Despite agreeing to Thaddea's plans, it was with a heavily weighted heart I boarded the ship to London, accompanying the griping, sullen Auburdeen who her mother agreed to send to England for her own protection. Though Olive hadn't threatened Thaddea's children directly, we both knew the woman's decline into madness could lead her to attack anyone she saw as a threat. And if Thaddea was to take her place as leader of the coven, Auburdeen's safety was paramount to succession.

I ...