Chapter l347

Chapter 0347

But first, I had to make her safe.

That evening, I joined Veronica, Nicholas, and Julian in Julian’s private rooms, where we continued to talk about how to trap Jane.

“I’ve been thinking,” Veronica said. “It is possible, if you want, to fight fire with fire,”

“I like fire,” Julian sald.

I ignored him. “What do you mean, Veronica?”

“We could curse her, as she cursed Elva,” she said.

I blinked, startled. “You know how to do that?”

“I’ve never done it before, but I was trained,” Veronica said. There was no infliction in her voice, but she did lower her gaze as she spoke, looking down at the floor. “I’m confident I could curse her well enough for our purposes.”

Julian looked at me. Beside me, Nicholas crossed his arms. I leaned into him a little,

“It’s something to consider, anyway,” Julian said, “She started it. Why shouldn’t we use her tactics against her? She lost her right to decency the moment she targeted Elva.”

The words held truth, but something held me back yet. Jane was more monster than person now, but… did that mean it was okay to stoop to her level?

I looked at Veronica. She stood very still, but that wasn’t unusual.

She saw me watching. “Do not hold back on my account. I have no qualms against doing what is necessary. In fact, I might enjoy using their training against them.”

I believed that to an extent. But… to cast her curse against Elva, Jane had to sacrifice something dear to her. Would whatever Veronica sacrificed be worth it to curse Jane?

The rest of us would be sacrificing something too: our humanity. We’d become monsters, just like Jane.

“We can’t do it,” I said.

“Why not?” Julian asked.

Beside me, Nicholas continued to be silent, like he was letting this all unfold. Maybe he was leaving the choice to me. Maybe he’d go along with whatever I wanted. I felt his silent support

in his closeness.

“We are not the same as her,” I said. “And we will not become like her just to catch her.”

“But if it helps Elva –” Julian argued.

+15 BONUS

“Would it help Elva? How would she feel, when she grows up and learns the truth? To learn what we did to her mother?” I asked.

“She’d understand,” Julian said.

I didn’t know if I believed that, but regardless it was a gamble I wasn’t willing to take.

“We catch her, and we do what we need to do then,” Nicholas said at last. “But we do not curse her. Piper’s right. We are not going to lower ourselves to commit torture.”

Julian snorted.

“Do you have something else to say, Julian?” Nicholas glared at his brother.

11

Julian stood up like he was ready to fight, but one look at me, and my pleading face, and he swallowed his words and sat back down. “Forget it.”

Veronica nodded. She didn’t seem bothered by the choice, nor did she seem pleased. She was impassive as ever. Then, Veronica and Julian shared a subtle glance.

I watched it happen, but I had no idea what it meant, or even if it meant anything.

It was over too soon for me to call it out. They could easily deny it.

So long as the two weren’t planning on cursing anyone, I supposed it wasn’t a big deal if they shared a moment of displeasure against me.

Nicholas held out his arm for me. “Come on, Piper. I’ll walk you back to your room.”

Julian stood up again. This time, he didn’t hold his tongue.

“No,” he snapped. “That’s not going to happen.”