Angel wings were stunning. There was nothing birdlike about them. They were nearly reptilian. Sinewy. Feathers like satin and metal, bone like armour made from earth. Weapons and transport, beautiful and deadly.

In that moment, Thom knew he had won. His word was his brother’s law. Even if Nate hated it, even if everything inside of Nate was screaming at him to grab his brother and physically remove him from this Kingdom he hated so much, he would concede and go back inside and let Thom try.

People said that the sky used to be bright with stars, that sailors and wanderers could find their way home just by using the sky as a guide. It wasn’t a sky he’d ever seen himself. Ames had grown up wearing a mask outside and popping cough medicine like breath mints.

Perhaps ghosts didn’t haunt places. Perhaps ghosts haunted people.

But if the night’s events hadn’t made sense then, they made even less sense now. And five years had served only to drive him mad with unanswered questions.

After all, the Hangman loved his daughter.

All pieces must play their part, little queen. I mean to cross your path again. Helping will bring you no harm – nor anyone else. I can make certain everyone leaves alive.

The tome weighed more than all of their schoolbooks combined and smelled musty, like a shop filled with things much older than themselves. Each page looked one breath away from breaking, and the boys took great pains not to damage the book.

But there are things not even Crown and Council can steal and control. Not my mind, not my heart, not my soul.