“Boring,” Matthew said. “I was hoping you could erase my last three relationships.”
“Even if I could, I wouldn’t,” I told him. “They’re data. Painful data, sure. But they got you here.”
He sighed. “You sound like my therapist.”
“Thank you, I think.” I laughed.
Sophie reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You okay?” she asked quietly. “It’s a lot.”
“It is,” I admitted. “But it also felt right. When I helped Greta choose her path, it wasn’t about, like, playing god, or anything like that. It was aboutgiving her permission to pursue the life she already secretly desired, I guess? The chart was already screaming it at her. I just…amplified the volume. And my gran”—my voice wobbled—“she knew. There are notes in the book. She wrote my name next to the chapter.”
Shona’s eyes softened. “That must be nice. To feel like she’s still guiding you.”
“It is,” I said, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
“Speaking of your gran,” Sophie piped in. “Where’s your brooch?”
“Och, it’s in my handbag. Why?” I leaned back to unhook the bag I’d hung on the back of my chair.
“Just a hunch,” Sophie murmured.
I fumbled for the brooch that I kept in its pouch in my handbag. Taking it out, I turned it over, and gasped.
Inside the design, where the two dragons twisted together around the stars and the moon, nestled an opal. It glowed faintly, catching the light in a way that made my heart jump.
“Oh,” I breathed, pointing at the opal. “That…that wasn’t there yesterday. I swear it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t,” Sophie confirmed. “I remember when you showed me the piece.”
Lottie reached out, not touching, just hovering her fingers over it. “Arthur always said the old magick has ways of marking progress. Maybe helping Greta…was a test.”
“Congratulations,” Orla said, grinning. “You passed your first challenge.”
“I did?” I asked, surprised. Pleasure flooded me. Was I actually going to be a helpful member on this team of women? “No way, that’s awesome. I thought it might be something crazy like stab a Kelpie with my brooch pin.”
“It might still be,” Faelan said, her tone serious. “They almost killed my partner, Luch.”
“They’ve done some serious damage,” Orla agreed, leaning forward. “It would be wise to not underestimate them.”
“But this brings us one step forward.” Sophie tapped my brooch. “So, congrats are in order.”
“Thank you,” I said, and sat back, amazed that I was sitting here, having this discussion about magick with these women. Apart from Zara, I’d never felt as though I’d ever really clicked with many women. Sure, I’d had girlfriends from school and hadn’t struggled to make friends necessarily, but these women were embracing me with open arms, warm smiles and…genuine acceptance.It feels divine.And again, I felt as though I was where I was meant to be.
Matthew’s gaze had gone thoughtful. “So,” he said slowly. “Hypothetically, if one were, say, an exhausted academic, could one ask a chartweaver for a reading?”
“Hypothetically, one could,” I said.
“And would said chartweaver tell one if uprooting their life and moving to the arse-end of nowhere is a terrible idea?”
Sophie squealed.
“Depends on your chart,” I said. “But I could tell you what themes are up for you, sure. What your soul’s leaning toward.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “Hmm. Intriguing. I might need that. I’m…not in love with my life at the moment. Or my department.”
Lottie smiled softly at him. “You loved it once.”
“I did,” he agreed. “I also loved a man who left me for an archaeologist with better calves, so clearly my judgment is evolving.”