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Then the horn blares, and everything changes. Somewhere behind us, a voice calls out, and Sola grabs my sleeve.

“Rowan,” she hisses. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”

But I’m frozen.

The woman’s eyes never leave mine. “Take it. Keep it safe.”

“Rowan!” Sola yanks me backward.

Without thinking, I snatch the page from her hand. The moment my fingers close around it, the whole market starts to ripple.

More horn blasts tear through the warm air, through the crowd, through the chaos.

“Come on! Now!” Sola shouts.

My heart is beating so fast I feel like it could burst out of my chest. It’s never been this bad, this fast, and I open my mouth and gasp for air, but it still doesn’t feel like enough.

The woman’s still looking at me, even as everything trembles and pulls farther away. The paper is colder than it should be, cold enough that my fingers almost let go.

Keep it safe.

The words echo through my head.

I gasp again, but the world still won’t stop tilting. We’re already running, and I didn’t even notice when it started. People run into us, shoving us to the side.

“Rowan. Sola!” Ma’s voice cuts across the market.

I’ve seen this before.

Pa catches hold of Sola first, then me, keeping one hand on my shoulder and the other on Sola’s arm as he steers us through the market. “Come on. We’re going home.”

Around us, voices rise, stalls are hurriedly covered, and soldiers are already making their way toward the Ward.

Soon they’ll be calling for every man to report there too. They’ll call for Pa.

I should be thinking about the Ward. Instead, my thoughts keep drifting back to the page tucked inside my jacket. What would Master Coren say if he saw it?

We run into our street, when Ma stumbles to a stop and sucks in a sharp breath.

What’s wrong? I want to ask, but I already see what it is. The front door is open.

“Stay here.” Pa takes the path in three long strides, stopping at the half-open front door. The wood around the lock is splintered.

Sola grabs for me, one arm across my chest, pulling me back before I can follow. “Pa⁠—”

He shoves the door wider.

“Milo, don’t.” Ma’s voice sounds sharp, fear threading through every word.

But Pa doesn’t even look back. “I have to.”

Then he disappears inside, and for one stretched, awful second there is nothing at all. No sound from the house, no movement, no proof that anyone is there.

Then a curse breaks loose from somewhere deeper in the dark.

“Light damn it.”

Ma sucks in a sharp breath and hurries after him.