“Of course he was correct. That’s why you’re here telling me not to go to Paris. Cut the bullshit, Mother, and start talking. You’ve never told me the truth about Todd. We both know it.” Lara shrugged.

“Like what?”

Lara shrugged again, noncommittally, but didn’t answer.

Audrey slid onto the counter stool, placing her hands down in front of her, as if steeling herself for what she was about to say next: “There is a spell that we must maintain to keep us safe.”

“A spell?” Lara cocked her head. And then it occurred to her: All the unnatural perfection of the town. It’s a spell. That made sense. It was the only thing, frankly, that made sense, and she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t realized it before.

“The women in our family have been enchanting a protective spell since 1935. When she was nine years old, my mother, Margot, was the first to cast it.”

“Margot? Not Cecile?”

Audrey shook her head. “Apparently not, although I don’t know why. After Mother was gone, I needed to keep it going. Cecile taught me how to do it. She’d seen Margot chant it enough times.”

“I don’t understand. Why does the town need a spell?”

“The town doesn’t need a spell. We do. Kerrigan Falls simply benefits from the protective cloak we place over it. Cecile said that what she’d run away from in Paris would always hunt us without this spell. I have to reaffirm it every year.”

Lara recalled what Althacazur had said to her last night: The fabric of this quaint little community your family has built for you is beginning to tear apart. Without my help, I fear it could be the end for you. This was the fabric he’d been talking about. “Let me guess. You do the spell on October ninth?”

She nodded gravely. “And it goes along fine, except one night every thirty years when the spell seems to come down for one night. Cecile stressed that the spell had to be done at eleven fifty-nine on October ninth… the words must cross over to the tenth, and you must be finished by twelve oh one.”

“That’s why you didn’t want us getting married on that day.”

Audrey closed her eyes, like she was thinking of something painful. “I simply wanted you to move the wedding to the spring. That is a dreadful date and I couldn’t believe you chose it, but I swear that I don’t know what happened to Todd, my dear. You need to believe me. I just know that whatever happened to him, happened on that date, so it may have something to do with us, but I can’t be sure. Cecile wasn’t specific. Ever.” Audrey seemed annoyed at the thought of Cecile. “I always thought she was hiding something, so I guess I can understand your frustration with me.”