Chapter 774
That couldn't be happening!
Eleanor would never question her dark arts. She'd used them successfully against Isabella before. How could her Heartbound Hex possibly fail on Nathaniel?
Eleanor gripped Isabella's shoulders. "You're mistaken. Once cast, the Heartbound Hex doesn't just vanish. Its power doesn't dissipate so easily."
Isabella shook her head violently. "But it did! Nathaniel was with Harrison again!"
Eleanor's mind whirled, searching for where she'd gone wrong. Then movement caught her eye.
The doorway framed five figures.
Nathaniel stood tall beside Harrison, with Rosalind hovering behind them.
But what froze Eleanor's blood was seeing Henry Lancaster and Isabella's biological mother standing there too.
The entire truth squad had arrived.
Eleanor's nails dug into her palms. She couldn't let this exposure happen.
Henry still didn't know about her Frostholm witchcraft.
She turned to Isabella with forced calm. "You seem unwell. Perhaps we should continue this discussion later?"
Her eyes flashed a warning, but Isabella—facing away from the door—missed both the look and their audience.
"Later?" Isabella shrieked, grabbing Eleanor's wrists. "We're settling this now! Why did your hex fail on Nathaniel?"
Eleanor's composure cracked. This foolish girl was unraveling everything!
"You're distraught over Mr. Lancaster," Eleanor said loudly. "But love can't be forced—"
"Don't play dumb!" Isabella shouted. "You hexed Nathaniel for me! The Heartbound Hex!"
"Enough!" Eleanor snapped. "I don't know what you're—"
"The hex you learned in Frostholm! Just like the curse you placed on Isabella that nearly killed her during—"
"Silence!" Eleanor's scream echoed off the walls.
Isabella recoiled at the venom in Eleanor's voice.
Then the door crashed open.
Henry Lancaster's voice cut through the room like winter wind. "Let. Her. Speak."
Isabella whirled around. The color drained from her face as she registered the gathered witnesses.
She stood frozen, a deer in hunting sights.
The reckoning had arrived.