After several moments of hesitation, Olive nodded and stepped off the porch. Sydney understood my cautious approach and quietly kept her distance. Rose, on the other hand, clearly wanted to come with Olive and me, but I gave her a quick shake of the head. Dimitri rested his hand on her arm to emphasize the point. I knew Olive liked Rose and Dimitri, and they certainly meant well, but right now, they were too much. Fear of being interrogated by a group was probably the reason she’d sought refuge here in the woods. I gave her a reassuring smile and nearly used a touch of compulsion to calm her but decided against it at the last minute. If she’d grown up around a spirit-using sister, she might recognize the signs and feel like I was trying to take advantage of her.

“Nice place,” I remarked as we set out down a trail between the cabins. Tall trees created a canopy above us, and birds sang to the sunset up in the branches.

“Tell me about Nina,” Olive said, wasting no time with small talk. “Is she okay?”

I hesitated. “Kind of. What she did in that last dream we were in . . . well, it involved a lot of spirit. A lot.” I tried to find a delicate way to put it, without saying that Nina had burned herself out or possibly lost her mind. “That much spirit takes a toll on you. They tell me right now she’s, uh, sleeping a lot and not making much sense. But that may change. She may be fine once she has time to recover.”

Olive stared bleakly ahead. “Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? Why’d she insist on trying to find me? She should never have put herself at risk like that!”

“She loves you,” I said. “And I think Neil does too.”

Tears filled Olive’s eyes again. “Oh, Neil. How can I tell him what’s happened?”

I stopped and faced her. “Look, whatever it is, he’ll understand. He won’t care what some other guy did to you—well, I mean, he’ll want to kick that guy’s ass—but he’s not going to judge you or hold it against you. He’s crazy about you. He’ll help you and support you. We all will.”

Confusion replaced her despair. “‘Some other guy’?”

“Well . . . yeah.” I glanced down at her rounded stomach. “I mean, there was obviously some Moroi guy involved. And if he did this against your will, you need to let us know. He needs to be brought to justice.”

It felt ludicrous using the term “brought to justice” in this faux Wild West town, but Olive’s puzzled look said it was lost on her. “No, no. You . . . you don’t understand. You don’t understand at all.”