“Not a witch. A giant,” Jack said, leading him through the shadowed orchard. One year earlier, her mother had brought home a quick-tempered man who liked to throw dishes at the wall to emphasize his points. Whenever he’d come around, Jack had led her little brother on a quest. As long as they were searching for the next clue, or uncovering the next artifact, they never had to think about what was going on in that house. If they laughed loudly enough, they could block out the screaming. If they went far enough away, they wouldn’t hear the shattering of glass.

Raven surveyed the orchard floor, choosing a branch of his own. “I’ll fight with you,” he said, but he sounded unsure. He’d come out here to escape fighting. Screaming. Sharp words that couldn’t be taken back.

“You’re the prince.” Jack plucked the branch from his hands, tossing it behind her. “I’m the knight, and I fight to defend your honor.”

“What do I do?”

“Um. Mostly you hide from the witch. And get caught by the witch. And then I have to free you.” She brandished her sword, left to right. Right to left. “But I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.”

And she hadn’t. Not then, and not for the next three years. From ages eight to eleven, Jack and Raven had lived like wild things, climbing trees in the orchard and battling foes in the garden. They’d feasted on apples and crowned each other with roses. He was her prince and she was his knight.

Then, in sixth grade, Belladonna Drake had appeared. She came out of nowhere. According to rumors in Rose Hollow, Belle had been tossed about in the foster-care system for years. It wasn’t until she was eleven that she found a stable home. Edwin Drake had taken her into his elegant Tudor mansion, and he’d built her a library full of books. He’d planted a garden for her in the yard. He’d given her everything she could possibly want, except friends, and several months after enrolling in Rose Hollow Middle School, Belle finally chose her first friend.

Raven. The boy with bright eyes and the softest smile. She’d found some boys harassing him under the bleachers of the football field, and she’d threatened to poison them with the flowers from her garden. Just like that, Raven knew they’d found their witch, and he introduced Belle to Jack.

After that, the three of them became inseparable.

“Belle snuck over here the day Evelyn died,” Jack said presently, her body curving into Raven’s window. “The police think she was casing the joint, but there’s no way she’d go in through the front door if she was planning to poison someone. Did she know you were coming home? Did you write to her?”