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Tonight I was afraid.
* * *
My adventure into the ocean must have exhausted me more than I’d realized, because by the time I peeled my eyes open the next day; it was quarter of eleven. I cursed myself for sleeping so late, and then cursed myself again for the previous night’s exploits. The areas I’d bruised sliding down the cliff face were now turning all kinds of bright and interesting colors. I took a long shower, letting the hot water run over me, loosening my muscles, which had worked themselves into tense knots during a night of unsettled dreaming. When I had steamed up the bathroom and wrinkled the skin on my fingertips, I finally felt ready to face whatever this day had in store for me—and I had never been more unsure of what that might be than I was today. Perhaps that was part of life in Sedgwick Cove, something I would have to get used to if I wanted to stay here.
I descended the steps to find the house quiet and the front room empty. I made my way back toward the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast—well, lunch, at this point—when I passed the library, and found all three of Asteria’s daughters sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of books.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you all doing?”
“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to rise from the dead!” my mom laughed. “I was starting to wonder if I’d have to wake you up for dinner.”
“Sorry,” I said, smiling. “I probably shouldn’t have stayed out so late.”
“Nonsense,” Persi snapped from the corner, her face half hidden behind a massive leatherbound volume. “Staying out late is always the right choice. You can sleep when you’re old, Wren.”
“Thanks for that terrible life advice, Pers. Aunt of the year, seriously,” my mom muttered drily. “Want to give her a primer on underage drinking while you’re at it?”
Persi caught my eye, and I looked away quickly before either of us gave into the smiles we were both trying to smother.
“What are you doing?” I asked again, bringing the conversation back to my original question, which I was only just realizing my mother might have been trying to avoid answering.
As if in confirmation of my suspicions, she sighed reluctantly as she answered me. “It’s what Asteria said about the Covenant of the Three. We’re trying to find an explanation.”
“Oh,” I said, looking around the room at what I was only just realizing was a very old-looking collection of books. This wasn’t a library full of novels and biographies, like most people’s bookshelves were stacked with. This was a library full of unique treasures—books with a history. I suddenly felt torn. Part of me was aching to know what the Covenant of the Three was, while the other was screaming at me to go find Eva already. Nevertheless, I asked, “Do you want some help?”
My mother made the decision for me. “No,” she said, almost a little too quickly. “I realize you know our family’s history now, but this particular selection of books would be a pretty intense introduction to who we are. I’d rather… can we just ease you in, a bit?”
“I guess so, but this covenant thing sounds important,” I said.
“If we need your help, Wren, I promise we’ll ask for it,” my mom said. “But most of this would be indecipherable to you without a background in witchcraft. That’s my fault, not yours,” she added quickly—perhaps my face had betrayed a hint of aggravation. “But the result is still the same, which is that there isn’t much here for you to do. I promise, if I think of a way you could be helpful, I’ll let you know right away, okay?”
“And if she doesn’t, I will,” Persi added, giving my mother a challenging look.
“Fine,” I said, making sure to sound a bit sulkier than I felt. “I guess I’ll just take a walk downtown if that’s okay? Maybe stop by Xiomara’s again.”
My mom looked relieved as she smiled. “Of course. Yeah, go have some fun. You need it, after yesterday. Just… text me, okay? Let me know where you wind up?”
“Of course,” I told her.
“There’s a plate of my lemon lavender scones on the counter in the kitchen, if you’re hungry.” Rhi added. “And maybe later I can take you over to see Shadowkeep? I have some stuff I need to do over there if we’re going to open back up tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’d like that a lot,” I said eagerly. I’d been curious about Shadowkeep, my family’s shop downtown, ever since I’d learned of its existence. “Okay, well, good luck. I’ll text you.”
“Bye, honey,” mom said, her eyes already roving the bookshelves again.
Once out on the porch, I pulled out my phone. Eva had put her number in it the night before, and so I pulled her up in my contacts and sent my first ever text to her.
Hey, it’s Wren. Are you around? I was hoping we could talk about last night.
The three little bouncing dots appeared almost instantly.
Yes! I’m glad you texted. Do you want me to come over?
No, I don’t want my mom to know anything’s up. Can I come to you?
Come over to Nova’s. We’re all here. Zale, too.
I hesitated for a moment. I’d decided to talk to Eva about what was going on, but I hadn’t yet considered telling the others. Zale seemed cool enough—not to mention the fact that he’d actually jumped into the ocean to save me; but Nova had a bit of an edge to her. She didn’t seem particularly happy about the fact that I’d shown up in Sedgwick Cove, but I thought that might not have anything to do with me and more to do with the chip she carried on her shoulder about being a Second Daughter. I still wasn’t quite sure what all the fuss was about. Did it really matter if the Vespers got here first? There was more than enough room for two covens in Sedgwick Cove. In fact, there seemed to be room for hundreds. Besides, all Nova would have to do is spend a little time with me to realize I wasn’t going to steal her witchy crown. I could deal with a bit of her attitude, if it meant figuring out what the hell had happened to me last night.
