Mika held her cup between her hands, letting the heat seep into her fingers. “I still don’t understand. Why do you need me to teach the children how to use magic? Hasn’t Lillian been teaching them?”

“Lillian has never been home long enough to teach them,” Ian said with a snort. Lucie made a protesting sound. “No, Lucie, it has to be said. The fact is, Lillian has always been obsessed with whatever discovery she’s chasing. Her passion for her work is wonderful, but it has come at the children’s expense. They see her so infrequently that they don’t even know her. Moreover, she has a terrible habit of only telling us what she thinks is necessary, so we don’t often have the answers the girls need. Believe me when I say you are needed, Mika.”

“Lillian put warding spells around the house and grounds,” Lucie added, sounding torn, like she agreed with Ian but felt disloyal saying so. “Ian paints a one-sided picture of her, but it’s important you know that she didn’t just abandon us to our own devices. She put protections in place. No one can come to Nowhere House unless they’ve been invited, and even then the wards make it difficult to find the house. All our post goes in the big mailbox by the front gates. Spells and accidents stay hidden. The girls are safe here.”

“Safe, but limited,” said Ian.

“The children need to learn how to control the wild, enormous power they possess, Mika,” Ken said quietly. “They need someone in their life who understands what they’re experiencing.”

Mika chose her words with care. “I obviously don’t know Lillian, but it’s possible that part of the reason she’s never here is because she knows it’s risky.”

“Risky? How?”

“Witches don’t— Witches aren’t supposed to—” Mika hesitated, somewhat unnerved by the unprecedented experience of not having to lie, and tried again. “Witches don’t spend time with other witches.”

“Why not?”

“Magic is attracted to the people who can use it. It can also be mischievous. When there’s so much of it in one place, it takes a very, very strong will to keep it in line. Accidents are much more likely.”

“Surely that’s even more of a reason why we need you,” Lucie said, her eyes widening in alarm. “Isn’t yours the strong will that can keep the girls’ magic in line? You saw what just happened when Altamira touched the ladder. The girls often have accidents like that.”

“She’s not saying their magic is out of control because they have no one to keep them in line,” Jamie said sharply, his hard, angry eyes on Mika. “She’s saying their magic is out of control because they’re together.”