The Lies We Conjure: Chapters 5–12

by Sarah Henning
Sisters Ruby and Wren accept a lucrative offer to impersonate an old woman's grandchildren at a dinner party. But when the hostess dies, the gates lock, and every other guest is a witch, Ruby and Wren wonder if they will escape alive.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–12, Chapters 13–18, Chapters 19–26, Chapter 27–Epilogue
15 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    She certainly wouldn’t have apologized or tried to make me laugh.
    Too sanctimonious. Too snobbish.
  2. inane
    devoid of intelligence
    That’s a loaded question considering what happened on these grounds the last time she was here, and because I’m a nicer person than her younger self ever gave me credit for, I skip the worst and go for the most inane.
  3. gazpacho
    a cold soup made with tomatoes
    We lose several moments to the delivery of our soup course—a delicate watermelon gazpacho studded with fragrant sprigs of mint.
  4. malaise
    a feeling of mild sickness or depression
    “So you claim. But you can’t deny the general sense of malaise hovering over the building.”
  5. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    I let go of the desk and straighten, my expression immediately impassive—the picture-perfect Hegemony.
  6. consolidation
    the act of combining into an integral whole
    The consolidation of the masters and control of the lines have been under Hegemony aegis since Mercy Abigail Hegemony—neé Hedgewidge—saved the Four Lines from both the witch hysteria of the 1690s and the power-hungry designs of Napoleon Demont Cerise, who tried and failed to destroy all types of witches but his own.
  7. aegis
    kindly endorsement and guidance
    The consolidation of the masters and control of the lines have been under Hegemony aegis since Mercy Abigail Hegemony—neé Hedgewidge—saved the Four Lines from both the witch hysteria of the 1690s and the power-hungry designs of Napoleon Demont Cerise, who tried and failed to destroy all types of witches but his own.
  8. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
    “Hector makes a fine point about the independent investigator. We don’t have one. And while I appreciate your budding leadership acumen, Evander, what if Ursula’s murderer is a Hegemony?”
  9. gothic
    characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque
    It’s striking and completely at odds with the gothic noir of the exterior.
  10. gumption
    fortitude and determination
    My gut lurches, and I again fight the urge to lose the meager contents of my stomach along with my gumption because it’s clear now that we can’t go out, we can’t stay in, and they’ll be on us in—
  11. litany
    any long and tedious address or recital
    There was nothing in Ursula’s litany of rules that said they couldn’t use magic against two would-be escapees, only against each other during the search for the masters and the murder investigation.
  12. stilted
    stiff and strained; lacking natural ease
    “You’ll heal me?” I confirm, finding my voice, as rough and stilted as it is.
  13. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
    The inked lines aren’t labeled, but Hex seems to have gotten my memo about haste and doesn’t bother to dither or explain as he slices the length of the first line with the thorn point.
  14. literally
    without exaggeration
    Making a left-field comparison to poetry is something I would do in literally any other situation.
  15. smattering
    a small number or amount
    It’s practically my secondary aim in life given I’d been named after a smattering of Callum Hegemony’s favorite poets.
Created on Thu Oct 15 20:31:18 EDT 2026 (updated Fri Oct 23 13:29:35 EDT 2026)

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