It was dark. She couldn't remember dreaming. Or anything, really.

The darkness was peaceful and didn't hurt. But stubbornly, she resisted its pull. It was where she was always being told she'd end up, where she'd been so unfairly consigned, and she would not stay willingly. If the darkness wanted her, it would have to try harder.

Why are you so troublesome? asked the darkness.

Why are you so reckless, so hardheaded, so vain?

Nobody wants you, you're a trial and a pain.

I think you're lying, Alexandra thought. And my seven years isn't up yet!

It wasn't her time and she wasn't ready to give up, so she fought.


When Alexandra opened her eyes, she was in darkness, broken only by the light around the edges of a shuttered window.

She was lying in a bed. She lifted one hand, and her arm was so weak that the sheets covering her felt too heavy to move. Groaning, she ran her fingers across bare skin up to her side, where she felt bandages wrapped around her ribs and a dull aching sensation.

Stabbed. She'd been stabbed.

Now memories flooded back. Hela, Harriet, Anna, Brian and Billy. Charlie!

Somewhere not far away, Charlie was calling her name excitedly. She tried to reassure the raven, but she didn't even know where she was.

A door opened, blinding her with light.

"You're awake." Livia's tone was calm, but the relief in her voice sounded like a great weight collapsing from beneath her. She put a hand to her heart, took a deep breath, and stepped into the room.

"I guess you got to me in time," Alexandra said.

"It wasn't certain." Livia sat down in a chair next to Alexandra's bed. "You came close to leaving us."

"What about Hela?"

Livia was silent long enough for Alexandra to know the answer before she answered. "I don't know if I could have saved her even if I'd gotten there immediately."

Alexandra closed her eyes.

"Your other friends are all right," Livia said. "And Charlie is in a cage in the next room. We're in a house that was once a summer home owned by a wizarding family. MACUSA is using it as a clandestine field hospital, and only a few people know you're here."

Alexandra nodded, with her eyes still closed.

"You were in a coma for over a week," Livia said. "That stone knife missed your heart by a whisker. You'll probably have another scar."

"Thank you for coming," Alexandra said.

She'd promised she wouldn't ever call Livia for help again, and Livia had come anyway, emerging from her safehouse protected by the Fidelius Charm.

"I have many questions," Livia said.

"So do I," Alexandra said.

But they would have to wait. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"I think you'll rest normally now," Livia said, putting a hand on Alexandra's forehead. "We'll talk when you wake up again."


When she woke again, it wasn't Livia in the room with her. Instead, the shadowy presence seated in the same chair, head bowed as if in prayer, was Abraham Thorn.

For a moment, Alexandra wasn't sure this was real. She asked aloud, "Is this a dream?"

Her father looked up. She couldn't see his expression in the dark room. "No, Alexandra. You are awake, and I am here."

Alexandra swallowed. "They just let you walk in? Are you with MACUSA now?"

"No. But they could not keep me from my daughter. Only Livia knows I am here." His eyes were deeply shadowed in the darkness. "I sat here for many hours while you were struggling back to life. Had I been able to help you, I would have, but in the healing arts, Livia's abilities exceed my own."

"Maybe you should think about helping some of your other daughters. Do you even know what happened to Lucilla?"

"Yes." His voice was somber. "There is… little more I can do for her." He straightened his back. "Very well, my child, I see you've recovered enough to remonstrate with me. It's reassuring, really. I will listen, but I ask only that you try to keep your voice down and do not agitate yourself too much."

Alexandra took a deep breath. This caused a dull ache in her side. Somewhere in the place where she'd been stabbed, her flesh was still unmended, and it hurt.

"Was Hela your daughter?" she asked.

He bowed his head again. "That is… complicated."

"How complicated can it be? Did you fuck her mother or not?" Alexandra had been resolved to stay calm and controlled this time, but bitterness spilled out of her anyway.

His head snapped up, and she could feel his anger. "Don't be vulgar. I dislike hearing speech like that come from your mouth, whatever your condition."

"If you run away because I used bad words and hurt your feelings, don't return. I mean it. It was bad enough learning Claudia lied to me, and you went along with it. How many lies has my father told me? Do any of your children get the entire truth from you?"

Having been so close to death, her father did not intimidate her, and because she'd been so close to death, she hoped he wouldn't just shut her down, or vanish and take his wounded dignity with him.

He didn't. Instead he sighed. "I will tell you the entire truth," he said, "but you will listen and not interrupt."

Alexandra nodded.

"After Thalia and I separated, but before I met your mother, I traveled around the Confederation, seeking allies among the Cultures who had rejected Colonial society, and the price Colonials paid for their supremacy and their safety."

He settled slightly in his chair, as Alexandra silently listened.

"I met Skæda while I was in Yukon. She was the daughter of an important Thule elder. I will not bore you with the details, but our tryst was brief. I was unsuccessful in recruiting the Thule to my cause, and I left their Territory not intending to return any time soon.

"I did not even know Skæda had had a child until years later. She married one of their seven Grand Warlocks after my visit. I learned that at the same time I learned they had a daughter very soon after their nuptials.

"By then, I was the Enemy of the Confederation. You were already born, Alexandra, and Hecate was… you know what happened to her. Despite being a fugitive, I did attempt to reach out to Skæda. Very quietly and circumspectly.

"The answer I received—in no uncertain terms—was that she wished no contact with me, nor for me to ever attempt to contact her daughter. Skæda's husband had accepted the child as his own, and the last thing she wanted was the Enemy of the Confederation showing up to question her daughter's paternity.

"Years later, Skæda died in a tragic accident. Hela, I heard through my contacts, which I had then established even in the far north, was a very talented witch, but an outsider among her own people. Her relationship with her mother had been close; with her father, not so much.

"I honored Skæda's wishes while she was alive. But when I returned to Yukon Territory, to attempt once again to recruit Thule allies, I found some of them more receptive. Including Hela and her grandmother.

"She played her part as directed in New Amsterdam. She was… a very capable witch."

Abraham Thorn was silent then, long enough for Alexandra to decide she could speak again.

"When did she know she was your daughter?" she asked.

"She must have heard whispers since she was a child, but she never asked me directly. I believe for reasons relating to her difficult relationship with the father she knew, and her memories of her mother, that she chose not to know. I had a conversation with her grandmother about this. Thule customs are hidden and mostly unknown to outsiders, but we agreed it was for the best for me to wait until Hela came to me, if ever. In the meantime, it made it easier for Hela to avoid culpability should her role in our schemes be uncovered.

"I did not abandon her, Alexandra. I know her life was difficult, and as it was for all my daughters, that was at least partly my fault."

Alexandra shook her head. "Why did she try to kill me?" The question came out almost breathless. "Did her people tell her to do that?"

"I don't think so. I believe… she must have been told about your accursed prophecy, and drew the wrong conclusions." Now he sounded pained, and angry. His gloved hands clenched into fists.

"My prophecy." Alexandra struggled to sit up. It hurt, but she managed to raise herself up on one elbow. Concerned, her father leaned closer. "I want to hear it."

He leaned back. "What?"

"The prophecy. The fate the Stars Above pronounced when I was born. Wherever it came from. The Dark Convention and the Confederation both want me dead, and Hela tried to kill me because apparently the prophecy said only one of us could live. I'm tired of all these people who want to kill me knowing what some prophecy says about me and I don't." She fixed her father with her gaze. "You've kept it from me long enough. I deserve to know."

He didn't look away. She felt him testing her will, but either his heart wasn't in it, or in that moment, her righteousness gave her strength. She met his gaze without flinching.

Finally, he said with a sigh, "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Alexandra would have shouted except she was already tiring herself with so much talking. "Did you promise my mother? Would it ruin your plans? Are you—?"

Her father held up a hand, and his voice was more weary than angry. "Listen to me, Alexandra."

She closed her mouth.

"Fates pronounced by the Stars Above are not the same as prophecies," he said. "Your prophecy came from a Seer. I never heard that prophecy. Only your mother did. And she would not share it with me. Not in its entirety. She told me pieces of it, but not all. I don't know what Hela knew of it or how.

"What I knew, what Hecate divulged, what the Thorn Circle knew, the rumors that reached the Dark Convention, all of this became, over time, like warlock whispers, distorted and altered, fabrication mixed with fact and none of it reliable because prophecies are oracular nonsense that almost never tell you anything useful. Much like the useless riddles of the Stars Above.

"I've never told you about your so-called fate, Alexandra, because the Stars Above do not see the past, present, and future in the same way we do. They only see what is true at any given moment. As for your prophecy, like most prophecies, it is subject to interpretation. Prophecies are often self-fulfilling. They aren't things that just happen because a Seer said so and events unfold as if scripted. You're likely to bring them about by trying to fulfill or avoid them; it's we who make ourselves puppets of a prophecy by our actions. I did not—do not—want that for you, my child."

Alexandra continued to look at him, long and steady. "It must be pretty bad," she said at last. "Usually when you use a lot of words to tell me nothing, it means you don't want me to know the truth."

For a moment, she thought her father would break eye contact. She could see his face twitch, and then his brows furrowed and he spoke with his accustomed authority. "I am not lying when I say that like everyone else, I know only an incomplete version of it. Nor am I lying to you when I say you'd be better off not burdened by what a spiteful old woman said about you before you were born."

"Spiteful old woman?"

He sighed, as if perhaps that little bit of information was also something he hadn't meant to share.

"The Seer who gave Hecate your prophecy," he said, "was her grandmother. Your great-grandmother. She was—is—an unpleasant woman who did not at all like me. Not that she enjoyed a warm relationship with Hecate or any of her granddaughters either."

"Well, maybe I should talk to her, then," Alexandra said.

Her father laughed mirthlessly. "Good luck with that, my dear. She withdrew from the world and has been in hiding since you were born. And I did look for her… afterwards."

"That might explain why she's in hiding."

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't have harmed her, Alexandra. I only had questions for her." He put a hand on her shoulder, as Alexandra lay back down in the bed, tired and agitated by new thoughts and new questions.

"Even you couldn't find her?" she asked.

"A Seer who doesn't want to be found can be very hard to find indeed. It's said that to seek a Seer, you need a Seer."

"Where was she last?" Alexandra asked. "And what's her name?"

"You're not going to try to find her."

"Maybe I am. If you can't tell me what my prophecy is, you can at least tell me that. You owe me that."

Her father's hand rested heavily on her shoulder.

"Then you will probably have to start looking in the Ozarks," he said. "For Granny Grimm."


Anna came to see Alexandra the next day. She wore white fur-lined robes under a new red cloak, and the two of them took a walk outside after dark, once Livia had assured them the coast was clear. They were in a tiny village on the outskirts of Chicago, so close to Muggle neighborhoods that there had once been ordinances here against using magic outside one's home.

Charlie sat on Alexandra's shoulder, but as soon as they went outside, the raven flew to the nearest fence. Alexandra did not like admitting she was still weak, but she allowed Anna to hold her arm as they walked.

A great horned owl sitting in a tree hooted a loud greeting.

"I've started feeding Jingwei those vitality potions," Anna said. "And dusting her feathers. She's been really helpful carrying messages."

"Charlie's the cleverest bird," said Charlie. From the trees, Jingwei hooted ominously.

As they walked, Anna said, "I told David what happened. You should really talk to him."

"I will," Alexandra said.

"Are you going to go back to Larkin Mills? I'm not sure it's safe for you anymore."

"Is it safe for No-Majes?"

Anna sighed. "Mrs. Wilborough and Brian are authorized to call the MACUSA for help. We will send someone if we can, and I asked for some beast hunters to go there. They're really busy, though—lots of Muggle towns are being plagued by magical beasts and Dark creatures, and Central Territory is still sort of a buffer between us and the Confederation."

Alexandra had talked to Brian briefly. He was upset that he hadn't been allowed to come see her. She had promised she'd come see him as soon as she could.

"What are you going to do, once you've healed?" Anna asked.

"Maybe I'll go to Yukon. I have some questions for the Thule. Or whatever they call themselves."

Anna's expression became even more concerned. "That… doesn't sound like a good idea."

Hela had been returned to her people, though Alexandra hadn't been told just who came to get her. She still couldn't think about Hela without feeling many strong emotions—grief, anger, confusion, guilt, and resentment—and she had avoided talking about her since the night her father visited.

"It's probably not," she said. "Actually… since you mentioned what a good messenger Jingwei is, I need to send an owl, and Jingwei would be perfect."

"Charlie's a raven," said Charlie, as Jingwei hooted again from the trees.

"To who?" Anna asked.

"If I say Charmbridge, will you leave it at that?"

Anna considered this, while Alexandra tried not to lean on her too much. She hated how deeply Hela's knife had wounded her, in more ways than one.

"You're going into danger again, by yourself?" Anna asked.

Alexandra shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, everywhere is dangerous now, right? Even here. Even Larkin Mills. But… I need a different kind of help."

"From Ms. Grimm?"

"No." Alexandra's natural inclination had been towards secrecy, and not telling Anna more than she had to. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and realized there was no way not to tell her that didn't imply a lack of trust, and really, there was no reason not to tell her unless she didn't trust her. Keeping secrets because it was better for people not to know more than they needed to was how she'd grown up. It wasn't what Claudia and her father had meant to teach her, and she didn't really blame them for it, because it was as much her nature as anything that had been instilled by her upbringing. But it was time for her to learn when keeping secrets from her friends wasn't necessary.

"From Sonja," she said.

"Sonja?" Anna frowned. "Are you actually taking her 'Inner Eye' seriously now?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Alexandra had already told Anna about her father's visit, but not about what she'd learned about her prophecy. Now she did. Anna shook her head.

"Even if Sonja's willing, how will you get her out of Charmbridge? She can't just leave."

"David and Dylan did, and Stuart and Torvald, and—"

"And Shen," Anna said.

"I don't think the war has reached the Ozarks."

"That doesn't mean it's safe."

"Nowhere is safe. And this isn't going to be like that Quest the Grannies sent me on."

"Are you sure?"

"Anna, don't you agree I should know what my prophecy says?"

"I don't know. Maybe your father is right." Anna's breath caught in her throat. "What if it says you're supposed to die?"

"I'm already supposed to die," Alexandra said gently. Anna flinched, but Alexandra continued. "If it's going to happen, I'd rather know how and when and why."

Anna blinked away tears. "I'd rather know how to prevent it."

Alexandra squeezed her hand. "So would I."

"Alexandra," said Charlie.

Anna took a deep breath. "All right. I'll send Jingwei."

Jingwei hooted.

"Thank you, Anna," Alexandra said.

They resumed walking through the narrow, dark streets.

"I want to come with you," Anna said.

"Will your father let you?"

"I do sometimes do things without his permission."

Alexandra looked at Anna steadily until the other girl dropped her gaze. "He actually needs me," Anna said.

"It's okay," Alexandra said.

"Are you going to try to take Constance and Forbearance?" Anna asked.

"I don't think so. If they want to come, I guess, but—"

"I really don't think Dean Grimm is going to let you walk in and take half her students away."

"Yeah, well, we'll see." Alexandra also wasn't sure how she would deal with her aunt.

Anna laughed. "Typical Alex plan."

"Thanks." Alexandra turned to Anna and asked her the thing that had been weighing on her the most, after Hela.

"Anna… what happened to Harriet?"

Anna didn't say anything for a while, as they walked through the snowy wizard suburb. The houses looked very much like Muggle houses, except for the Victorian construction and the warm glow that came from a few of them that wasn't generated by electricity. Only a few, though—most were dark and faced the street with windows like ghostly eyes.

"She won't bother you again," Anna said at last.

Alexandra stopped and turned to face her.

"That's not good enough," she said. "I need to know."

Anna still didn't look at her.

"You did it, didn't you?" Alexandra whispered.

Anna swallowed. "I did… what I had to do," she whispered back.

"Oh, Anna," Alexandra said.

She put her arms around her friend, and the two of them stood like that in the snow, while Charlie and Jingwei both watched silently.


Alexandra exercised, as Livia instructed her, and drank the potions Livia gave her, and remained out of sight.

She got to see Nicholas a few times, and ate dinner with Livia and her husband once. Dr. Farr was polite but cool to her, and Alexandra reciprocated. They were still living in their safehouse, but risked emerging more often, with MACUSA wizards around. Chicago, Alexandra learned, had temporarily become a neutral zone in the wizard war. Goblins once again ran the Goblin Market, and neither MACUSA nor the Confederation controlled it. The Dark Convention was not popular among the wizarding residents, but they were everywhere.

She told Livia that after she recovered, she might stay with them or go back to Larkin Mills. She told Anna maybe she would join her and her father after she'd found out about her prophecy. She told her father she'd think about rejoining him.

She wasn't lying to anyone. She was thinking about all of these things. But first she was going to find out why Hela had tried to kill her. To learn that, she had to find her great-grandmother. And to do that, she needed a Seer. She only knew of one.