Part 19 (2/2)
Even the lock I usually had to blow out of ht
The sa It had been transforeway in and out of the place We were being led by streamers to the Star Room itselfthe place where the other new- under the tutelage of Professor Lux I thought what Vittoria ht say (”Teacher's pet”), or indeed any of the other Neophytes, if they saw me hand-in-hand with him That he's too old for you, probably Let haters hate, I thought I had Lux And ere going to a dance So Lia hadn't said It used to be that such as I, at such as this, were called debutantes, and it was our opportunity to exhibit and be seen I had looked for European witchcraft all ofreally expected to find it Now they were going to be seeing me, these witches and wizards!
It eird
What did they look like? How did they behave?
Mistress Veruschka, et al, were here as 'representatives'nothing could be so false But Wiccans outside of the Gathering! They were going to be in attendance, as well as other Supernaturals! It wasn't justout of the world!
I found Ballard, with ed in conversation with Liesel; she was in a pretty sequined dress that showed off her figure I suddenly saw her laugh and Ballard throw his head back; she continued to giggle behind her hands What was I doing?
I looked at Lux, who smiled at me
”Nervous?” he said
”Not one bit,” I said ”I can hardly wait”
As the tunnels opened up and the ceilings beca of heels and whispering of cloth gave way to the sounds of hundreds and hundreds of individuals from here, there, everywhere There were ine! I looked for Asher, Dallace, Camille; what I saw instead were trains of people I had never seen in my life; it really was an opportunity to dress up and show off, like a parade, al to be worried about
I saw ed the sea with thereeted each other and enquired as to this or that Having always perceived of olves as eternally young, I was surprised to see very wolfy-looking older h times indeed Then there were the werecats
”Don't ever call a werecheetah by a werepanther's name,” said Lux ”They will so dislike you for that”
”I think that's a were faux pas,” I said ”A werepaw,” as he steered e
I looked out at the assembled skin-walker's conventionand then I noticed the va miraculous happened
They were happy Everyone was It was like they were glad to be here I had to giveAnd all of it, the paranoiathe theht at least ere as one
Periwinkle-blue dog's-bane and hydrangeas the size of footballs covered the sides of the catacolitterdust that floated in midair butterflybushes filled with real butterflies stretched towards the love like chalasses filled to the brim Still we continued, past nasturtiu the way, past garlands of holly, and even a roisin dubh or two And all the while I clutched Lux's arm It was perhaps a spell like the one Camille had weaved at Venice, ethereal and otherworldly; on the garden, not Lux
I wound uests No a who these n olves and other shape changers, the va and savagery, of refinements and the most well-polished animal instincts The vampires were like velvet-lined boxes or the powder rooms of movie stars, all, I realized, with that most coveted of possessions
Status
They were here by invitation of the Lenoir I had the sense that they could blink away a quarter century no proble in refinements, they had cultivated a presence nonetheless that was all their own Hirsute or not, they were for The only question hy they hadn't sent delegates to the Gathering themselves
Asher ith the Lenoir, or so he'd said His real objective was so elseI was sure of it Lia had said that the other delegates had been upset with Maria Lenoir when she brought hi What was it about ailuranthropesCat shi+ftersthat was so repulsive to theic It was like Magic was Magic, and I was trying to keep up
As for the Wiccans, it sent chills downthem all here
I heard voices behind ht, if you're in to that sort of thing”
I looked back Vittoria was staring after me with her heavily-lidded eyes, on the aring Pack secrets, was he? Then I thought: Is it evento be a olf, I told myself Then, yes, it is
I cocked my head at her She made a W and shot it at me, then smirked and walked past me, into the Star Rooalaxies Ian todance
Chapter 16 Hiving
This was the part I had been really afraid of I can't dance It's one of s Lux and I revolved slowly on the dance floor I frequently stepped on his toes Every once in a while he would be hailed by someone presumably that he knew from across the dance floorbut he stayed with me
He's with Ravenseal, Halsey, relax I told myself, of course he knows people!
Then a strenuous nu their bodies around wildly You had to give it to the Wolves There was so wild and free about the way they danced Unselfconscious As though they were at one with themselves It was a moment before I remembered that Lia was splitshe was either a olf or a Wiccan now, but she couldn't be both; her Mark had still not filled in No one's had
The other weres, I noticed, were a secretive lot Particularly the cats, who kept h one werecheetah actually bent and kissed my hand, when Gaven introduced us An electric current passed between the werecheetah and I, which meant that we had sexual cheh the whiskers on his fine face
Lux re at the sandpit Except it wasn't the sandpit any longer Magic had transformed it until it was a kind of Roman Forum (as if, in celebration of the fact that ere in Rome), with various statues of particularly ieso I had never seen beforeand wizards and witches who looked like they were in the throes of some particularly complex conjurations A tall obelisk stood in the center of the rooht, it was soures were carved around it so that it looked like an impenetrable iron fresco or a shadow caster Instead of projecting the light, it drew you to it The ground had been covered over with a parquet floor temporarily and the obelisk jutted out of it like a metallic tooth
The vampires, , there were a hundred of thehout They looked to be carved out of stone Quite a few of them were in conversation Ito some of the warlocks I had never ic Fruit Punch
”I think we icembrace olf, witch and va in to what they had to say
”It's a pity soh if you ask me a lot of them are without any civility whatsoever”
”If you askprocess has to stop Isn't the purpose of our gifts in theirif you don't even knohat it is you can do?”
”I just wonder about our guests,” said one wizardan older gentleh he could've been an Oxford Don; ”as well as the Initiates' Marks”
”What do you think they will select?” asked his friend, a vaiven them someone ill help them, I daresay An expert in Wiccan Marks, is old Lux”
”Can you explain that?” said the vas into his drink
”The Mark is youor your essence I really don't understand it What it will be is anyone's guess Only the Initiates really know But don't tell them that”
”Why not?” asked one of the vaainst the Initiates' natures Malleability, you know, isn't all it's cracked up to be Just as Virtuositywell”
”Isn't that Lux's?”
”I wonder how he got those scars?”