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Sounds good. What’s the address?
* * *
I followed Eva’s directions to the Claire house, known to the locals simply as “the Manor.” As Nova would later inform me, the Manor marked the southernmost point of the Cove, while the Vesper Lighthouse marked the most northern point. The beach and the town lay cradled between them, guarded on each end by a bastion of generational magic.
The Manor was a stunning old house made of stone, so that it looked almost like a castle. A great wide porch wrapped all the way around it, looking out over the sea below. A turret jutted up on one corner, and connected to a widow’s walk that ran the length and width of the mansard style roof. As I took it all in, a flash of silvery blonde hair caught my eye in the turret window, but when I turned to look, only the shadowy blankness of the window stared back.
I left Rhi’s bike leaning against the Manor’s stone wall and made my way up the walkway. The front of the house was flanked by rows of massive hydrangea bushes the size of small trees. I passed between them, surrounded by the constant droning hum of bumblebees bouncing around between the creamy white bunches of flowers.
The front door had no doorbell, only a large brass knocker in the shape of a mermaid. I cringed a little at the deep, booming sound it made, and waited. After a few moments, Nova came to the door. She opened it, looking like she stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine in a gauzy, white ruffled skirt, and a crocheted crop top that dangled carelessly off one shoulder over a bikini top.
“Glad to see you came to the front door instead of flinging yourself off the cliff again,” she said with a wry smirk.
“Yeah, I only do that at parties,” I replied, in what I hoped was as coolly sarcastic a tone. Her smile widened a bit, and she stepped back to gesture me inside.
The Manor had none of the cluttered witchy vibe that burst from every corner of Lightkeep Cottage, but the whole place had a light, airy beach vibe with high ceilings, pale furniture, and lots of accessories made from shells and driftwood, including a magnificent driftwood chandelier that hung over the front entry hall as we walked in. Nova didn’t bother with a tour, leading me instead directly up the wide staircase and down a long, wood-paneled hallway to her bedroom. She pushed the door open and said, “Welcome. And just so you know, we’ve been talking about you.”
Eva looked up from the fluffy white rug where she was sitting. “Nova, do you have to be such a bitch?”
Nova scoffed as she shut the door behind us. “Oh, so telling the truth is bitchy now? Good to know.”
Zale smiled a little sheepishly. “Okay, well, we have been talking about you, but not in, like, a mean way. We were discussing what happened last night.”
I put my bag down on a chair in the corner and came over to sit with everyone else, settling onto the rug next to Eva while Nova draped herself across a cream-colored chaise lounge.
“What happened last night? You mean with you and Sergei? Kaia’s going to hex you at the first available opportunity, by the way,” Nova said, not looking up from her phone.
“Excuse me, that is an unsubstantiated rumor, and I will not dignify it with a response,” Zale said loftily, raising his chin.
Eva rolled her eyes. “Obviously, we were talking about what happened down on the beach.” She gave me a searching look. “How are you this morning?”
“A little sore,” I admitted, “but otherwise fine, unless you count being really freaked out.”
“I think we were all a little freaked out,” Zale agreed, nodding fervently.
“Do you think you could walk us through it all again?” Eva asked.
I looked at their eagerly listening faces. Even Nova had deigned to look up from her phone. I took a deep breath and explained how I’d seen the boy from the cliff, how he’d been on the beach one moment, then wading out into the water the next. But when I got to the moment I reached for him, I hesitated.
“This part is going to sound really weird,” I said.
Eva rolled her eyes. “Oh, honey, remember who you’re talking to.” She gestured between the three of them. “Three witches, remember? I know all this magic stuff is new to you, but we have seen some shit.”
Zale nodded eagerly. “Go ahead. We’ll believe you.”
I gathered the courage I needed from their open expressions. “Well, the thing is, I don’t think it was a vision at all, because when I reached for his arm, I could actually feel him. And then he… well, he crumbled into sand.”
Zale’s eyes went wide. “Wait, seriously? He was made of sand?”
“Yeah,” I said with a shiver. “Like, I had a handful of him in my hand before that wave took me out.”
They all traded a significant look that made my heart begin to pound.
“What does that… is that bad?” I asked when no one spoke.
“Well, it’s… it’s not good,” Zale hedged.
“That kind of magic… well…” Eva seemed to be trying to choose her words carefully. “Do you remember the origin story Zale told last night? The part about light and dark having to be in balance?”
