Page 66 of The Lies We Conjure
Winter stiffens as she unravels what I’ve said. “If Marsyas murdered Ursula because sheknewit would trigger the clause in the will to make the High Sorcerer’s title up for grabs but then left before she could be entrapped on the grounds, she has a phase two coming so that she can obtain the relics and the title.”
“Yes, exactly.”
There’s a little spark in Evander’s eyes in the millisecond before he narrows them and scoffs, “And you seriously think the Blackgate girlsaren’tin on that?”
“I truly think they aren’tknowinglyin on that. And after that truth spell of Kaysa, I believe deep down you think so too.”
Evander glances away. That’s enough to tell me I’m right. He could feel Kaysa’s innocence in that magic the same way I could read it in Lavinia’s panicked eyes last night as she stood, bravely holding her damaged hand.
And… shit.
“I just realized I’ve kept something else from you.”
They pivot my way, and I wince.
“I didn’t do it purposefully—I just, look, take this for what you will,” I sputter, flashing my palms, placating. “I’m so dead set on the Blackgate girls not being in on it because they tried to escape.”
“Theywhat?”
“They tried to escape,” I repeat as Evander’s eyes narrow. “They weren’t looking for Marsyas. I think they knew she’d ditched them. When I spotted them, they were approaching the barbed-wire fence. I could see they were negotiating what to do about the spell and Kaysa put a probing hand—”
Winter gasps. “Oh no.”
“Ohyes.Only, it wasn’t Kaysa who got injured—Lavinia wedged her herself between Kaysa’s fingers and the spell at the last second. When I got there, I ordered them to turn around and told them if they would stand down with their relics clear that I’d heal her. They knew they were in a bind and agreed.” I shake my head. “They were truly panicked and frightened. I don’t think it was an act.”
When I glance up, Winter presses the backs of her hands to her eyes, letting her head thud dully against the kitchen wall. Evander, of course, looks like he’s ready to gore me at full speed.
“Youforgotto tell us they tried to escapeandthat you healed them?”
“I’m telling you now. Don’t make me sorry for it. Just take theinformation and use all your macho patriarch energy to solve this instead of sending me on some self-serving guilt trip.”
“She left them to take the fall.” Winter drags both hands down her face, the clarity of it hitting her now. She blinks at us, head shaking ever so slightly. “Or she simply didn’t tell them so they wouldn’t know. If they don’t know, they can’t reasonably be accomplices.”
“Shitty either way,” I agree. “If Marsyas has plans to use Lavinia and Kaysa somehow to obtain the masters and the High Sorcerer title with them, that means she has to hold all four master relics by the end of tomorrow. We need to consider how she plans to do that if she’s not on the property—I was there when Hex performed the hunt spell. She’s not here. And we just checked ourselves for any other people on the property and came up empty. Even if they’d obscured themselves, we would’ve found them with that spell. We’re locked in and it’s just us.”
For all our magical knowledge, for all we studied at the knee of the great Ursula Hegemony, for all that we are probably some of the best educated witches on the planet—I’ve never once heard of a spell that can transport someoneintothe kind of powerful magical lock-down that is currently imprisoning us.
Winter slips off the counter and starts pacing the length of the kitchen. “If Marsyas killed Ursula, she’d be insane to come back here. Marsyas knows the punishment for murder is death whether she was here for the will’s stipulations or not.”
“Which is exactly why she ran,” Evander grumbles. “Andkilled that man in the process.”
Winter hits the end of the room by the fire and makes an about-face, pinching the bridge of her nose as if this is giving her a headache. It certainly might. “I’m going in circles—we’regoing in circles.”
“You’re going in a straight line, actually.”
“Shut up, Auden,” they both bark at once.
I don’t, but I do change the subject.
“Look, we need to get out there. Last night’s plan is still in effect. We need to talk to who we can and figure out if even with the evidence on the drive—someone else had motive. Or perhapssharesin Marsyas’s motive. It’s possible she could be working with someone else. If not her granddaughters, another party with a joint goal. It could’ve just been Marsyas’s role to leave, and someone else is still inside fulfilling their piece.”
Evander checks his Rolex—a graduation gift from our grandmother.
“Thirty-six hours.” Noon now, then. “Win, you hook up with Infinity and use that Liaison of the Lines relationship to check for Starwood motive.” She scoffs at the idea that either Celestial witch would have anything to do with this, but he ignores her. “Auden, you’re with me.”
A drop of relief swells in my gut. We’re on the same page. He’s making a plan and agrees with me.
“The Cerises or the Blackgates?” I ask.
