“If the Grove wants to close the door will IMP be able to stop them?”

Liz sighed. “I don’t honestly know. There has been a growing conservative trend among the governing members of IMP. They’re concerned – and rightfully so – about the dangerous nature of some of the creatures that come through the door. Even some of the fey members of the board would like to limit future immigration. I’m afraid that it’s possible that IMP would vote with the Grove.”

“If the vote went to closing the door, as doorkeeper would I be able to stop them from doing it?” I asked.

Liz gave me a long, considering look. As far as I knew her magical powers didn’t include mind reading, but I felt that she could tell I had a guilty secret. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “You’ve demonstrated extraordinary power in opening the door, but you haven’t had to go up against a really powerful witch – and mark my words, the witches of the Grove are very powerful. The truth is we don’t know the limits of your power. The combination of fey and witch bloodlines makes for a powerful but unstable mix. You should have been trained from early on …”

Liz looked embarrassed to have brought up this detail from my past. My parents had died when I was twelve, leaving me to be raised by my grandmother Adelaide. Since Adelaide was a powerful witch she should have, by all rights, trained me herself, but she hadn’t. She later claimed that she had seen no sign of magical power in me and assumed that my half-fey ancestry had cancelled out my witch’s power. It wasn’t until I moved to Fairwick that I discovered I had any power at all – or even that such creatures as witches and fairies existed.

“… and I have been remiss in getting you the proper training,” Liz continued. “I promise we’ll start your training this summer … as soon as we’ve got the undines settled. Your magical abilities need nurturing,” she said, turning to walk ahead of me on the path. I only heard her next words because they were carried to me on a gust of wind. “Heaven knows we may all be in sore need of them.”

I caught up to Soheila, Liz, and Diana at the edge of a waterfall. They were watching the undines tumbling down into a wide pool. Another stream rushed into the pool from the south. In the distance I could make out several fishermen standing knee deep in the water casting their lines out over the sun-dazzled water of the lower branch of the Undine.

“Won’t the undines be in danger of getting caught in those lines?” I asked. “And won’t those fishermen be … surprised to find a teenage girl on their hooks instead of a rainbow trout?”

“The Department of Environmental Conservation has declared Sul’s Eddy off limits until the beginning of July,” Liz told me.