My chest burned.

  When I’d gotten the mark to hide who I was and what I was, it had felt like my skin had been filled with coals. This time, I hadn’t been the one directly affected and it had burned even worse.

  Adding both Ether and Pixie as anchors to the seal had changed not only the seal on myself and Rix, but also the one on Gesai. Judging by how uncomfortable the four of us were, I had a feeling that at least Fray and Justia were also experiencing a lot of discomfort with their marks, though they likely didn’t know why their seals were changing.

  Klix worked through the night on the two women’s seals. I would have loved to have used that time to sleep or read up on the Dungeon, but the constant hot stabbing pain over my heart made it impossible to focus on anything.

  Klix had done Ether first, then given her a blanket to try to get some sleep while she used Rix as a template for Pixie’s seal. I’d laid down with Ether and held her while she whimpered. Kara had sat next to us, while Gesai tried to watch over how Klix was affixing the mark.

  Morning didn’t come fast enough, but Klix was wiped. Magic wasn’t her thing and it wasn’t her mark that she was imprinting, which made it strenuous on her. I hadn’t noticed her leave, but I had noticed the pain shift from stabbing to burning.

  When I finally woke up, it was past noon. Rix was still in the room, which surprised me, until I realized that Klix was the only one missing.

  I looked over at the pacing Shooter. “Can’t get the elevator to work?”

  The golden woman walked over and sat down in front of me. Ether was still in my lap, in the awkward way that I had been leaning against the wall made me realize that both of my legs were asleep. I stopped trying to move as I focused on the redhead.

  “What do you make of this?”

  “We’re trapped.” Rix was brief.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  I nodded at the cot Pix was sleeping on. “I meant about her.”

  Rix looked over her shoulder and shook her head. “That Trent had a secret lovechild was already hard enough for people to believe. That he had another one with a prominent woman in Klix?” She shook her head. “There would have to be a good backstory.”

  “They brought nannies.”

  Neither of us had realized that Kara wasn’t asleep.

  “Do what?” I looked at Ether’s sister.

  “The six women. That’s the way she tells the story. They knew they’d need strong alibis for the children, so they chose heirs that would work with them on this that would pass as the parents.” Kara nodded at her aunt. “Her current name is Pixie Warray. Simby Warray, the current heir, also had a child, Carter, at the same time, so Klix had Simby’s younger sister, Henise Warray, pose as Pixie’s mother. Henise worked here until she died from the plague last year.”

  The name sounded familiar. “Isn’t Carter at the Cathedral already?”

  Kara shrugged. “The original plan was to send Pix, but without a guard, Carter got sent for the selection instead.”

  I was glad Whisper wasn’t here. He would definitely be giving me a lecture about making deals on behalf of other people.

  “Great…” I thought for a moment. “How much does he know about all of this?”

  “Carter is aware that his family is favored, but I don’t know if he’s been read in about his family having blood ties to Klix. Henise knew though.” Kara looked sad. “She was nice.”

  I was close enough that I could touch her shoulder without having to stretch too far. “That took a lot of good people, but it’s over now.”

  A plague had swept through the Wards until last year when it was discovered that the God Rae had melded a virus with a curse. To cure it, a remove curse, purify, and heal spell had to be cast simultaneously. It also needed someone who was at least Tier Five to do it, which had limited the number of people who could logistically be healed. A lot of people had died because the healers around the world just couldn’t save everyone.

  “What are we doing now?” I looked around the room at the other two sleeping women.

  “Klix said for you to take it easy today.” Kara nodded around the room. “I can have something brought down here if you want, but Klix wants you to stay down here until everything is done.

  “I’m good.” Rix got up and walked to the other end of the room and started pacing again. I knew she hated being locked up.

  I was about to say the same thing, then I had an idea.

  “Can you get me everything you have about the first four floors of the Dungeons here?”

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