Chloe’s mother stands up, and when she does, I see that she’s covered in my mother’s blood. Her mascara is running down her face in teary rivers. “And Boniface,” she adds weakly. She turns back to my mom. “Sandrine, we’ll be right back. We’re going for help. Hang on, sugar.”
They run out of the room and, in the sudden quiet, I can hear my mother gasping for air. It breaks my heart. I move toward her, and that’s when I see my younger self amble into the room, blinking in confusion. She’s wearing the same nightgown from my dreams, and I know this is the moment I’ve been seeing. I watch as she rushes over and wraps herself around my mother, trying to fix her, trying to stop the blood.
My mother whispers something, and I can just barely make out her words: “You’re the only one who can save us all,” she says, and then her whole body goes limp.
“Mommy?” I hear three-year-old me ask in a small voice. “Mommy, wake up!”
I’m full-out sobbing as the images slowly fade away and the room returns to the present. Dazed, I stumble out of the parlor and into Boniface’s waiting arms.
“You saw everything, didn’t you?” he asks gently as he rubs my back.
“I saw my mother die,” I sob. “She didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. Why has everyone been lying about it all these years? Lying to me? Why has everyone let me believe my mother took her own life?”
“Honey, no one knows exactly what happened that day. But we couldn’t have the police asking questions, not if her death was linked to zandara. So a decision was made to stage a car crash. It was for the good of the sosyete, and it made sense at the time. Your aunt asked that everyone play along for your sake too. She didn’t want you to remember your mom dying this way.”
“It was better that I think she’d killed herself?” I whisper incredulously. “That I’d think she deliberately abandoned me?”
“Bea was just trying to protect you. While Peregrine’s and Chloe’s mothers took care of staging the accident, your aunt and I calmed you down, got you back into bed, and convinced you it was just a bad dream. Chloe’s and Peregrine’s mothers gave you a charmed potion to make you forget what you’d seen.”
“They should never have done that.”
“But no child should ever, ever grow up with that kind of sad memory, and we were all afraid that if the police were called, you’d let the cat out of the bag about the ceremonies that were going on here. The police chief was a member of the sosyete, but none of the officers were. We couldn’t take the chance of anyone finding out.”
“So who killed her?” When he doesn’t answer, I add, “Was it Main de Lumière?”
“You didn’t see her killer in your vision?” he asks. When I shake my head, he sighs. “At first we assumed it was Main de Lumière, but tradition and ritual are very important to them, and none of us really believed they’d kill your mother by slitting her throat instead of stabbing her through the heart.”
“So if it wasn’t them . . . ,” I say.
“No one knows what could have happened,” he says simply, looking away.
“Okay, I get why no one wanted a little kid to have a horrible memory like that,” I concede. “But I’m seventeen now. Why hasn’t anyone said anything?”
Boniface looks sad. “It wasn’t my place to tell you, honey. I can’t speak for the others.”
I clench my fists, a wave of frustration rising within me. All the lies, all the half truths—I’m suddenly furious. “Peregrine and Chloe knew, didn’t they? They’ve known all along.” I don’t wait for an answer; my blood is boiling. “I’m going over there.”
“Eveny—” Boniface begins, but I’m already on a mission, already moving toward the front door. I have to confront them, to find out what else they’ve been hiding from me. “Wait, Eveny!” Boniface calls after me. “Come back!”
“I can’t,” I say as I shut the door behind me. I take off running toward Peregrine’s opulent mansion on the next hill over.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
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20
Ipound on Peregrine’s front door with both fists and am surprised when she and Chloe answer together.
“You lied to me!” I cry, still breathless from my run.
They look at each other and then back at me. “Lied about what?” Chloe asks.
“About the night my mother died!” I say. “Your mothers were there. I just charmed the parlor and watched the whole thing play out. Your mothers saw everything. You knew all along, and you let me keep believing my mother had left me on purpose!”