The next few days passed very slowly. Valerie spent as much time as possible at Thai's side, watching him sleep. Even though Midnight checked on Thai often and assured Valerie that they were recovering normally, Valerie couldn't bring herself to leave him long enough to visit her Guild, even though she knew that Jet and Darling were counting on her. It was like she was in a state of suspended animation.

It was three days, five hours and thirty-two minutes before Thai awoke. She had fallen asleep herself, but something woke her up. She immediately sent her mind to Thai's side and found him sitting on the edge of the bed in his room, watching over Tan. He smiled when he saw her.

"I'm so sorry," she said, trying to keep the tears that were still close to the surface from spilling over.

"For what?"

"I wanted to be here when you woke up."

"Chisisi told me that you've barely left my side. And in some way I knew you were here, and I knew it was going to be okay," his dark eyes stared at her hungrily, like he wanted to remember every nuance of her face.

"How are you?"

"Better than I've been since this whole thing started. Like I'm myself again."

"What about Tan? Is he okay? I thought you'd wake up at the same time."

He returned his attention to Tan, who was breathing evenly. "I have to believe he's going to be okay. Maybe now that we've separated, we can figure out what's wrong."

"Where's Chisisi?"

"I made him go get some rest. I can never repay him for taking care of us."

"He's one of the best people I know," she agreed.

"Thank you, young ones," Chisisi said, appearing at the door. "Now you must leave Thai to rest."

"Come on, I've done enough resting," Thai argued, but without heat. She could see that it would take time for him to get his full energy back.

"There is much left to do if we are going to get you and Tan to the Globe," Chisisi insisted. "You will need your full strength for the road ahead."

"Fine, you win," Thai agreed.

"Don't worry. I'll be back," Valerie assured him.

When her mind returned to her dark room on the Globe, an enormous weight was lifted from her shoulders. That night, she finally slept a dreamless sleep.

Filled with guilt, Valerie hurried to her Guild the next day. Her worry had been all-consuming, and there were those who depended on her who were bound to be disappointed.

When she arrived, the Guild was quieter than usual. Usually, there were classes being held in the courtyard and Knights streaming in and out of the building. But today, only a handful of Knights hurried by purposefully.

She headed toward Kellen's office. When she arrived, the door was open partway. Inside she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks.

"It's what he wants," Sanguina insisted.

"I don't understand why."

"He's using it as an excuse to test her. He's acting like it will be a simple trade, but it's a trap. She'll never see it coming."

"And if I don't agree?"

"You know what he's capable of," Sanguina said, and Valerie heard a low thud. She peeked through the crack and saw that Sanguina had hefted her right leg onto a nearby chair. It was all Valerie could do to repress her surprise when Sanguina lifted her pants to reveal that she had a prosthetic leg. What had happened to her?

"I suppose I don't have a choice."

"That's not what I'm saying. There has to be another way," Sanguina continued.

Valerie was pulled roughly away from the door.

"What are you up to now?" Claremont said, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Not now, Monty!" she shoved her away and moved toward the door, but the room had fallen silent.

"You think you're such a hotshot, don't you?" Claremont said and took a swing at her.

She ducked, and Claremont's fist hit the wall. Claremont let out a yelp of pain and then cradled her hand.

"That's enough," Kellen commanded.

"She was spying—"

"I have to tell you—"

"I'm disappointed in you both," he interrupted. "I don't want to hear any more. If you two can't find a way to get along, then your status as apprentices will be revoked."

Without another word, he went back into his office and closed the door. Valerie wanted to charge in after him and demand to know what Sanguina was doing in their Guild and exactly what he was agreeing to.

Suspicion made her stomach churn. What if Kellen was the spy? Maybe being kidnapped was a trick. She remembered Chrome's distrust when he had found the fairy after he had been kidnapped.

Claremont snapped her fingers in front of Valerie's face. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Let's give each other as much space as possible," Valerie said, and turned on her heel and left. She was done trying to make friends with Claremont. Anyone who wanted to drive her fist into her face wasn't worth her time.

She was halfway down the hall when she smacked into Juniper.

"Where have you been?" he asked. "You've missed all the good stuff."

"What happened?"

"They're organizing the search party for when the guide arrives to take us to the Black Castle. Everyone wanted to vote for you to lead the search, but you weren't here. So now you're not even on the team."

"I'm sure if I talk to Chrome and Gideon—" she began.

"I'm afraid not," Gideon said, walking to her with Chrome at his side. The wolf's eyes flashed with hurt, and she saw a brief image of a full moon and heard a faint howl of anguish. She wasn't even sure he intentionally sent her the vision, because it was so brief, she almost couldn't make out what she saw. But his betrayal was clear.

"I'm so sorry, Chrome. My friend was hurt and I couldn't leave him," she explained. Some of the anger left his eyes, but guilt lodged like a rock in her stomach. She had to juggle her responsibilities to those she loved now, and this time she had dropped the ball. "Please, Gideon, you have to let me help search for Jet."

"No, I thought you could help lead, but I see now that I was mistaken."

"Please don't do this. I know I've disappointed you, but find another way to punish me."

"You mistake me. This isn't a punishment. Azra was right—it was wrong of me to put so much weight on such young shoulders. You are not yet ready to set aside your personal cares for the greater good. And you should not have to."

"But even if I can't lead, I can still come search with you," she insisted.

"It will not do to have the Knights expect your leadership when you are not yet capable of providing it. And no matter what they are told, they will expect it."

There was no more she could say. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Chrome nodded his head in acknowledgment, and then he and Gideon continued down the hall.

"They're leaving tomorrow," Juniper said as she stared after them.

"How? Shade isn't even here yet."

"They're going to meet him in the middle. Chrome is pretty sure that he'll be able to track him once he's outside of Dunsinane, and they don't want to waste any time."

She nodded. The sooner they were able to help Jet, the better. She hoped that he wasn't already beaten past recovery. "He's going to be okay," she said, mostly to herself.

She noticed that Juniper had turned red at the ears. "There's one other thing you should know. That is, well, I've been chosen to go on the search. Gideon said they could use my binding power to help incapacitate any enemies that we run into."

He was going in her place, she understood, which was why he was so uncomfortable. But there was no part of her that blamed Juniper for her own failure, so she attempted a smile. "I'm so glad you'll be there. Keep a close eye on Chrome, okay? It may be really hard on him when he sees Jet's condition. I don't want him to go nuts and do something that puts him in danger."

Juniper nodded seriously. "I'll watch out for him. And I thought you might want to be in the loop with what's going on, so take this." He gave her a small hand mirror. "It doesn't work super well, but I can tell you what's happening. I'll contact you at night."

"Thank you. And good luck on this mission—they're lucky to have you."

He nodded, and they parted ways. What would she do with herself now that she wasn't needed on the search? She remembered the conversation she had overheard in Kellen's office and made up her mind.

She'd been avoiding investigating Sanguina out of a mixture of fear and disgust. But if she couldn't help rescue Darling and Jet, then she would prevent any more innocent Conjurors from winding up in their shoes. It was time to find out what Sanguina's involvement was with Reaper.