The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Mika attempts to talk Terracotta down, but the girl won’t listen. She’s too caught up in her victory over Mika. Terracotta sits on a high-up tree branch like a broomstick. Mika’s voice is panicked, despite her attempts to sound calm and stern. Terracotta brags about not needing Mika’s help. Suddenly, the branch begins to crack underneath her. Jamie realizes how much harder it is for Mika to help Terracotta when Terracotta actively resists, and an abundance of magic begins to gather around Mika and Terracotta.

Mika levitates to retrieve Terracotta herself. A blinding flash of light bursts through the air. Mika redirects it from Terracotta to herself, taking the blow and falling to the ground. Mika is unconscious and motionless. Jamie and Ian rush to her side. She’s alive but in bad condition. Ian notices a small leaf sprouting from the hollow of Mika’s neck. He recognizes this as a sign of hibernation—a thing witches do when they’re injured. He saw his mother hibernate once.

Jamie isn’t used to feeling this panic. He takes Mika to the attic and settles her in bed. There’s nothing they can do but wait. Terracotta feels guilty that it’s her fault Mika is hurt. Jamie tries to control his temper, but he informs Terracotta that her attitude toward Mika caused this.

Mika awakens the next day feeling awful. Her entire body hurts, and she has very little energy. When she opens her eyes, the sun is too bright, and she complains about it. Jamie, who is sitting with her, covers her eyes with his hand. She exclaims in pleasure at the darkness, and he jokes about her making sex noises. She replies that he doesn’t know her sex noises yet.

Mika realizes that she was in hibernation, which Primrose told her about. Jamie tells her that they’ve taken shifts watching her, but Mika can tell it’s been only Jamie the entire time. He says Terracotta has been with him for much of it. He thanks Mika for protecting Terracotta.

Circe runs in, followed by the girls and the other adults of the house. Everyone is happy to see Mika awake. They all leave except Terracotta, who wants a moment alone with Mika. Terracotta asks why Mika saved her, and Mika says she likes Terracotta. Terracotta says she doesn’t understand why, when she has been so mean, but Mika says she understands that Terracotta’s attitude comes from a place of protectiveness. Mika asks Terracotta to trust her and listen to her because Mika wants to keep everyone safe. They make up, and the other two girls run in to give Mika a hug. All four fall asleep in Mika’s bed.

It takes two days for Mika to be mobile. The household waits on her every whim, serving her and entertaining her while she heals. The girls have started practicing their animation spells on wooden dolls.

Jamie brings Mika her phone. Primrose has texted to ask Mika to lunch the following day. Mika doesn’t want to reject Primrose because she worries that Primrose noticed the surge of magic. However, Mika’s in terrible shape. Pulling herself through lunch a few miles away may be hard on her body as it recovers. Jamie worries about her.

Mika uses a speed spell to shorten the two-hour drive, but it takes all her energy. She regrets accepting Primrose’s invitation. Inside, Primrose immediately notices Mika’s ghastly appearance and remarks that she knew the surge of power had to be from Mika. Mika is offended that Primrose thinks of her this way, even though she was the cause. Primrose thinks Mika is being reckless again.

Primrose asks about the surge and why it came from Norfolk. Mika, who attended college near Norfolk, says she was at a reunion when she saw her ex-boyfriend and had to go to the woods to lose her temper. Primrose believes Mika.

Primrose muses about how different witches have different strengths. She’s good at memory magic, while Mika excels in potions. Primrose adds that her late sister had her own skills, but Mika interrupts, asking Primrose to repeat what she said about the potions. She can’t get over Primrose’s acknowledgment of her talents. This directs the narrative away from a point that foreshadows a major revelation in later chapters: that Primrose has a sister.

Mika asks for details about why witches are orphans. Primrose explains. Witches used to be able to assemble without much fear, but the Witchfinder General gaining political power made things too dangerous. Fifty-three witches came together to cast a spell designed to provide extra protection to newborn witches, but assembling so much magic together backfired. Now, to prevent disaster, witches tend to stay away from one another and never practice magic together.

Mika asks about her own heritage. Primrose says she knew Mika’s grandmother, which is how she learned of Mika’s eventual existence. Mika’s grandmother served a similar role as Primrose, leading her own geographically similar group of witches. Primrose kept track of Mika’s mother too. She explains that Mika’s mother didn’t want children but ended up not having a choice. Mika feels sad that she didn’t have a choice. None of the witches in India took Mika because they all had their own families they were hiding their powers from and couldn’t risk bringing in another source of magic.

Mika asks if Primrose ever considered breaking tradition and allowing witches to be around one another. However, Primrose insists that alone is the only way they can ensure their safety.

Mika is too tired to drive home, but Jamie shows up to take the wheel, having planned with Ken to do so earlier. Mika clambers into the passenger seat, shivering. Jamie helps Mika into his coat.

She enters a state of extreme exhaustion, sniffing Jamie’s jacket and touching his face. She asks him to kiss her, but he refuses. She asks if he doesn’t want to kiss her. Jamie clarifies that he won’t kiss her while she can’t give full consent.

Mika explains that Primrose believed her lie and talks about what she learned from Primrose. Mika felt that it was the right time to ask Primrose questions because more is at stake now that she’s mentoring three young witches.

Mika sleeps for most of the ride and wakes up as they arrive home. Inside, Ian waits with tea and cookies. Mika tells Ian and Jamie about her history with the college in Norfolk and her ex. Mika loved her ex so much that she showed him her true self. However, he took advantage of her magic for his own gain. Mika lost herself in that relationship. When they broke up, Mika left school. She wanted him to forget her.

Mika adds that she also had a few nannies and tutors who took advantage of her magic. She says it would be nice to live in a world where she could be herself. Ian relates Mika’s feelings to the earlier days of his and Ken’s relationship, when it wasn’t safe or legal to be out as gay men. Their love helped them through it.

Mika sleeps in Jamie’s coat and wakes late in the day. The girls escort her downstairs for dinner, where they’ve been practicing animation on their wooden dolls and on origami swans that flutter around the room. Lucie asks if Mika remembers much from the previous day. Mika remembers her attempts to get Jamie to kiss her and knows he remembers too—but she doesn’t mention it.

Ian suggests that Mika take the girls and Jamie foraging tomorrow, but he’s going to Liverpool to meet up with his mother at an art gallery for her birthday. Everyone besides Mika is shocked, uncertain that it’s a good idea for Jamie to visit his mother. They worry that his brothers will be there. Mika wishes someone would fill her in on Jamie’s family, but she doesn’t feel it’s her place to ask. Ian suggests that Mika go with Jamie so that she can use her speed spell to help him cover the long drive. She agrees.

The next morning, Jamie visits Ian and Ken’s cottage, intending to scold Ian for pushing Mika on him, but Ian has left. Jamie expresses his concerns to Ken, who asks him to forgive them for wanting him to have someone when they die. Jamie explains that he’s worried about Mika hurting him, since she tends to leave and not form connections. Ken acknowledges that it’s likely Mika will leave but encourages Jamie to “leave a window open” (213) for the possibility of loved ones returning.