Her fingers twitched.

And with that twitch, her eyes grew less focused, less—human. Between one blink and the next, the knife reversed direction and impaled its owner’s throat.

Lou stared down at him, still smiling, her eyes shining with unfamiliar malice.

Except it wasn’t unfamiliar. I’d seen it many times.

Just never on her.

“Lou?”

When I touched her, that terrible smile finally broke, and she gasped, clutching her chest. I pulled her behind me as the two men charged. She couldn’t breathe, I realized in alarm. Despite her own warning, she’d given the air from her lungs to throw that knife—not as much as it would’ve taken to throw the man. Enough that red splotches had appeared in her eyes, enough that her chest worked furiously to replenish what it’d lost. “I’m fine,” she said, struggling to rejoin me. Her voice was raw. Weak. I stepped in front of her. “I said I’m fine.”

Ignoring her, I swung my Balisarda wide—unnerved by her ragged breathing, the thick stench of magic in the air, the blood roaring in my ears—to drive the other two back, to shield her. But my foot throbbed, and I stumbled. “Let us leave,” I said, voice low and desperate, terrified for them. No—not for them. For Lou. “Let us leave, and we’ll let you live.”

The first rose from beside his companion’s corpse. His smile had vanished. Eyeing my injured foot, he pressed closer. “There are rumors, you know. In the city. They say you’re the king’s bastard son.”

My thoughts scattered at this new information. How could they know? The only ones privy to that information were those in our own company: Lou, Ansel, Coco, Beau, and—

The last piece clicked into place.

Madame Labelle.

“We can help you,” the second coaxed, shadowing the first’s steps. “We can free you from this witch’s spell.”

Every instinct screamed at me to engage. To fight, to protect. But those weren’t the same things right now. I retreated faster, stumbling again. Lou steadied me.

“Please,” she sneered. “He practically sleeps with his Balisarda, you idiots. I couldn’t enchant him if I tried.”

“Shut your mouth, witch.”

“What of your dead friend?” she asked silkily. “Should he speak for me instead?”

I pushed her behind me again.

My eyes darted to the door, the windows. Too far. Though the rational part of my brain knew I maintained the advantage—knew my wanted poster said alive, knew they couldn’t risk killing me—the same wasn’t true for Lou. Her life was forfeit in this fight, which meant theirs were too. I’d have to kill them before they could touch her, before she could retaliate. Even outnumbered, I could dispatch them. Even injured. But if I engaged, Lou would too. She wouldn’t let me fight alone.

Once more, she tried to move to my side, and once more, I moved her behind.

I couldn’t allow her to fight. Not with magic. Not after what I’d just seen. She could damage herself irrevocably. Yet I couldn’t leave her defenseless either. Clutching her hand, I backed her against the wall. Caged her with my body. “Reach inside my coat,” I whispered as the men closed in. “Get a knife.”

She knocked my Balisarda from my hand instead.

“What’re you—?” I leapt after it, incredulous, but she beat me to it, sliding it under her foot as the men charged.

“Trust me!” she cried.

With no time to argue, I pulled two knives from my bandolier and met them strike for strike. My mind anticipated their every movement. My weapons became extensions of my arms. Even the sharp pain in my foot receded to a dull ache. Inexplicably agitated, I watched—disconnected—as my body feinted, dipped, and twisted with unnatural speed. Jabbing here. Kicking there. Soon the men slowed, bloody and winded. Hatred twisted their faces as they gazed at Lou. But she’d remained behind me, hadn’t entered the fray—

I glanced back. My vision tunneled on her contorted fingers, and shock punched through me, stealing my breath. No. Not shock. Fury. Yes, I’d seen this before. I’d seen it many times.

She was using me like a fucking marionette.

At my expression, her fingers faltered, and my arms dropped to my sides, strings cut. Limp. “Reid,” she whispered. “Don’t—”

The men finally saw their opportunity.

The quickest of them spun around me, slashing my hands and knocking my knives to the ground. Before I could stop him, his companion had thrust his blade to my chin. The first quickly followed with a sword in my rib.

“Don’t make this difficult, Diggory,” one of them panted, punching me hard in the stomach when I struggled. “The king wants you alive, and we’d hate to disappoint him.”

They jerked me around to face Lou, who’d swooped to retrieve my Balisarda.

“Easy, love.” They pushed their blades deeper. Warning her. Warning me. A rivulet of blood ran down my throat. Slowly, Lou rose to her feet. Her expression was murderous. “That’s right. No sudden movements. You can go ahead and slide that knife over here.”

She kicked it toward the door instead, eyes flickering at something she saw there. I didn’t dare look. Didn’t dare draw attention.

She took a deep breath. Before our eyes, her expression transformed. Batting her lashes, she gave the men a saccharine smile. My stomach dropped. With her white hair—her eyes green tonight instead of blue—she looked like someone else entirely. “Did you know,” she said, holding her hands erect, motionless, “that physical gesticulation is necessary to perform magic? We have to signal intent, otherwise we risk channeling patterns with errant thought. Gesticulation is manifestation.” She recited the last as if from a textbook. Another smile. This one wider than the last. Sweeter. They stared at her in bewilderment. I stared at her with dread. “The smallest gesture will do. As you witnessed, I impaled your friend with a twitch of my finger. Took less than a second.”

Their grip on me tightened.

“Lou.” My voice was low, strained. “Don’t do this. If manipulating mere memory is dangerous, you don’t want the consequences of manipulating lives. Trust me.” Her eyes flicked to the door and back. I swallowed hard, grimacing against the blade. She was stalling. That’s all this was. But that smile—it unnerved me. I tried again. “There are two of them. Even if you kill one, the other—”

“—will slit his throat,” the man on my left finished, pressing his knife deeper for emphasis. His hand was clammy. Cold. I could smell the perspiration through his clothes. She frightened them. Under pretense of struggling, I glanced behind us. My heart leapt to my throat. Ansel, Coco, Madame Labelle, and Beau were dragging Roy and his unconscious friends out the door. Why hadn’t they listened to me? Why hadn’t they left? Instead, they helped the last of the trapped villagers to safety. Claud Deveraux sifted frantically through the wreckage at the bar.

“I suppose you’re right.” Lou winked at me, and the facade cracked. Relief flooded my system. “But I certainly enjoy watching you squirm.”

Losing his patience, the one on the right barreled toward her. “And I’ll enjoy cutting off your mouthy—”