Chapter 4
“And so that means Wren, too, is a pentamaleficus,” Celeste said.
But I’m untrained and half convinced it’s all a terrible mistake, I wanted to blurt out, but I swallowed the words and nodded instead.
My insecurities didn’t change reality, so there was no point in sharing them with the whole room.
The faces looking at me reflected a vast array of emotions, from fear to skepticism, and pity to awe.
I’d never wanted so badly to turn invisible, and frankly, given my supposedly impressive magical powers, it was insulting that I couldn’t simply do that.
“And have there been others?” Celeste was now asking, her voice barely audible over the blood rushing in my ears. “I mean, between Sarah and Wren? Have other witches been targeted by the Darkness?”
Ostara shook her head. “Pentamalefica are exceptionally rare. Sarah and Wren are the only documented ones since our covens settled in Sedgwick Cove.”
“I see,” Celeste said, looking thoughtful again. “So there has been very little opportunity, then, over the generations, for the Darkness to acquire the power it needs.”
“Yes, indeed,” Ostara replied.
“I see,” Celeste said, eyes unfocused as she synthesized everything she had learned.
“What about the Covenant?”
The question rang out sharply from the corner of the room where Catriona was standing with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “You’ve used magic, haven’t you, to bind the Darkness from the Geatgrima?”
“Yes,” Rhi said hoarsely, speaking for the first time. She cleared her throat nervously and continued. “It was the Vespers who cast the spell.”
“Can you tell us more about how it works?” Catriona asked, though it sounded less like a request and more like a demand. I could tell Ostara didn’t appreciate the change of tone, but Rhi didn’t seem to clock it. She merely nodded and obliged.
“It’s blood magic,” Rhi explained. “Three Vespers tie themselves to land, and then to the Source. You could think of it as a sort of force field around the Source, held in place both by the proximity of the witches casting it and the combined power of their magic.”
“Is there anything that can penetrate this force field—that is, that can break the spell?” Celeste asked.
Rhi nodded. “There are two ways to break it. The first is if one of the three witches severs ties with Sedgwick Cove by leaving, with no intention of returning.”
“And those three witches are—” Celeste prompted.
“My sisters and I,” Rhi said stoutly, pointing at my mom and Persi in turn.
“And one of them has left before,” Ostara said.
“To protect my child,” my mom shot back, straightening her posture and glaring at Ostara. “But I returned when my coven needed me, even though it puts my child in danger. We’ve made our choice. Sedgwick Cove is our home. We will not leave again.”
Ostara's eyes raked over my mother coldly, but she didn’t reply.
“And the second?” Celeste asked.
Rhi frowned. “Sorry?”
“You said there were two ways to break the spell,” Celeste reminded her.
“Oh! Right. The second is if one of the witches severs ties with her coven.”
“How does one sever ties with her coven?” Catriona asked, frowning. “Your covens are organized by bloodline, just like our clans, are they not?”
“Yes,” Rhi said.
“Those ties defy intention, don’t they? I mean, you can walk away from your coven, but that doesn’t negate your ties to it. It is, quite literally, in your blood, isn’t it?”
Rhi nodded. “You are quite right, of course. The bond will always be there, genetically. But there is very little that can withstand a witch’s true intention. If a witch were to betray her coven, the essence of the bond can be broken. That is what happened with Sarah Claire.”
Celeste turned her attention to Ostara again, asking silently for confirmation.
“It’s true,” Ostara said, drawing herself up regally and glaring around the room, as though defying anyone to contradict her.
“When Sarah Claire joined with the Darkness, in that very moment, she was no longer a part of our coven. Her death was not treated as the death of a Claire, but as the death of a stranger. We rebuked her, cast her out.”
“So what you’re saying,” Catriona cut in, “is that the Geatgrima is only safe as long as this… this child doesn’t rebel and cast off her coven, is that right?”
Everyone was staring at me—I could feel it—but I could not meet anyone’s eye.
I was too busy staring at the floor, wishing a great chasm would open in it, and swallow me up and spit out some other witch with these powers I never asked for—another witch who would have to face the Darkness and protect the Source and guard the Cove. Some other witch. Any other witch.
“Yes,” Ostara said, and her voice was cold. “It will be up to Wren to stay the course. Our safety is only as secure as her will is strong.”
I stood up suddenly, knocking a pillow to the ground. I felt like the walls of the room were pressing in on me, squeezing the air from my lungs, and my heart up into my throat.
“I… I can’t…” I gasped.
My mom half-rose. “Wren, honey…”
“Why the fuck would you say something like that to a kid!” Persi was shouting.
“I said it because it is true,” Ostara snapped. “Would you like to refute it?”
“Yeah, okay, but that doesn’t mean you have to—”
Everyone’s voices seemed to be coming from very far away, echoing and strange, like voices heard from underwater. My mom reached for my hand, but I yanked it out of her fingers.
“I need some air,” I managed to mumble.
“I’ll come with—”
“NO!” The word burst out of me much more loudly than I intended, but I couldn’t control it. I was desperate to be alone. “Just… just give me a minute, okay?”
And without meeting any of the eyes that I knew were boring into me, I stumbled to the doors of the library, threw them open, and ran down the hall. I’d nearly reached the front door when…
“Wren?”
The voice echoed from above, and I spun around to see Nova standing at the top of the staircase. I had no idea what expression was on my face, but she took one look at me and said, sharply, “Come upstairs.”
I have no idea why I obeyed, but I turned on my heel and started climbing the stairs.
Nova stood waiting for me, holding out a hand, which I took.
Then she turned without saying a word, dragged me down the long hallway, around the corner, and through the open door to her bedroom.
She deposited me on the bed, and then went back to the door to shut it.
Then she stood with her back pressed to it and asked, “What happened to you in there?”
I only shook my head. My voice wasn’t at my command yet, my breathing still unsteady.
“Come on, Wren. Something obviously happened. Was it something with those Durupinen people?”
“No, it wasn’t… they’re fine. They seem… nice. No it was… well, it was your mom, actually,” I said.
Nova’s expression barely even flickered. “Go figure. What did she do?”
“It was about the Covenant,” I said, taking a deep breath every few words to try to tamp down the panic I could feel roiling in my belly. “I thought it was… that it was unbreakable, as long as three Vesper witches stay in the Cove. But your mom said… well, she said that I could break it.”
Nova raised an eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt.
“She said that if I betrayed my coven, like Sarah did, then the Covenant would be broken, and the Source and all of Sedgwick Cove would be vulnerable again.”
Nova just stared at me for a moment. Then she walked slowly over to where I sat, and lowered herself onto the bed beside me. “So what?”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said, so what?” Nova asked.
“Is that… is that a real question?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I…” An incredulous laugh burst out of me, overwhelming my panic. “I… you can’t be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious. Do I look like I’m joking?” Nova asked. “Now answer the question: so what?”
“I have no idea how to answer that,” I said.
“Do you have plans to betray your coven?” Nova asked, in an irritatingly calm voice.
“What?! Of course not!” I cried.
“Then why does it matter what my odious mother says?” Nova asked.
“It’s… I don’t…”
“Wren, look. My mother trusts no one. Literally no one. Not me, not any other member of our coven, not a single resident of this town. In her eyes, each and every one of us is vulnerable to the same weakness as Sarah Claire; because if it could happen to a Claire, it could happen to anyone.”
I swallowed hard, waiting.
“In fact, I think she almost hopes that someone—and in this case, that someone specifically is you—will show the same weakness Sarah did, so that she can feel vindicated. Like, Sedgwick Cove might be destroyed, and the Source fall into the Darkness’ clutches, but hey, at least she can point and laugh and say, ‘See? It’s not just us! It’s the Vespers too!’”
Somewhere around my midsection, that awful knot of anxiety tightened. “But what if she’s right? What if I—”
“Wren, I haven’t known you that long, but in the short time I have, I’ve seen you put your life on the line twice to save your family and this town, a place you’ve barely been in for half a year. Do you seriously think you’d betray your family? Seriously?”
“Well, no, but—”
“But nothing.”
I tried again. “Nova, I really appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it’s just not that simple. What if the Darkness tricks me or… or manipulates me?”
“Isn’t that what it was trying to do that night on the beach?” Nova asked. “Because you didn’t fall for it then.”
“Okay, sure, but that was only one t—”
“Look, I don’t know what made Sarah Claire do what she did. I’m not sure anyone ever will. But I can tell you that she did it of her own volition. It was her choice. And do you know how I know it?”
I shook my head.
“Intention. Magic is all about intention. You know that by now, don’t you?”
I nodded. It was one of the first things any witch is taught, the basis for everything else, the foundation without which magic can’t even…
“Oh.” It was as though a lightbulb had gone on.