Epilogue #2
“Come with me,” the woman said, and led Mary through hallways hung with tapestries and torches, through a great hall and then out into a courtyard, at the center of which stood a very familiar-looking archway.
“I can’t believe it,” Mary whispered. “It’s the same. It’s exactly the same.”
“They stand all over the world, and it is our job to protect them,” the woman said. “But I admit, the threat you speak of is… disturbing. This Darkness… what is its origin? Its nature?”
“As to that, I cannot truly say. It is not human, nor do I think it ever has been. It is powerful. And it feeds on the power of the Cove, and the power, it seems, has its source in the archway. I do not think the Darkness will ever rest until it can consume it completely.”
“We have no magic to combat such a being. It is unknown to our lore and our Castings,” the woman said, frowning. “And you are sure your magic can fend it off?”
“It has been Bound from the deep magic. It is powerful blood magic. I believe the Source will be safe,” Mary said. “Safe from the Darkness, that is. I fear what human greed can do.”
The woman smiled, a wise and knowing smile. “Yes, we must always protect against our own worst natures, mustn’t we? So it is not the Darkness you fear?”
“Certainly I fear it,” Mary said. “But it seems the Darkness needs a human servant to carry out his machinations. I do not want to hand that servant to him. Therefore, I ask that you take this book, hide it, and protect it. It contains the magic that any servant of the Darkness would require to assist him.”
“Does this magic not exist in the spellbooks of others of your kind?”
“No. This grimoire is… it is unique in its power and in the way the magic comes to its pages. I risk my own coven by speaking more plainly. But I beg that you take me at my word. We both want to protect the same thing, do we not, even though it be for different reasons?”
The woman’s expression softened. In that moment, I knew that she trusted what Mary had told her.
“You hand me the key to immense power in surrendering this book,” the woman said. “That speaks of great humbleness. Even I, unschooled in your ways, can sense the magic you possess. Why do you not seek this power for yourself?”
“The Vespers do not abuse our power,” Mary said sharply.
“But I can no longer trust the other covens in our village. I wish to remove the temptation, for all our safety, and for the preservation of the deep magic. Please. I think it will only be safe with those who understand the nature of the Source, and who are already sworn to protect it.”
She held the book out to the woman, and the woman took it into her hands.
“We will guard it carefully,” the woman promised, “and return it only to a Vesper.”
“No living Vesper will seek it,” Mary said, “for I shall take this secret to my grave. Only a Vesper from beyond the grave will ever seek to retrieve it, and if that is the case, you can be sure she has been sent by me, and that the book is needed to protect the Source.”
“An alliance between witches and Durupinen,” the woman said, shaking her head incredulously. “I never would have believed it. But then again, what are we all, but women persecuted for our power? Perhaps an alliance was long overdue.”
“Perhaps,” Mary agreed.
I emerged from the memories as from deep water, gasping for air and shivering with bone-deep cold. Asteria still sat beside me, smiling gently.
“Mary was the one who hid the book,” I said. “She… she gave it to the Durupinen. But why didn’t they protect it, like they said?”
“They did try,” Asteria said. “But they encountered their own enemies and shifts of power through the centuries. The book was never lost completely, but its significance and origin was lost to time.”
“But it still came to our aid when we needed it,” I said in wonder. “Somehow it found its way back.”
“It certainly did,” she agreed. “Perhaps that, too, is part of its magic.”
We sat for a few moments in the quiet of the garden.
“Will I still be able to talk to you?” I asked her.
“Not quite like this,” Asteria said. “But once I Cross, I will become one of your spirit guides, my little bird. You can always reach out to me, and I will always be listening. Just like the flame that guided you to Jess that night at the Shadow Tree, all the Vespers will be here to light your path.”
“I wondered if that was you.”
“It will always be me, little bird.”
I had to blink tears from my eyes so that I could see her clearly. “I’m obviously not happy any of this happened—Bernadette, and Sarah and everything the spirits went through, especially you—but I am glad I got to sit and talk with you one last time. Like this.”
Her smirk of a smile broadened. “A silver lining, indeed.”
The next day when I came downstairs, it was to find Jess waiting on the couch for me, her things all packed up on the floor beside her.
“Hey. I wanted to make sure I said goodbye, but I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You’re leaving already?” I asked, with a sinking feeling.
“Yeah. I’ve got some serious paperwork waiting for me back at Fairhaven. This whole adventure was… not exactly as advertised,” she said, smirking.
I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess we did kind of turn a simple delivery job into a struggle over immortal souls.”
Jess shrugged. “It happens more often than you’d think. To me, anyway.”
“Do you really think the Source—I mean, the Geatgrima, is healed?” I asked.
“I am definitely going to send some people around to double check my assessment, but from everything I can observe, yes. That Geatgrima is now in perfect working order.”
“You mean other Durupinen will be coming here?” I asked, perking up.
“Yes, I expect so. But this time we’re going to have my people call your people, so to speak, and go through the official channels. That means my Council and your Conclave will have to butt heads and figure it out.”
“Does that mean your Council will explain how you seemingly came back to life? Because I don’t think I would do a very good job.”
Jess laughed. “Don’t worry, they’ll take care of it.
The Council has gotten very adept at cleaning up my messes.
And this way, with everything out in the open, we can work together without all the subterfuge.
I don’t think either of our orbits would be happy if we went rogue again, do you? ” she asked.
“Probably not. But speaking of witches and Durupinen butting heads, Asteria showed me something last night that answers a lot of questions.”
And without further ado, I explained the vision Asteria had brought to me, and watched as Jess’ expression grew more and more astonished.
“You mean to say the witches of Sedgwick Cove and the Durupinen of Fairhaven have been working together for centuries and we just… forgot?!” she gasped.
I shrugged. “A lot can happen in four hundred years, I guess. The connection got broken somehow. Anyway, it explains why the grimoire took so long to resurface.”
“Well, I never thought I’d be grateful those apprentices messed with witchcraft, but now I guess I am. I’m not sure I would have been able to help Asteria otherwise,” Jess said with a bewildered shrug.
“About that,” I said. “I’ve been wondering. You said the apprentices were trying to take a Geatgrima’s power for their own. But aren’t you already connected to the Gateways? What more power could they have been looking for?”
Jess opened her mouth, and then closed it again. “That’s going to have to be a story for another day, Vesper. I could stay here another month and still not have the time to explain that whole situation.”
She stood up, and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“I’m not a big one for mushy goodbyes,” she said. “And besides, I’ll see you again soon. You owe me a trip to Fairhaven, remember?”
“I’ve never been out of the country before,” I said. “I’ll have to get a passport!”
“And brush up on those spirit witch skills,” Jess said with mock sternness. “There’ll be a test on all the castle ghosts before you leave.”
I felt my smile slip off my face. “Thanks, Jess. Seriously. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Jess gave me a brusque one-armed hug. “I know you’ve still got this whole Darkness thing hanging over your head. I know a little something about being born into a role you want no part of. But I’ve seen you in action, kid. That Darkness doesn’t stand a chance.”
I couldn’t be so confident, but I still felt a little of the weight lift from my heart at Jess’ words.
A knock sounded on the door, and I got up to answer it. Bea was standing on the porch, her expression eager.
“Is she still here?” she asked, peeking around the doorframe.
I laughed. “You just caught her. Come on in, Bea.”
I noticed as Bea passed, she had her sketchbook in her hand. “Hey, I wanted to ask you. Since we fixed things last night, have you noticed anything at all with your—”
Bea cut me off by holding up her sketchbook so I could see her latest. There knelt Xiomara at her boveda, head bent, a candle burning by her elbow.
The space around her was crowded with figures, fainter and less defined, but still very much present, one of them with a hand placed lovingly on Xiomara’s shoulder.
I looked up from the sketch and felt the smile break over my face. “Well, I guess that answers that!”
Bea nodded, and then plopped down on the sofa beside Jess, who put an arm around her shoulders and smiled.
“I’m glad you stopped by,” Jess said. “I couldn’t have left Sedgwick Cove without thanking you.”
Bea looked slightly startled. “Me? Why would you need to thank me?”
“Are you kidding?” Jess asked. “You answered my call for help. You ensured I got my body back. I owe you my life, Beatriz Marin. That means I’m in your debt. So if this spirit gift of yours ever gives you any trouble, you know who to call, okay?”
Bea flushed, grinning broadly. “Okay.”
Jess sighed and rose to her feet. “Well, I’d better get going. Your mom recommended I escape before the Conclave descends, and I’m gonna take her advice.”
“Wait!” Bea said. “I’m not just here to say goodbye. I have a message for you!”
Jess frowned. “For me?”
But Bea was already flipping through her sketchbook to another page, which she then turned and displayed to Jess, whose mouth fell open.
On the page was a sketch of a young Asian man with high cheekbones and a sarcastic smirk. His hair swept dramatically over his forehead, and his eyes sparkled with an untold joke.
“He told me to tell you that he knows he can reach you himself, but he’s not going to because the two of you are in a fight.”
Jess blinked. “We are?”
“Yes, because you didn’t let him pack your fall looks for foliage season in New England, and he says you probably looked like a hibernating goth the whole trip, which offends him,” Bea announced.
Jess shook her head in exasperation. “That tracks. Thanks, Bea.”
Bea shrugged. “You’re welcome. And if it makes you feel any better, I think your clothes are cool.”
“It does, kinda, yeah,” Jess laughed.
And with that, Bea skipped off to the kitchen, following the smell of the cake Rhi had just taken out of the oven.
That evening, feeling restless, I went out onto the porch to look at the stars. There had been a solar flare, and people were saying we might be able to see the aurora borealis in New England. But instead of a light show, I found Persi sitting out on the steps.
“Oh, sorry,” I mumbled, turning to head back inside.
“No, it’s okay, Wren. I think for the first time today, I could do with some company.”
Being alone with Persi instantly made me anxious, but I sat down beside her. She was looking up at the sky, and there was an unwrapped parcel in her lap. Among the pile of brown paper and string was a beautifully carved driftwood bird, its wings stretched wide in flight.
“That’s pretty,” I said, pointing to it.
She looked down at it as though she’d forgotten it was there. “Yeah, it is,” she sighed. “Leila Nightjar made it for me.”
“She seems… nice,” I ventured.
Persi managed a small smile. “Yes, I’m sure she is. Persistent, too, which I admire, even if it is driving me mad at the moment.”
I had vague ideas of something encouraging to say about new beginnings and giving people a chance, but I didn’t have the courage to speak them out loud, so I swallowed them instead.
“I’ll be fine, you know,” Persi said, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. “Everyone’s treating me like I’m made of glass right now, but it’s not necessary.”
“Sure,” I said.
“It’s not like we were still… I mean, it had been a long time since… anyway, I’ll be fine.”
She had brought Bernadette up. It felt like the only chance I might get to say what I wanted to say, so I took it.
“Bernadette could have slipped away quietly, but she didn’t,” I said, and paused, so that Persi could tell me to shut up, if she wanted to.
When she didn’t, I went on, “She hung on. She fought. And when her body gave out, she still stayed, just so she could fix not only what she’d broken, but what Sarah had broken as well,” I said.
“That’s quite a legacy, in the end. I’m sure Ostara must be proud. ”
“I don’t care what Ostara thinks,” Persi said fiercely.
“You must be proud, too,” I said quietly.
Persi pierced me with an arrested look. Then she sighed.
“I am proud. But then, I was always proud of her. I hope she knew that.”
We sat together in silence then, gazing out over the stars as they winked into view one by one, until the sky was peppered with them, and the water sparkled with their reflected light.
Sedgwick Cove lay under those stars as it had for hundreds of years, as it would for generations to come, a haven for families like mine to live without fear.
And I would do all I could to make sure of that, whatever may come.