Page 71 of Fallacies

“I’ve got it,” I tell her, hand extended in an offer to take it. She hands the Eldral over without hesitation, wiping her now empty hands on her dress as I slip it into my pocket.

“I’m sorry, I⁠—”

“Don’t be sorry,” I cut her off, halting the shake of her head with a gentle grip on her face. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yeah, other than scaring us half to death.” Gemma rushes between us, throwing her arms around Lucina’s shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she breathes into her hair, and Lucina’s stare softens a fraction.

The Dame and Laverna push their way through us, hurrying to get a clear view of Ceres. Nix, Easton, and Hunter have already gathered around her unconscious body, and I glance across the Yard, thankful to see Raphael escorting May and Pa away from the scene. Devon is marching over now, Sedona and Aster in tow.

When Gemma finally lets Lucina go, I reach out and tug her wrist, guiding her back beside me.

“Is she dead?” Hunter asks.

“No,” a small voice replies as Kimber joins the group, shrugging away from Pax’s frantic search for any injuries on her body. She moves to stand by Selene, her skin still pale, but at least she’s breathing.

Although that doesn’t seem to be enough for Pax, who plants his feet in the ground beside her, his whole demeanor…tense.

“Flip her over,” Pax bites out. With how cold the order is, a stranger would never guess that the woman lying on the ground is his mother.

When Nix doesn’t move fast enough for him, Pax reaches down and yanks Ceres’s shoulder back, crimson hair spilling over her ashen face. Hunter helps, twisting her legs to flip her fully onto her back, and Phoenix plants heavy boot-clad feet in the earth on either side of her, bending to press two fingers against her neck.

A few seconds pass.

“Yup,” he confirms, slightly disappointed. “Alive.”

We all lift our gaze to Delia. For direction. For order. But the Dame is looking at Lucina. “Restrain her.”

Lucina flinches, face blanching.

Delia’s navy eyes flick to Phoenix. To Ceres. “Now. And take her to the Infirmary.”

Phoenix lifts her off the ground, pulling her body over his shoulder, and Pax glances to Gemma, who moves to follow them, Kimber in tow.

Delia’s attention burns into me, demanding an explanation, and I’m in complete disbelief of the words about to come out of my mouth. “She had an Eldral.”

Their faces pale. Laverna’s jaw slackens, and Delia searches my blank stare for more of an explanation, but I have nothing else to give her. I’m just as fucking confused as they are.

“How…how could she have gotten that here?” Laverna mutters, stumbling over her words.

“I have no idea.”

“She couldn’t have gotten something like that through the Banyan,” Delia says, eyes narrowed on the forest around us as if she might find the answer there. “Eldrals are made of bad intentions.”

When I meet Lucina’s eyes, she looks away just as quickly. I turn to face her fully, brows pulled together, but she keeps her focus elsewhere. Avoiding my gaze at all costs.

A sickening feeling begins eating away at my insides. She’s hiding something. I can feel it in my bones.

Exhaling, I decide to address whatever that is later and instead look back at Delia. “We can ask her when she wakes up,” I reply, glancing around the group that has gathered. “Is anyone hurt?”

Everyone shakes their head.

“Good.” I glance back at the Dame, awaiting her order. My coven protects, and hers directs.

“She deserves a chance to explain herself,” the Dame says finally, and beside her, Laverna nods in agreement.

The Dame straightens, flicking her chin to the group. “Go home. Everyone.” Delia glances once more at me, then turns on her heel, silver robes spinning with her. “I’ll send word when she wakes up.”

I pull open the screen door to a dark cabin, and Lucina slips past me, ducking under my arm and silently crossing the living room. Her demeanor is eerily similar to how she had acted when I brought her home the night she was poisoned—head low, face blank, moving on autopilot.