This whole time I thought I needed them to matter, but they’re only a small part of me. I don’t need magic to be useful, and I belong at Ravenfall no matter what my powers do.

“Oh, my love,” Nora says, pulling me close. Tears well up in my eyes, and I let them go. Then I hear her sniff and look up to find her crying too. “I’m so, so sorry. I never realized that’s how you felt.”

I look away, ashamed to have made her feel bad. But she gently places a hand on my face, turning me to look at her.

“I kept you from the guests because I didn’t want to burden you with responsibilities,” she says. “I wanted to let you be a kid for as long as possible, and not force you to grow up fast, as I had to. I didn’t want this place to consume your life the same way it consumed mine.”

My tears slow, and I wipe my arm across my eyes. “What do you mean?”

Nora’s expression softens. “Ravenfall is a wonderful, wonderful place, but it was never my dream to run it. I’ve thought of myself as a prisoner for so long that I became one. But I should never have assumed that you’d want the same things as I did, and for that, I’m sorry.”

She squeezes my hand. “Psychometry is a rare and wonderful gift, Anna, and I’m so happy it chose you. Give it a chance. It is a gift that will grow with time.”

I nod, comforted by the surety in her voice and the knowledge that my mother has never lied to me. My hands tangle up in the blanket, the wool scratchy against my palms, yet comforting in its familiarity. This is my blanket, my bed, my house. I am safe here, no matter what we face tomorrow.

“It is my dream, though,” I tell her. “I want to run Ravenfall one day.”

A smile breaks slowly across her face. “I couldn’t think of a better person to fill my shoes.”

Hearing her say that is like the first sip of hot chocolate on a cold night, filling me with warmth and comfort I didn’t know I needed. I should have told Nora how I felt earlier instead of trying to handle it all on my own.

Bolstered, I set my blanket aside. “I’m ready.”

She pulls me close once more. “I know you are.”

She kisses me on the head and stands just as the twins arrive, their makeup box in tow. They wear identical red and black dresses with sweetheart necklines and unevenly cut hems, their masks and jewelry matching. Rose forwent her wings once we’d realized everyone needed to be able to move around the crowd, but I have a feeling she’ll find another chance to wear them.