The final lantern drifted upward like a glowing tear against the velvet sky. I stood there a moment, my fingers still dusted with the fine ash of the wish paper we'd just released. Lucas was beside me, arms folded, lips tight in something halfway between a smile and a scowl. Marcus, on the other side, kept glancing my way as if trying to read something hidden on my face.
I wasn't even sure what I felt anymore.
We'd laughed and played like children—tossing rings onto glowing spikes, racing through moonlit obstacle courses, and even joining a riddle contest with a group of inner court guards who didn't recognize us. I beat them all, of course. Lucas sulked about it for a full ten minutes until I bought him sweet bread. Then he sulked more because I shared it with Marcus.
