Chapter 13

After the auction, Briony is locked in a dark circus closet and arms herself with a broken broom. Gains retrieves her, leading her to an acrobats’ dressing room, where she unexpectedly finds Larissa. Before they can speak, Briony’s new brand sears; the ink reshapes from Lag Reighven’s signature to Toven Hearst’s, implying the sale has shifted.

A violent wind tears open a portal. With the door locked and expecting enforcers, Larissa grabs Briony’s hand and jumps. They emerge in pounding rain before Hearst Hall, its gates opening as a will-o’-the-wisp–like light approaches and a large fox stalks the grounds. Weighing flight into the woods against the ominously welcoming manor, they attempt to flee, but the fox blocks Briony.

In the scramble, Briony falls inside the gates as Larissa remains outside. The barrier slams shut, trapping Briony within. A portal opens by the treeline and Finn Raquin arrives, warning Larissa not to cross. He seizes Larissa and, despite her screams, pours an elixir over her Toven tattoo, then casts to pull black, inky smoke until it becomes blood, neutralizing the brand.

Finn bandages Larissa and, ignoring Briony’s pleas, declares Hearst Hall the safest place for Briony. He departs through the portal with the unconscious Larissa, leaving Briony alone in the rain, locked beyond the gates of Hearst Hall under its protective—or imprisoning—wards.