Mariah shrugs. “Don’t feel bad. A lot of Rootcrafter women keep the practice private.”

“I hate lying, but he’d only worry. Plus, knowing the truth is dangerous.” I gesture to Patricia. “You had to leave your home to be safe. I feel awful.”

Patricia tuts. “It’s just a short absence, Bree. I’m not losing that much time away from work.”

“I know, but—”

“Bree,” Patricia interrupts. “We are grateful for your warning last week. It was my idea to use the opportunity for a getaway while your Order Merlins are in town for the memorial service.”

Mariah nods. “I’m glad you gave me the heads-up too.”

“Least I could do,” I murmur. “Did you get a chance to pass my message along to folks?”

“Yup. Told the Root network that it’d be a good weekend to lay low around campus. A lot of student practitioners don’t work the real flashy branches of root, but better safe than sorry.”

I gnaw on my lip. “I hope they’re not mad at me about all this.”

“Huh?” Mariah shakes her head. “You made sure the locals were safe. Gave advance notice the Merlins were coming. What’s to be mad about?”

“After that first shockwave…” I tilt my head back and forth. “I understand why they’d be upset.” The consequences from that night in the cave didn’t solely land on the Legendborn side of things. A typical Rootcrafter opens a single pathway to one ancestor to borrow power, then returns that power when they’re done. But when Vera possessed me, the red root furnace inside my chest had opened up like a wide, burning highway to every ancestor she’d called on to fuel the original Bloodcraft spell. There’s a reason Rootcrafters believe that Bloodcraft—binding ancestral power to bloodlines permanently the way that both Vera and Merlin did—is cursed magic; it brings too much power from the realm of the dead to the realm of the living, disrupts the balance on both sides.

And I’m a Bloodcrafter twice over.

“ ‘Wary’ is the word I’d use.” Patricia smiles. “When lightning strikes, the current travels along the ground and through the soil, but it doesn’t destroy the earth. It was a jolt, and we recovered.”

“That was one hell of a way to announce yourself to the community, not gonna lie,” Mariah says with a wink. “I felt your root all the way on South campus.”

“You’re in a position to lead this organization that hunts magic users like us, Bree,” Patricia says. “And you’re already using that power wisely.”

“Bloodcrafter and all?”

She smirks. “Bloodcrafter and all. Now, tell us what happened last night.”