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There was some shuffling around, and I distinctly heard a large volume being removed from a shelf with a grunt of effort. Eva put her mouth directly to my ear and barely breathed an explanation.
“The Records are usually kept at the Historical Society, but they had a break-in recently, so they moved them to the Manor. Only Conclave members are allowed access to them.”
I’d heard something about the break-in; Ostara and Phoebe had spoken of it that first day in Sedgwick Cove, when I visited the Historical Society. They’d mentioned an artifact that had gone missing, but I couldn’t recall the details. Someone cleared their throat out in the main library, and I refocused my attention.
“I won’t waste anyone’s time by recounting the whole of the history, for we all know the story well enough. The First and Second Daughters settled here and began to practice their magic, drawing on the unique power of the Cove itself. They roused the Darkness with their craft.”
I recognized the origin story Zale had told the other night, though this droning recitation was nothing like the dramatic performance he’d given of the same tale. Though we all knew it, we stayed glued to the door listening—all except for Bernadette, who was now wandering the little room examining the books, as though what was happening outside was barely worth her notice. She even began to hum softly, until Nova flapped her arms hysterically to quiet her.
“The Darkness rose and found a servant in one of the Second Daughters,” the woman named Zadia continued, “and the remaining witches banded together to banish the Darkness and bind it from accessing the deep magic of this place, the magic it had been feeding on for centuries before their arrival. What is less widely known is that the binding could not last forever.”
Utter silence greeted these words. Beside me, Nova’s body was trembling. Even Bernadette had come to stop behind us.
“The Binding will only hold as long as three of the blood of the First Daughters make their home in Sedgwick Cove. Otherwise, the spell is broken, and the Darkness will be free once more.” Zadia’s voice had a ringing quality to it, and I felt a deep shiver of fear judder up my spine. Below me, Zale swore under his breath.
“I’m sorry, what… what exactly does that mean?” Rhi asked, sounding breathless.
“It means,” Ostara’s voice cut in sharply, “that three Vesper witches must make the choice to stay in Sedgwick Cove—must renew the Covenant in each new generation, if we want the Darkness to be held at bay.”
There was a sharp dragging noise. Someone had pushed their chair back violently, and I knew who it was before she even spoke.
“No. There’s no way this is true. Asteria would never have kept this from us. She couldn’t have known about this, or she would have told us.” My mom’s voice was low but tremulous.
“But of course she knew about it,” Ostara replied, a hint of amusement in her voice that made my fists clench at my sides. “She had to renew it herself, when the last of her mother’s generation passed.”
“I don’t understand,” Rhi said. “She never said a word. How could she not have said a word about something so important?”
“It has long been tradition to pass along the burden when the next generation is ready to carry it. But you weren’t ready. She didn’t want to force you to stay here.” It was Xiomara who spoke now. “She wanted you to find your own way to Sedgwick Cove, to stay here because you wanted to, not because you were obligated.”
“We did try to persuade her otherwise,” Ostara added. “Especially when you moved away, Kerridwen. We tried to impress upon her the importance of the Covenant, that knowing of its existence would surely bring you back. But she refused.”
“This is not happening, this is really not happening,” my mother was muttering. Her voice had a muffled sound, and I thought she must have dropped her face into her hands.
“You must see, Kerri,” Xiomara said, and I appreciated her use of my mother’s preferred nickname, “that she wanted to give you time—time to miss Sedgwick Cove, time to realize that you could not outrun who you were, and that perhaps you didn’t even want to.”
“And she knew you wanted to protect Wren,” Zadia added. “She knew you would never return if you had the threat of the Covenant hanging over Wren’s head as well.”
“I can’t believe this!” my mom shouted. “It was just more lies, more covering up! Are you telling me that all this time, our control over our futures was always measured by how much longer Asteria was going to live? That when I thought I was making a choice to live my life and to let Wren live hers, there was really never any choice at all?”
“Of course, there is a choice,” Ostara said, not unkindly. “The Conclave does not intend to force you to stay here, any more than Asteria wanted to. We are simply giving you the truth. You may do with it what you will.”
“Bullshit!” Mom cried. “I can’t leave now, and you know it. Not if this Covenant is real! How could I possibly leave, when the entire magical fate of this town apparently depends on my staying?”
“It is not certain that it does. We can search for other members of the Vesper family, distant relations with magical blood,” Xiomara said.
“And if they don’t exist?” Persi asked, breaking her long silence. “Or if they don’t feel like uprooting their whole lives to save a town they’ve never heard of?”
Xiomara did not answer.
Rhi spoke up now, her voice choked with tears. “Who else knows about this?”
“It has only ever been the Conclave who kept this secret,” Ostara said. “It was too dangerous for the rest of the town to know. If knowledge of the Covenant fell into the wrong hands, your family could be targeted by those who would see the Darkness rise again. We had to keep it as secret as we could, even from those it would one day include. The lure of the deep magic of this place, as well as the ties of home and tradition, have always been enough to hold the descendants of the First Daughters here. Until… until recently.”
“Until I screwed it all up, you mean,” my mom muttered bitterly.
“The world is changing. It is getting smaller. People do not cling to their roots as they once did, and the lure of the world beyond our borders has grown, become more tempting. It is only natural,” Xiomara said. “The Covenant was never meant to last forever.”
“Exactly!” All of us jumped as Ostara slammed her hand down on some surface or other. “And in light of that fact, I would like to point out that there is another choice. I suggested it once, to Asteria. She was not in favor of it, but it is an option nonetheless.”
