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My mom’s face broke into a watery smile. “I like that plan.”
“And…” I thought back to every clueless, helpless moment I stumbled through until my magic spontaneously appeared. “…now that we know I’ve inherited the Vesper magic, I could really use some help figuring out exactly what the hell I’m doing.”
Persi chuckled. “I don’t know, kid. You looked like you were handling it just fine down on the beach.”
“Of course, we’ll help you,” Rhi chimed in at once. “Your proper magic education starts today. Well, maybe tomorrow,” she amended, as I stifled a huge yawn.
I smiled, but it slipped off my face almost at once as the worries began to creep back in. “What happened to Bernadette?” I asked, and though I tried not to, my eyes darted to Persi.
“She’s alive,” Mom said, her tone very careful.
I looked at her. “And?”
“And she’s… well, we’re not really sure. She’s been brought back to the Manor, and the Conclave have used some very powerful enchantments to subdue her, but…”
“But?”
“But Sarah’s still attached to her, somehow,” Persi said, her face and voice almost expressionless. “They don’t know if they’ll ever be able to separate the two.”
I tried to imagine the absolute horror of having another person—especially one as manipulative and dangerous as Sarah—twisted up in my body and mind forever, and shuddered. “So… what will happen to her?”
I was met with solemn faces and helpless shrugs. No one knew. Bernadette’s fate was, as yet, a mystery.
“What about the Gray M—I mean, the Darkness?” I asked. “You said the Darkness isn’t defeated but, to be honest, I think I knew that when we were still on the beach.”
All three of the Vesper sisters’ faces fell into serious lines. My mom cleared her throat. “We convened the Conclave while you were resting.”
“And?” I asked eagerly when she didn’t go on. “What did they say?”
“We… we will have to tread carefully. The glass formation from the beach was removed to a safe location and has been placed under as many protections as we could throw at it until it can be examined properly. It’s unclear how much, if any, of the Darkness remains within it. But time and investigation will reveal that. For now, we just have to be patient… and very vigilant.”
I bit my lip. I’d been hoping for a more concrete answer but, as I was beginning to learn, witchcraft was not a practice of concrete answers. Sometimes, it was a practice of no answers at all. Still, I tried for one more.
“And the Covenant?”
Rhi, Persi, and my mom exchanged a look. “We renew it tonight. As long as…”
“As long as…?” I prompted impatiently.
“Well,” my mom swallowed hard, “I know you were willing to stay before all of this happened, but you might have changed your mind after… after going through such a traumatizing experience—”
Suddenly, I understood what she was hesitating about.
“Mom, it’s okay. I want to stay.”
“I was thinking maybe if we… wait, what?”
“Yes. I said yes.”
My mom looked at me as though I’d gone temporarily insane. “Wren, I haven’t even finished what I—”
“You’re asking me if I still want to stay here. Permanently. The answer is yes.”
My mom blinked. Persi laughed. Rhi sniffed tearfully.
“Are you… are you sure?” Mom asked.
“Yes! It’s… I can’t even explain it,” I said, with a groan of frustration, “but from the moment we pulled up to this house, I felt… I was…”
