with herself.

And indeed it was, for maybe fifteen minutes later by Solene's approximation, the attendant returned, another lady in tow—but not just any lady.

Even Solene could recognize Emilia Aquitaine. She'd grown up seeing her on television screens, the graceful princess of kitsunes and elves alike. She was involved in many charities and other acts of goodwill. And when she wasn't in the news for another good deed, the Sunshine Princess as she was called was on magazine covers for style.

Princess Emilia was taller than most of the other kitsunes, evidence of her elven heritage, as was her pointed ears. Her long, golden hair had flowers woven into them, and she wore a long violet dress inspired by traditional kitsune silhouettes and trimmed with gold. Yet Solene could see that the princes wore no shoes based on the occasional flutter of her skirts.

Before she knew what she was doing, she'd begun to sink into some kind of bow or curtsy, while Willa remained standing.

Princess Emilia laughed, a sound like tinkling bells. "There's no need for that—

Willa, is that right? Who is your friend you've brought?" 

"Solene Frey—Your Grace?" She squinted as she stood.

"Don't worry about it." Princess Emilia narrowed her eyes. "I believe I recognize your name from the reports out of the school?"

"I was the one who stopped him."

"Someone had to check his power," Princess Emilia sighed, as if discussing a silly dispute rather than a serious battle of life and death. "The eternal gardens know that I've done the same to his mother a time or two."

That was right, his mother was none other than the beloved Empress Rikka.

"May I?" Princess Emilia held out her hand.

"Of course." Solene placed her hand in the Princess's.

The Princess frowned in concentration. "Your power is very familiar—very like mine, I see."

She let go. "Are there elves in your family tree, by any chance?"

"Yes, a long time ago." Solene had no idea what compelled her to keep talking. "My mother is a Danaan."

Recognition dawned in Princess Emilia's eyes. "I see. That is very powerful magic indeed."

She then winked. "Not so much unlike mine."

Princess Emilia immediately sobered as she turned to Willa. "I'm glad you received my message. Let's just say that I've disagreed with many decisions my dear

Rikka has made in regards to her son—and this has the potential to be one of them."

"You'd like me to talk to him, then?"

"I think you could get information out of him that our best interrogators are not." Her expression was the revelation of steel beneath silk, a reminder that a princess was a political figure. "He seemed to care about you, I could tell that much." Willa's breath hitched—but she said nothing.

"We should get going, should we not?" Princess Emilia glanced up at one of the clocktowers. "It won't be long before Risa Blackbriar's retainers come to escort him away to Gardenia Rosalia."

Willa straightened, her eyes ablaze. "Let's do this."