Skimming a fingertip along his dark lashes, I leaned down to kiss him once more. He drew back before I could. “You slept for a while, Chass. We worried you wouldn’t wake up.” I chuckled and brushed my nose against his. His brows puckered. “You aren’t going to believe where we’ve been.” I didn’t pause for him to guess. “We went underwater, Reid. To the seafloor of L’Eau Mélancolique. You were there too, of course, just unconscious.” My thoughts whirled in an incoherent blur of excitement. Where to begin? So much had happened in such a short period of time. “We walked with melusines in Le Présage—did you know they can grow legs?—and we dined with the Oracle in Le Palais de Cristal. The Oracle is Claud’s sister, remember? Isla. We met Isla, and she was the world’s biggest bitch—”

He stiffened abruptly, and his frown deepened to an outright scowl. “My apologies, mademoiselle, but I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Please”—he lifted me from his lap, depositing me firmly onto the sand beside him—“allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Reid Diggory.” He cleared his throat pointedly. “And I’d appreciate if you’d refrain from using such coarse language around me in the future.”

I snorted in disbelief. “That’s rich coming from you, Monsieur Fuck.” His eyes widened comically at the expletive, and I laughed out loud. He didn’t. “Fine,” I said, still light with giddiness. His prickliness couldn’t puncture it. He was awake, I was awake, and we were together. Finally. “I’ll play along with this . . . whatever this is. Some sort of foreplay?”

Pushing to my feet, I offered him a hand. He stared as if it might bite him. Shrugging, I brushed off the seat of my pants instead. If his eyes had been wide before, they nearly burst from his face now. “Bonsoir, Captain Diggory.” Laughing again, I dipped in a theatrical bow. “My name is Louise le Blanc, daughter of the infamous Morgane le Blanc, and I am positively chuffed to make your acquaintance. I see you’re missing your official uniform, but no matter. Shall we light the stake now, or—?”

His eyes sharpened on my face, and without warning, he launched to his feet. “What did you say?”

My smile slipped at the sudden fierceness in his voice. I glanced at Coco and Beau, who both looked back in bewilderment. Célie rose slowly behind me. “My name is Louise le Blanc,” I repeated, less theatric now. For someone as stoic as Reid, he could playact much better than I’d anticipated. “And I’m chuffed to make your—”

“You’re the daughter of Morgane le Blanc? A witch?”

Alarm bells began pealing in my head. “Well, yes—”

He tackled me before I could finish.