A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)(92)

“You snuck into the bloody tower to save me. That wipes your debt away. There’s no need to apologize.”

“Then I take it all back.”

I gave him a playful shove and we moved ahead. I bunched my skirt in one hand, a bit sad, even now, to think of the gold back trailing away in the muddy ground. Eliza had been so proud of it. “What will they do when they find out you helped me?”

“What matters is you’ll be safe and far away from here by then.”

I hooked my arm through his. “You’re a true friend.”

His face lit up. “I am your friend, aren’t I?”

“Of course.” I squealed as he picked me up in his arms and carried me.

“To hell with this. I won’t have you sully your dress on the ground.”

“I can walk. Please put me down.” I laughed. He did, reluctantly.

Within a moment we saw the house ahead of us, lit like a beacon in the night. The boys stood at the park’s edge, all newly commended and wearing the black silk sorcerers’ cloaks. Snatching up my skirts, I ran for them. We were reunited within moments. Dee caught me up in a tearful hug. Wolff and Lambe patted my back.



“Come,” Blackwood said, looking about. “We have to move quickly. Before they—”

There was a great booming noise. The ground trembled, and overhead there came a piercing scream. Black shapes skirted the top of the dome. The Familiars had arrived, dozens of them, maybe even a hundred.

The bells began to toll. “He’s come back,” Blackwood whispered. “And he’s brought an army.”

Korozoth had made my escape far more difficult.





We ran down the steps to the servants’ entrance, seeing no one as we moved through the kitchen and toward the stairs. We had to find Rook. Blackwood and I ran to the attic.

Rook’s door was unlocked and open. Inside, we found the bed had been flipped, the pillow torn. These were signs of struggle, and Rook was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?” I said. My voice sounded small.

“Howel!” Dee thundered up the stairs, the floorboards trembling as he arrived in the corridor. “Lilly’s in your room. She’s crying.”

We found Lilly curled up in a corner, her cheeks marked with tears. She burst into fresh sobbing when she saw me.

“What happened?” I said.

“It’s R-Rook. Th-they snatched him.” She couldn’t get enough breath.

“Who?”

“Master Palehook and his young gentlemen. Master Agrippa let ’em in about an hour ago—”



“Master Agrippa’s here?” I said, my blood running cold. I’d hoped he’d still be at the ball.

“Yes. Soon after he came home the men arrived. He let ’em in and they went up to the servants’ rooms. Master Palehook waited in the hall while his men went inside the room. Rook fought them off. I tried to help, but it all got so strange. The room went dark. They were screaming, like they couldn’t get out of it. Then Master Palehook put a knife to me.” She began to sob, her chest heaving. “Said he’d kill me if Rook didn’t go with them. The darkness vanished, and then they knocked him senseless and took him away. I wanted to help, but they were rough with me.” She covered her face with her small hand. Her wrist bore a patterned bruise, like finger marks.

“Where were they going?” My head was buzzing.

“I don’t know,” she wailed.

“Where’s Agrippa?” God, I would make him sorry for this.

“In the library, I think.”

Dee helped Lilly off the floor and set her in a chair while the rest of us stormed downstairs. I entered the room first. We found Agrippa slumped in a chair before his fire, lost in thought. When he saw me, he leaped to his feet. We all five stood together in a half circle, blocking his exit. I pointed Porridge at his chest.

“What have you done with Rook?” I struggled to keep from shouting.

“What in God’s name are you doing here?” He didn’t seem angry so much as bewildered. “What is all this?”



“I ought to knock you straight into your own fireplace,” Magnus growled. He stood beside me.

“You don’t know what she is.”

“A magician?” Wolff scoffed. “You think we care about that?”

“She’s one of us,” Lambe said. He and Wolff went to Agrippa’s other side; we were all circling him now.

“Where is Rook?” I shouted.

“He told me it was the only way,” Agrippa muttered, the expression on his face torn between grief and terror.

“What does Palehook want with him?” Blackwood said.

Agrippa collapsed into his armchair. “I don’t know.”

“You must have some idea,” I said.

“I was trying to remedy my mistakes. Was that such a terrible crime?”

“It is if it harms the innocent,” Blackwood said.

“I’m trying to keep her innocent! That’s what’s most important!” Agrippa looked like a caged animal. The doors boomed open, and Dee strode into the library, the tips of his ears flushed pink. We all scattered before him. He loomed over Agrippa, who shrank further into his seat.