“I wasn’t trying to listen!” Lily held up her hands. “I came over here a few hours ago. I knew you’d been arrested, and I wanted to explain to Raven what I’d done. I wanted to explain why, but when I got to the house, I noticed the light was on in my room. I crept up the stairs quietly so I could listen outside my bedroom door. I thought you’d be confessing to murder. I didn’t know.…”

Jack’s shoulders hunched, and Raven looped an arm around him, so easily. As if it were instinctual. “You had no right to do that,” Jack whispered, his voice hoarse. Shaking.

“I know. I’m sorry! But after I heard your story about the vine you trailed across the attic stairs… after I knew why you’d called off the murder of my mom, I realized I had everything backward. You’re not the villain, Jack.”

Lily crouched on the floor in front of the bed. She wanted to take Jack’s hands, but she knew it would be invasive after everything she’d heard. Everything she’d done. “I don’t expect you to forgive me for calling the police. I’d just lost my mom, and I thought you were taking my dad away from me.” She swallowed, blinking back tears. She would not cry. She would not think about the life she was going to live if she lost both parents. The only family she’d ever had. “And I’m so sorry for stealing that secret from you. Ever since I met you, I wanted to be your friend, and if you’d told me who you are, I would’ve been so happy. But I should’ve let you come to me. And I should’ve come to you instead of calling the police.”

“I don’t forgive you,” Jack said, still avoiding Lily’s gaze. “You shouldn’t have turned me in and you shouldn’t have…” A slight shake of his head, and then Lily found herself seared by those bright green eyes. That piercing gaze. “You have to get your father to confess. If we record his confession, we can get Belle out of juvenile detention. Will you help us?”

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Raven cut her off, rising from the bed. Nervous energy was emanating from his pores. Every cell, a vibration of terror. “Her father is dangerous. If he thinks she’s going to turn him in, he could lash out.”