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of?”
    “Scenario one is that the goblins are making a power play for control of your new ward. With Tabetha so recently dead, they probably thought you were an easy target. No witch means no judgment.”
    I nod. “Very possible. If it’s true, it’s a good thing they believe I’m dead. What else?”
    She spread her hands and shrugged. “Before you killed Tabetha, Hecate gave you permission to kill her, right?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Well, you probably weren’t the only one. If word was out that Salem’s witch was on Hecate’s hit list, maybe you were a case of mistaken identity.”
    “They mistook me for Tabetha because I am now the witch of Salem.”
    “Right.”
    “Wouldn’t they know what she looked like?”
    “Not necessarily. I’ve never seen a goblin in person. I can’t imagine they kept close company with Tabetha.”
    I dug two mugs out of the cupboard and poured us both a cup of tea. “So… what’s scenario three?”
    She brought the mug to her lips and took a long sip. “I think we should consider the possibility that Mother wants you dead.”
    I swallowed down the wrong pipe and burst into a fit of coughing. When I’d finally managed to cough up the wayward tea, I asked, “Why?” But I knew why. I wasn’t supposed to accept Tabetha’s grimoire. I wasn’t supposed to have power over two elements.
    “You know why. It’s because you took Tabetha’s grimoire,” Polina confirmed. “The question is why she would be so indirect about it. Why doesn’t she just smite you from the earth?”
    Without any explanation for not being smote, I had no choice but to shove three more cookies into my mouth and shrug.
    Polina sighed. “If she wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Which means that particular scenario probably is not true.”
    I’d raised my mug to wash down the cookies when Rick appeared beside Polina. He lifted the arrow between his fingers, staring at the symbol.
    “Do you recognize that, Rick?”
    “No,” he said. “But it seems familiar to me, like I used to, a long time ago.”
    “I had the same reaction.”
    “It is said that her symbol is stamped upon the hearts of her progeny,” Polina said.
    Rick returned the arrow to the counter. “You are lucky to be alive.”
    I furrowed my brow, curious about something. “Polina, you said that Poe found Hildegard and Hildegard found you and that’s how you knew to help me, but Poe couldn’t have made it to Vermont in his condition. How did it happen?”
    She sighed. “I was already on my way to you, although I had no idea it was you. I saw your death in my mirror.”
    “You have one too?” I raised my eyebrows.
    “Who do you think made yours?”
    “Rick told me I conjured it in a past life.”
    Polina chuckled, holding her stomach. “Conjured it from where? Only a metal witch could make such a thing. I told you we were friends before. It was a gift.”
    “And you have one too?”
    “I have several. A smaller one I keep with me at all times and a more powerful one at my home, too big to move. It works the same way.”
    I scratched behind my ear, the dried blood in my hair flaking under my fingertips. I desperately needed a shower. “Polina…” I said, distracted by the way the light broke through the window and illuminated Rick’s muscled physique. I was still hungry, and today had been a breakthrough. I turned back to her so I could concentrate. “Did you see the goblin in your mirror? Is that why you came?”
    “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize it was you. Your human status confused me.”
    Crap. I was right about the mirror. Something was off with Rick and me beyond his memory. It might’ve been my need for blood, but I had a sinking feeling in my gut it could be more.
    Polina rubbed her hands together. “You know, Grateful, there’s only one way to find out for sure why the goblins tried to kill you today.”
    I squinted one eye and scowled. “You’re not suggesting…”
    “We go over and confront Mother.