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“She shares the same first name.” I shrug and glance around, but there aren’t very many friendly faces here. And a seed of doubt is planted. “She always went by Somnium. I don’t know anything different.”

Do I?

We left the coven when I was very young. For a while, we moved around every few weeks. We finally settled in our little cottage in Colorado, far removed from town. What were we running from? And could she have changed our name to hide us?

“When was the attack?” Dorthea asks.

“Two days ago.”

“Nonsense.” She shakes her head. “She’s been dead for nearly twenty years.”

I relax. “You have the wrong person, then. My mother is alive.” Pause. “Well, she was when I left her. And I need help to find her, to see if she’s okay⁠—”

“How old are you, child?” Dorthea asks.

I push my shoulders back and face her. “Twenty-four.”

Dorthea tilts her head. As one, she and Sybil rise and disappear down the hall. Amy stays seated in the corner, drilling me with a hard gaze. I almost expect my sleeve to catch on fire.

I draw one leg up and wrap my arms around it, and we wait in silence for them to return. I strain to hear anything, but there must be more protections on the house. No sound travels into the room. No creaking floorboards over our heads, no voices. Just a ticking clock on the wall, marking each second that passes.

Finally, Sybil and Dorthea return. They both stop in front of me.

“There’s a simple way to find out if you’re telling the truth,” Dorthea says.

I narrow my eyes.

“Let Sybil do a reading.”

My mother has given me readings before. She wanted to teach me to defend my mind against others, so she used… extreme measures. All the while insisting that this was for my own good. That if I could keep her out, I could keep anyone out. It doesn’t require much magic, just strength of mind.

She wanted to ensure that my thoughts and memories remained my own.

Even though I don’t think I ever quite succeeded at shutting her out entirely, I was able to keep some secrets. Like the chocolate I snuck into my room, or my first kiss… Nothing big. Nothing life changing.

I have a feeling my future and hers both rest on this moment. And my failures aside, I find myself nodding. Agreeing. I don’t possess any magic to connect with Spirit. I don’t have the power to see into the past or the future. I can barely scry for the present.

Sybil, though…

Time to negotiate. I straighten and meet Sybil’s gaze. “If you do a reading that satisfies your questions of my lineage, I want your help finding her.”

Sybil’s gaze is fixed on me, her blue eyes almost brightening with the intensity. “Deal.”

We shake on it.

Lightning flashes outside. A split second later, there’s a clap of thunder over our heads. The sound shakes the house.

Sybil raises her attention to the ceiling, and she smiles faintly. “I love signs like that. The universe loves to move in mysterious ways.”

Dorthea and Amy rearrange the front room. They shove two chairs into the center of the space, facing each other, and the rest get moved away. They turn off all the lights except a lone lamp between us.

Sybil gestures for me to sit. Goosebumps rise on my arms, but it’s too late to back down. I grit my teeth and try not to let my fear override my control. She could be more powerful than my mother, and she’ll get through my limited barriers. Into the things I don’t want her to see. Or she’ll take my memories and twist them—or take them away. Put me into a stupor and drain my power.

Improbable ideas, but fears nonetheless.

I don’t have much power to give. My mother ensured I was guarded in other ways. Better ways. It didn’t always work, but she tried. I tried.

Sybil holds out her hands.