‘Hmm, you seem to be coping pretty well to me.’

He makes it sound like an accusation. I finish my food and he crosses his arms and presses his lips together.

You should have told me, Ivy. You should have told me when I asked you what was happening last night.

I lean across the table, my pulse racing. He didn’t open his mouth, and yet I heard him clearly.

He takes the last slice of toast. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you told me. I’d rather know what’s happening than be left in the dark. I have a million and one questions. The first one being, how the hell are we going to …’

He drops his toast, his mouth falling open. I turn in my seat to see Morgan in the doorway. She enters the room and beats her immense wings, bringing the briny smell of the sea with her. She takes her time, walking slowly, and my heart fills with pride. Her dress might be tattered and torn, her hair dirty and full of bits of the sea, but to me she is flawless.

She cackles and Tom jumps up from his seat. I stand and go to him, remembering what he’s been through and how frightened he must be at seeing her again.

‘I told you about Morgan last night, about how she helped you.’ I rub his arm and he nods slowly, never taking his eyes from her.

Morgan looks him up and down, though mainly up. ‘I am pleased to see you on your feet.’ Tom drops back into the chair and mumbles an incoherent reply, and she turns her attention to me. ‘Your sisters are waiting for you under the cliffs.’

Tom gives me a pleading look.

‘You’ll be fine with Morgan,’ I assure him.

His expression says otherwise.

Standing behind his chair, I squeeze his shoulder and whisper, ‘She won’t hurt you, I promise.’ I feel it deep in my bones. Not because Morgan is an angel of virtue – part of me knows she’s capable of acting out of self-interest and she can make bad decisions as well as good. I know it because she loves me and would never hurt anyone I care about.

Tom gives a tiny shake of his head and Morgan steps closer.

‘You have no cause to fear me,’ she tells him.

She throws me a knowing grin and time folds in on itself, revealing a thousand other smiles in her cloudy-white gaze, a thousand moments of laughter and love, a world of sisterhood. Excitement fizzes in my belly; the witch inside me has so much to tell her, she’s missed her so much. I know how she feels. There’s a lot I have to talk about too – like how come I was able to hear Tom speaking when he didn’t move his lips.