Part 31 (1/2)

”I just wanted to see how you were doing Hi Halsey,” he said to o to hio elsewhere,” I said to the like: ”You shouldn't be fraternizing with ruff ”I don't care,” he said Or whatever he said

I was looking at soht of the Ball So around We had about an hour, Veruschka had said The selection process would take the remainder of today and probably even to deal was? I put my hood up There were just thirteen of us Despite what they said, we had no more potential than anybody else Besides, I rambled to myself, since when did somebody else care about someone's potentialit was only what you could do, thathard times I could feel it Where I wasn't a kid anymore, but I wasn't really an adult, either I was stuck soeway and bent to sniff at the nasturtiu their best to hide my face The chatter seemed to die down as I walked and contemplated When, suddenly, I heard voicestwo of the fro, and I was no”If an Initiate rejects a House, that marker is wastedit's tantamount to a crime They don't want somebody who makes their House look stupidor worse, can't be controlled”

”Or is too powerfulIs that what you think,behindvoices

Selas standing there The cold mind It er to his lips, biddingin his eyes; eyes so astonishi+ngly blue I had only ever seen their like in my dreams before I openedhim there had really shocked me It was a moment before I realized I wasn't supposed to like him very much

Finally, er up to his lips I think he knew better than to grab my hand, because I would have screamed, but he beckoned to soh I didn't knohy ”You're very mysterious,” I said ”I want to knohy”

He stopped ere free of some of the darker tunnels; for no other reason than just to see, I looked into his eyes once more, but he kicked me out of his mind

”You have aetherit's dark,” I said

His eyebroent up

”Where have you been?” I asked ”Why are you so disheveled? You look like you've just crawled out of so”

It was true Selwyn looked al the night of the Ball?” I asked

”Stop talking and listen to me,” he said His voice was in a hurry

So around to see who hadto protect e to you,” he said to ht up hat he was saying His voice was gravelly, as though he had barely used it He ran a hand through his hair and then put the full ain; but not to look into my mind ”I just want to talk,” he said

”You ,” I said, sonantly, ”to see if you wanted to jump into my head?”

I listened for what his response would be

”It was a wiccaning Besides, I had to see what you knew, or didn't know,” said Selwyn, and smoldered at me As he spoke he kept an eye out Not literally He was just very attentive

I only had an hour I had to go

”Wait,” he said, ”this is important Your mother and father”

”What of oing on,” he said I was so tired of hearing that ”But you will And soon,” he said He brushed hi He needed a haircut and a shave I was not the only one hiding behind long black bangs tonight

”Is that a threat?” I said Despitetotally alone with hiwith everyone else here

”A warning Things are not safe, Halsey, especially for you,” he said

”What do youlike you know me?”

Somewhere I realized he had called me Halsey instead of Halsey Rookmaaker

But he shook his head

”You'll find out soon enough,” he said ”A piece of advice until then Watch your step”

I foldedto be spooky, or is it just a gift, because if you think you can intimidate me, Selwyn”

He blew a strand of hair out of his face, grinning broadly ”You have their spirit,” said Selwyn ”Not everyone has made themselves known yetPendderwenn, the Lenoir, the twins They are only a few of the strange beings located here”

”And what about you?” I said ”Who are you, anyway?”

But he was shaking his head ”You need to get back,” he said ”If you follow this path, and head toward the lightthat's very importantit will lead you”

”Not until you tellhere,” I said

Selwyn looked around ”I'm here for the same reason as you are, and the sao, and I think Ithere, and disappeared back the way he'd coave me the heebers, to quote a Marek line, that was not unlike the way I felt about eway back to the Gathering, to the Star Room

It was only as I felt the sand beneath my feet that I remembered whose turn it was The Trasteverean Werewolves would betheir selection at any second Lia didn't meanshe hadn't meantshe wanted me to be selected by the honest with myself, the ansas both yes and no Yes, I wanted to be a ood forabout it made me feel weird Ballard's family was, in a sense, my family They were as close to a family as I had ever known Yet, if I was to do what I had to do, I had to be free of them Solo

It would be one way for the olves to consolidate their power In a sense, Lia would always be a olf But hters of Roht about hoould feel if they picked Vittoria Like they had done the right thing, probably But whoever they picked, the nearest Wiccan House was the Ro about it, of the rundown nature of Pendderwenn, o there Then I realized it was a satellite of Ravenseal and that settled it I would not be going to Pendderwenn

Could an Initiate reject the House which chose them? Had it ever even been done before? I didn't know if there was a precedent for it or not

The rest of the Initiates and I stood in a roaiting to be selected

”With the fifth pick,” said Veruschka Ravenseal, holding up the hters of Romulus pick their own Lia Rosen as their Initiate”

Lia was fifth She was chosen She breathed a sigh of relief, and went off with Gaven, leavingthere with not much enthusiasm for the ordeal to cooing soo I realized that now Lux had been right It would be like I was throwingRoLennox as well Rome was his home, after all

I didn't knohat to do

A few last- traded, people positioning thes

Vittoria laughed ”If they call that reading people, they radations in”At least the dog's back in her kennel,” she said, referring to Lia

”There's value to being underestimated,” I said

”Speak for yourself,” said Vittoria