I suddenly feel a little sick to my stomach. “Hat, we can’t do it at your initiation! It’s your big day. What will people say? You could get in so much trouble. You can’t do that for me!”

Hattie shakes her head. “Don’t you see? It is the ideal opportunity to make a statement in front of all the elders and the congregation. Once we transfer half my magic to you, you can prove you know the incantations to pretty much any healing spell, which I know you do. And then the council will have no choice but to let you do your own initiation ceremony when you’re ready.” Her eyes light up. “It’s going to go down in history as the day the gifted clans joined the twenty-first century.”

The idea of being the center of attention as I recite the incantations makes me want to puke. But Hattie’s right—I know the words to the spells as well as she does. I’ve just never had the Gi or divine support to power them. If this could help me gain the acceptance and recognition of the council, what else could I want?

That thought alone makes me feel warm and fuzzy, and I squeeze Hattie’s arm. I can’t find the words to express my emotions in this instant, but I know she knows. This means everything to me.

“I don’t mean to be the resident party pooper, again…” Emmett starts. “But why do you think your parents kept this from you, Rye? Even I’ll admit the spell doesn’t seem impossible once you have the cauldron and the elder. So why hide it? It says it’s only dangerous when cast between the gifted.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve been wondering the same thing. “Do you think maybe…that perhaps…they don’t want me to have magic? That they think I’m not good enough to be a healer and I don’t deserve to be a Gom?” A lump forms in my throat, and suddenly tomorrow seems like a very, very bad idea once again.

“Don’t be silly!” Hattie says, taking a photo of the spell and putting the book back in the safe. “You know Eomma and Appa are super supportive of you. They’re just old school and never thought this was a valid option. We have to show them that some risks are worth taking. Easy as that.”

I remain silent as she shuts the safe door and jumps to her feet. “It’s decided, then. We’ll do the spell tomorrow, right after my initiation.” She ushers us out the door and squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. “Trust me, sis, they’ll come around. They all will. And we’ll be opening up our own practice in no time.”