“Don’t worry about it. I was twelve when he died.”

Now Mika was more confused than ever, but it really wasn’t her place to keep prying. “I never knew either of my parents,” she said instead, relieved to find that her mouth was saying the right words this time. “You know that, of course, on account of the witch thing.”

“I assume Primrose was the closest thing you had.”

Mika choked on a laugh. “I’ve told you how I grew up. Primrose did exceedingly little parenting.”

“But she’s important to you, isn’t she? She and the other witches in your Society? If push came to shove, they’d still have your loyalty?”

“Of course,” said Mika. “If we can’t count on each other, who can we count on?” She cocked her head to one side, considering him. “Was that your way of asking if I’m going to tell them about the girls?”

“It wasn’t subtle,” he admitted.

“Not even a little.” She smiled. “No, I’m not going to tell them. That would be interfere-y and Primrose-ish of me, and I’d rather not be either of those things. And anyway, even if there was no chance of Primrose trying to convince Lillian to separate the kids if she were to find out about them, I don’t see what the point would be in telling any of the other witches.” She thought about that for a moment. “I suppose if Lillian refused to come back from South America to recast her wards in the spring, I’d want to tell them. I think it would be too risky to raise three young witches in one place without wards.”

“You couldn’t cast the spell?” He looked away, suddenly interested in something in the middle distance. “If you were still at Nowhere House in the spring, that is.”

“No, Lillian’s wards are incredibly powerful. I’d need a few other witches to cast the spell with me. But the girls tell me that Lillian always comes back in time, or close to it, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Mika felt the edges of her mouth curl up in an irrepressible smile. “You think I might still be at Nowhere House in the spring?”

The faintest hint of colour streaked across the tops of his ears. “I didn’t say that.” He turned abruptly away, one hand clenching and unclenching into a fist at his side. “We should go.”

“If you’re lucky, we’ll be back in time to see Rosetta with her new friends.”

“Yeah, about that,” Jamie said, his voice clipped. “Remind me why you left her alone?”

“Bite my head off, why don’t you,” Mika said, deploying a voice so sunny and sweet, she hoped it gave him a toothache. “She’s not alone, and I’ve only been gone five minutes.”