“If I do this, you will work with my coven to stop the currents. Otherwise I refuse.”
My mother gapes at Wolfe, stunned that he would negotiate at a time like this, but she regains her composure quickly. “Agreed. Do it.”
Then, all at once, Marshall, Elizabeth, Landon, and the boat captain are looking at Wolfe as he rewrites their memories. They will think the storm capsized their ship. They won’t remember Wolfe or his magic. The secret of the old coven will be safe.
It doesn’t take long, and soon the Yateses are climbing out of the boat, thanking my parents for rescuing them. I get one more cold glance from Landon’s father, and then they’re gone. My mother goes with them to the hospital, offering support and making sure their questions are answered appropriately. She hugs me before she leaves, a promise that we aren’t through, that I don’t have to live with her or be part of her coven to remain her daughter.
Wolfe and I stay on the boat with my dad, and we sail back to the Witchery in silence. The storm has passed, and the Passage is quiet again. Dad docks the boat, but he doesn’t move to step out, so neither do I. Wolfe and I are sitting on the bench seat in the back, wrapped in blankets and towels. My silk gray dress is torn and ruined, and I lost my shoes along the way, but the necklace my father gave me sits firmly in place. My hand drifts up to it, and I roll the vial between my fingers.
My father paces back and forth for several seconds, then finally stops and extends his hand to Wolfe.
“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Samuel, Tana’s father.”
Wolfe stands and takes my father’s hand. “I’m Wolfe Hawthorne.”
“Hawthorne?” my dad asks, and I wonder if he knows about my mother’s relationship with Galen. An odd expression passes over his face, something between amusement and understanding, and I realize he does.
“That’s right.”
“Well, Wolfe, thank you for what you did tonight. If you don’t mind, I’d like a few minutes alone with my daughter.”
“Of course.” Wolfe takes off his blanket and wraps it around my shoulders, then jumps onto the dock and waits for me on the shore.
My dad stands in front of me, looking into my eyes. “Tana, what you did tonight was unimaginable. I truly didn’t think I’d ever see that happen again.”
I’m having a hard time reading him. His words don’t sound like condemnation, not really. He sounds surprised more than anything else.
I almost apologize. I am sorry, sorry for not warning him beforehand and making a choice that reflects poorly on him and Mom. Sorry for blowing up the arrangement we had with Landon and straying from the path they worked so hard to lay down for me.
But I’m not sorry that I’ll get to spend my life with a boy who sees my wildness and a magic that makes me come alive.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.” I’m still playing with the necklace, and my dad’s eyes go to it. I don’t want to lose it, but this necklace belongs to him, not to a daughter who has defied everything he believes in. “Here, Dad. I’m sure you want this back.”
He looks pained, his brows pinching together and his mouth turning downward. “Put that back on.” He says it with conviction, as if he’s giving a sermon. “That belongs to you, and I’m proud for you to wear it.” His voice shakes at the end.
“Dad?”
He sits down next to me and takes my hands in his. “You believe in something strongly enough that you gave up all the comforts of this life in search of something different. You are brave and loyal to yourself,” he says, pulling me into him. “It won’t be easy, but if you believe in this life half as much as I believe in mine, you’re going to do well.”
I had accepted that there would always be a gap between my parents and me, that from now on I’d be seen as a traitor and an embarrassment. I had never let myself hope that they might understand, and I’m completely overwhelmed by it.
“And if you and that boy continue to look at each other the way you did tonight, I suspect you’ll be very happy.”
“Thank you, Dad,” I say, holding him tight.
We walk onto the dock and meet Wolfe on the beach. I almost ask my dad if I can go home with him, if I can spend another night in my bedroom with the comfort of his presence nearby. But I’ve made my choice, and I gave up that option when I cast my blood into crystal instead of copper.
“Let’s plan for a meeting in two days at the perfumery. Wolfe, bring your father. We have much to discuss, and we ought to do it privately before the councils get involved.”