Part 41 (1/2)

My blood would not abate; instead a recklessness overwhela in the park and started it It was so cold out a were snorting, and running under the power of our own resolve For I needed it now, that resolve, and the reassurance of a, more than ever Ballard was my true anchor The only one as, quote-unquote, always there for , in spite of h alleyways (vicoli), cutting through traffic, which never see to lose ued one He was free

The a sounded silent in themy head caseI one I watched as the last of the stars raced across the sky, and the moon (some would call it a supermoon) wheeled over the many monuments whose naio (I had looked that one up) was the name of the watchtower I had seen in Venice But then aabout Venice was off-li to do withhihts, a new persona; I would have to be somebody else, yes I decided I would start ione The neas chilled to the bone, teeth rattling, yet faster, fasterale by speed alone Why weren't they wheeling fast enough, those stars? I wanted the ht unto to yesterday Or what the future would hold for et Because then I needed to Yes I needed to

I was a wet dog A bedraggled old soul stuck in a young soul I needed a Ballard ”in his own sauce,” so to speakthe lemony-fresh scent of his small ho-vel And then it hit me, the pitiful state of ing ht My own House But that Wiccans were supposed to be lin-e-aged Literally produced through a factory-like process to becoed; which I would not be, and, therefore, checks and balances, there her authority, mustn't there, The Master House, for instance, who looked over Wiccan Initiates andcorrectly? But I would not be subservient to them It wasn't what my parents had wanted I had failed incae to them House Rookmaaker had to become my prioritybut first Ballard, and then Selwyn, if I could But I had one advantage, with regards to the black catSelas sneaky, a virtuoso And who knew? Just because I had seen hirabbed hi Maybe, in thatto face whatever on my behalf Would I let him?

He was my Protector Somehow, I didn't see why that should equal a death sentence

In a bad situation, then, anything can , and there is no certainty Keep your eyes open!

I swerved, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision, and throttled back Mistress Genevieve's words ca into lessen so for I think I just wanted to feel road beneath my tires, to put the jeopardy ofit had felt like others had been controllingelse Before, I had looked into Wiccanings on my computer, baby baptiss indoctrinatedthere was that word againyoung ones into the community of Crafters; but it didn't say you had to become one I would have a choice I knew that now To do whatever I wanted

And if I turned my back on it, on Wicca, so be it I knew my parents would not disapprove I was free to live my own life And so a crossroads was beforeor take it up, and so follow it to the bitter end

Myto see Ballard was my answer Risky had wanted Ballard and I to hook upyou knohat I mean Not Lia and me; or even the olves and me; but Ballard and n In which case, I existed in a state of whatevers Step one was the boy with the curly, dark hair My lifemate My destiny-amanuensis I would dedicate myself to the proposition that he and I had no choice, that we should do this; and therefore must

We were fated to do this, to find House Rookmaaker, just as Risky had been fated to do whatever he had doneso out for us

This h Rome, to Trastevere It was silent, in Trastevere No distant zipping through the vicoli on Ducatisti Peaceful The nen of a new day

But then looks could be deceiving I had to rees, in the wolf pack

Hopefully the transition of Gaven being Il Gatto, to someone neould be a s, and then they got put out to seedor stud The e of Lia and Gaven onderfully coincidental, didn't I think? I only hoped they wereup a lot to be with Gaven We'll see, I told myself

I needed a voiceso within my breast I felt the indefinable pull of my choices But also that maybe I did not have a choice ThatMy four D's were Marek, Ballard, and, of course, Lennoxlove Lenoir and Selwyn; and in a way I loved the, froain the question

I turned the corner, into a grey-lit alleyway, and wouldn't you know it, there was the Rosen Family arage, was already opened, welcoht new day, which was the start of tomorrow

D for Defenders, I told ine and stepped off aBallard had once toldThe last thing someone needed was a pack of olves who could smell them, hear them, bite them, track them You did not mess with I Gatti The exhaust toot-tooted and that was it I looked for the telltale sparks co out of the door, but there were none Whoever was in there, it didn't sound like they orking

”Ow!”

I heard so on his thu everyone's biotch,” he said Apparently, he hadn't heardto himself, until, rando It was a moment before I realized he had a pair of earbuds in his ears and was listening to rap led out of his back pocket of his jeans which were frayed at the botto a bloody crescent wrench

I played a little ga it would take hi which I really liked about Ballard was how cos Whatever he did, he did it all of the way So I was not surprised when he didn't noticeabout, it see of Ballard, it was like he had gone through a growth spurt of sorts Ballard, the sixteen-year-old, didn't look like Ballard, the sixteen-year-old, anymore He had always been on the scrawny side; I don't ed the rest of the members of the olves, as far as size was concerned They were all six nine He was not Noever, it looked as though he had soed to split the difference Ballard was six three at least; he had put on half a foot And he had also filled out in the shoulder area Which didn't seeuessed he was growing up, literally before my very eyes

I watched hi was puzzling hio inside

Our eyes ht as he was unawares, I saw the look of the olf behind his eyes It was only a flash but it was there Even when he sawaway Instead, it was like the anireat forestand then it turned to go inside Ballard, however, stood his ground

”Look what the cat dragged in,” he said, but only because it itty and suggested supernatural things were afoot ”How are you, Halls?”

I shrugged, still on my motorcycle He smiled athad subconsciously rearrangedLennox hard Where was he, and as he doing? I guess it was lucky Ballard was good at fixing things, because that fit eneral repairs and rattachecca

Ballard shuffled his feet momentarily, uncertain how to proceed I sniffed unselfconsciously, scrunching up my eyes, and flipped down my visor My diary was strapped below ht,” I said It echoed in my helmet-top He was over to me in a second

”You never told me this motorcycle was so expensive,” I said ”I mean ridiculously expensive, Ballard”

”Well, if you are who those Ravenseal wackjobs say you areand my Uncle Risky” he said, but cut it short

That last one had some clout Ballard believed in Risky They all did I had never heard Risky's name mentioned without soave Risky his biggest credentials, calling hireatest olf to have ever lived Soht Ballard could take the prize He heldhappen?” he asked me, sincerely

I just held him Implied was the beatdown he'd put on whoever had hurt led soed and I didn'tto realize I was free

I sniffed again and gulped down h so that he could hear: ”I want to be I Gatti or well affiliated with you at least”

Ballard wiggled some more

I popped up my visor, better now

”Jeez, your eyes are sore,” said Ballard

”Did you hear me?” I asked

”Check You want to be a olf What's bothering you, anyway?” he said

”Nothing I need a grattachecca,” I said

”You got it,” said Ballard

I waited in his shop while he went to make us someand there I encountered the salt-and-pepper countenance of the sly, elusive, Risky Rosen, Ballard's uncle

It was a portrait which hung on the wall

”Actually,” said Ballard, returning with our grattacheccaswhich really should have been grattachecci, ”Rosen is s, reme the ice and syrup concoction