Page 90 of The Mirror of Beasts

She stopped, shaking her head. “I mean, no, I’m not going to do that, it’s still a living creature. But I am going to trap him under a glass until he suffocates—no, I’m not going to do that, either.” Neve considered it another moment, then snapped her fingers. “I’m going to have Tamsin catch and release him over the ocean so the wind can decide his fate … and I’m probably not going to watch.”

“I’d be happy to,” I said.

Caitriona came through the door a moment later, breathless. “I tried to follow him, but he scaled a wall and disappeared up over the roof.”

“Ah, don’t trouble yourself,” Nash said, retrieving his coffee mug. “If it wasn’t a pooka, they would have found another way of assessing the situation from afar.”

The thought was too chilling for his cavalier tone. “How did you know what he was?”

“The way the light caught in his eyes,” Nash said. “There’s a hint of aquamarine in the gleam.”

“Is it possible the pooka was sent by Lord Death?” Neve asked, her face anxious.

“He’d use a ghost, more like,” Nash said. “Something he can completely control.”

Caitriona had been silent until now, her face reddening as she absorbed what it meant.

“That kitten was a gift to my sister Mari,” she said, barely mastering the fury in her voice. “Are you telling me that the pooka took its place?”

“I think it’s been with you all along,” Nash said. “Since Avalon.”

“That would make sense,” I said carefully. “I wondered how it had survived when the Children—” I couldn’t say the words. “It could have shifted into something else and escaped, returning when we did.”

“Let me ensure that I understand what you’re saying,” Caitriona began, trembling with the force of her quiet fury. “They had a way of sending this shapeshifter through the boundaries between the worlds to gather information for them. They therefore knew Lord Death had returned. They knew Avalon was dying. But they did nothing … nothing … to help us.”

It was a damning assessment, but likely true.

“We don’t know that,” Neve tried. “By the time they found out, it could have been too late—”

“Don’t.” Caitriona held up a hand. “These beings left Avalon to wither and die. There is nothing you can say to redeem them.”

“I’m one of those beings,” Neve said, squaring up to her. “After all this time, you’re still so quick to see sorceresses as the enemy—well, then, maybe I’m your enemy too.”

Caitriona took a step back, her lips parting.

“Ladies,” Nash said, smoothly inserting himself between them. “I’d remind you that what’s said in the heat of the moment cannot be unsaid.”

He put a hand on Caitriona’s shoulder. “I need to have a word with Librarian, but after, I’d like to bring the Mirror of Shalott to the Bonecutter, to ask for her thoughts on how to adjust the spellwork to trap the hunters. Perhaps you should join me and catch your breath?”

It was the best advice he’d given, but the thought wrenched something deep in my chest. “I don’t think we should separate—”

“Fine,” Caitriona said to Nash, turning her back on us.

“Fine,” Neve said. “Then go.”

Nash stooped to pick up his bag, waiting as Caitriona did the same, tucking the covered mirror under her arm. That feeling was back, grinding me down into someone smaller, someone helpless.

“When are you coming back?” I asked, following them out to the stairs.

“Stay here, Tamsy,” Nash said. “You and Neve will be safe. We won’t be gone for more than a few hours.”

That’s what you said before, I wanted to scream.

Neve’s hand gripped mine, drawing me back into the attic and shutting the door behind us, as if to cut off the temptation to follow.

“What just happened?” I asked faintly.

“I cannot believe her,” Neve raged, hugging her arms to her as she strode across the attic, angrily laying out her blankets. “After everything, she still believes the worst—”

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