“You stay with the witches,” he continued in a hard voice, “and they will protect you. Perhaps they’ll even help undo whatever has gone so critically wrong inside your head. Of course, you might need to conduct yourself with a bit more charm to persuade them. A near impossible task, I know—”

“They’ll undo it either way,” I growled.

He stopped again, turning to face me with an impatient sigh. “You still don’t seem to understand, so allow me to make this perfectly clear. You can’t kill them. Simply put, I won’t let you. You’re a dead man walking without them, and beyond that, you’ll hate yourself later if you do. Despite what you think now, those women are your friends. Your family. I’ve watched you all together, and I—” He broke off abruptly, eyes tightening, before turning to stomp through the snow once more. “You’re an idiot.”

I glared at the back of his head, but I no longer tried to argue. He’d painted a clear enough picture. Yes, perhaps I had nowhere else to go at present. Perhaps my brethren would kill me if they found me. Perhaps I did need these witches—to reverse the hex on my mind, to ensure Célie and the crown prince survived. But Jean Luc had been wrong about one thing: I could survive alone. I’d been unprepared before. It wouldn’t happen again.

And I would kill Lou and Coco at the first opportunity.

The Wager

Lou

Coco allowed me to wallow in misery for approximately three minutes—hugging me all the while—before pulling back and wiping my tears. “He isn’t dead, you know.”

“He loathes me.”

She shrugged and rifled through her bag, extracting a bottle of honey. “I seem to remember him loathing you once before. You both rose to the occasion.” She combined the amber liquid with blood from her forearm before swabbing the mixture over the wound at my chest. She turned to examine Beau’s injuries next. “We might as well be comfortable while we wait.”

“Wait for what?” Beau asked mulishly. Sporting a terrific shiner from Reid’s ministrations, he swallowed the blood and honey. The swelling disappeared almost instantly.

“For Reid to crawl back with his tail between his legs. It shouldn’t take long.” She shooed him down the beach. “Now go find some driftwood for a fire. It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here.”

“Why?” Though Beau complied, snatching up a stick by our feet, he glanced around nervously. “Shouldn’t we leave? Morgane could be lurking out of sight.”

“I doubt it,” Coco murmured, “if she doesn’t remember Lou.”

I jerked my sleeve back in place.

“Here.” Célie smiled faintly, reaching into her own bag. She withdrew a needle and thread. “Let me help with that.” I frowned as her delicate fingers threaded the eye, as she slowly, carefully reaffixed the fabric.