Something about her is different, aside from her appearance. The magic bubbling beneath the surface seems to be gone. “Where did you steal me from? I need to know.”

The Lady laughs. “You’ve grown bold, my dear. Coming here and making demands.”

“Please.” I step forward, my hair floating around me like a living thing.

“Poor child. Sebastian took a few too many of your memories, didn’t he?” She shakes her head. “Does he remember it? Does he regret it?”

A wicked gleam shines in her eyes, and something uncomfortable forms in the pit of my stomach. “What do you mean? Of course he does.”

She laughs. A horrid, coarse sound, until she begins to cough and has to sit down again. I can stand it no longer. I have to look. I need what I came for.

I close my eyes, leaning against the wall for support, and let my mind explore hers. She has walls built up. She knows my talent, having used it for so long. But I can feel the terrible sense of loss that pervades every thought—her talent is truly gone. She feels it like one would a lost limb. And she’s furious that she’s too weak to do anything about it.

I open my eyes and realize she’s staring directly at me with a horrible expression on her face.

Sebastian didn’t take your memories—it was me. You were the first I used to experiment with his talent.

I recoil.

“Your memories of home were holding you back. I removed them. And then you were perfect. A model servant.”

“A slave, you mean,” I hiss. Poor Sebastian. He’s blamed himself that I can’t remember my parents, but it was Lady Aisling controlling him with the body walking talent. Of course it was. Perhaps that was why I wrote those names down on paper. I must have suspected what she was going to do. “Where did you find me? What happened to my family?”

She shrugs. “You were my first servant. It was a long time ago, and with this old mind, I can hardly remember a thing.”

A glimpse into her head convinces me she’s telling the truth. She kept me and the rest of her servants alive for so long using the talent of a life bringer, just as she did herself. And she used a youth keeper’s magic to ensure our minds and bodies remained young and easy to control. Even removing my memories helped, because it doesn’t feel to me like I’ve lived that long at all. But there is something else I can’t grab on to. Something she’s hiding, even from me.

Perhaps I can at least get something about the body walker from her. A name or a description would be a start.

“You had a body walker in your garden. Who was it? What was their name?”

Lady Aisling smiles, revealing crooked teeth and bright gums.

If you ever find out, you’ll regret it.

Chapter Four

The force of Lady Aisling’s thought hits me like a slap to the face. I flee the cell and don’t breathe again until the door is locked behind me.