“How so?”

“Well one of the humans they trained, Gerald Gardner, founded Wicca. He gained a lot of publicity and notoriety, leaving the general public to think the witches there were nothing more than that, human. The village of Burley in the New Forest where they met is still a tourist attraction to this day, because of the witches and the birth of Wicca.”

“So how did they help humans more than most?”

Byron walked over to a chair and beckoned Amelia to sit on her knee, which she did.

“During the Second World War, I worked in intelligence, the Secret Service.”

“You did? You never fail to amaze me. I always forget you’ve been living a very long time.”

“The world was on the brink. It didn’t matter if you were human or a paranormal—we all had to do our bit. So I was contacted by the cunning folk, which is what the coven became known as over the years. They wanted to try to use magic to help the war effort. Things were looking bleak at the time, the government was worried that Hitler would invade any day, and the cunning folk wanted to help.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. What did they do?” Amelia asked.

“First of all, I had to get my superiors to agree, as the witches needed secret information on Hitler’s whereabouts and his forces. Luckily, I wasn’t the only paranormal in the British command structure. I was tasked with conveying the secret information and observing how it was used,” Byron said.

“Was the other side using vampires, witches, and the like?”

“I’m quite sure. The Nazis were very interested in studying the occult, so I’m sure they found help of their own. It was August 1940 and my secret mission was called Operation Cone of Power. The witches cast a circle, then performed the ritual with the information I gave them. They sent a powerful message to Hitler: You cannot come, you cannot cross the sea. Whether this actually worked, we will never know. He didn’t cross the sea, but whether it was with the help of magic, who knows.”

“That’s amazing. You have had the most interesting life,” Amelia said.

“Interesting but lonely, until I met you.”

Amelia smiled and kissed Byron tenderly. “Good answer. Let’s go and find out about my past.”

She stood and Byron followed suit.

“Oh,” Amelia said, “a certain someone has been visiting Katie in her room every night, taking her tea.”

Byron raised her eyebrows. “Interesting. I’ve only seen Alexis’s softer side once before. She was a younger vampire and didn’t see the danger in loving a fragile human. I warned Alexis loving a human would always end in pain, and now look where we are.”

“Katie is besotted with Alexis. I’m sure she is. That’s why she bickers so much with her, but will Alexis take her chance at happiness? I don’t know.”

“Sometimes,” Byron said, “love doesn’t give you a choice.”

* * *

Victorija was crawling in her skin, her hands shaking, as she tried to type on the laptop on her desk. She’d remembered the girl in The Sanctuary, the girl who bit her when they were fighting to take Amelia, the girl she couldn’t compel.