.Moira.
She hadn't slept at all. By six the next morning she had gotten out of bed, giving up on the possibility of sleep. She wasn't going to go to school today, didn't see the point. If the spell they had started crafting actually worked the way they wanted it to, this wouldn't be her life anyway.
Her throat tightened with tears as she thought about what she was giving up. Her best friends, Ian, whom she still believed to be her MBD, all those happy memories with Colm.
She sat down at the kitchen table, allowing Bixby to leap off the counter and onto her lap, trying to comfort her. I wouldn't know any different, she reasoned to herself.
Moira heard shuffling upstairs, and felt that Hunter was awake but that her mother was still asleep. Moira scratched Bixby's ears as she waited for him to come down to the kitchen. He acknowledged her with a tired smile, and Moira smiled back. She had a feeling that it had been a restless night for all—even the animals seemed on edge.
Her heart sank as her gaze fell on Finnegan lightly snoozing away on his dog bed. She wouldn't have known him either. A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. She could hear Hunter put the kettle on and get out a few mugs.
"Moira," Hunter hesitated, and she turned her head to look at him. "We don't have to do it," he said gently. "And even if we do, there's no guarantee that it will work. You don't have to worry about goodbyes just yet."
She nodded. They were both quiet, thinking to themselves as Hunter poured tea into three separate mugs. He brought one over to her and sat across, placing a mug at Morgan's spot.
She took a sip and sniffled. "I want to try. I can't be selfish about it."
Hunter's eyes narrowed slightly. "It's not selfish. It affects you, too."
"But I wouldn't know any different, right? My life would start over." Hunter nodded after a moment. "Would you want that?" she asked in a rush, and then clarified after his look of confusion. "I meant…with me. Like you and Mum raising me from the beginning."
"Of course," he said in a tone that made her feel guilty for even wondering about it. He set his mug down and reached for her hand, and she accepted it. "Moira, I wanted to start a family with her, and if I had known about you that morning, I wouldn't have left."
"But Iona would still be alive, she would still have your true name, so who's to stop her from making this happen all over again?" she demanded, exasperated. "Wouldn't it be better if we prevented her from getting it in the first place?"
"No." Morgan said firmly, making her jump as neither of them had sensed her coming downstairs. "If we go that far, you could end up not existing at all."
Moira stared down into her mug. "But if I was destined to be here, then surely the goddess would have a plan—"
"The answer is no. I'm not risking that." She said flatly, taking a seat.
"Mum,"
Morgan gripped Moira's chin with such a firm hold she was forced to make eye contact with her.
"I get that you're only trying to help and I appreciate that, but you need to understand that this is not negotiable. I will not take a chance if it means I could lose you."
Moira started to weep, the anger and sadness and exhaustion of the last few days hitting her like waves crashing onto rocks. Morgan stood and held Moira to her, and Moira clung to her as she hadn't since she was a little girl.
That evening, Morgan reluctantly accompanied Moira to Katrina's so she could say her goodbyes to Ian.
Though, of course, Ian wouldn't really know it was goodbye. Not for good. The story was London. As a backup plan, they would go there to further their work with the New Charter. Moira knew that while Katrina was still with Belwicket, they couldn't stay. And if she was taken into custody, Moira didn't want to have her parents ostracized for it.
She felt saddened by it, knowing that the coven she'd been raised in, her ancestral coven, would turn against them. She wished more than anything that she could stay and have things go back to normal.
She also wished that Katrina had never interfered. But she had, and this was the end result. For the first time, Moira truly felt hatred towards her.
"Are you sure about this?" Moira asked, tugging on Morgan's hand as they reached the house.
She nodded, giving Moira's hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's just for a few minutes. Don't hold anything back, sweetie. This may be your only chance."
Moira swallowed hard and fixed her gaze on the once-comforting door as it opened. Katrina stood in the doorway, waiting for them. They walked in unison, Katrina not saying a word as Moira moved past her to the stairs.
She stopped in front of Ian's door, waiting for him to feel her there, to open up for her. I just need to see him, she told herself. Then I can let him go.
