‘It came out of nowhere,’ she said, gazing at her hands with wonder. ‘One minute I was in the backyard with Jackson, the next I was walking out to the beach, no idea what I was doing. I saw the fire but something told me to go in the opposite direction, like I needed to get to the water.’
‘You were lucky. Manifesting right by the ocean like that could’ve been so dangerous.’
‘It didn’t feel dangerous.’
She fingered her silver locket and I automatically reached for its twin around my neck. ‘I stood at the edge of the ocean and the waves kind of went around me. Then I heard you screaming and everything went white. The next thing I remember is waking up here.’
‘Good news, you saved my life.’
‘Fuck, yeah.’ She pumped her fist through a yawn. ‘Bad news?’
‘Nothing that can’t wait.’ I waved away the things she didn’t need to worry about until morning. ‘How do you feel?’
Her face softened as she stared off into the middle distance and the corners of her mouth tilted upwards in the smallest smile.
‘Amazing.’
Lydia looked around the parlour like she was seeing it for the first time and I watched the clouds pass overhead, songbirds flitting from branch to branch and the leaves of the trees swaying with a breeze only she and I could feel.
‘How doyoufeel?’ she asked. ‘Now you’re officially my magical mentor. My supernatural sherpa. My—’
‘Yeah, I think I’ve got it,’ I cut in, smiling as I laced my fingers through hers. My best friend. My sister. ‘I feel proud to know you, same as ever.’
‘Good, because I’m going to need your help. Unless Virginia has been holding out on me, I don’t think she has quite so much knowledge about all this stuff as Catherine had.’
My mouth puckered into a pout but I said nothing. Her grandmother might not be a witch but I was certain the Powell family knew more than they were letting on. Lydia squeezed my hand and it felt like a tiny electric shock.
‘We’ll get to the bottom of it,’ I promised. ‘I can’t pretend I understand what’s happening but, even though I didn’t expect this, it does feel—’
‘Right?’ Lydia cut in, her wide eyes meeting mine.
‘Right,’ I agreed. ‘I feel stronger than I did. More connected to the blessing.’
And I did. There was a new clarity in my mind, a new depth to my awareness.
When I looked around the room, the paintings on the walls looked sharper, new details revealing themselves to me, their colours more vivid, the brushstrokes finer than ever before.
‘Em, did those birds always move?’
I had to suppress a laugh when a flock of watercolour bluebirds fluttered over to investigate the new witch.
‘You’re going to be noticing a lot of new things,’ I advised my friend. ‘Not just in Bell House, everywhere. It can be overwhelming but I’m here, I’ll help you.’
A current passed between us, something crackling and alive, not quite like the invisible string that tied me to Wyn but something more fundamental. Wyn and I were bound together. Lydia and I were sisters. I wasn’t alone in my magic anymore.
‘I don’t know about you but I am destroyed,’ she declared, stretching as an enormous yawn possessed her entire body. ‘I’m too tired to go home and deal with all of that. Can I sleep here?’
‘You are sleeping here,’ I replied, also in no rush to explain this to her mother and grandmother. ‘Let’s get you up to bed.’
‘No, I mean here-here.’
She curled up into a ball, positioning a throw pillow under her head in place of a pillow. ‘As in, get your ass out of this and turn off the lights because I love you but I’m about thirty seconds away from complete lack of consciousness.’
‘Understood.’
I hopped to my feet as the lights turned themselves down low, the house listening in on our conversation and acknowledging the new witch in the family. It muffled the closing of the door when I stepped out into the hallway, meeting Jackson,a full glass of fizzing soda in his hand, complete with ice and a slice of lemon.
‘She’s sleeping,’ I said, blocking the door. ‘Sorry.’
