I start to ask what happened but stop when I realize I can feel it. I can feel everything. The air smells crisper, colder, full of rain to come. I can hear the wind now, not just the rustling leaves.

And the colors—everything around the house was already majestic, but now it’s like someone slapped a filter on an image, supercharging it all.

My senses aren’t the only things that have changed. I can feel the strength coiled inside me, waiting to be used. I flex my fingers, and they move so fast I would have missed it if not for my improved vision.

“Yup, it worked.” Elaine gestures at the collection of black lines peeking up over my collar. I pull it down, revealing the Irish trinity knot now tattooed above my heart.

And at my feet, the journal is full of words.

“You feel different,” Anna says. “I can feel your magic now, like Hollowthorn’s or the house’s.”

“I can feel it too.” I flex my fingers again, then poke the tattoo below my collarbone. “My dad had one just like this. I drew a copy of it on myself once with permanent marker and he got so mad…” I trail off as the pieces slot into place. “My parents were bonded to this before, weren’t they?”

Elaine nods solemnly. “Families often share a journal. When its current owner dies, the journal relocates to the next closest relative. I’d wager that’s how it ended up with you.”

My hand falls to my side, my throat bobbing. “But then shouldn’t it have gone to Liam?”

Roy and Elaine exchange worried looks. “You still haven’t heard from him?” Elaine asks.

When I shake my head, Roy drops a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “There are a lot of reasons the journal might have come to you and not him. If it couldn’t reach him, for example. There might be powerful magic blocking him.”

I want to believe him, but between this, the car, and the fact that Liam still hasn’t so much as called, I know that something is definitely wrong.

I clench my fist, trying to focus on my new magic and not my fear, and take a deep breath. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Roy says with a grin, tossing a flame between his palms. “Before you know it, your magic’ll be just another part of you.” The flame leaps into the air, does a little spin, and disperses in an impressive sparkler show.

Anna mock claps, and he bows.

“I’m going to drill you in hand-to-hand combat,” he continues. “And Lady Bookworm here is going to help you with your magic.”

“What do you two know about training Ravens?” Anna looks questioningly between them.

Elaine smiles. “We grew up with Colin’s mom.”