Diving down, he snatched the wand from the muddy ground and held it behind his back. “Not so fast,” he said.

Bet looked into his eyes, imploring. Strands of coppery hair were plastered to beads of sweat on her broad forehead. “You’re making a mistake,” she said.

Evin said nothing.

With a thud, the body of a female villager landed on the ground right next to where Bet lay. Scrambling, Bet pulled herself up to sit, and Evin saw that the woman was the gray-haired, kind-eyed figure of Mary Wright.

“No no no,” Jorick muttered, looking on wide-eyed. “Oh no.”

The chimera loomed above the body. Then, it swiped with its claws, tearing open the woman’s chest.

Jorick flinched and looked away, but Evin could not tear away his gaze. Mary looked so real that for a moment he was afraid that he had made a mistake, that the memories he thought were real were the false ones after all, that he’d just ordered the death of an innocent woman.

But no blood seeped from the wide gashes on the woman’s midsection. Underneath her flesh were hundreds of metal gears surrounded by a steel skeleton. Deep within the gears was a faint glow of green magic.

The mechanical woman slowly turned her head to look at Evin. A spark of recognition flashed in her glassy doll’s eyes and she smiled. Parting her lips, she said, “Save us, Evin. We’re all going to diiiiiiiiieeee. …” The word trailed off, her high voice deepening and slowing until she fell silent and her face grew slack. The green glow within her chest disappeared.

“By the gods,” Jorick whispered. “You were right.”

Still clutching Bet’s wand, Evin looked up at Jorick. The shorter boy shook his head. One tentative hand reached up to touch his temples. “I’m remembering … this isn’t … I don’t live here. …”

“It’s over,” Evin said quietly to Bet. “Can you please just tell us the truth?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

You may begin,” the chimera said.

They sat on the packed dirt floor of the chimera’s burrow, around a glowing ball of magic that Bet had conjured. The light reached into the darkness, revealing that the burrow was a shallow cave after all, not a tunnel. At the back of the burrow lay a large pile of animal bones. Evin tried to ignore them.

The chimera sprawled against the wall, all eyes aimed at Bet. Though he’d returned Bet’s wand, Evin had confiscated her satchel of magic supplies necessary to cast most of her spells—including the large book that apparently let her communicate with her masters.

Bet sighed and looked down. She fidgeted with her robes.

“I am very new to the order,” she began, her voice hushed.

“The order?” Evin asked.