Persi sat up straighter at these words. “Xiomara?” was all she said, but I understood the question.
I shook my head. “Complete silence. And Bea, too. Xiomara told me it’s been the same for every spirit witch in the Cove for weeks now.”
“But why?” Persi asked, a note of desperation in her voice.
“I think Bernadette is telling us,” Jess said, tapping her finger on the last portrait. “This has something to do with Sarah Claire. She’s the key to this.”
“But she’s vanished,” Persi said. “How do we find her?”
Rather than reflecting Persi’s despairing expression back to her, Jess’ face actually broke into a slow smile.
“Tracking down a rogue spirit?” she said, and her hand dropped to her hip, where a velvet pouch dangled from her belt. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”
19
Iwould forever be impressed by my mother and Rhi for the way they handled the next hour. It was clear that Jess’ existence could no longer be kept a secret, and that all we had learned about the Source was too important not to share. True, they both looked like they were going to pass out when Persi brought them downstairs and explained to them who the woman was standing next to me, but they recovered quickly. It was with a rapidly beating heart that I took my seat with them in the kitchen—the beating, magical heart of Lightkeep Cottage; and, by the still-flickering light of the candle from the Shadow Tree, Jess and I explained everything again.
It would have been enough shocking information to send anyone into a spiral, but my mother remained calm and focused, her eyes trained on the candle as she listened intently. Rhi was a bit less successful at hiding her shock, peppering our explanations with gasps and soft “Oh!”s of surprise, as she crumbled the cookie in her hands to a pile of cookie dust on her napkin with worried fingers. At last, my mother looked up at me and spoke.
“Well, I suppose it all makes sense, as wild as it is,” she said, rubbingher hand over her face. “We’ve never understood the nature of the Source, but everything you say seems plausible.”
“And Asteria knew,” Rhi added, her voice no more than a whisper. “She knew we needed you here, Jess, so that you could explain all of this to us.”
“I guess so,” Jess said, squirming uncomfortably. “But as far as explanations, I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job. I mean, there’s so much of it that I don’t understand, so I’m doing a lot of guesswork here.”
“Don’t be absurd, this is all invaluable information. Here, have a cookie, dear, you look dead on your feet. I mean… well, you know what I mean,” Rhi said, sliding the plate across the table. Jess took one with a nod of thanks, though she didn’t seem to have any interest in eating it.
“Asteria also knew we needed the grimoire back,” Persi said, “though how exactly it’s going to help isn’t exactly clear at this point.”
“Well, Sarah Claire tried to use it all those years ago, the night she died,” I said. “Maybe Asteria knew we’d have to use it now to fix… whatever it is that’s wrong with the Source—I mean, the Geatgrima?”
Everyone started nodding along, as though what I had just said made sense. But just like me, no one seemed to have any idea what to do next.
“You said the grimoire is in the lighthouse now?” Jess asked, breaking the loaded silence.
“Yes. The lighthouse is actually Vesper property,” Rhi said. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s incredibly well protected. When you were—or rather, when wethoughtyou were dead—we didn’t feel safe keeping it in the house. And since the Conclave was already so worried about it?—”
“The Conclave is like, our local town council,” I explained quickly. “It’s made up of matriarchs from several covens, including the Claires.”
“And you can imagine how the Claires feel about the reappearance of that grimoire, given what Sarah did all those years ago,” my mother added.
“Ahh,” Jess said, and then looked at me with dawning comprehension. “I’m guessing that’s why Nova decided not to help us tonight?”
I nodded. “Her mother is the head of the Conclave. She doesn’t agree with her mother on much, but there’s not a Claire alive who wouldn’t run screaming from that grimoire.”
“The problem is,” my mother said, “that we don’t know what to do next, and without the grimoire we have little hope of figuring it out.”
“Sarah Claire is still mixed up in this,” said Persi, who had been unusually quiet during the whole explanation. “Bernadette may be… well, damaged by all of this, but this art is speaking for her; and as we all know, her art has always been accurate, even if we didn’t realize it until it was no longer a prediction, but a reality.”
“If Sarah Claire is still here earthside, she has been awfully quiet,” Rhi said, sounding skeptical.
“Of course she has,” I said, and felt four pairs of eyes turn onto me, making me blush. “I mean, why would she alert us to her presence? Why would she alert anyone who she couldn’t manipulate or control? If Sarah was still here in Sedgwick Cove, we’d be the last ones to know.”
“You mentioned that witches were having trouble connecting with their ancestors,” Jess said. “Is that a fairly recent development?”
I nodded. “It’s been a few months for me, but I’m not sure how much of that is because I’m just new at all of this. But even powerful, experienced spirit witches have been experiencing it for a few weeks.”
“Then that leads me to believe that the damage to the Gateway—or at least, the majority of it—must be fairly recent,” Jess said, more to herself than to anyone else. “Otherwise, why would there be such a sudden drop off in spirit communication?”
