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“It is. It’s actually pretty smart. They control exactly how much is in the supply—just enough to make low magic possible, not nearly enough to use high magic. They’ve all but ensured that high magic is eradicated.”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
He sighs. “You know who it is.”
I shake my head, back and forth and back and forth. This can’t be true. It can’t be. “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that the head of the council—my mother—has a private garden of moonflowers that she puts in our water supply to keep our magic going and that she has purposefully lied to our coven about it so dark magic is never used again.”
“It didn’t start with your mother, of course. But yes, as far as we know, it gets distilled into an oil that is added to the island’s drinking water. Moonflower is most potent in its natural form, which is why oil is used instead.”
I think back to every time I’ve practiced dark magic with Wolfe, and sure enough, he always presented me with a moonflower before we began. My whole body starts to shake, as if I can’t carry the weight of a lie this big, this sweeping. I’m overwhelmed by it, and my eyes burn and my throat aches as I try to keep it together in front of Wolfe.
What an incredible lie.
I put my head in my hands, not wanting Wolfe to see my undoing. I couldn’t make the pieces fit when I thought my mother didn’t know the truth, but everything makes more sense if she does. And of course she does. As the pieces fall into place, the ones inside me break apart.
I feel a soft touch on my back. His hand is still for a moment, then he moves it in circles. When I finally feel like I can speak again, I lift my head and take a long breath.
“I’m sorry,” Wolfe says, and there is no derision or superiority in his tone. He means it.
“Me too.”
I think Wolfe is about to reply, but he just looks out at the water. Finally he says, “They’re going to kill me for this,” more to himself than to me. He exhales, heavy and slow. “I want to show you something.”
“I don’t think I have the energy for anything else tonight.”
“Please,” he says, one of the few times he’s ever sounded gentle. “I think it will make you feel better.”
“I can’t go with you.”
“Yes, you can. Just give me this. After tonight, you never have to see me again. I promise. But you’re already here, and there’s something I want you to see. I think it will make a difference.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
When I look at him, I don’t see deceit or lies. I see sincerity.
“No magic,” I say. “I can’t do it tonight. I can’t.”
“No magic,” he agrees.
He offers me his hand, and I stare at it for the span of a breath before taking it. I follow him as he walks into the water. By the time it’s up to my waist, I’m worried.
“What are we doing?”
“Looking for a current,” he says, as if it’s obvious.
“A current?”
“Yeah. I’d have found it already, but it’s no longer the only current close to the island.” I don’t miss the accusation in his voice, but for the first time, I don’t feel like it’s directed at me.
“What do you need a current for?”
He looks at me then, beautiful in the moonlight. “To go home.”
The water is freezing, and goose bumps rise along my skin. I’m so cold, but I follow Wolfe even deeper. “I don’t understand.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said we can’t use the streets. The only way to reach the manor is through an ocean current that goes directly to our home’s shore. So we are technically using magic tonight, since the current itself is magical, but we aren’t the ones creating it.”
