Chapter 44 The Trap

• "Gideon's invitation promised safety. It delivered danger."
• I should have known better than to trust parchment sealed with honeyed words and silver lies.
• The invitation had arrived at dawn, delivered by a servant boy who'd vanished before I could question him. The wax seal bore the Wicke family crest-that raven with spread wings clutching twisted iron branches-pressed deep into crimson wax that looked disturbingly like dried blood in the morning light.