“But sometimes, words just aren’t enough. Sometimes, I need you to experience it with me rather than through me as though I were already a memory bottle on a shelf.” The raw emotion in Matthew’s

Magic is an art, a science, and, yes, it is above all else a technology,

There’s nothing for you here, he said. Hearth and cauldron will never be home for witches like us. You must climb higher to find what you seek.

Your purpose is to use your full power—Light, Shadow, and Dark—in the service of others, just as you used them here. Some might have called on Darkness to subdue their enemy, or on Light to drive Shadow away. You have proven that you are suited to the Dark Path and its mysteries, daughter.

“As a historian of magic, you know that oracles can be people and places, as well as things,” Goody Wu said.

The whole swarm—” “Conspiracy,” Miriam corrected me. “Or an unkindness, if you prefer.”

“You’re beautiful, ma lionne.” Matthew braved the holly leaves to press a kiss on my cheek. “It’s your job to win this fight. Show him no quarter.”

This was baneberry, the poisonous plant

“Anger and fear live in Shadow, and you must face them every day if you want to practice higher magic.”