I immediately shoot Hattie a look. Surely she didn’t tell him I’m a Horangi. She wouldn’t have!

“I told him,” Hattie quickly says, “about how, after our spell failed, Eomma and Appa created a huge scene, demanding you be allowed to initiate into the clan. And when they wouldn’t let up, the elders charged them with contempt of the code of conduct. As punishment, they have been given seven days to choose between disowning you or losing their gifts.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Emmett doesn’t know. He still thinks I’m a saram.

Emmett shakes his head. “What did I tell you? Magic is bad news. If you hadn’t tried to do that spell today, none of this would have happened. That goes for you, too, Hattie—you’re an enabler.”

He gives Hattie the side eye, and she looks sheepish. I lower my own eyes, mostly because I’m scared he’ll be able to read in them what really occurred. But also because he’s right. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t agreed to do the spell. I mumble some random sounds just to fill the silence.

“But you didn’t listen to me, and now look at you.” He scowls. “It’s pathetic seeing you like this, packing your bags and running away from parents who love you. You do realize some people don’t have moms to run away from?”

That hits me like a punch in the chest. “You’re right, Em.”

“I know I am.”

“I’m sorry…” I murmur.

“I know you are.” He sighs and passes me a salted-caramel cookie. My favorite. “But it’s happened now, so the only thing we can do is stay focused on the future and find a solution. And luckily for you, your best friend is a genius.”

Hattie nods. “I have to agree with Emmett. His idea is genius.”

I finally look up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Hattie says the only reason the council can charge your parents for being in contempt is because you’re a saram. So what if there was a way we could turn you into something else? What if we could literally turn you into a Gom—not with some temporary spell, but permanently, from the inside out? Then the basis for your parents’ crime would disappear.”

My heart drops. “No offense, Em, but if that were possible, wouldn’t Eomma and Appa have done it to me years ago?”

Emmett takes a seat next to me on the bed. “I was thinking about it the other day. Remember that story you told me about how the Cave Bear Goddess came to be?”