“If Lily heard us talking, our plan will be ruined,” Belle pointed out, jogging down the steps of the wraparound porch. Then she was off. She darted through the orchard, racing toward the girl with white-blond hair. Poor Lily had barely pulled herself into the branches of a tree when Belle grabbed her by the ankle, yanking her toward the ground.

Lily fell.

She screamed, scrabbling to escape, but Belle pounced on her, pinning her arms above her head. “What did you hear, you creepy little spy? Are you going to tattle on us to your mommy?”

At this, Lily stopped struggling. At this, Lily smiled. “It isn’t what I heard,” she said, just loud enough for Jack to pick up the words. “It’s what I read. One petal of belladonna. One petal of poppy.”

“Shit.” Belle scowled, heat flooding her cheeks. “Where is it?” she demanded, tightening her grip on Lily’s wrists. The smaller girl, to her credit, had not stopped squirming against her.

Now, against all odds, she managed to shrug. “Where is what?”

“The recipe for our witches’ brew,” Belle said calmly, her dark eyes revealing nothing. “It was part of the game. The potion I used to kill Prince Raven.”

“Raven doesn’t drink tea,” Lily taunted. “The recipe called for dropping two petals into a cup of tea, and she’s the only one who drinks tea in this household.”

“She?” Jack asked innocently, because Belle’s recipe had not included that word. No “he” or “she,” no “stepmother” or “Evelyn.”

“You know who I mean,” Lily said, blowing a white-blond strand out of her face. “The one who loves torturing my stepbrother.”

Jack’s stomach dipped at the words, and she knelt beside the two girls. “Have you seen her hurt Raven? Do you have proof?”

“There will never be proof,” Lily said, an edge in her voice. Her arms trembled where Belle had them pinned. “The wickedest monsters know better than to leave footprints.”

“You think she’s a monster?” Jack’s gaze shifted to Belle as the moon slipped behind the clouds. “Maybe—”

“She’s lying,” Belle snarled, leaning down to whisper in Lily’s ear. “I know you’ve been spying on Raven for weeks.”

“I’ve been trying to help him! To find out what she’s been doing!”

“Jack may fall for that, but she sees the best in everyone.” Belle pulled back, still holding Lily’s wrists. “I see the truth. The second I let you go, you’re going to run right to your mother.”

“I’m not!” Lily squealed, kicking out her legs like a rabbit. “I can prove it. Next month is the Apple Blossom Festival, and half the girls in town will be wearing flower garlands. If you wove a couple of belladonna blossoms into yours, no one would think anything of it.”

Belle narrowed her eyes but said nothing.