Chandra’s eyes grew wet. She blinked a few times, looking away. “Yeah, me too, but Zora . . . she’s obsessed. She won’t rest until she figures out where he is.” Her eyes cut back to Dorothy’s face. “And who put him there.”

“We should be on the same side,” Dorothy said, leaning forward in her seat. “I know that you all blame me, but I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do.”

Chandra bit her lip. For a moment, it looked like she was having some sort of internal debate with herself. And then, heaving a sigh, she stood and hurried out of the room.

Alone now, Dorothy frowned. Was their conversation over? Did Chandra expect her to leave? To follow her?

Chandra appeared a moment later, carrying a cloudy pitcher and two jelly jars.

“Tea,” she explained, seeing the confusion on Dorothy’s face. She placed the pitcher and the jars on a bookshelf next to Dorothy’s chair. “Willis has a ton of the stuff, so I iced it. I’m not a big fan of hot beverages.”

She poured them both a glass. “I just figured that, if Willis were here, he’d offer you a drink,” she mumbled, pushing the tea toward Dorothy.

Dorothy lifted an eyebrow. “He would?”

“Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t like you very much, either, but the dude has manners, and you are, technically, a guest.” Chandra finished pouring and set the pitcher down on the table, slopping a little tea over the side. “So. You said you wanted to talk?”

Dorothy felt a rush of gratitude. She pulled the tea toward her and wrapped both hands around the cool glass. “Thank you—”

“If I find out that you hurt him, I’ll kill you myself,” Chandra said, her voice almost pleasant. She lifted her cup of tea to her lips and took a small sip. “I might not be very strong, and I might not be a good fighter, but I know poisons that can kill in seconds. You’ll have to watch what you eat and drink for the rest of your life.”

Dorothy had been about to take a sip of her own tea, but now she thought better of it. She placed the glass back down on the table, clearing her throat anxiously.

“I didn’t kill him, I swear,” she said. She closed her eyes, sighing deeply. “I don’t know what really happened that night, but—”

“He’s known for weeks that you were the one who was going to kill him, and he didn’t even care,” Chandra said, her voice bitter. “He loved you that much. Did you know that?”

Dorothy felt the tears gathering behind her eyes, and she blinked, fast, so that they wouldn’t fall.

“No,” she said, after a long moment. “I didn’t know that.”