“You call her Babette.”
My blood ran cold. I knew his words were true even though I didn’t want to accept it.
The leader met my gaze with a steadiness that was almost defiance. “We didn’t choose this war, Voodoo King. It was brought to us. We bled for it. We lost our children to it. And now you’ve seen the truth with your own eyes.”
I adjusted Maple in my arms, her head resting against my chest and her breath warm against my collarbone. Every instinct in me screamed to get her far from here, to shield her from more pain, but leaving now would mean walking away from answers that my coven deserved.
“Babette,” I said, tasting the name like poison. “She did this to you… and to us.”
“She will keep doing it,” the leader warned. “Unless the curse breaker stops her.” His gaze flicked to Maple, reverence and fear mingling in his expression. “She has more power than even you understand.”
I tightened my hold. “She’s not your weapon and she’s not yours to use.”
“Protect her well, because once the swamp knows you have a witch with pure magic… Every cursed thing will come looking for her.”
“Are you hiding Babette with your people?” I asked, unsure of where to go from here but feeling the pull of revenge tight in my gut.
The leader’s expression hardened. “We would never hide her. She doesn’t need us for that. Babette moves through the swamp like smoke—never staying anywhere long enough to be caught. She has allies in places you wouldn’t think to look.”
I felt my jaw clench. “Allies like my own people?”
His silence was answer enough.
“She’s gathering power,” he said finally. “Not just through curses, but through bargains. She’s using dark and twisted magic.”
One of my brows lifted. “Then the ancestors are going to want her back.”
The man smiled with all of his teeth. “Good.”
I braced myself for Adelle’s anger when I turned around, but she had already simmered down slightly. “You put us on a wild goose chase.”
“And where are the twins?” I looked over her shoulder, finding them missing.
She rolled her eyes. “They went home. They were tired of your coven games and wanted to get back to their shop.”
My lips lifted slightly. They liked their freedom and space. That was fine by me, I had enough to deal with when it came to Adelle. “You missed all the action.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t even start. I’m hearing whispers of a curse breaker now! I missed it all. You will never live this down.” Her gaze softened as she looked down at Maple in my arms. “Is she okay?”
“Her magic ripped through her. She was never prepared for such a force. Ancestors, I don’t think any of us could have prepared for that.”
She grumbled something I couldn’t hear. “I hate you. I hate you for allowing me to miss all of that!”
“And what if you’d died? I couldn’t risk it.”
“You act like I’m a fragile doll instead of a powerful witch.”
I shrugged as I adjusted Maple in my grip again and began our trek back to the coven. We had a lot we needed to do moving forward, but we needed to regroup, assess our losses, and get rest.
My eyes feltlike someone had thrown sand in them, and my body was sluggish, which was strange considering I didn’t work out. It felt like I worked out, even my butt cheeks. I rubbed my eyes and tried to sit up, but my body just wouldn’t listen.
“You should probably continue to lie down,” a rough voice washed over me. For a moment, I thought it was Rune, but then it registered that it was entirely too deep.
Louis.
I blinked my eyes open to a thankfully dark room. I didn’t know if my gritty eyes could handle any kind of light. Louis was slumped over in a chair beside my bed…
Wait.
