“I'm not Eleanor!” Eleanor screamed.
We all went still. Eleanor wasn't fighting Odin and Osamu but instead sat there with her head lifted imperiously and her eyes flashing with fury.
“I am Vivian Lake, Leader of the Elemental Family of Water,” Eleanor declared in Vivian's tone if not her voice. “Elaria Tanager, I have known you since you were a little girl. Your father calls you Ellie-phant and you've always envied your mother's wings. I tended to you when you fell in the courtyard and scraped your knee on your first visit here. I have loved you from that moment on and I would do absolutely anything for you. I crafted love spells for you twice—once to bring Gage to you and once to create love between you and King Verin. I am the Lady of the Lake!”
“Vivian?” I whispered in shock.
“That backstabbing bitch who you just let go was telling the truth, though she did it to deceive. Eleanor has been collaborating with me to craft the ultimate illusion potion. We tested it—for what I believed to be the first time—tonight, by taking each other's forms. If you would just pass me the recovery potion, right there, I will prove it. But I recommend that someone go after therealEleanor before she gets too far.”
The witches behind me shifted uncomfortably. Slate snarled and pushed past them, Cerberus, Verin, and my husbands hot on his heels.
“Check that potion, Glinda,” Odin ordered as he kept a firm hand on the possible-Vivian.
Glinda, her eyes wide, retrieved a bottle from Vivian's worktable and uncorked it. She took a sniff and nodded. “I recognize the scent; this is the recovery potion for illusion spells.” She held it out to Vivian.
Odin and Osamu warily released Vivian. She reached forward and took the antidote. With an annoyed grimace at the men, she took a sip. Eleanor's face faded and Vivian's rose to replace it as if surfacing from water. Her body thinned and lengthened a little and her hair paled into a shimmering waterfall that fell to her waist. I made a frustrated sound; I should have noticed that the woman I'd seen through the water had hair that was more golden than platinum. But in my defense, I'd been under a lot of pressure at the time—literally and figuratively.
“Vivian, I'm so sorry,” I said immediately.
Vivian opened her arms to me as she stood. I rushed forward into them.
“I'm glad you're okay, Elaria,” Vivian said softly. “And I forgive you, of course. It seems that we've all been played for fools.”
“Where did you go today?” Odin demanded. “You left the island just before Verin was taken. It was yet another piece of evidence against you.”
“I went back to Sabban.” Vivian grimaced as she stepped out of our hug. “I misplaced—or so I thought—my supply of nooten eyes and had to buy a new batch. But I imagine that was all a part of Eleanor's plan. It sounds as if she stole the nooten eyes—along with my keys to the house in Scotland, crafted the potion on her own—likely when we first came up with the recipe, and gave it to Scylla.”
“She waited for you to leave the island, then came after us,” I concluded. “I have to admit, as insane as her motives are, it was a brilliant plan.”
“Except for the part where she returned to Coven Cay and took the potion with Vivian,” Odin pointed out. “Eleanor must have known that we survived and were going to accuse Vivian of the crimes. So, why then come here and take on Vivian's appearance? She couldn't possibly know that Elaria would take one look at her face and put it all together.”
“She didn't,” Vivian huffed. “I think she came back to make sure that I was accused, but I ran into her in the corridor after I returned from Sabban and insisted that we finish the potion. I was excited to test it even though it was late. She tried to put me off but I'm a hard woman to say no to.”
“Ain't that the truth,” Odin grumbled.
“Um, shouldn't we be helping them catch Eleanor?” Glinda asked.
“She's gone,” the rest of us said together, then exchanged grim looks.
“I'm sure the guys will be back... ah, here they are.” I waved my hand at the returning group of grim-faced men. “No luck?”
“She escaped,” Slate snarled. “Did that water thing.”
“Sit down, guys,” I said gently. “We know who we're after now. We'll get her.”
“Vivian”—Verin inclined his head respectfully to her—“I'm relieved that it was not you.”
“Thank you, King Verin,” she said sweetly. “And I'm relieved that everyone knows that now.”
“So, the two of you switching places wasn't part of Eleanor's brilliant plan?” I got back to our conversation.
“Just luck.” Vivian shook her head. “Her good luck and our bad.”
“Her luck's about to change,” Slate growled as he pulled out his cellphone.
Chapter Forty-Seven
I offered to sing but witches have a procedure to follow when they hunt one of their own. The Leaders set to work crafting a spell using Eleanor's blood, which had been extracted from Vivian's leftover potion. It had taken three drops of blood from the target to activate the illusion potion. Vivian had only taken a sip of the potion to test it, instead of downing the full measure which would provide an effect that lasted weeks. So, they had Eleanor's blood and witches can do a lot with a person's blood—especially that of another witch.
