"Blessed be, Davina Draven. May the Goddess Mother and your ancestors welcome you home.”
The silence after Davina crosses over presses against my eardrums. I'm still staring at the space where her light faded when Wylder removes his hand from my shoulder and moves around to face me. "Are you all right?"
I manage a nod, though I'm not sure it's convincing.
Mom drifts closer, her form still solid. "You did well, petal. Guiding someone across the veil is a gift unlike any other. The Goddess Mother will take care of Davina now."
"I still feel like I failed her. She was trying to tell us something important, and I couldn't help her."
"You gave her peace," Wylder counters. "That's not nothing."
Maybe not… but it doesn't ease the weight settling in my chest. I glance at Mom. "I need to call her mother."
Mom's expression shifts, sympathy flooding her features. "Are you certain? Sienna Draven isn't an easy woman. She's not warm on the best of days, and once you tell her why you're calling, this won't be one of those."
"That doesn't matter." I pull out my phone and meet Mom's worried gaze. "She deserves to know what happened to her daughter. Do you have her number?"
"In my address book, in the study."
The number's easy enough to find—Mom's old address book sits undisturbed in the drawer of the desk in the study. I look up Sienna Draven, type in the digits, and sit with my thumb hovering over the call button for a beat before I press it.
It rings three times.
"Sienna Draven." The voice that answers is clipped, professional, utterly devoid of emotion.
"Mrs. Draven, this is Poppy Hallowind-Forrester. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm calling about your daughter… Davina."
Before she can object or respond, I dive into the events of the night and tell her about me having a spirit affinity like my mom.
I explain how Davina came to me, how she'd aged, and our suspicions that she'd been held somewhere all this time, and about what I heard the night I interrupted Laurel's secret meeting.
When I pause to test her reaction, silence stretches between us, taut as a wire. I take that as a bad sign, and continue with how brave her daughter was and how she wanted to help us, but, in the end, I helped her pass to the Goddess Mother.
When I've finished, there is another long pause before Sienna speaks. "And you expect me to believe this? Some girl calls me out of nowhere claiming to have encountered my daughter. Why would she ever go to you and not me?"
"Maybe she did. Do any of you have a spirit affinity?"
"No."
Her answer is clipped, and now I'm wondering if calling her was a mistake. "All I know is Davina was friends with my sister, Violet, when they were kids. She knew my mom was a spirit witch, and maybe that's why she came here. All I wanted was to tell you what I know. Whatever happened to her and wherever she was, your daughter is at peace now."
The line goes quiet again, the only sound is Sienna Draven's breathing on the other end of the line. "If this is some kind of sick joke?—"
"It's not. Whether you believe me or not, I only called because I believe you have a right to know your daughter is now in the care of the Goddess Mother. I hope, in some way, this offers you some comfort."
I end the call before she can respond, my hand shaking slightly as I lower the phone.
Wylder moves closer and pulls me into a hug. "That took guts."
"Felt more like torture."
He eases back and brushes a finger down my cheek. "You did the right thing."
I lean into the contact, letting myself absorb his steady energy for a moment.
"And you're wiped."
His gaze is no less worried than it was earlier in the library, but it feels like something has shifted. Something important. But now isn't the time to unpack that.
