“Yes.” Bettina nodded. “The shift will come again.”
“And again ... and again ... and again.” Amelia scowled. “Nothing will change if we don’t come to an agreement.”
“There is no agreement that will satisfy us both.”
“That’s one reason why one of us has to be willing to move on.”
“It will not be me.”
“And it won’t be me.”
They sighed in unison, resigned.
“So, we shall continue like this,” Bettina said in a soft voice.
“Until the end of days.”
They both stared at the moon, quiet, as a dark cloud passed over the surface. After a few minutes, talk resumed.
“It’s my day to shine,” Bettina noted. Her voice was decidedly darker, Hannah realized. It was almost as if she’d become a different person. “You should leave. I don’t want to be depressed on my day in the sun.”
Amelia’s expression had lightened considerably, although she hardly looked amused. “I’ll go, but not because I care what you think. It’s a new day. The birds will start singing a new song. I have much to do. My garden needs tending.”
“My garden,” Bettina countered bitterly. “I started it.”
“We started it together.”
“And yet I’ve done the bulk of the work.” Bettina’s eyes were dark. “The gate opens every day at the same time. The worlds overlap. We cannot keep up like this forever.”
“No, but since neither one of us will voluntarily leave, we are where we are for the foreseeable future.”
“The veil will lift one day and the two worlds will be one.”
“Not as long as I have breath in my body.”
“And how long will that be?”
“As long as it takes. If I die, I’ll make sure to take you with me.”
“What an intriguing thought.”
HANNAH DRIFTED INTO A BETTER DREAM, leaving the witches to continue their endless squabble. Somehow, from a pretty field with the sun overhead and a picnic basket full of good food, Cooper had called her into a different part of her mind. There, she sat down to enjoy a picnic with him and Jinx. Despite the vastly superior surroundings and beautiful day, though, she kept looking over her shoulder. It was as if the other witches were now watching her, although she couldn’t see them.
When she woke, she found Jinx was still on the bed. He snored in her ear, his body partially on her back. Since she rested on top of Cooper, he was essentially pinned to the mattress thanks to the added weight provided by Jinx and herself.
“Whoops.” She laughed when she saw he was awake and staring. “I hope you don’t have to go to the bathroom or anything.”
He grinned, legitimately amused. “Actually, I’m okay. I’ve only been awake a few minutes.”
“Did you sleep okay?”
“I did. Once I fell asleep, I didn’t wake up at all. How about you?”
Hannah was ready to tell him she had a great night’s sleep and then she thought better of it and hesitated.
“It wasn’t meant to be a trick question,” he prodded.
“I know,” she replied hastily. “That’s not what I was thinking. I had another dream last night.”
“I’m sorry.” His frown was pronounced. “I wanted you to get some peace.”
“I did,” she reassured him. “I had a better dream after the first dream.”
“And what was the first dream about?” He gently brushed her hair out of her face. “Was it the witches again?”
“Yes.”
“The same?”
“Kind of, but different.” She told him about the dream, about the roundabout conversation. When she was finished, he seemed perplexed. “It’s weird, right?”
He nodded. “It’s definitely weird. You say the voices sounded different, huh?”
“Really different. It was as if they became different people.”
“Abigail said each one was bad half the time.”
“Yeah, and I still don’t know how that’s possible.”
“Me either. I don’t get the stuff about the veil. What sort of veil could they be talking about?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that. Oomph. Move over, Jinx.” Hannah pushed against the dog as hard as she could. “I can’t breathe.”
Jinx shot her a one-eyed defiant look and then turned to face the other way ... and immediately began snoring again.
“We need a bigger bed,” Cooper lamented.
“It’s not going to stop him from sleeping on top of us. That’s not important right now, though,” she insisted. “I think the veil they’re talking about is the shadow world.”
He stared at her for a beat, unblinking, and then shrugged. “I have no idea what that means.”
“There’s more than one plane of existence. There are some magical beings who can move between planes. What if this mountain is one of the spots where the planes overlap?”
“I’m not sure how that works.”
“I’m not either, but I’ve done a bit of reading since I found out I was a witch. I think we’re dealing with a collision of two worlds ... and maybe people from different planes, too.”
“Yeah, you’ve definitely lost me now.”
“Bettina and Amelia. They’re twins but one lacks pigmentation. What if it’s because one of the twins was from the other plane?”
“What, like we all have counterparts living on a different plane and somehow Josette managed to get her daughter’s counterpart?”
Hannah eagerly nodded. “You got what I was going for right away. I’m amazed.”
Cooper made a face. “That was my joke answer.”
“Well, it’s what I’m thinking. I have no proof of course, but I think it’s an avenue to follow.”
“Twins from two different planes starting a war and turning Casper Creek into a magical nexus. That’s the avenue you want to follow, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
“Sure. Why not?” He threw up his hands. “It sounds perfectly reasonable.”
“I know you’re being sarcastic, but I’m fine with it because I figure you’ll come around eventually. In fact—” Before she could finish her sentence, she heard pounding on the front door of the apartment.
Jinx jerked up his head and started barking.
“It’s too late to warn us now,” Cooper groused, hopping out of bed. “We need to talk about your protection skills, buddy. You’re sleeping on the job this morning.”
Jinx’s only response was to cut him off and hit the hallway first, forcing Cooper to sidestep him at an odd angle and
