Poppy’s and Laurel’s expressions turned to those of shared bewilderment. After all, Papa was very rarely angry with anyone, even when he should be, even when it was called for. “We won’t tell him you told us,” Poppy heard herself say.
“What do you mean theBranwyck witches?” Laurel prodded gently.
Great-Aunt Alora glanced briefly over her shoulder, her dark eyes seeming to gauge the truthfulness of the girls’ words. Slowly, she turned back to face them. “I was determined to tell you the truth of it this visit anyway, Halwell be damned.”
Poppy sucked in a breath.
“You are nearly at the age of assent,” she said to Laurel. “And I do not know how much longer I will be among you to offer my guidance. It must be now, while I can still be of some help to you.”
“The age of assent?” Poppy echoed. Was that supposed to mean something?
Great-Aunt Alora turned her attention to Poppy. “You are past that age, my darling, but I’ve preserved your powers for you. Don’t you worry about that.”
Preserved her powers? Poppy had no idea how to respond to that. Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out except for a small squeak of perplexity.
“You both will need my guidance.”
“Aunt Alora,” Laurel began, sliding forward slightly on the settee. “What are you saying? That Poppy and I arewitches?”
Something twinkled in the old woman’s dark eyes. “I would not say such a thing as Poppy only believes what she can see with her own eyes.” Then she made a sweeping motion with her hands, tipped her head back and whispered, “Blychau hud.”
Before Poppy could ask what she’d said, two glowing crystal boxes appeared out of nowhere. The boxes hovered in midair, just above Great-Aunt Alora’s hands. One box glowed a brilliant sapphire while the other seemed almost silvery.
Laurel blew out a breath of surprise.
“Adfer hud y ferch,” Great-Aunt Alora said, her voice clear and strong.
As though it was possible for the glass boxes to understand the old woman’s words, they floated across the parlor and hovered before Poppy and Laurel.
Magic.
It was most assuredly magic.
Poppy’s heart raced like a thoroughbred, just out of the gate. Never in her wildest imagination would she have thought it was possible to experience such a thing with her own eyes. How was any of this happening?
The blue glowing, crystal box seemed to call out to Poppy. It called to something deep inside her, like it was a part of her, and she found herself instinctively reaching out for the light. As she touched the crystal, it burst into thousands of shimmering orbs of light.
She could not help it, she gasped. Then at once, the sapphire light surrounded her, enveloping her in an unfamiliar warmness before it disappeared from sight. But it wasn’t truly gone. No, no, Poppy could still feel the energy from the box within her, like it was a part of her, like it always should have been joined to her soul.
She glanced toward her sister to find that a silvery light had enveloped Laurel in the very same way before it too disappeared from sight.
“Goodness,” Laurel breathed out, looking down at her hands as though they felt different than they had before.
Poppy was surprised her sister could even speak. Words were certainly eluding her, after all. “I feel...” she tested her tongue, but the right words would not come to her. She’d never felt like she did at that moment. Was there even a word for what she felt?
“...better than I’ve ever felt in my life,” Laurel finished for her, dropping her hands back to her lap and sitting taller in her seat.
“You are whole,” their great-aunt told them.
And Poppy did feel whole. She hadn’t even realized she’d been missing any part of her until that moment. Everything felt warmer. Everything seemed to shimmer slightly. Everything seemed to be somehowmorethan it had been just a few moments before.
“How is this...” Poppy stumbled again for what she wanted to say.
“Possible?” Great-Aunt Alora guessed. At Poppy’s nod, the old woman continued, “There is much you will need to learn in the coming days, my darlings. But for now, you should find your beds. Let your magic reconnect with you, and our work will begin in the morning.”
* * *
Moonlight lit justa small patch of a darkened path through the fog. Something chased Poppy in the darkness. She could hear it behind her, snarling slightly. But she did not dare to slow her pace enough to look back over her shoulder. She simply ran as far and as fast as she was able. The night air stung her lungs, but she pushed forward, hoping against hope to evade her pursuer.
