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“Finds out what?” Mattheas in the doorway, bright-eyed and relaxed froutters over the kitchen door He s”
“I think Philip just worked—or wove—his first spell,” I explained “He tried to smooth out Marcus’s memories so they wouldn’t bother him”
“My memories?” Marcus frowned “And what do you mean Philip wove a spell? He can’t even talk in complete sentences”
“Owie,” Philip explained to Mattheith a tiny, shuddering sob “All better”
Shock registered on Matthew’s face
“Shit,” Becca said as she noticed her father’s change of expression Philip took this as confirile corated once more in a flood of tears
“But that means—” Marcus looked from Becca to Philip in alarm and then in amazement
“I owe Chris fifty dollars,” I said “He was right, Matthew The twins are weavers”
—
“WHAT ARE YOU GOING to do about this?” Matthew demanded
We had retreated—Matthew and I and the twins—to the suite of roo roo of coziness, but these apart as we could e main room was divided into several different areas: one was dominated by our seventeenth-century canopied bed; another had deep chairs and sofas for lounging by the fire; a third was equipped with a writing desk, where Matthew could get a bit of work done while I slept Sht had been repurposed to make walk-in closets and a bathroom Heavy, electrified iron chandeliers dropped fro cavernous on dark winter nights Tall s, solass, let in the summer sun
“I don’t know, Matthew I left my crystal ball in New Haven,” I retorted The situation in the library had throwne of ti panic
I closed the bedroom door The as stout and there were many thick stone walls between us and the rest of the household Still, I switched on the ainst acute va
“And e do about Rebecca, when she shows signs of having h his hair in frustration
“If she shows signs,” I said
“When,” Matthew insisted
“What do you think we should do?” I turned the tables on my husband
“You’re the witch!” Matthew said
“Oh So it’s my fault!” I putyour children”
“That’s not what I said” Matthew ground his teeth together “They need their mother to set an example for them, that’s all”
“You can’t be serious” I was aghast “They’re too young to learn ic”
“But not too young to work it, apparently We aren’t going to hide e are froThey’ve watched me feed”
“The children are too young to understand what ic is,” I said “When I saw ”
“And that’s why you haven’t been working your ownat last “You’re trying to protect Rebecca and Philip”
As a ic—just not where or when anyone else could witness it I did it alone, under the dark of the moon, away froht I orking
“You haven’t been yourself, Diana,” Matthew continued “We all feel it”
“I don’t want Becca and Philip to end up in a situation they can’t control” Nighth ht start, the chaos that could be unleashed, the possibility that they would lose their way in time and I wouldn’t be able to find them My anxieties about the children, which had been on a low simmer, boiled over
“The children need to know you as a witch as well as a“It’s part of who you are It’s part of who they are, too”
“I know,” I said “I just didn’t expect Philip or Becca to show an inclination for ic so soon”
“So what made Philip try to fix Marcus’s memories?” Matthew asked
“Marcus told me where he was born And when,” I replied “Ever since he went after Phoebe, he’s been surrounded by a thick cloud of re the world out of shape It’s impossible not to notice, if you’re a weaver”
“I’m no weaver, nor am I a physicist, but it doesn’t seem possible that one person’s individual recollections could have such a serious effect on the space-ti positively professorial
“Really?” I rabbed a particularly iridescent strand of green ood yank “What do you think now?”
Matthew’s eyes widened as I pulled the thread tighter
“I have no idea what happened, or when, but this has been flapping around you for days And it’s beginning to bug me” I released the strand “So don’t you dare throw physics in ”
Matthew’s mouth twitched
“I know, I know Go ahead Laugh Don’t think the irony is lost onyou, by the way?”
“I ondering whatever happened to a horse I lost at the Battle of Bosworth,” Matthew said pensively
“A horse? That’s it?” I threw ht the strand was, I’d been expecting a guilty secret or a for about it, or you’ll find yourself in 1485 extricating yourself from a thornbush”
“It was a very fine horse,” Matthew said by way of explanation, sitting on the ar at you, mon coeur I was just amused at how far we’ve come since the days when I believed I hated witches, and you thought you hated ic”
“Life was sih at the time it had seemed quite complicated
“And far less interesting, too” Matthew kissed me “Perhaps you shouldn’t stir up Marcus’s eether Not all vampires want to revisit their past lives”
“Maybe not consciously, but there’s clearly so unresolved” Whatever was bothering Marcus o, but it still had him tied in knots
“A vaed in a rational tipie assortht not be able to isolate the cause of Marcus’s unhappiness, never mind make sense of it”
“I’m a historian, Matthew,” I said “I make sense out of the past every day”
“And Philip?” Matthew asked, one eyebrow raised
“I’ll call Sarah,” I said “She and Agatha are in Provence I’m sure she’ll have some advice on how to raise witches”
—
WE HAD SUPPER UP ON the roof deck so that we could enjoy the fine weather I had deetables picked fresh froarden—tender lettuce, peppery radishes, and the sweetest carrots iinable—while Matthew opened a second bottle of wine to see hi We withdrew froed around a cauldron full of logs Once the fire was lit, the wood sent sparks and light shooting into the sky Les Revenants became a beacon in the darkness, visible for ht-eyed and relaxed froutters over the kitchen door He s”