It’s still burning.
“Ivy is alive,” I say again.
Harper sits on the bench beside me. “Selah, what are you talking about?”
“I saw her,” I begin, but before I can explain, Twig and Jude arrive, both of them filled with concern.
“She said she saw Ivy,” Harper says.
“I had a vision… in the funhouse…”
It rises in my mind, spinning like a top.
The pond.
The prisoners.
Emma and Sienna.
Lola.
Brady and Caleb.
One of the missing hikers—Juniper Vale.
Not Scout Mercer though. I didn’t see her. Nor did I see my mother or Simon. But I did see Ivy. She was there with the rest of them, in some sort of trance, a glowing orb pulsing inside her chest. And those vines. Those delicate, blood red vines. The same ones that grew around the plant Mistress Bramble called veil root.
He needs two more.
And the girl.
Which is me.
Somehow, I’m the girl.
Another wave of nausea washes over me.
I bend over my knees.
“Selah.” Jude crouches in front of me, his gaze steady. His presence, too. He reaches for my hand, but I pull away, seized by a sudden bout of fear that doesn’t help with the dizziness.
“Where did you see Ivy?” he asks.
“In the Water Garden,” I breathe.
Vorat’s lair.
“Here.” Rafe returns with a styrofoam cup. “Drink this.”
I lean away from him like the cup is poison.
“It’s cider,” he says flatly.
I don’t want to accept anything from him, especially not in front of Jude, but something tells me my blood sugar could use the kick. I take the drink begrudgingly and to my utter aggravation, the cider is warm and sweet and settles my stomach.
My relief must be evident.
Rafe looks smug.
