“So when you got here and encountered Vera…” Natalie starts. Her words aren’t vicious anymore but full of understanding.

“She followed me. She said they would find me. I thought she meant people like Chase. It scared me, and the thread reacted.” Anora pauses. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want—”

“We know,” I say as gently as I can. She meets my gaze. “It was the day you ran out of art?”

She nods. I found her near the tree line. She looked hysterical, but I assumed she was just suffering from the effects of walking through Vera’s soul. Even now, I shudder at what that must have felt like.

“But how did Vera’s soul end up in Lily’s body?” Natalie asks.

“I lost the coin,” Anora admits, looking at her feet.

“Are you sure it was lost?” Thane asks. “Isn’t it possible someone stole it?”

“Either way, whoever has it knows how to use it, and they practiced,” Jacobi says.

“Practiced?” Anora asks.

“We found several dead animals at the train yard,” Natalie says.

Anora looks paler than before. Her lips stand out, red like a rose.

“The coin was at the train yard tonight,” Thane says. “That’s why Anora and I were there.”

I grind my teeth together so hard, I think my molars will crack. Every time Thane opens his mouth about what happened tonight, I want to throttle him even more. “You mean when you let her wander off alone?”

“I can take care of myself,” Anora argues.

“Oh yeah? With what? The thread?” Natalie snaps.

“Do you need a reminder of my skills?” Anora asks, her eyes alight with fire.

“How did you know the coin was at the train yard?” Jacobi asks quickly, easing the tension rising in the room.

Thane and Anora exchange a look, and I sort of hate that they have secrets.

“A witch told us.”

I glare at Thane, and he glares right back. I know him well enough that I can practically hear his thoughts. What? She wanted answers, so I took her with me. It’s more than you’d do for her. And he’s right. I’d never introduce the death-speaker world to the Eurydice. There are too many people in the Underworld who want her powers and know ways to get them.

“What about you? What’s your excuse?” Thane asks.

“I tracked Lily’s phone there,” Jacobi says. “But after our encounter with the cercatore, I lost the trace. It must have died.”

We’re all quiet, realizing we’ve hit a dead end—all of us except Anora. “Well…can’t we just go back to the witch?”

“No,” we say in unison, with the exception of Thane, who I’m sure would be glad to lead her back to the Underworld.

That firelight returns to her eyes. “But she told us exactly where the coin was!”