“I’ve gathered that you thought it would be safe to create them because you assumed, rightly, that most people would think of them as theatre. I just don’t understand why you wanted to create them in the first place.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “See, outside of a few hours every few months, I’ve never been able to talk to anyone about magic. There’s no one I can text or call or shout to in the next room when I crack a difficult spell or figure out a new potion. Then, a couple of years ago, I joined an online group dedicated to my favourite book series, and I discovered I love talking to people who are just as excited about the thing I’m excited about.”

“You’d never had that before?” Jamie’s voice sounded odd.

“No, but it got me thinking that maybe I could find a way to re-create it with witchy stuff. So I created an alter ego, a witch who brews potions in an enchanted tea shop.” Pausing, Mika shrugged a little sheepishly. “I don’t know. It felt like a way to talk about the thing I was excited about without actually talking about the thing I was excited about.”

He didn’t respond, and as the silence stretched between them, she wondered if she’d said too much.

“It probably sounds silly—”

“No.” He said it at once, his voice all jagged edges. “No, it doesn’t. It sounds like you’ve been alone for a long time.”

“Oh, I’m used to that,” Mika said, her voice just a little too bright. “That’s the way it is.”

“Not here, it’s not,” was all she got in reply.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The next morning, Mika waited outside for the children. She’d found the perfect place for their first proper magic class, in the back garden by the koi pond, where they could be out in the open while still sheltered from the blustery November wind.

She’d been watching Circe gambol around the garden in pursuit of a butterfly, but at the sound of the girls’ voices, she turned. Altamira shot towards Mika like a bullet, all flailing golden limbs and bouncing ponytail, while Rosetta and Terracotta followed at a more sensible pace, their heads bent together over a comic book in Rosetta’s hands. There was an easy affection between the girls as they argued good-naturedly.

Mika scarcely had a moment to marvel at this friendlier, softer side of Terracotta before her spirits took a nosedive at the sight of someone else following the girls down to the pond.

She and Jamie had come to something of an understanding the previous night, but that didn’t mean she wanted to teach her first proper lesson with his intent, stormy eyes on her.