"And you began failing it the moment you woke up in your sister's wedding gown…"
Jocelynn's throat tightened. She could still feel the weight of the pearls around her neck and the heat of the ash-tree mark burning on her hip at the start of that nightmarish vision.
"That's not fair," she said. "You never told me how to pass that test. You never told me anything!"
"I was fair," the Olive Seed said, and for the first time, its voice took on an edge. "I was more than fair, Jocelynn. I offered you two different ways to pass the test. Most witches would only get one, but Ashlynn fed me her love for you. Because I love you, I gave you another way to pass."
"You love me?" Jocelynn's voice rose as she stared incredulously at the Olive Seed. "You killed me! Over and over again, you let them kill me!"
"And I healed you," the Olive Seed replied. "Every single time."
"It hurt!" Jocelynn shouted.
