When Bryony -- herbalist extraordinaire -- goes missing, Bella knows one suspect stands above the rest. The village's aspiring second witch, Daphne, comes from a family that's tried to take Bryony down before, and Daphne seems determined to carry on...
Daphne had done something. Bella didn't know what, but in that moment, it didn't matter. The thing she'd been silently begging to see happen—the retreat of the rest of the Wights—was playing out before her very eyes. Daphne was getting swarmed, but the Wights didn't seem to be attacking her. She stood amongst them without flinching. They seemed to be trying to land on her coat in particular, a target that made no sense to Bella until one made it into the pocket and refused to budge. Only then did Bella realize what Daphne had done.
Spilled potions. Daphne had tripped and smashed a potion-bottle in her pocket the first time Bella and Titus had caught her snooping around Bryony's house. She'd then sprinkled tracking potion over that same patch of ground the next day, and spilled it on her coat as well. Both had since drawn Wights to them. To Bryony's house. To Daphne's when she fled, taking her coat with her. To the tent beside the road, with that same coat slung over it to patch a leak.
That first spilled potion had been a failed firefly lure, but maybe it hadn't failed after all. Just lured the wrong species. None of those instances were as dramatic as this one, so Daphne must have figured out the lure formula. She had been messing around with potion-making when Bella had last seen her and Titus in their camp just up the road.
"What's she doing here?" hissed Bryony. "Bella?"
"I don't know. They must have followed."
Bryony cursed. Before Bella could say another word, she cranked the dial on her Witch-light, which leaped into purple bloom. Lantern in hand, Bryony sprinted into the forest. Bella's cry was swallowed by the night. She had to warn Daphne. She spread her wings, but had scarcely launched into the air when something cannoned into her. Bella's shriek was driven from her lungs as she hit the ground hard, grappling her sudden attacker, a snarling shadow that gripped her wings with piercing spines. When they rolled to a stop in the sodden grass, Bella found herself pinned, upside-down, and staring directly into a pair of blazing yellow eyes.
"Titus!" she gasped. "Get off me, we have to—"
"You are going absolutely nowhere."
"Bryony's headed for Daphne! We have to warn her!"
"You think I'm releasing you after that display?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
All the fur along Titus's back was on end, giving him a vicious, feral look in the darkness. His front paws remained planted on Bella's chest, meticulously groomed claws pricking through her feathers. Titus kept them sharp as razors.
"You'd better be," he spat. "Daphne knows Bry will come for her; we've been expecting this ever since we decoded that notebook. I trust her to handle herself a lot more than I trust you with anything right now."
He unsheathed his claws further, sinking into Bella's skin. She was suddenly aware of his teeth above her, poised in the perfect position to go for her throat. He was strong—far stronger than she'd expected from a cat of his stature. They'd never fought like this before. Titus had never deigned to.
"You know, after you threatened Daphne and took off after Bryony again, I realized something," said Titus. "You can insult me all you like, but I don't actually care what you think of me. Or what Bryony does, for that matter. Clearly, even being her favorite familiar doesn't win much more than front-row seats for mass murder."
"I didn't mean—"
"You didn't mean to be complicit, no."
"I didn't know."
"You didn't even ask, let alone listen. She's been doing shady business for years already, and you've refused to even entertain the possibility. I hope you feel every inch of where it's gotten you."
She did. Her whole world was shattering, tearing apart at the seams with the screams of dying Wights, the destruction of green fire, and a glimpse of Bryony's Witch-light circling the bog. Daphne seemed to see if coming. She waved her coat a few more times, then turned around and dashed into the forest. She had no light with her.
"And while I've got you here," said Titus, dragging Bella's attention back to him, "you want to know something else? You're absolutely right about my keepers. I worked under three Witches before Bryony, and none deserved the title in the slightest. The first picked me up from a Theriology shop as a kitten. I charmed her into keeping me before she skinned me alive. Her boyfriend made me his familiar after she got bored with her stupid pet. Their classmates nearly declawed me for ingredients. The next Witch I worked for was more sad to lose an assistant than a companion when I left. The city colonies were a better home to me, then the forest-side towns when those colonies were scattered by another Witch. Turns out inner-city Herbalists get extra precious about their stupid potted plants."
"You were a street cat."
"How very astute of you."
"You said you had D'Czernobog ancestry."
Titus smiled, teeth flashing. "Because I do. And I will never not be proud of it."
She could feel it now. That pride radiated off him, from glowing eyes through every inch of his midnight pelt—so meticulously kept, Bella had seen him groom out any non-black hair he found. She'd never seen this side of him before. Then again, before Daphne, she doubted she'd ever seen him in the presence of a Witch he actually trusted. Bryony had never been much of a cat person. Titus had simply invited himself into her home, like he must have done with every other Witch he denied the title of "keeper" to.
"I'm sorry," said Bella again, her voice quivering. "I'm sorry for insulting you. I'm sorry I didn't stop Bryony from doing this. Let me help."
"What's to say you won't just fly back to Bryony the moment I release you?"
"She's doing something terrible."
"Wouldn't be the first time you've gone along with that."
"I want it to stop."
"For the Wights' good, or so you don't get caught?"
"Titus, please." The words were tearing her in half, but they were true, and Titus had to see it. He had to. Bella searched desperately for anything she could say to gain his trust back enough to let her join whatever he and Daphne were doing to save the Wights.
"You were right about the incident," she said. "The girl who died. The potion Bryony used smelled wrong, even to me. I didn't say anything because I trusted Bryony. She's always told me I can, and I've always wanted to. I don't have anywhere else to go."
Titus sniffed. "That might be the most candid thing I've heard you say in years."
"Please. Let me help. Before the fire spreads any further."
"How about I make you a deal." Titus's claws pricked her chest again, driving home the advantage he still had over her. "You help us fix what you helped break, and I'll see to it that only Bryony gets convicted for this."
The need to defend her keeper bubbled up in Bella's throat again: Bryony wasn't a murderer. Yet she had killed. This wasn't the first time.
"Deal," said Bella.
Titus released her. "It better be. If you mean it, follow me."
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