Thisbe closed her eyes. A wave of nausea rolled through her. She’d imagined this moment multiple times—imagined having to hear his wrath, his pain. She had hoped it would come after everything was over so she could tell him the truth and beg for forgiveness. But she couldn’t do that yet. She had to keep this ruse going or it could cost them everything. And Rohan couldn’t know the truth, especially when he was here in the castle with the sneaky Revinir pouring dragon-bone broth into tea. Sure, he’d taken in enough of the ancestor broth to fight the two vials of dragon-bone broth this time. But there was a one-to-one ratio of effectiveness with the broths. If he ingested a little more of the dragon-bone broth, he could fall under her mind control in an instant. What if she put it in everything he ate or drank while he was here, and he really did fall under her control? Then everything Thisbe would say now could be repeated later. She had to keep going, even if it killed her. She had to lie to his face. She had to stand here and get Rohan to believe that she really wanted to join the Revinir in ruling this world. She opened her eyes and slid off the bed to her feet, trying to compose her character once more.

“I’ve made my decision,” Thisbe said, lifting her head and staring into Rohan’s eyes. “I’m joining the Revinir, and together we’re going to take over Grimere.”

“Thisbe, you know that’s not possible!” Rohan whispered. “You know how this works. It doesn’t make sense!”

“It’s my mostly evil side coming out, I guess,” Thisbe said, choosing things to say that could be repeated to the Revinir, just in case.

Rohan was steaming mad. “But you aren’t addressing the truth. It’s not possible for the two of you to succeed!”

“Actually, it is,” Thisbe lied. “We found a way.” She dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry…” She paused, trying not to cry. Trying to sound cold. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t want to do that, but there was no other way.”

Rohan stared. He frowned and shook his head in disbelief. Then he looked around the room. “Are there people hiding in here? Are you being coerced? Compromised? Is she making you say this?”

Thisbe swallowed hard and shook her head. Rohan wasn’t making this easy. “None of those things. This is all me. My choice. My decision. I want this because I’m selfish and horrible.”