Chapter 10 #2
“You haven’t had half the slaps you’ve earned, Persephone Vesper, and that’s the truth,” came Lydian’s wheezy cackle. “Ostara, you should know better than to let her goad you like that, foolish girl. Too proud by half and not nearly as cool as you like to appear.”
Ostara’s nostrils flared, but she said nothing. Only a woman as old as Lydian could call Ostara Claire a “foolish girl” and make her feel like one.
“Let’s move on. I propose the book be examined under the most carefully controlled of magical conditions,” Xiomara said. “And I propose that the Vesper coven be a central part of that investigation. If we work together, we can ensure that everyone trusts the results.”
“A fine idea,” Davina said heartily, looking relieved that we’d finally arrived at a civilized discussion again.
“Ostara?” Xiomara asked, pointedly.
Ostara’s face was twisted, her mouth pinched up as she choked down what I was sure must have been a very bitter pill. But choke it down she did, and when she spoke, her face relaxed again into her usual haughty indifference. “As you say,” was all she would reply, but it was enough of a concession.
“In order for those conditions to be met, and to keep everyone safe in the process, we will need to remove the book from Lightkeep Cottage. I will not agree to this unless all the Vespers agree as well,” Xiomara went on.
Ostara’s posture stiffened again, but she didn’t argue. Persi stared right at her, her eyes glittering with suppressed glee.
“I agree,” Persi said, “as long as we are part of the investigation and, additionally, that we will be informed if the book is to be moved.”
“I also agree,” Rhi said quickly.
“And me,” my mom said.
Xiomara turned to me. “And what about you, Wren? Do you agree?”
I looked around the room, at every pair of eyes now fixed on me. My initial thought was that I didn’t understand why they were asking me. It wasn’t as though they were going to make this decision based on what a kid thought. But Xiomara noticed my hesitation.
“I did say all the Vespers, Wren. I hope you realize that means you as well. This book was delivered into your hands, mija, and your grandmother helped to place it there. We do not yet know what that means, but I believe it is important. Asteria was my friend, and I will honor her wishes wherever possible. Therefore, we will not make this decision without you.”
I looked around the Conclave—at Ostara’s impassive mask, at Davina’s encouraging nod, at Lydian’s wrinkled toothless smile, and Zadia’s stoic calm—and then back at Xiomara.
Asteria trusted these women. She trusted Sedgwick Cove and the community she had always had here.
If she needed help, these were the women she would have turned to.
So, I would trust Asteria and turn to them as well. Because more than ever, I needed help.
“Okay. I agree,” I said, “but I have a condition as well.”
There was what might have been a skeptical snort from the direction of Ostara, but I ignored it. This was important.
“And that condition is?” Xiomara asked.
“That if I get another message from Asteria, and that message concerns the book, we will act in accordance with it, even if that means removing it from whatever this protective setting is, even if it means bringing it back to Lightkeep and even—” here, I paused, taking a breath—“even if it means using the magic inside it.”
I could tell Ostara wanted to object. Every cell in her body seemed to have turned to stone, with the exception of her eyes, which were aglow with rapidly firing thoughts.
I knew there was a battle raging there, a weighing and measuring and considering and, yes, even scheming.
Finally, though, she made a movement that was part nod, part indifferent shrug.
“Very well,” she said coldly, “but know that if any harm comes to Sedgwick Cove at the hands of that book, I will be holding you personally responsible, and the consequences will be your own to bear. I wash my hands of it.”
Beside me, I felt my mother stiffen. Ostara was looking at me, not any of the other Vespers. I placed a hand lightly on top of my mom’s to prevent her from jumping in, and replied. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Oh, I think so, yes.” I tried to keep my voice as calm and unconcerned as possible, trying to channel some of Persi’s coolness even as my heart thundered in my own ears.
And I wasn’t lying. I felt recklessly right.
Not for the first time, I wondered if Xiomara could hear my thoughts, because her mouth curved into the ghost of a smirk as she looked at me.
“Very well. So mote it be,” Xiomara said. “We have much to discuss. Perhaps we can dismiss our officers here, unless…” she let the words trail off, demurring to the police. Maeve stepped forward.
“We’ll check in with the team still over by the theater and update you with any relevant information. We’ll be in touch tomorrow. We’ll have to arrange further questioning, for Wren and perhaps for the rest of the Vespers.”
I suddenly felt like I would pass out from exhaustion. I swayed a little in my seat.
“Wren, you need to go to bed,” my mother said at once.
“I want to know what gets decided. About the book.”
“We’ll tell you in the morning, I promise,” she said.
“You’ll tell me everything? No secrets? No omissions to protect me, or whatever?” I demanded.
She solemnly held her pinkie out to me. I locked mine around it, smiling.
“If she doesn’t, I will,” Persi added, winking at me.
While the Conclave began to discuss the details, my mom and I rose to walk the officers out. Rhi and Persi followed.
“What will happen to Jess?” I asked Maeve as she stepped out onto the porch.
“We’ll begin the process of finding her family so that we can notify them.
And of course we’ll be investigating how this happened, to make sure there was no foul play,” she said, smiling sympathetically.
Like all the women in Zale’s family, she was very tall and broad, and there was something reassuring about her calm, solid presence.
“In the meantime, we’ll hold the body until such time as we can release it. ”
I shivered. I’d seen the body—touched it, even—but it still made my skin crawl to think of Jess that way. The door closed, and Rhi exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for hours. Then she immediately turned and smacked Persi on the arm.
“Goddess above, Persi! What happened to our plan?” she hissed.
Persi rubbed her arm, looking defiant. “Just because we have a plan doesn’t mean the Conclave is going to agree to it! I had to hedge our bets!”
“By goading the head of the Conclave into an actual physical altercation?” my mom asked, though she looked more amused than anything. “You’re going to bruise, by the way.”
Persi tossed her hair in a careless shrug. “Nothing a bit of makeup and a light glamour won’t conceal. Anyway, it was worth it to watch her lose that legendary control.”
“And even more fun to threaten her with litigation,” my mom added, grinning now. It was weird to see her and Persi on the same page, but they were certainly enjoying the Vesper coven victory at the moment.
“You think it will be okay?” I asked. “Letting them take the book?”
“Yes,” Rhi said. “I trust Xiomara, at least, to arrange this as we discussed. And if Ostara decides to, well…” she paused here, searching for the right word.
“Go rogue?” my mom suggested.
“Yes, I suppose so. If Ostara… goes rogue, we’ve Bound the coven to the book. We won’t lose it again, that’s certain. We can be patient while the Conclave reassures itself.”
“I was proud of you in there, Wren,” my mom said, turning to me. “You really stood up for yourself.”
I shrugged, unsure of what to do with the compliment, because it didn’t feel true.
I hadn’t really meant to stand up for myself—I’d never been particularly great at that.
But I did feel like I needed to stand up for the Vesper coven.
For Asteria. I couldn’t let her down, not now, not when I knew she was trying so hard to reach me.
Voices rose in the next room, reminding us all that there was a conversation going on that we didn’t want to be left out of.
“Okay, off to bed,” my mom said, planting a swift kiss on the top of my head.
“And you’ll tell me everything tomorrow?” I reminded her. “Like… every single detail.”
“Yes, I promise,” she assured me.
I was still hesitating when Freya appeared beside me, winding herself around my legs once in a sinuous figure eight, before placing her front paws on the bottom step, and looking at me pointedly as though to say, “Coming?”
Her encouragement was the last little push I needed to give in.
I bid my aunts a sleepy good night and trudged my way up the stairs, following Freya’s twitching feather duster of a tail all the way to my room.
As much as I wanted to fall face first into my bed fully dressed, I dragged on a pair of pajamas and brushed my teeth first. As I pulled my glasses off and my room swam out of focus, I felt a cold breeze brush over my arm, raising a row of goosebumps and making me shiver.
I looked over at my window, but it wasn’t open.
“Huh.”
I was too tired to investigate further. I curled up under my blankets, Freya tucked in the crook of my legs, and fell immediately, deeply asleep.