Tabitha turned to him. “Tonight, you should.”
Zara nodded so hard her braids—that Gabbi had insisted on doing for her, so they were pretty lopsided—bounced. “Trust us. You want this.”
Savla glanced at me. The bond warmed in my chest, reassuring him the way he never let himself ask for aloud. He stepped inside beside me, shoulders squared but eyes uncertain.
Tabitha closed the door behind us. The room sealed with a soft rush of magick.My pulse skittered along my throat, and I glanced around at the empty space.
Zara gently took my hands. “Hanna, this is about your inheritance. Not the physical part. The spiritual one.”
My breath caught and I suddenly understood. I knew what they were trying to do.
“Tabitha,” I whispered. “Are you calling—?”
“Yes,” she said. “If she chooses to come.”
Savla looked between us. “Who?”
I swallowed hard. “My grandmother.”
His eyes widened, the warmth of his hand brushing mine in instinctive comfort. I squeezed back, grounding myself.
Tabitha lifted her staff and Zara stepped into the circle with her wand. I stepped with her. Savla hesitated, then followed directly behind me like my shadow.
Tabitha began to chant—low and ancient, weaving threads of moonlight around us. Zara joined in, her voice higher, brightening the spell and adding power. The candles flared, flames dancing upward in thin white spirals.
The runes under our feet glowed soft gold. A wind moved through the room though the windows were closed. It swept my curls around my face, lifting the hairs on my arms.
Then, a warmth bloomed at the center of the circle. Soft and familiar. A presence I knew before I saw her.
“Hanna,” Tabitha whispered, “call her.”
My throat tightened and I closed my eyes, pressing a shaking hand to my heart.
“Grandmother… I’m here. I—” My voice cracked. “I hope you can hear me. I hope you’re near.”
The air shimmered and I’d barely finished my words when a figure appeared—not fully solid, not fully transparent—glowing with soft silver light. A woman with a halo of pale hair and a gentle smile that always made me feel like I belonged somewhere. My breath shuddered out of me.
“Grandma,” I whispered, hoarsely.
Her spirit stepped forward, warm light flickering like candle flame around her. She lifted a hand and brushed my cheek—not physically, but Ifeltit. A warm touch like the summer sun.
“Oh, my darling girl,” she said, voice soft as falling petals. “You’ve grown into everything I hoped for.”
Emotion broke through me in a rush. “I—I miss you.”
“I know,” she said. “But you carry me with you every day.”
Savla stood behind me, unmoving, breath held like he was witnessing something sacred, and my grandmother’s eyes turned to him. For the first time ever, I saw Savla stiffen like he was about to face a God.
Instead of the judgment he probably expected, a smile stretched my grandmother’s face. And the bond inside me thrummed in recognition.
“You,” she said kindly, “love her.”
Savla made a quiet sound—half inhale, half helpless confession.
“I—”Hisvoice cracked now. “I do.”
My heart splintered open at having both the people I loved more than anything in this world with me at the same time. She stepped closer to him. He bowed his head instinctively, like he respected her on a level beyond magick.
