Page 143 of The Lies We Conjure
This is both a gift and a shock. Wren must think so too, because not only is she silent beside me—for once in her life—but she slowly curls her hand into mine, pinky twining in the same promise I gave her over and over our last time here.
“We’ll have to redo all our internal branding.” Winter sighs, at first appearing annoyed, but then the corners of her mouth tip up as she looks straight at me, “but you know, it’s worth it.”
She taps the table and that’s when I realize for the first time that it’s not round, it’s actually five-sided. A pentagon. Five sides, one for each family.
Including us.
The Fifth Line.
We’re the ring around the four stones—the extra flourish on the outside, protecting the inner circle. I take a steadying breath and force myself to face the most recent iteration of my fears. This one—what they will do to us if we say no.
“And if we don’t accept?”
Auden’s gaze flickers across my face, an answer at the ready even as something that might be disappointment flashes in his eyes.
“Well, I’d hope you’d stay for a nice meal, and then afterward—or now, if you think it best not to draw it out—a simple spell is all it takes to make you forget you were ever here. Tonight, six weeks ago, at all.”
They can do exactly what Wren thought they could and would do. I’m not surprised, if anything it’s a testament to the bond we forged that, despite all the deceit, they didn’t do it before. Six weeksof us knowing. Six weeks of them trusting we wouldn’t tell. We didn’t.
My vision clears as I read every line of the contract as closely as possible. I want to know exactly what it says. No lies. No omissions. Nothing hidden.
As I do, my sister prods the elephant in the room. Or, perhaps, the missing elephant.
“And the Blackgates?” Wren asks.
Evander answers. “The same terms, though we have agreed to hold their master in escrow until they’ve made their decision. Though if they do accept, we will still hold their master relic for the next five years in accordance with the punishment of Lavinia and Kaysa Blackgate for their part in Marsyas’s plot to steal the master relics and High Sorcerer’s ring.”
It’s a relief that Lavinia, Kaysa, and Athena Blackgate don’t currently hold the magical relics that moved the dead and nearly killed us all.
Wren’s head tilts. “And if they don’t accept?”
I look up from the contract, curious, and, well, a little fearful.
Winter grins, tight but true. “They know where to find us.”
“But they won’t beat us!” Hex interjects, with a confident laugh. Ada elbows him hard. Honestly, he should’ve seen that coming.
“Let’s not invite any further animosity,” she tells him.
“So, will you join us?” Winter asks, circling back. “Do you accept?”
For once, Wren glances at me—waiting for my opinion first. Her decision is written all over her face, big eyes round, cheeks flushed, lips pressed together as if to keep her answer from bursting forth like it always does. Then, she surprises me further by grabbing my hand. “We need a second to talk it over.”
She tugs me a few steps away, toward the wall where we found the Great Bear and the Celestial relic, shadows falling like they did in that moment of triumph before it was shattered by Luna’s death. The green ivy brushes the backs of my arms, soft and so very alive. Wren lowers her voice and her wide eyes to mine.
“You know my answer—of course you do—but if I’ve learned anything it’s that your instincts are always better than mine. And I’m not incapable of some growth, especially with all the very large mistakes I made on this property.So.” Wren flicks her gaze over my shoulder to the table for the briefest of moments. “This is me saying, if you want to bolt, I’m here for the memory wipe and a ride home. We’re in this together. Sisters over witches.”
Despite the heaviness of it all, that last little bit makes me cough out a laugh.
“Sisters over witches every time.”
I flip our grip, twining my pinky around hers.
Holding fast to my sister, we turn to face the table below. Five sides, three full, two empty. Two chairs pulled out, waiting. One black rose in the other spot, marking the Blackgates’ absence.
Auden and Evander both palm the rings, chains dangling at their sides, the metal glinting under the lights, the night sky coming on fast over the high walls.
“We accept.”
