Corinne strode into her father’s office without knocking and dropped the book on his desk with enough force to send papers flying. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Girard calmly looked up. “That’s a restricted book. Where exactly did you find it?”

So he recognized it. Which meant he knew what it contained. “I took it off Asher Soon-mi. After she attacked me and I was forced to kill her.”

Girard’s eyes narrowed with displeasure. “Soon-mi attacked you?”

“I caught her trying to open a rift on Terris. To summon another demon through. Using this book.” Girard lay his hand on the book. A protective gesture. It did nothing to soothe Corinne’s temper.

“How long have you known about this?” she demanded. “Do you know what this book contains? Did you know it was gone? Is that why you wouldn’t let me help?”

“Yes. I knew the book was missing. As did a few other ranking members of the Academy. Of which you are not one.”

The fact he didn’t even try to deny it, that he was still trying to twist this around into an accusation aimed at her—Corinne wanted to throw something. “She was trying to kill the Emperor! Twice! The attack at the end of Shadow Court that no one can be bothered to talk about, it was all the same thing!”

Girard spread his hands. “What would you like me to do about it?”

Why wasn’t he more upset. Why wasn’t her mother more upset? Why did no one in this entire fucking fortress seem to care? “What are we even doing with this book?”

“It’s an old magic,” Girard said. “From the earliest days of the Empire. Before the nima had fully integrated with humanity. When people were still desperate for ways to fight back against the demons.”

“This isn’t about fighting back. This is about using the demons—working with them.”

“As I said, people were desperate. It was a very long time ago. Soon-mi shouldn’t have had access to this. No one outside the Academy’s high council should have access to the library that holds it.”

Corinne wondered who Soon-mi had persuaded to give her access. It wouldn’t have been hard. Everyone had fallen for Soon-mi’s charm. “Why even keep it? Why not destroy it?”

Girard frowned, and Corinne felt his disapproval was focused on her for the first time since she’d walked in. “You know better. Knowledge can’t be erased. This magic exists, whether we keep record of it or not. If we have no record of it, we can never be prepared to fight it, should we need to.”

Prepared. Corinne hadn’t been prepared, and it had almost gotten her and Yeijiro both killed. “You knew it was missing. When I talked to you about the rift, you knew exactly what was going on. But you couldn’t trust me enough to be honest.”

Girard looked down. He said nothing, but he didn’t have to.

For the first time, it occurred to Corinne that her father might be just as manipulative, just as prone to using people as her mother. That Girard’s priority had been that the Prime Minister would never hear of this egregious failure on the part of the Academy. That had been more important to him than his daughter’s safety.

“Corinne—” he began.

“No. I’m done.”

“Done? With what?”

“All of it. Everything. You. Her. Everything. I quit.” Corinne made sure to slam the door behind her as she left.

His side. Her mother’s side. All these years, Corinne had been a game piece between them.

Corinne didn’t want to play anymore.

Yeijiro had walked away from his family, from his clan, to pursue the future he wanted. Granted, he’d had a clearer idea of what he wanted to do, but it was a big Empire and Corinne was certain there was something out there for her to find.

Corinne didn’t have much that belonged to her. It took almost no time to pack her room in the barracks. Which left her workshop. The tools that belonged to her, rather than the guard. Her suit, that it seemed she would soon have plenty of time to work on.

And the mirror.

Corinne went to the mirror, pressed her hand to the glass. “Lady Snow.” She waited. Tried again. “Lady Snow?”

Just as Corinne was ready to give up, the familiar face appeared. A fleeting look of relief on Snow’s face before she schooled her expression to its usual serenity. “You left without a word. I was worried.”

Lady Snow was Emperor Alexia. That fact was still sinking in, still working its way to a place in Corinne’s mind where it made sense.

“I had to get back here. I had to…” What could Corinne even say to her, now that she knew the truth? Did she keep hiding, keep pretending Snow’s identity was a secret? More lies upon lies. Corinne was tired.

“I’m leaving.” Saying the words out loud felt so good. “I can’t stay on Pax. I can’t be the rope in this tug-of-war between my parents. I can’t pretend anymore. I don’t want what they do. I don’t know what I want, but I know I’m not going to find it here.”

“Oh darling,” Snow breathed. “I’m so sorry. Where will you go?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Snow’s hand touched the glass, her fingertips against Corinne’s. “You could come back to Terris. We could figure things out together.”

Soon-mi had wanted Corinne to come to Terris. To pull her into the court. A world that seemed just as full of manipulation and lies as the one she was leaving behind.

It was too complicated now. Everything was too complicated.

“I’m sorry.” Corinne pulled her hand back. “I can’t.” She forced herself to meet Snow’s eyes, to show how much she meant these next words. “I can’t think you enough for everything you’ve done for me. You opened my eyes to how much more there is in the world. You helped me see how much I’d given up on fighting—how much I’d given up on ever being happy.

“Now I need to figure out who I am. I need to figure out what I want. And I can’t—I’m sorry, but I can’t do that with you.”

Corinne picked up a wrench. She had to do this, or the temptation would just keep coming back, over and over. Sooner or later, she would give in. “This isn’t forever. I just need to work things out on my own. I promise you’ll see me again.” Before she could second guess herself, she swung the wrench.

The mirror shattered.