***
The witches were gathering in the back room when she slipped in. The curtains of Thistlehouse had been drawn tight, extra wards placed on all the doors. Chalk circles had been drawn on the floor, inks and herbs set out in neat piles.
Salem. A few nomads. Juneau’s pale, austere coven head, Drusilla, perched like a raven in the corner.
Lavinia stood at the center, sleeves rolled, hair braided back, quieter than Dani had ever seen her. Wards thrummed low under her skin.
“You’re late,” Penelope said, because of course she was the one to speak first. Her dark hair was pulled into a sleek twist, her eyes were flinty.
“I was dropping my child off with the carnivores,” Dani said, “forgive the delay.”
A few of the Salem girls snickered. Penelope didn’t.
“At least you’re here,” Lavinia said, tone brooking no argument. “We go up together. No one walks into that clearing alone.”
The witches murmured assent. Dani exhaled slowly, letting their unity wrap around her like an extra layer of clothing. They were all in one coven today.
She caught Edith’s eye across the circle.
Edith tilted her head towards the next room and slipped that way. Dani followed.
Up close, she could see the new lines at the sides of Edith’s mouth, the deep shadows under her eyes.
“You look tired,” Dani said, her voice quiet.
“Watch yourself, girl,” Edith said. “How’s the mating bond? You still haven’t spoken?”
Dani grimaced. “No.”
Edith hummed, looking critically over Dani. She fought not to shrink under that assessing gaze, choosing instead to clear her throat. “How bad is it really? With the wolves. The Volnoye. The…vampire?”
Edith’s mouth twisted. “Bad enough that Lavinia’s considering only going herself,” she said. “Bad enough some of ours decided not to find out how it ends.”
Dani’s stomach dipped, “You mean…”
“Rowan and Sabine left on the tide last night,” Edith said quietly. “Penelope’s apprentice, Marthe, went too. Packed fast. Left notes. Lavinia found them at dawn.”
Dani swore under her breath. “So that’s confirmed.”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen the empty beds,” Edith said. “Rowan, I get. She never liked the cold. Sabine…she’s not a coward. If she’s gone, it’s for a good reason.”
They went quiet for a beat, each chasing their own bad scenarios.
“I don’t like it,” Dani said after a beat. “Doesn’t it seem strange to you? That none of them said goodbye?”
“Of course it does,” Edith muttered, “we need to stay alert. We don’t assume the danger’s only coming from the obvious directions.” She squeezed Dani’s wrist briefly. “And you, specifically, don’t go running off alone to be noble. High Sister’s orders. Mine, too.”
“I’m scared,” she admitted, voice low, “for them. For Aurelia. For…us. I keep going over contingencies in my head, and all of them end with someone bleeding out.”
“We’ll be fine,” Edith said gently, “we’re just as strong as those beasts. We could take them in a fight.”
“That’s not comforting,” Dani said.
“Wasn’t meant to be.” Edith bumped her shoulder against Dani’s. “We’re not going in naked. Lavinia’s laid wards from hereto the harbor. Every witch in this room has at least three escape routes mapped. And…”
She let that hang, a tiny, sharp smile curling her mouth.
Dani eyed her, “And?”
