Everything I knew about the significance of ravens—magical, mythical, and alchemical—raced through my mind. Messengers between the dead and the living, ravens often symbolized the first step in the alchemical transformation that led to the philosopher’s stone.

catkins

“Vultures feed on what others leave behind in the mistaken belief that it is of no value.”

It’s what led to the Rites Revision Covenant of 1919.” “What rites?” Baldwin frowned. “The bell, book, and candle ceremony at age thirteen; choosing a path at the Crossroads before age twenty-one; walking the Labyrinth, for those witches who showed promise in higher magic,”

“Darkness is a part of life,” I cried. “It’s only a problem when you pretend it doesn’t exist.”

witchscore.”

the queries we don’t utter are the most important, and the most profound.”

“You are a child of the crossroads,” I whispered, repeating the words that Bridget Bishop had uttered to me years ago, “a child between, a witch apart.”

“Higher magic resides here, in the depths of Shadow,” Gwyneth said.