The Lies We Conjure: Chapter 27–Epilogue

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. glib
    marked by lack of intellectual depth
    “Yep,” Hex agrees, nearly glib, before downing the entirety of the scotch, grimacing as the burn hits.
  2. scion
    a descendent or heir
    “Hold up. Wait. You’re saying that your dad is the reason our dad was…”
    “Convicted of magically influencing the Hegemony scions and compelling them to attempt to bypass master relic security only to blow themselves up in the process?”
  3. spate
    a sudden forceful flow
    Twice, Evander’s lantern blows out from the leader’s position, and twice, I assume, he rekindles it with a spate of near instantaneous magic.
  4. volition
    the act of making a choice
    He presents the Heart of Cleopatra to Ada, who cradles it close, and leaves our circle under her own volition to stand by her father.
  5. fissure
    a long narrow depression in a surface
    Fissures spangle the terrace in the bobbing illumination of our lanterns.
  6. posit
    take as a given; assume as a postulate or axiom
    So many of the mystery books I’ve read, so many of the ones in this room, posit that a person is lying if they look away.
  7. palpable
    capable of being perceived
    Ruby’s beautiful face is now mottled with bloody ash and tears, her despair and desperation as palpable as the ley line beneath our feet.
  8. rumination
    a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
    Infinity cuts in, ignoring Ada’s ruminations.
  9. travesty
    a distorted, debased, or absurd imitation of something
    Here, where my grandmother died. Where my father died. Where my aunt and uncle died. Where this whole ten-year travesty was built, crested, broke.
  10. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
    Marsyas is completely nonplussed. “You’ll have your turn with him soon enough—with all of them soon enough.”
  11. machination
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    At first I find Winter, struggling with Infinity to offload Luna, attacking them with the full force of two relics through Marsyas’s machinations.
  12. melange
    a varied mixture or assortment of things
    Finally, Evander presses a hand to a mélange of pebbled dirt and cracked stone tiles in front of her.
  13. hawkish
    disposed to warfare or hard-line policies
    Her fingers sweep to the key on her choker, no longer obscured, and she glances into the fire as if our grandmother’s face will appear, haughty, hawkish, and full of opinions.
  14. cursory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
    Instead, it’s a blur of images too cursory to be of any use, as Winter produces a scroll from a hidden pocket in her peasant-cut dress.
  15. escrow
    an agreement delivering property or money to a third party
    “The same terms, though we have agreed to hold their master in escrow until they’ve made their decision. Though if they do accept, we will still hold their master relic for the next five years in accordance with the punishment of Lavinia and Kaysa Blackgate for their part in Marsyas’s plot to steal the master relics and High Sorcerer’s ring.”
Created on Thu Oct 15 20:33:36 EDT 2026 (updated Fri Oct 23 14:30:55 EDT 2026)

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