They went below after midnight because no one in the Vex estate had any respect for healthy decisions.
Sera told herself the timing made sense. The Council had left. The wards were quieter at night. Delara insisted the thorn would answer only under moonless dark, and the clouds had covered the sky thick enough to satisfy even the most dramatic ancient magic. Still, as Sera descended the narrow stairs beneath the thorn room with a lantern in one hand and a dagger in the other, she suspected some part of the house simply preferred revelations when people were too tired to be reasonable.
Valerius followed behind her, despite every healer’s warning and Sera’s increasingly pointed glares. He moved slowly but steadily, one hand sometimes brushing the wall when the steps curved too sharply. He
