“It grows where a witch was killed,” Cassidy said. “It grows where her blood was spilled in violence. So many died in that spot.”

“Mother Night,” Ranon said.

Gray wasn’t sure which of them was still shaking—he or Cassie—until she pulled away from him to sit up on her own.

It was him.

“Can I have more of that?” Cassie asked, reaching for the tonic bottle.

Shira handed it over without a word.

“Do you know who might have died here,Theran?” Ranon asked.

Theran looked sick. “I’m not sure. Thera, I think. And Talon’s wife.”

“I’ve seen so much of this stuff growing in Dena Nehele— and in the Shalador reserves,” Ranon said. “Was told it was just a weed, an invasive weed. Mother Night.”

Feeling timid, Gray touched Cassie’s shoulder. “What do we do now?”

“It’s overgrown with weeds and hasn’t been tended for too long,” Cassie said. “So we’ll tend that ground and the witchblood that grows there.” She paused. “The Black Widows in the Dark Court told me that witchblood knows the name of the one who has gone, and if you know how, the plant can tell you whose blood nourished the seed.”

Mutters. Murmurs. Shira shuddered.

“I can ask how it’s done—if you want to know,” Cassie said, looking at Shira.

“I—Grayhaven?” Shira said, looking at Theran.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if . . . I don’t know.”

Cassie nodded. When she shifted position, Theran offered a hand to help her stand up.

Gray got to his feet, wincing a little and pretending he didn’t see the way Shira was studying him before Ranon pulled her up.

“We’re going to clean up that ground,” Cassie said.

*Gray and Cassie need to rest,* Vae said.

“Yes, they do,” Shira said. “Lady Cassidy’s hands are still fragile, and if she’s going to stay out here and supervise, I want Gray to stay close by and keep her company. But I’d like to help clean up that part of the garden.”

“So would I,” Ranon said.

“Gray?” Theran said. “Do you have tools we could use?”

Gray called in the tools he’d vanished, handing them out as Theran, Ranon, and Archerr came up to claim them.

“The short-handled claws would work better for the tight places,” he said. “They’re still in the shed.”

“I’ll get them,” Ranon said, handing the hoe to Shira.

They worked in the garden the rest of the morning, moving carefully between plants that now held a different meaning.

Gray watched them, frustrated because all he could do was watch. There was an odd comfort in knowing Cassie was just as frustrated that she couldn’t help.

And there was no comfort at all in the way Theran kept looking at Cassie when he thought no one was watching.

CHAPTER 16 - TERREILLE

CHAPTER 16

TERREILLE