They left the dense forest and found the path that led to the car.

‘And the way he looked at her. It’s how I look at Ally; it’s how you look at Bethan.’ Henry stared down at the ground. ‘He couldn’t have.’

His heart thumped; he felt like his breath caught in his chest. He already knew how he felt for Bethan but for someone to point it out was different.

His mind reeled over what Henry had told him and the sickness.

Is that what caused them to lose their memories? Or was it just the grief, like the healers said. But then there was the case of the magic.

Bethan used her magic. It came back with Dana’s journal. Bethan told him it spoke to her. He tried to think of what had changed. He knew her day-to-day life by heart, especially since he was a part of it.

He thought back to Sunni’s potion. The one Elnora insisted Bethan drink every night. He had to get to her. Now.

chapter twenty-six

chapter twenty-six

bethan kore

bethan and ally spent all day cleaning out dana’s room; they decided to donate her old books and her clothes. They divided up her jewellery.

Her mother took the donation pile downstairs while Bethan organised the wardrobe. She was folding a stack of sheets, and inside the fitted sheet, a single sheet of paper was scrunched up in a ball. She unfurled it and recognised Dana’s scrawls.

It was clearly an ingredient list, written down as if they were school notes.

As Bethan read further, she realised it highlighted the properties of each ingredient.

She was about to throw it out when something caught her eyes. She raised one of her brows and read.

The properties of rowan leaves.

Rowan Leaves - helpful in healing the throat but can cause a loss in memory when boiled. Its taste is often mistaken for elderberries. It is illegal to use it in conjunction with oaken leaves. It will cause magic suppression.

She gasped and ran downstairs; her mother was making a pot of the tea. She grabbed the pot, burning her hands in the process.

‘Bethan,’ Ally gasped, reaching for a cold cloth. She quickly covered Bethan’s hand with it. ‘What’s gotten into you?’

‘The potion—that’s what did it. It wasn’t the illness. The potion they’ve been giving us,’ she cried.

Her mother picked up the piece of parchment and shook her head.

‘Honey, smell it,’ she said calmly. ‘There’s not elderberry in this tea.’

‘This is the one Sunni made for you?’

‘Of course.’ She grabbed the pot and handed it to her. ‘They send it to us.’

Bethan brought it to her nose and sniffed.

She sagged in relief, her lip quivering. ‘I thought—’

‘Like I said before, ours came back. Yours will too.’