Chapter 32: Chapter 32: The Heart Of A Hayle

Three years we plotted and planned while Ethpeal cared for her Auntie Winnifreth with the help of the two Ambrose sisters, as patient with her as Ernest's lovely sisters had always been. There were times I knew Ethpeal wanted to throw caution to the wind and simply challenge her mother. And times I found her looking out the window, tears trickling down her cheeks, confessing her impulse to run away and leave the family to her mother.

"If you do," I said, "you must take me with you. I couldn't bear to live among them alone."

We'd decided our best course was to wait until Ethpeal turned eighteen. Still young, but old enough to give her challenge weight with the family. The whole coven seemed to hold their breath in those tense and terrible years, wavering between fears of Mahalia's newest ragings and longing for Ethpeal to lead them. I read every single shift in the family through their magic, through Ethpeal's connection, and did my best to council patience.