“Norfolk,” Mika filled in, at exactly the same moment Hilda said, “Brighton.”

Hilda paused. “You moved again?”

“Just last month. What are you doing here?”

“We live here,” Hilda said, eyebrows vanishing into blue hair. “What are you doing here?”

“A friend of mine is visiting the Tate. I’m just waiting for him.”

“We were just about to go in there to meet someone about our wedding plans,” said Kira. “Hilda, why don’t you stay out here and catch up for a few minutes while I go in?”

In a blur of dizzying speed, Kira was gone.

Mika blinked. She and Hilda looked at each other.

“Um,” Hilda started.

“So,” Mika started.

And, at exactly the same time: “Primrose can never know!”

There was a beat, and then they both burst into the slightly giddy giggles of two schoolgirls who know they’re up to no good.

“Fuck me sideways,” Hilda said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. “We’re grown women quaking in our boots at the idea of an ancient crone.”

“An ancient, powerful crone.”

“There’s that.”

“It’s nice to see you, Hilda,” Mika said, looping her arm around Hilda’s. She jerked her chin in the direction of the gallery. “A book club? She still doesn’t know?”

Hilda’s face fell. “I’m afraid to tell her the truth.”

“Because of how she might take it?”

“That, and I’m afraid of what Primrose will say if she finds out I told her, and of Kira not loving me anymore.” Hilda toyed absently with a blue curl. “I love her. I hate hiding this from her. And I really, truly believe I can trust her. But every time I think about saying the words, I hear Primrose’s voice. They’ve turned on us for centuries, poppet”—Hilda’s imitation of Primrose was eerily accurate—“They’ll do it again if we give them a chance.”

“Alone is how we survive,” Mika said under her breath.

“I hear that one, too.”

Mika hated to see the uncertainty and distress on Hilda’s face. “From what I just saw,” she said, “Kira looks at you like you climbed up into the sky and put the moon there yourself, so I think there’s a very good chance she’s going to love and accept you for exactly who you are. That’s the fucking Holy Grail. Tell her the truth. What you two have is worth Primrose’s wrath.”

Her brown eyes dewy with emotion, Hilda smiled a wobbly smile. “That was a really good pep talk.”

“I thought so, too, if I do say so myself.” Mika gave her a little nudge. “You should go. Talk to her. Plan your wedding. And tell me all about it at the next meeting.”