Marigold?” I whispered frantically, squeezing West’s hand so hard that my knuckles hurt.
“In the harbor,” he answered, walking faster.
“Fable!” Zola’s deep voice echoed over the sound of the chatter.
I caught sight of Clove against the far wall, Zola at his side as they both pushed through the crowd toward us. But it was the sharp, skittering sound of glass shattering that made my pulse stop in its tracks, and I froze, West’s hand slipping from mine.
A hundred thoughts erupted chaotically in my mind as my eyes landed on the vision of a woman. An old woman. Her face was stricken, her eyes wide beneath silver hair that was braided in an intricate labyrinth over the top of her head. It was studded with fanned combs of pink tourmaline that matched the rings covering her fingers. At her feet, the broken pieces of a crystal glass were scattered around her violet gown.
The deep, breathy resonance of her voice shook the room around us when she said it. “Isolde?”
West’s hand found mine again and he wrapped one arm around me, pulling me away. I stumbled beside him, looking over my shoulder to see her, my brow knitting in recognition.
The doors ahead slammed shut and men in dark blue coats filed in along the wall, calling out orders. The room filled with the sound of voices as the guests pushed back, taking West and me with them.
“You!” one of the men shouted, and it took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me.
“Shit,” West rasped behind me.
The woman turned on her heel, walking toward another set of doors that opened on the other side of the room. A hot hand grabbed me, yanking me forward and West lifted a fist into the air, swinging. When it came down, it caught the man in the jaw.
He stumbled, falling into the crowd as he pulled a short sword from his hip, and a woman screamed. More guards emerged from the crowd, surrounding us, and the candlelight gleamed on four blades all pointed at West. But their eyes were on me.
West slipped the knife from his belt, holding it at his side with a look of eerie calm. My eyes widened, watching him. It was the face I’d seen the night he threw Crane into the sea. There were four guards surrounding us, but West took a step forward. By the time he took another, he would be dead.
“Don’t.” I reached for his knife, but he moved from my reach, stepping around me. “Don’t, West!” He blinked, as if only just remembering I was there and I took hold of his jacket, pulling him back.
I pushed into his chest until he moved back against the wall. “I’ll come with you!” I said over my shoulder. “Don’t touch him.”
West grabbed my arm, squeezing, but I slipped out of his reach.
The swords pointed at us lowered a little, and the man with a bloody nose gave a nod in West’s direction. “She wants both of you.”
I looked up to West, but he was as confused as I was. His green eyes were like glass in the dim light. Narrowed and focused.
The guard stepped back, waiting, and I pushed into the crowd with West close behind me. The room was silent as we followed the blue jackets to the open door where the woman had disappeared. A few seconds later they were closing behind us, and the distant sound of music started up again.
Lanterns washed the ceiling over us in light, illuminating more murals and carvings as our footsteps echoed in the corridor.
“What the hell is going on?” West growled behind me.
A set of huge wooden doors opened in the dark down the hall, where I could see the shape of Clove slipping into a lit room.
The guard stopped, motioning us forward before he went back the way we came, and West and I stood in the empty hall, staring at each other.
“Join us. Please,” a soft voice called from beyond the doors.
The sound of the gala bled away behind us as I let go of West’s hand and stepped inside. His shadow followed mine as he came to stand beside me, his eyes moving over everything in the room until they found Zola.
The guard shoved him forward and Zola stumbled, catching himself on the wall as the doors groaned shut behind us.
The woman in the violet gown stood beside a polished mahogany desk. Behind her, the wall was covered in gold-painted paper and the brush