Palamedes feels a similar sort of paranoia bearing down on him; he chews on his lip for a moment, and then gestures for her to follow. He isn’t sure what he is afraid of, exactly—not of John, exactly, and not of the people who fought John’s double for their lives.

But this isn’t a story to be told out in the open.

Pal takes Cecelia to his room, and there shuts the door behind them. On instinct, he goes to the kettle in the corner and puts it on for tea.

“A few hours before everything came to an end, those of us who were left gathered in the graveyard. It remained by the storms and the flooding, and we were safe, relatively. That’s where John’s double found us. He revealed himself as the King Undying and said he wanted to kill Cam and I. Because we had betrayed him.”

“Which, to be fair, is true.”