I close my eyes. Now that it's right in front of me, it's all so obvious.

Renald's boss isn't a wizard, but the ampstone he just used fooled the wards into thinking he had the abilities of a wizard.

Why does he want into the forbidden library though?

Surely he isn't going to enter the tournament. He doesn't have a thrall to play for him.

I swallow. I have to get in. I have to find out why Renald’s boss has gone through so much trouble to get in.

The images of a murdered Arbor and the two Belladonna Royal guards flashes in my head, only there's a new victim. Pixie. I have to find Pixie, but that's not what's driving me. I have to find out what this was all for. Why all this murder? Why all this death?

And what does the blood wizard have to do with it?

Maybe Dom wanted Arbor to be his thrall? Was that why he was teaching her how to play scheme?

There are too many questions I don't have answers for. I have to figure out what I'm going to do as I've hit a dead-end.

If I go back to Blackhart, I might be able to find another ampstone. Not sure if I have one in stock, but if I do, it's my best bet. The only problem is that all entrances to Blackhart, as well as Sulis, are probably completely locked down by the Austerium by now.

Even if you show up to Sulis, the Austerium probably already has a ward in place so Silvy won't even be able to portal you out. Sulis is a death trap.

I could contact Lebec, and maybe he'll stop the tournament. That doesn't seem like the best idea, but my only other option is contacting Cerulea, to see if she can convince Lebec to stop the tournament. That seems like an even worse idea.

She's somewhere off the coast of Florida on an ocean rake. How would I even contact her?

I close my eyes and sigh. There's really only one option that doesn't immediately end with me in another pair of Austerium handcuffs.

I look around. What I'm looking for is twenty feet away, to my right.

A shallow place in the gold wall that's lined with witchstones.

At the center of this is a detachable lumadex.

I pick it up.

Moment of truth.

I scrolled through the contacts until I come to the L section.

I tap the name and bring the phone to my ear. It rings once before it's picked up.

“This is Lebec,” the bumbling voice says from the other end of the line.

“Lebec, I need you to listen to me and listen carefully.”

“Hexana? Is this Hexana?”

“I told you to call me Hex.”

“Where are you?”

“Focus on what I'm saying.”

They're already tracing the call. Too bad they're expecting it to be coming from the stick world, not from within their own house. That will trip them up and take a little bit longer.

I still need to move quickly though.

“I spoke to Cerulea,” Lebec says. “You dropped her on an oil rig?”

“I don't care about that,” I say. “What I need you to—”

“You should care about it. She twisted her ankle. She's furious with you.”

“Lebec. Focus. What you need—”

“You know, “Lebec interrupts, “I've had your back since day one. I fought for you. I can't believe you would turn on me like this. Aiding and abetting a witch? Murdering—no—slaughtering seventeen Austerium adepts? And for what? You didn't used to be a witch. You don't hold any blood ties to Belladonna. Why did you do it?”

“I didn't. There was a man.”

“Right,” Lebec says. “Maldive. He said you would say this.”

So Renald's boss' name is Maldive.

Lebec continues, “Maldive says that you told Renald that you were going to kill Maldive and blame it all on Renald.”

“I don't know a Maldive,” I say.

“Devlin. Devlin Maldive. He says you know him.”

I have his full name. Finally. I smile.

“I didn't kill any of those adepts.”

“You didn't?” Lebec asks.

“Well, yeah, I did, but it was in self-defense. They attacked me. Maldive made them attack me.”

“And what about Renald? What did you do to him?”

“That wasn’t me. That was Maldive.”

“There you go lying again. First you say you didn't kill the adepts, then you did. Then you say you didn't kill Renald. Is now the time where you tell me you did kill him? Because Maldive told me everything that happened.”

“If Maldive was there, why didn't you see him when I left?”

Lebec pauses for a long moment. “He says he was getting reinforcements.”

“Really?” I ask. “You saw me in Sulis. Where had he gone to get reinforcements from? Did you ever see these reinforcements?”

“Look,” Lebec says, “I'd like for both you and that other witch to come in. To answer some questions. We can get to the bottom of this.”

I laugh. “Just like you could get to the bottom of my exile. No thanks.”

“Hex, you have to understand, I—”

“I'm done listening to you. You listen to me. Maldive is inside the Forbidden Library right now.”

Lebec is quiet for a moment. “That's impossible.”

“It's really not,” I say.

“He's not a wizard.”

“No shit. Why don't you catch up with the rest of the class and listen to what I'm saying? He was in Sulis to begin with because he needed a witchstone from me. A witchstone his little lackey, Renald, failed to deliver to him. So he stole it.”

“A witchstone? What are you talking about?”

“He stole an ampstone.”

“What's an ampstone? I thought you said he stole a witchstone.”

“Ampstone is just what I call it. Don't worry about that part. The witchstone amplifies a caster’s powers. For a short window of time their innate magickal ability is amplified. Are you getting it now?”

Lebec is quiet.

“Hey,” I say. “Old man. Are you paying attention?”

“Yes. If what you're saying is true, come in. Turn yourself in and we'll talk it through. We’ll even get Maldive in here, we’ll find him.”

“Yeah?” I ask. “Can you get adepts into the Forbidden Library to apprehend him?”

There is a long pause.

“No,” he finally says.

“Then how are you gonna get him? How are you going to catch him red-handed if you can't even get into the place where he is?”

Lebec sucks in a deep breath and blows it out. “Well, I guess I don't know.”

“Riddle me this, dickhole: he has a witchstone he used to access to the Forbidden Library where this once every one hundred years tournament is being played. Why?”

“I guess I don't know the answer to that either.”

“I don't have an answer to that either but—” Something the second adept I spoke to mentioned clicks with several other things in my head. “Wait.”

“What?”

“This prize the Austerium put up. Is there any way it could be something more valuable than the Austerium realizes?”

“What do you mean?”

I chuckle. “It's all connected, you dummy.”

“You sound crazy, Hex.”

“Maybe I am. Did you know that Arbor was being trained to play scheme?”

“What?” Lebec asks.

“By a wizard. She was being trained to play scheme by a wizard. Are you getting it yet?”

“That doesn't make any sense though,” Lebec says in a quiet voice. “If a witch played scheme, nothing would happen. They would just absorb—”

And it all really slides into place. I finally understand.

“She was a ringer,” I say in a quiet voice. She was an automatic win condition. “If they played scheme, nothing would affect her. She would just absorb the magick and continue playing while her opponent fought the effects, right?”

“Assuming what you're saying is true, yes.”

“So why would one wizard spike the tournament with a witch? And why would a caster do everything in their power, even sending adepts to their death, to get a witchstone so they could gain entrance to this tournament?”

“I don't know.”

“Yeah,” I say. “It's the prize. The prize is important enough that people are doing desperate things to get it. You hired me to figure this all out, and that's what I did. Stop the tournament, Lebec. Something's wrong.”

Lebec swallows from the other end of the line. “I can't.”

“You can't? Not even if the blood wizard’s involved?”

Lebec size. “You can't keep leaning on the blood wizard.”

“I can if I saw him earlier today.”

“You didn't.”

“I did. Go to Nightsbridge. The caster’s name is Marist. She was possessed by him. And then I got to see him appear in the cars next to me as I tried to get away.”

“You're saying the blood wizard is in Nightsbridge.”

“No, I'm saying the blood wizard was in Nightsbridge, at least inside of several people.”

“But that's impossible.”

“That's your area of expertise. I just work here.”

“It won't matter.”

“What won't matter? Take it to your boss.”

“He's tired of hearing about the blood wizard. He doesn't believe it. He doesn't believe you. You're a blooded witch who’s suspected of killing a caster. Even though we can't prove you did it, the visibility of your horns are evidence enough that the Austerium can't trust you.”

I close my eyes. “You're so stupid. You're so, so stupid.”

“Then the Austerium is stupid as well.”

“That's right.”

He blows out a huge breath. “Hex, you're wanted for killing seventeen adepts.”

“Lebec, keep your eye on the prize, literally. Something's wrong with this tournament. It smells.”

“You're also wanted for the death of Renald.”

“Listen,” I say, “you don't understand—”

“Additionally you’re wanted for harboring a witch. A full-blood witch, I might add.”

I close my eyes. “What are you doing?”

“I'm telling you what you're going to be arrested for. We know you're in the Austerium. Adepts are on their way to apprehend you outside the Forbidden Library. I'm sorry, Hex.”