I climbed the last few steps to the second floor, being sure to avoid all the creaky spots along the way, then headed for the Rosewater Room.

The last rays from the setting sun stretched across the floor and filled the space with a hazy pink glow. I quietly clicked the door shut, then walked over to the plush rug in the center of the room. I sat down facing the bathroom and crossed my legs. I suppose I could have gone into the bathroom itself, but it really shouldn’t matter. If Constance wanted to talk, she’d find me.

I closed my eyes and took a long slow breath. The room was completely quiet except for the steady tick of the clock resting on the mantel.

“Constance?” I called out in a soft voice. “It’s Brynn Warren. If you’re here, I’d like to speak with you.”

I peeked one eye open, hoping she’d be there, but no such luck. I shut it again.

“Constance?”

I didn’t need to open my eyes that time. I knew she wasn’t there. Or if she was, the veil between us was too strong for me to be able to sense her.

I felt nothing.

When I used to communicate with ghosts, there was always a feeling present. An excitement maybe? A quickening of magic? I could feel it tingling through every cell in my body.

But now there was just nothing. Not even a spark.

I sighed. I knew that would be the case. The truth was, when my husband died, my gift left with him.

It’s hard to describe how terrible those early days were. At first, all I focused on was seeing ghosts. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to see Adam, but I always believed he would be able to get a message to me. We had talked about it when he was still alive. He promised me if he died first, he would wait until another person passed in Evenfall, so that he could give them his final words. Of course, we had these conversations thinking such a scenario was a lifetime away. We even laughed about what his message might be. We never imagined it would turn out this way. That we’d have so little time.

So, I waited to hear from him.

But time went on, people did pass, and I couldn’t see any of them.

I panicked.

And despite what Nora thought, I had tried.

I tried every bit of magic ever described in every book we owned to get my powers back. I tried spells, rituals, séances. Nothing worked.

My gift was just gone.

That’s why I made the decision. The one my aunts still didn’t know about.

Adam was gone. My gift was gone. And I was done.

Done with magic.

I didn’t set out for it to be that way. Not at first. But as the days went on, I found myself practicing magic less and less until it got to the point where I didn’t cast a single spell for days. Then weeks. Then months.