Chapter 20

Maeve’s POV

I walked the familiar—yet strangely unsettling—corridor leading to Valarie’s personal spell room. Pausing before the peculiar door with neither handle nor latch, I raised my hand to knock. Before my knuckles met the surface, it burst open. Valarie stood mere inches away, her dark purple eyes sweeping over me, lips curling into a faint, knowing smile.

“Come in,” she greeted, her voice warmer than I’d expected after her oddly intense stare our last meeting. “I was told you need my help.”

I followed her inside, glancing at the spacious chamber. Seraphine sat alone, as always, surrounded by arcane instruments and dusty tomes. “Exactly,” I said, determination tightening my chest. “Right now, you’re the only one who can help me.”

Valarie halted beside the large circular table, and I stopped behind her, watching. Today she’d forsaken her usual black cloak for a flowing purple dress that complemented her eyes perfectly.

“All right, what is it