I repeated the mantra the entire way down. I repeated it until those blue-green eyes faded with the trees and the wind and the Hollow. Fresh pain cleaved my head at the last. I ignored it, focusing on the world below me. The others waited for me in silence. No witches hid in the shadows. Manon, it seemed, had not betrayed us. I didn’t understand it. Without looking at anyone, I jumped, landing heavy on my feet.

“Are you all right?” Lou steadied me instinctively. When I cringed away without answering, she sighed and motioned us toward the rocks behind the tower, slipping through the shadows like she’d been born there. I watched her go with a pang in my chest.

Ask me no questions, mon amour, and I’ll tell you no lies. Another half-formed memory. Useless. Broken.

Like a witch hunter who couldn’t kill a witch.

Truth or Dare

Lou

Halfway through our return to L’Eau Mélancolique, Célie fell asleep on her horse. Jean Luc—who’d succumbed to a stupor hours ago—hadn’t been able to catch her in time, and she’d plummeted face-first into the mud, bloodying her nose in the process. We’d quickly agreed a rest stop was necessary. Jean Luc had procured two rooms at the next inn, sneaking us in a back door under cover of darkness.

“I’ll be back with food,” he’d promised. Though smoke still obscured the night sky, it must’ve been between midnight and dawn. We’d made excellent time, all things considered—in and out of Chateau le Blanc in just over an hour. Still, few inns served supper at three in the morning. I suspected the sight of Jean Luc’s blue coat, however, might’ve helped the innkeeper forget the aberrant hour.

Coco, Célie, and I claimed one of the rooms for ourselves while we waited, and Reid and Beau disappeared into the one next door. Almost immediately, Célie collapsed facedown on the hay-filled mattress, her breath deepening and her mouth falling open. The trickle of drool on her pillow painted her the quintessential gentlewoman. Coco and I each tugged a boot from her foot.

“I don’t think I can make it to supper,” Coco said, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

My stomach growled audibly. “I can.”

“Save me some food, will you?”

I grinned as she flopped onto the bed beside Célie. It was a tight fit. Neither of them seemed to notice. “Will do.”