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But she wasn’t just looking.

She was reading me.

“What in God’s name happened to you?” she asked, her voice clipped.

I swallowed hard, my thoughts scrambling for an excuse, something that wouldn’t land me at the Unraveller’s feet. I can’t say I was in the woods. I can’t say I saw⁠—

“I—” I cleared my throat, forcing steel into it. “I went for a walk.”

Adeline’s brow lifted in quiet skepticism. “Through a damn storm?”

I blinked, and for the first time, I noticed the faint patter of rain against the windows, the damp chill clinging to my skin. Halfway here a fine mist of rain had started. I didn’t give it a second thought. I’d been too busy running for my life to notice.

I clenched my jaw. “Didn’t realize I needed permission.”

Her gaze didn’t waver. “Where were you, Lily?”

My pulse stuttered.

There was no teasing, no sarcastic edge. Just suspicion. And I had the sinking feeling that if I didn’t play this right, she’d see straight through me.

I forced myself to stand taller, to school my expression into something resembling indifference. But my hands were shaking. My breathing was still uneven. And Adeline saw it all.

She stepped forward, her shoes clicking against the floor. “You went for a walk?” she repeated.

I lifted my chin. “Yes.”

She hummed, eyeing the damp hem of my skirts, the wild tangle of my hair. Her hand shot forward, clamping around my wrist before I could flinch away.

“Hold still.”

She turned my arm, inspecting the fabric. Then rubbed two fingers across the sleeve. When she lifted them, mud and rainwater mottled her skin.

“Through the streets, was it?” she murmured. “Must’ve been quite the scenic route, given the state you’re in.”

My mouth went dry.

She took another step, forcing me to hold my ground. “You weren’t just out for a stroll.”

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, as if that could keep my secrets from spilling out. “Why do you care?”

Adeline tilted her head. “Because I know exactly where you were.”

The floor tilted beneath me.

No.

She couldn’t. She was just guessing, trying to shake me. That had to be it.

But then she said⁠—

“You were with the Weavers.”

The words struck like lightning, straight through my ribs. I couldn’t mask the way my body stiffened. And Adeline didn’t miss it.

A slow, knowing smirk pulled at the edges of her lips. “Ah,” she murmured. “There it is.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”