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She paused, freezing as she raised her eyes to meet mine. "Okay?"

"If you say she wouldn't hurt you, then I believe you. As long as she makes you happy, that's all I can hope for in the end, isn't it? I think that our history isn't as black and white as we've been made to believe. It stands to reason that Vessels and witches wouldn't be either. And if she ever does hurt you, she knows I'll make her regret it. Don't you, Juliet?" I asked, not bothering to raise my voice for the Vessel eavesdropping.

"It would be nothing less than I deserve, Consort," Juliet called back, and Della smiled as she leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder.

Jonathan jumped down in all the shuffling, reaching beneath the couch with a stretching paw. He swatted around a single white feather, following it as it fluttered across the floor.

I watched him play, held captive by the iridescent mix of colors that played on the feather in the light.

Nova stood from the couch and distracted me, moving to sit on the coffee table in front of me. She perched there, staring at me and waiting for me to crack in that silent, watchful way she does. It wasn't often that she was highly vocal, instead preferring to keep quiet like a calm summer breeze. "What happened?" she asked, reaching out a hand to touch the bones around my neck.

She recoiled back as she felt the magic in them, her brow furrowing as she took in the black clothes. She'd probably thought nothing of them since I'd always preferred black to the greens of my uniform, though I watched the information dance in her head anyway.

"You're a Hecate," she said, her chest sagging with the realization.

Della went still at my side, and I felt her gaze probing into the side of my face. I nodded, not daring to utter the words. I'd assumed everyone would know the truth by now, that what had happened in the Tribunal room would have been shared in-depth with the Coven.

"Did you know?" Della asked. Her voice had hardened, a symptom of the secret I'd kept from them. We hadn't been close enough to disclose truths that would require them to go against the Covenant, however guilt still ate away at me. I'd come here to strip away everything they knew and loved.

"I knew. I came here to find the bones," I said, watching as she leaned back on the couch. Her shock was palpable, ringing between us with the bitter taste of betrayal.

"I don't understand," Margot said, her voice uncertain. "You're aGreen. We've all seen it."

"My mother was a Madizza. My father was a Hecate who never made The Choice," I answered, letting that confession hang between us.

Was.

Because Charlotte had killed him for what he'd done to me.

"Wow," Margot said, her breathy voice echoing everything I felt from the others.

"Did you know? What he intended to do? Is that why you were practically attached at the hip the moment you arrived?" Nova asked. There was a tinge of anger in her voice, but more than that was disbelief. They didn't want to think me capable of such a thing.

"I swear I didn't know. He used me. Made me think he didn’t know who I was, and let me believe I was looking for the bones of my own accord, even though he wanted me to find them. He wanted me to use them since he needed me to open the seal. I had no idea he was killing the witches. Please believe me," I said, unable to fathom what my life here would look like if three of the people who knew me the best didn't even trust me.

I’d be completely, entirely alone, and in the wake of losing Ash all over again, I couldn’t bear it.

"Okay," Della said, echoing the word I'd given her earlier.

I turned to her, watching as she processed the information and worked to connect the dots. "What?"

"If you say you didn't know, then I believe you," she said, sinking into my side. She felt the hitch in my breath, wrapping an arm around my back to rub soothing circles against the fabric of my shirt.

"I believe you," Margot said, mirroring Della's posture on my other side.

A strangled sob clawed its way up my throat, forcing me to swallow it back and shove down the emotion threatening to consume me. I couldn't give in, couldn't let the tears start.

I suspected once they did, I would never be able to stop.

Nova leaned forward, taking my hands in hers and rubbing the backs of them. "It's okay to break," she said, watching me fight it.

"We'll be here to help put you back together," Margot said, cracking my wall open. I pinched my eyes closed as the tears came endlessly, making my whole head throb with the pain of it. My hands turned, gripping Nova's as my rage manifested into tears.

"I feel so fucking stupid," I mumbled, shaking my head from side to side. I couldn't believe I'd fallen for his lies, thinking I was so fucking smart.

"You're not stupid. You were manipulated by the master of them," Della said, her voice heavy at my side.

Nova caught my chin with a thumb, forcing me to meet her gray eyes. Her anger was tangible, even if it wasn't directed at me. No, it was all forhim.