She shook her head and placed a finger over my mouth. “It’s okay. Don’t tell me. As long as you’re okay …” She looked at the glowing spiral. It had begun to spin. “But you aren’t, are you? You’re trapped here where I set the wards on you. Oh my darling, I’m so sorry. I only did it to protect you.”

“From what?”

“From your grandmother discovering your power. The Grove would have used you …” My mother’s eyes skittered away from me toward the perimeter of the circle.

“Used me for what?” I cried, my voice high and whiny as any six-year-old crying for her mother’s attention.

My mother turned back to me, fear in her eyes. “To close the door. They tried to do it with your father but we found a spell to stop them. We were afraid they would try to do the same with you if they knew you were a doorkeeper.”

“How?” I cried.

“It’s your blood,” she began, but then she looked back at the circle, this time my eyes followed hers. The glowing spiral was spinning faster, its coils contracting, drawing closer to us. I felt its heat on my skin. “I don’t have time to explain. The spiral is collapsing,” she told me. “You can’t stay for long in the past. I wish we had more time, but I’m grateful for this, Callie; I can’t tell you how much. Just to know that you’ll survive. That you’ll be all right. You will be all right after this, darling, won’t you?”

I thought of how many times I’d wished that I could speak to my mother one more time. Of the questions I had … I knew I should use the few moments we had left to ask about the spell I needed to keep the door open, but I had Wheelock for that, so instead I asked something else.

“Mom, there’s this guy … and I almost love him, but something’s in the way. Is there something wrong with

me?”

“Oh baby, no! There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s these.” She held her hand to my chest. “It’s the wards I put on you to keep you safe. How can you be safe if you love?” She touched my face, brushed my tears away, stroked my hair. “But there are some things better than safe. If you’re ready we can cut the wards away. Your power – and your ability to love – will be released as the wards unwind … only they might take some time. They were never meant to be on you so long. They’ve become intertwined with your fears and doubts. It might hurt as they unravel.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “It couldn’t be worse than how I have been feeling.”