distance, perhaps two hours away. “We should arrive in time for the feast.”
We had to take her word for it. No one else could see anything but trees. When Beau grumbled as much, Madame Labelle shrugged and sank gracefully onto her stump, folding her hands in her lap. “’Tis the magic of the Chateau, I’m afraid. None but a Dame Blanche can see it until we cross through the enchantment.” At Beau’s puzzled look, she added, “The bridge, of course.”
Beau opened his mouth to reply, but I stopped listening, drifting to the edge of our hidden camp. In the forest, the faint smell of magic touched everything. But it burned less sharp here, somehow, mingled with the salt and trees. As if it belonged. I closed my eyes and breathed deep. Waves crashed in the distance. Though I’d never set foot in this place, it felt familiar . . . like Lou.
Her essence infused everything—the sunlight filtering through the pines, the creek trickling beside us despite the cold. Even the wind seemed to dance. It swirled her scent around me, soothing my frazzled nerves like a balm.
There you are, it seemed to say. I didn’t think you’d come.
I promised to love and protect you.
And I promised to love and obey you. We’re both such pretty liars . . .
I opened my eyes, chest aching, to see Coco standing beside me. She stared out into the trees as if she too were holding a silent conversation.
“I can feel her here.” She shook her head. Wistful. “I’ve known her since childhood, yet . . . sometimes . . . I wonder if I really know her at all.”
I blinked in surprise. “You and Lou knew each other as children?”
Her eyes flicked to mine, searching my face as if considering how to answer. Finally, she sighed and turned back to the trees. “We met when we were six. I’d . . . wandered away from my coven. My aunt and I—we didn’t get along much, and she’d . . . well—” She stopped abruptly. “It doesn’t matter. Lou found me. She tried to make me laugh, braided flowers in my hair to make me feel better. When I finally stopped crying, she tossed a mud pie in my face.” She flashed a grin, but it quickly faded. “We kept our friendship a secret. I didn’t even tell my aunt. She wouldn’t have approved. She loathes Morgane and the Dames Blanches.”
“It seems Lou has a habit of endearing herself to her enemies.”
Coco didn’t seem to hear me. Though she still stared at the trees, it was clear she no longer saw them. “I didn’t know what the Dames Blanches were planning. Lou never told me. She never said a word—not one—in all those years. And then one day, she just . . . disappeared.” Her throat worked furiously, and she ducked her head to stare at her feet. “If I had known, I—I would’ve stopped them, somehow. But I didn’t know. I thought she was dead.”
An inexplicable urge to comfort her overwhelmed me, but I resisted. This wasn’t the time to comfort. This was the time to listen.
“But you found her.”
She chuckled without mirth, lifting her chin once more. “No. She found me. In Cesarine. Without Lou, I decided I needed some time away from my—my coven—so I tried my hand at pickpocketing in East End. I was shit at it,” she added. “The constabulary arrested me the second day. Lou dropped out of the sky and saved my ass.” She paused, shaking her head. “It was like seeing a ghost. A ghost with a disfigured throat. The scab had just fallen off, but it was still gruesome to look at.” She lifted her sleeve, revealing her own scars. “Even for me.”
I looked away. I could imagine it all too clearly. Her silver scar reared in my mind’s eye—followed swiftly by the gaping wound at the dead witch’s throat. I forced the memory away, bile rising.
“I wanted to kill her,” Coco said bitterly. “Or kiss her.”
I chuckled ruefully. “I can empathize.”
“And even after—after everything—she still wouldn’t talk about it. To this day, two years later, I don’t know what happened that night. I don’t know how she escaped. I—I don’t know anything.” A solitary tear leaked down her cheek, but she wiped it away angrily. “She kept it locked in tight.”
Her eyes finally turned to me, beseeching. I didn’t quite know what she was asking.
“We have to save her.” The breeze picked up, ruffling