True to form, her response was an imperious: “Sit.”

The only seat available was the pull-out chair beside her bed. I planted myself at the edge of it, facing her, and waited. She didn’t speak immediately. Twice, she opened her mouth, then closed it quickly. Her brow creased. She cleared her throat. A nurse came in to check on her, and I shifted in my seat, glancing about the room at the monitors, the TV on the wall turned to mute. Charles had brought flowers, and the scent of them mixed oddly with the smell of disinfectant and latex.

When the nurse left, Esther appeared to have collected herself. She lifted an arm and gestured around us. “As you can see, I’m not at my best.”

I eyed her with some suspicion. Esther wanted something from me, or she wouldn’t have asked me to stay. And I wouldn’t put it past her to use her episode—or whatever it had been—to manipulate me. But since it was probably not a good idea to provoke my bedridden grandmother, I told myself not to argue. “Is there something else wrong?” I asked. “Charles said you’re going to be fine.”

“Wrong? No. I’m going to recover.” She paused in order to give me a pointed look. “What I am not going to do, however, is grow younger.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Oh. And I do not require your sympathy, I require your ears—if you think you can unclog them long enough to listen.”

“I always listen to you. I just don’t always agree with you.”

Esther arched her eyebrows.

“Okay, I usually listen to you.”

“I trust you will listen now,” she said. She glanced down at her hands. I followed her gaze—the IV giving her fluids, the gleam of her wedding ring. The knobs of her knuckles were white. Her voice was quiet when she finally spoke again. “I have led the Kin here in the Cities for more than twenty years. My father led before me, and his father before him. The St. Croix family has guided the Kin for generations. Charles took my name when we wed—did you know that? No matter—the point is heritage, Audrey. Lineage. Tradition.”

I had a feeling I wouldn’t like where this was heading. Esther had never exactly been subtle about her attempts to mold me into a St. Croix, regardless of my own feelings on the matter. “Are we suddenly a monarchy?”

She gave me a sharp glance. “We lead because the Kin choose to follow. If the leader is not strong, they will choose to follow someone else.” She sighed then, laying her head back against her pillows and closing her eyes briefly. “I’m old. I’m getting tired. And recent events have forced me to consider, rather sooner than expected, who should succeed me.”

She’d taught me about the Kin hierarchy in one of our early sessions, but my memory of it was hazy. I hadn’t seen much point in it, since it wasn’t like a leader could write laws or enforce punishment. From what I understood, it was mostly about communicating with Kin in other areas—coordinating and making certain everything stayed connected. But since Esther apparently took it very seriously, I asked, “Can’t you just hold an election?”

“Traditionally, the outgoing leader appoints a successor. That failing, the elders will confer and make a decision—which the rest of the Kin may or may not abide by. I would prefer not to leave unrest in my wake. But it is not a simple task. Your uncle Elliott has made his life elsewhere. He won’t return. And Adrian is not an option. You and your cousins are far too young. It occurs to me that there is only one proper choice.”

I thought this over. I’d never met my uncle Elliott, who lived in San Diego, but I was surprised Esther would let a minor thing like two thousand miles get in the way of her wishes. I would have expected her to send a summons demanding his immediate return. Though perhaps she had, and he’d simply ignored her. She was right that my father definitely couldn’t lead. His powers had been sealed before I was born; I wasn’t certain he even understood what the Kin was anymore. But—

I sat straight as I realized what she was getting at. “You want Mom to lead the Kin?”

Esther’s eyes glittered. “Who else?”

“What about lineage? Wouldn’t that be the end of the St. Croix dynasty?”

“Unfortunate but unavoidable. And though Lucy is not a St. Croix, she’s the next best thing. She has a St. Croix child. Had she and Adrian ever chosen to make their connection official, she would have been bound to us by marriage. But she isn’t merely Lucy Whitticomb. She is also Morning Star. She is respected by both the Guardians and the rest of the Kin. She is known, and she is trusted. Even held in awe. The Kin will follow her.”

I tried to imagine Mom taking on Esther’s role—planning and organizing, spending all day in meetings, dealing with the Kin elders. I couldn’t do it. Mom barely remembered to feed herself. When I was a baby, she’d once left me in a Target cart and walked halfway down the parking lot before she realized she was missing something. If I didn’t leave her reminders every month, she’d probably forget to pay the bills.

Not to mention that she was a total loner and didn’t give a damn about what the rest of the Kin thought of her.

“What about Mr. Alvarez?” I asked. He wasn’t a St. Croix, but at least he was actually involved with the Kin. “Couldn’t he do it?”

“Ryan is a good boy—but he is busy with the Guardians. And he is too young as well. Too innocent. Too raw. No. It must be Lucy.”

“But…Mom doesn’t lead. You said that yourself.”

“Meaning that she is unwilling, not that she is incapable.”

I had a feeling the unwilling part was where I came in, but I asked anyway. “Okay. So why are you telling me?”

“Your mother and I have not always seen eye to eye. I’m afraid we don’t have the best relationship.”

That was something of an understatement. She and Mom were on slightly better terms these days than they had been a few months ago, but that wasn’t saying much. Their latest disagreement had been on the subject of Mom’s choice of boyfriends—which Esther had somehow decided was her business. Esther didn’t think Mom should be dating outside the Kin, especially since Mom was only half-blooded herself.

“I’ve already done my procreating,” Mom had said, nodding in my direction. “You’re looking at her.”

“Accidents do occur,” had been Esther’s response.

Her tone hadn’t left much room for misinterpretation. “Thanks a lot,” I’d said.

“You weren’t an accident,” Mom had answered. “Just a surprise.”

And then Esther had replied, “I believe my point has been made.”

So I couldn’t exactly blame Mom for not listening to anything Esther had to say.

Now, I folded my arms as I looked at Esther. “You think I’m somehow going to be able to convince her to follow in your footsteps?”

She smiled wryly. “No. One does not convince Lucy of anything. She either does something, or she doesn’t. I only want you to discuss the matter with her.”

“And when she says no?”

“I’ll fight that battle when I come to it,” she said. “You may leave now. Send in Elspeth.” She made a gesture of dismissal that was somehow regal, despite the hospital gown and the IV and the pillows propped behind her.

I lingered for a moment in the hall outside her room, listening to the chatter from the nurse’s station. There was something Esther wasn’t telling me. I sensed that, but I wasn’t certain I wanted to explore it. I’d learned recently there was some truth to the notion that ignorance is bliss. Whatever secrets Esther had, she was welcome to keep them. Some doors were better left closed.

I found Elspeth in the waiting room, curled up on the sofa with her legs drawn up beneath her, watching the news. The room was mostly deserted, save for two elderly women who sat in the far corner, conversing in hushed tones, and a man pacing back and forth with a crying toddler on his hip. Leon stood next to the window, occupied with his phone, but he glanced up when I entered and gave me a faint smile.