Page 84 of The Lies We Conjure
Wren balls herself up and drops her head between her knees. “So how do we survive this new murderer who is not our missing nona? Just abscond to our suite and slurp from the tap? Maybe open a window, hope a crow flies in, and roast it over the ever-present fire?”
“God, that got bleak fast.”
“I’m hungry. And I just realized it. It’s been that kind of day.”
I sit up. “Okay. They’ll be back soon and this aside of ours might seem suspect. So, our plan: we keep doing what we’re doing—proving we’re good partners, and not suspicious in any way despite our grandmother’s apparent tyrannical designs, our amnesia regarding our father’s death, and our obvious complete lack of magical knowledge.”
“Seems tenuous considering there’s a whole new dead body in the mix. I think we’re going to need more than that.”
I release a heavy sigh. “I’ll think of something.”
“Or maybe I will,” Wren counters with an arch of her eyebrow.
I shove myself to standing. “You can’t flirt your way out of this.”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “It’s my superpower but it’s not my only power. I have other skills and you know it.”
“I do. But I do not need your impulsivity to mess this up right now.”
As soon as it’s out of my mouth, I regret it.
Wren shoots to her feet. It’s not just an indignant reaction—actual anger curls her lips and kicks up her tone. “Hey, that’s not fair.”
Maybe not. But I don’t care. I—we—do not have time for this shit. I roll my eyes in the same way she does so very often. “Take it up with me when we survive this. Until then, follow my lead.”
“Don’t be a dick—”
“Please tell me you still have your knife.”
Wren matches my eye roll with an annoyed little scowl before hiking up her tank top and patting the slim outline of the butter knife. “What does that have to do with anything? It’s not like it can hold a candle to a meat cleaver or magic. We’re basically sitting ducks—”
“Lavinia?” Evander’s voice. I clamp my hand over Wren’s mouth. “Kaysa? Are you doing okay?”
“Yes! One sec!” I shout as Wren rips at my hand—tired of this move of mine, but apparently still in need of knowing when to shut up because if he heard what she just said, our cover is probably blown. “Just tidyingup.”
The last word comes out nearly a yelp as Wrenbitesmy fingers.
My hand flies away, tears immediately springing to my eyes at the pain.
“What the fuck?” I hiss, holding my throbbing hand, angry skin marked with white indentations from her teeth. Pinpricks of blood well to the surface.
Wren’s eyes are fierce and furious. “I love you and I’m glad you weren’t hurt today but you aren’t the only capable one. I got us into this, I can get us out.”
Then, Wren wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, pastes on her best grin, bodily sweeps my shocked form aside, and unlatches the lock.
I suck at my fingers, blood metallic on my tongue, and shove my throbbing hand into my pocket—and the knife pressing coolly into my aching skin.
CHAPTER26
AUDEN
“Tell us about the Cerises,” Evander prompts, fork and knife sawing through the wagyu steak that had been on the menu last night. He’s washed away the blood, tossed the jersey, and has basically—appropriately?—gone full John McClane fromDie Hard,wearing one of his favorite white undershirts, biceps and shoulders free to the night and from the constriction he abhors. Maybe this is dressing for the job he wants now more than the suit was before.
We’re seated around the round, marble-topped table in Ursula’s sitting room. Lavinia swallows her own bite under his gaze and presses a napkin to her lips. “We hiked toward the Field of Stars to join up with the Cerises, witnessed them separating, and then hiked toward our original locations as a group—the Pool and Horace’s Last Stand. We met up with Evander and Auden between the two.”
“What time did you see the Cerises split up?” I ask.
“Maybe an hour after we all left the driveway?” Kaysa responds. “Hey, can I get some chips?” She nods at the sideboard, which holds not only Ursula’s preferred scotch but also an assortment of junk food we picked up from the kitchen too, including Evander’s favorite salt-and-vinegar splurge.
