She exhaled, shuddering, relishing these few moments of warmth. An island in the cold ocean of her life.
“Arthur. You’re the only one who could ever truly hurt me.”
Chapter 1 - Dani
Ten years later
Salem’s morning air always held the faintest whisper of salt. Even after ten years, Dani found herself pausing sometimes just to breathe it in, the difference between Alaska’s sharp, freezing bite and this gentler Atlantic breeze forever startling her. Sometimes it felt like proof she’d escaped. Other times, it was just a constant reminder of her past.
Right now, though, the only thing she felt was heat.
Too much of it.
“Careful,” Edith said from behind her, not unkind, but firm. “The potion needs a simmer, not a volcanic eruption.”
“Iamtrying,” Dani muttered, her teeth clenched as she held her hands over the copper cauldron. Heat rippled out from her palms in visible waves, warming the air, the shelves, the stone walls. Everything except the stupid potion.
It stayed stubbornly lukewarm.
Dani pushed more magic into her fingertips. The air grew hotter. Sweat prickled down her spine. The cauldron began to glow.
The potion did not.
A bead of sweat slid down her temple. “Why is this so much harder than shaping flames? Firebirds, I can do. Heating up tea? Impossible.”
“You’re not heating tea,” Edith said dryly. “You’re tempering a healing draught. If you scorch it even slightly, it’llcurdle and explode. And you’ll have to scrub it off the ceiling again, dear.”
“I only did that twice.”
“Five times.”
“…Three,” Dani insisted.
Edith raised one eyebrow over her spectacles. Dani knew for a fact she only wore them to help sell the image of a little old lady to the human population.
Never mind the fact that she had been playing the little old lady for nearly fifty years now. Dani’s own aging had slowed, though it would likely be years before she’d actually be able to tell. Witches could live up to three hundred years if they so chose.
She’d never been brave enough to ask Edith her real age.
Dani sucked in a breath, wilting slightly under Edith’s stern gaze. “Fine. Five times.”
Edith chuckled, coming to stand beside her. “You’re pushing too much energy outward. You came into magic late, Dani, and somewhat…uncommonly. These things are all tied together. Childbirth is one big explosion of force, and sincethatwas the thing to finally trigger your powers, it makes sense that they’ve kept that same…explosiveness. You’ve got the power, and youwillmaster control in time.”
“I don’t feel powerful,” Dani muttered.
“You are. Just not as experienced. And there’s no shame in that.”
Dani held her breath, willing her frustration to settle. Only her emotions got in her way, flaring hot, twisting fire around her like a second skin. She could shape flames intoanimals, hunt down embers, even light a hearth with a flick of her fingers.
But maintain control?
She still hadn’t grasped it. And what use were any of those powers if she could only keep a handle on them for a few seconds?
Edith gently touched her elbow. “Try again. Slowly this time. Breathe.”
Dani closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, only to exhale when she heard footsteps approaching at a jog.
“Mom?”
