“Ridiculous,” I repeated.

“You seem quite confident, Chass.” She lifted my knife slowly, angling the blade to reflect the afternoon sunlight. “Perhaps we should give Ansel a demonstration.”

“Very funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

I stared at her. “I can’t fight you. It wouldn’t be fair.”

Her eyes flashed. “I agree. Not fair in the slightest. But I fear Ansel isn’t the only one in need of a lesson today. I would hate for either of you to walk away with the wrong impression.”

“No.” Rising, I crossed my arms and glared at her. “I won’t do it. Don’t ask me.”

“Why not? You have nothing to fear. You are the strongest of us, after all. Aren’t you?”

She stepped closer, her chest brushing my stomach, and stroked a finger down my cheek. Her skin flickered, and her voice deepened. Multiplied. Just like it had in the pub. Blood pounded in my ears. Without my Balisarda, I could feel the pull of her magic beneath my skin. Already, my muscles began to relax, my blood to cool. A pleasant numbness crept down my spine.

“You’re curious.” Her voice was a purr as she circled me, her breath warm against my neck. Ansel, Beau, and Coco watched with wide eyes. “Admit it. You want to know what it feels like. You want to see it—this part of me. This part of you. It scares you, but you’re curious. So, so curious.” Her tongue flicked out, licking the shell of my ear. Heat spiked through my belly. “Don’t you trust me?”

She was right. I did want to see. I wanted to know. This emptiness on her face was foreign and strange, yet I—

No. I shook my head fiercely. I didn’t want to see it at all. Only yesterday, I’d watched her nearly kill herself with magic. She shouldn’t do this. We shouldn’t do this. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t Lou. It wasn’t—

Surrender.

Those strange, unfamiliar voices brushed against my innermost thoughts once more, caressing me. Coaxing me. “Of course I trust you.”

“Prove it.” She reached up to run her fingers through my hair. I shuddered at the touch. At the intrusion in my head. “Do as I say.”

Surrender.

“I—that’s enough. What are you doing?” I tore her hand away and stumbled backward. Knocked my bag from the tree. No one moved to retrieve it. “Stop it!”

But her skin only shone brighter as she reached for me—her eyes full of longing—and suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted her to stop at all.

Surrender. Touch her.

“Reid.” She extended her arms to me in supplication, and I felt myself step forward, felt myself bury my face in her hair. But she smelled wrong. All wrong. Like smoke and fur and—and something else. Something sharp. It pierced through the haze in my mind. “Embrace me, Reid. Embrace this. You don’t have to be afraid. Let me show you how powerful you can be. Let me show you how weak you are.”

Too sharp. Sickly sweet. Burning.

My hands came down on her shoulders, and I forced her back a step, tearing my gaze away. “Stop it. Now.” Unwilling to risk her eyes again, I stared instead at her throat. At her scar. Slowly, her skin dimmed beneath my hands. “This isn’t you.”

She snorted at that, and her skin flickered out abruptly. She shoved away from me. “Quit telling me who I am.” When I hazarded a glance at her, she glared back, lips pursed and brows drawn. One hand on her narrow hip. Expectant. “So? Are we doing this or not?”

“Lou . . . ,” Ansel warned.

My entire body trembled. “That’s twice you’ve used magic to control me,” I said quietly. “Never do it again. Do you understand? Never.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“You’re out of control.”

A wicked grin curved her lips. Jezebel incarnate. “So punish me. I prefer chains and a whip, but a sword will do.”

Unbelievable. She was—she—

I sucked in a harsh breath. “You really want to do this?”

Her grin widened, feral, and in that instant, I no longer recognized her. She was no longer Lou, but a true white lady. Beautiful, cold, and strange. “I really do.”

You met only a few months ago. How well can you really know her? Madame Labelle’s words tormented me. Louder and louder they grew. Louise has started her descent. I know the signs. I’ve seen it happen before. You cannot stop it, and you cannot slow it down.

“If I agree to this,” I said slowly, “I have a condition.”

“I’m listening.”

“If I win, no more magic. I’m serious, Lou. You stop using it. I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to smell it. I don’t want to think about it until all this is over.”

“And if I win?” She trailed a finger across my chest. The unnatural luster returned to her skin. The unfamiliar gleam in her eye. “What then, darling?”

“I learn to use it. I let you teach me.”

Her skin guttered abruptly, and her smile slipped. “Deal.”

Throat tight, I nodded and stepped back. Finally, we could end this—this madness between us. This tension. This impasse. I would disable her quickly, efficiently. Despite her taunting, I didn’t wish to harm her. I never wished to harm her. I just wanted to protect her. From Morgane. From Auguste.

From herself.

And now I finally could.

Drawing a second knife, I rolled my shoulders back. Stretched my neck. Flexed my wrist.

A sensation akin to giddiness overwhelmed me as we faced each other, as she twirled my knife between her fingers. But I didn’t let my emotions betray me. Unlike Lou, I could control them. I could master them. I would master them.

“Are you ready?” Her smirk had returned, and her posture remained relaxed. Arrogant. Ansel scrambled to the cover of the nearest tree. Cypress. Even Coco backed away, tugging Beau with her. “Shall we count to three?”

I kept my own grip on my Balisarda light. “One.”

She tossed her knife in the air. “Two.”

We locked eyes.

“Three,” I breathed.

She sprang immediately, surprising me, and attacked with unexpected strength. I blocked her easily enough, countering with a strike of my own. Half force. I just needed to subdue her, not bludgeon her, and she was so small—

Darting around me, she used my momentum to kick the back of my knee and send me sprawling forward. Worse, she half tackled, half rode me to the ground, ensuring I landed face-first in the snow. Her knife touched my throat as my own skidded out of reach. Chuckling, she dug her knees into my back and brushed a kiss to my neck.

“First lesson, Ansel: find your opponent’s weaknesses and exploit them.”

Furious, I spat snow from my mouth and shoved her knife away. “Get off me.”

She laughed again and rolled to the side, freeing me, before springing to her feet. “So, what did Reid do wrong? Besides falling on his face and losing his weapon?” Winking, she plucked it from the ground and returned it to me.

Ansel fidgeted under the tree, refusing to make eye contact. “He—he didn’t want to hurt you. He held back.”

I pushed to my feet. Heat burned up my neck and ears as I beat the snow and mud from my coat, my pants. Fuck. “A mistake I won’t make twice.”