I flinch at the harsh truth of this but can think of nothing to say to it.

Louis goes on. “Besides, it is not just your family reputation you have to concern yourself with, you realize that, surely? The coven members will soon know what has happened, that is obvious, but the minute word of this gets out others will know.”

I stare down at my gloved hands. He is right. This is where the real catastrophe could lie. I have been so overwhelmed by my personal tragedy, by the prospect of losing Freddie, that I have closed my mind to the greater stakes being played for. For we are no more than pieces in a terrible game, I see that now. A game of Nicholas Stricklend’s making. He must have known I would never simply give him the Elixir. He must also have known that I would, if it came to it, use it to save my brother. The Sentinels were the group of sorcerers my father feared most. Every Lazarus witch is taught to be on their guard against those who would take the Great Secret from us, and the Sentinels were always the lurking terror in the dark, the inhabitants of our nightmares, the greatest threat to the coven. If they find Freddie before I do, I will have to go to them, too. For if Freddie does not receive the Elixir … it is too horrible to contemplate. I would be in no position to bargain with them then. How could I let Freddie meet such a horrifying end? My loyalty to the coven would be broken forever. I would be an outcast. And the Sentinels would have what they wanted, to use for whatever nefarious deeds they have in mind, without a care for the weak whom they have all been taught to despise.

A dreadful thought flashes through my mind. If Freddie is taken, then the route to the Great Secret lies with me. The Lazarus Coven cannot allow me to give it away, whatever my reason. The surest way to stop that happening would be to stop me. I study Louis once more. No wonder he will not look at me. If we do not find Freddie, will it be he who sees to it that I no longer threaten the coven? Has he been chosen to make certain I am silenced forever? Could he do it? His father could. No doubt, it was his father who made sure he came to me. Oh, Louis, what have I done to you, to all of us?

“There must be someone he would go to,” Louis says. “Some friend…”

I shake my head. “Freddie had only fair-weather friends. There is no one he could turn to now. Nowhere for him to run…” I stop suddenly. “Of course! Mr. Chow Li. He would go there.”

“Where? Who are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just tell the driver to take us to Bluegate Fields.”