The Lies We Conjure: Chapters 19–26

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
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. demeanor
    the way a person behaves toward other people
    The air around both of them appears to still, matching Wren’s demeanor.
  2. glom
    latch or seize upon; take hold of
    I want to will myself to draw on it, copy it, glom on to it.
  3. about-face
    the act of pivoting 180 degrees
    Winter hits the end of the room by the fire and makes an about-face, pinching the bridge of her nose as if this is giving her a headache.
  4. debonair
    having a sophisticated charm
    This is not the debonair family man we’ve seen.
  5. underscore
    give extra weight to
    “My training was always underscored in written examples, journal entries, maps, documents, ledgers. Ursula had a mind like a steel trap but kept notes that were set in stone...."
  6. viscous
    having a relatively high resistance to flow
    Nausea crashes like lightning in the darkness of my mind as my life element flows out into the wound still spewing viscous, deep blood.
  7. catatonic
    characterized by unresponsiveness or lack of movement
    Though my life element has rebalanced enough that I’m no longer catatonic, it hasn’t refilled.
  8. pithy
    concise and full of meaning
    Whatever pithy, flirty, grumpy response Evander had at the ready goes unheard, cut off by the long, desperate howl of a scream from inside Hegemony Manor.
  9. audacity
    aggressive or outright boldness
    The patriarch has the audacity to smile, as if that will suffice in muting his single-mindedness.
  10. assuage
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    Infinity is nodding, but Hector is not assuaged, digging deeper, despite how petty it may seem as we stand here in the echo of Infinity’s loss.
  11. abscond
    run away, often taking something or somebody along
    Evander absconded to the secondary bath to clean up his bloodied mess of a torso, insisting that myself—and, therefore, Wren—use the larger bathroom to wash off the blood and change.
  12. visceral
    coming from deep inward feelings rather than from reasoning
    I glance away from the reminder of the attack and force a deep inhale, only to be hit with the mingling scent of old-fashioned cold cream and dying roses, weeping from a vase on the vanity. A visceral reminder that we’re in a space that once belonged to a woman who wasn’t just a matriarch, a High Sorcerer, but a human being.
  13. tenuous
    lacking substance or significance
    “Seems tenuous considering there’s a whole new dead body in the mix. I think we’re going to need more than that.”
  14. cathartic
    emotionally purging
    It was supposed to be a cathartic night of dinner and discussion and hearts bared raw.
  15. unmitigated
    not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity
    Her brother is sallow and rumpled, his hair an unmitigated mess, bruises beneath his eyes.
Created on Thu Oct 15 20:33:04 EDT 2026 (updated Fri Oct 23 14:16:14 EDT 2026)

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