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Bryony rose from her chair.

I put a hand out without touching her. “You should stay with Elias.”

“I’m walking to the gate.”

“Then keep me upright.”

Elias reached us and pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. Bryony glared at him but remained still.

“Slow,” he said. “Steady enough for the drive if you lean on somebody.”

Her eyes met mine. “I’ll take Stellan.”

Bryony took my arm.

The Crown sat dark against her hair, its points leaving fresh red marks along her scalp. Her green eyes were clear and furious. She looked human, tired and entirely herself.

The last mattered more than anything else.

Five vampires had collected coats and blood for the road. They weren’t fleeing. They were finding out whether leaving could be an ordinary decision.

I had promised them it could.

The man with the case stopped in front of me. “How far can we go?”

“As far as you choose.”

“Will the summons keep pulling?” the woman beside him asked.

“You may still feel Harrowmere,” I said. “But the summons can’t turn you around.”

“Can you call us back by blood?”

“Not after the release.”

She studied me. “What if you change your mind?”

“I can ask. You can tell me to piss off.”

Mara pulled on her gloves. “He has learned quickly.”

We stepped outside.

Rain darkened the drive. Harrowmere rose behind us with every window lit, while an argument about the west roof travelled from the Night Hall.

Bryony moved carefully at my side.

“Still steady?” I asked.

“Yes. Stop checking every few steps.”

Her fingers tightened around my sleeve when the drive dipped. I covered her hand with mine but didn’t slow until she did.

The open gate waited at the end of the trees.

For a hundred and twelve years, the road had belonged to other people. Tonight, the iron gates stood against the walls, with only wet gravel between me and freedom.

The old boundary had always announced itself before I reached it. Pressure would gather in my bones and drive me back towards the house. I had stopped testing it long before Bryony arrived. There were only so many times a man could walk towards freedom and feel his own body refuse.