Maeve raises an eyebrow. “You’re right. I don’t wish to harm you. I could have taken control of you at any time, but I never did, now did I? And I still won’t. But why should I believe you won’t run away?”

I bite my lip. I’m not entirely sure how she’ll react to the news I bring.

“Have you found the soul summoner you need to use them as vessels?” I nod at my friends, though the implication is nauseating.

Maeve’s smile falters. “Not yet. But soon. I know where they were last. It’s just a matter of determining where they are now.”

While she speaks, I stretch my talent out, searching the tunnels to see if Sebastian and Rachel are clear yet. To my relief, they’re already on the path through the woods, hurrying back to the library.

“Where do you think that is?” I ask.

A coy glint sparkles in Maeve’s eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, but her face suddenly falls. Her expression shifts into something new.

“What have you done? Where is he? Why can’t I sense him? How did you get to him?” she sputters.

I straighten my spine and tilt my head up, letting my ghostly hair fall back from my face. “You’re not our only friend.” I don’t mention that he has obsidian protecting him now. If she doesn’t know what the black stone can do, I don’t want to give that away.

Her expression hardens. “It was a librarian then.” Her fists clench. “I bet it was Rachel. She always was a bit too fond of you. Maybe I should have taken her instead of Ida.”

All of a sudden, my friends release me and march single file into the cavern. She’s sending them after Sebastian and Rachel.

“Wait!” I cry. “Let him go. You don’t need him. Let him go, and I’ll stay. I promise. I won’t try to run away.” The most terrifying thing about those words is that I mean them. Maeve is my mother, the one person I’ve wanted to find ever since I can remember. While she isn’t at all what I expected, leaving her is not so simple now that I’ve found her.

I’m her daughter. I may be the only one who can reach her. The only one who can stop her. What she’s doing is wrong—horribly wrong—but she’s doing it out of grief and desperation. That I can understand.

I peek inside her head, and while her thoughts are still well concealed, they’re also confused. “Why would you do that?” Suspicion begins to brew. I need to put a stop to that immediately.

“Because I’m your daughter.”

The other shells halt their march, frozen in place waiting for commands. Confusion reigns in Maeve’s head.

“But that’s…that’s not possible,” she says, though I can see from her thoughts that part of her hopes it’s true.

I nod vehemently. “It is true. I swear it. Rachel and I discovered an old town report from Wren that was poorly labeled. That’s why we missed it earlier. It was included in an account of a strange rich woman coming to the village and charming the townsfolk—right up until she disappeared with nearly all of the talented people. Among those stolen were a mother and daughter—the mother was a body walker and the daughter a mind reader. It’s us. My name was on the list. Your full name is Romana Maeve Casares, and it was on there too. There’s no doubt.”