Part 47 (2/2)
”Ballard, you're Head Wolf!” I said
Lia's wedding to Gaven on the Lupercalia was approaching like gangbusters; I had little ti else The worst part was Ballard was so busy He and Gaven were initiating THE CHANGE, as they called it Gaven was passing the keys to the kingdo to see the youngest Il Gatto in their history ever again (”It's official I a planning Her train of baggage includedto her preadolescent daydrea, that Lia, Lia, Lia Which would have been okay norh
They walked over coals during Lupercalia, but I was getting dragged through them I felt like I needed to be in twelve places at once Maybe if there were h andaround for any noble reasons was secondary to the fact she was going to be spending soabout Wiccan couples ”Is there a e system in the culture?” I asked ”Can people in one house e forbidden? What about e with non-wizards and witches, Lia? Or eclectic witches and wizards, hey? Shape shi+fters, and the like Can they marry into Houses? Or can they only e, as we define it, takes place, what is the ceremony coes? Is there a docue issued or are the partners marked, body and soul?”
Okayshe kneas crazy That look proved it
”I would think a third-degree Head of House could marry two people, Halsey,” she said ”But I can only tell you how it's done for olves The girl, iven a moonvase; that's the feiven a moonflask; the ht hi box, fetching it froold stopper shaped like a heart ”This is what I' hts
”Lia, are there other olves in the world?” I asked ”Besides I Gatti”
She looked confused by the question, putting the moonflask away It was very beautiful, I told her
”Some,” she said ”But I've neverof my landladyand Vittoria If they were related, if my landlady was a olf Then what the H was Vittoria?
”I've heard of one group The Benandanti” she said ”And there's another The Grigori My brother would know s which happens is Gaven tells Ballard everything Like presidents about Area 51 and Roswellhe gets brought in on all the secrets” She shrugged
”That's pretty!” I said
”Do you like it? I' myself with Swarovski crystals,” she said She was off in Drea Ballard the pack secretsI alical passing on or so; we had broached this subject before, Ballard and I, and Gaven and I There was more apparently to the olves than I knew
Lia's TMI hit me then I wondered who had told Gaven the pack secrets, when he had become Head Wolf? Maybe Ballard would tell me some of them, if I asked I could probably trick it out of him But, no, I wouldn't do that Ballard would tell ood and ready, or not at all
”Your eyes are so pretty Like as issued fro nuisance as a reed status would be in jeopardy Everything see, including House Rooketting together were called Houses, even if it was just in their minds, and there wasn't an actual location
What if my parents' House existed like one of these Houses? In the inary, couldn't it? Non-corporeal? Was House Rook h the peephole Vittoria was out there, sweating profusely, guzzling an aperitif It was like she had aped my entire existence down to the Red Bull
I was supposed to be the only Wiccan in Rome
And, well, Lia too But that's it
Vittoria went back in her rooh I didn't like all of these secrets A part of o ask Vittoria what she was up to, but I knehat she'd say ”Mind your own business,” or, ”Don't be such a Coriolanus, asshole”
Was she h the wall The next night orse, like she was ha ”That's very interesting!” she said
I booted upthe headrush as the words cay drink went down
SEE BENANDANTUS
WEREWOLVES
For kicks I typed in ine, but KINSEY AND MAXIMILIAN ROOKMAAKER returned nothing I wished I could type in WHAT'S THE POINT? or HELP WEREWOLF, RISKY returned nothing either LORENZO, I typed
BOOTED FROM HIS HOME RANGE
TOOK UP IN STROMOVKA
Whatever that ? There was no wiki for any of this A bang went off Vittoria
I hissed the hated naood one Why did she have to be here? Couldn't she just leavethat ca ner
I paused infinitesimally
THE LENOIR, I typed It felt forbidden
Why did I feel like they would know if I was trying to access their secrets? I redefined the search PARIS, THE LENOIR, VAMPIRE, COVEN
It gave ot an error e 403 Forbidden/Access Denied
The jolt in
I was at the website I had been to before The one with the snowflakes, the falling symbols The Wiccan website Were the Lenoir connected to this? Ballard needed to be here for this!
401 Unauthorized Access denied Red flags cained the Lenoir kicking down et to me here, could they, not in Rome
Oops! You've crashed the Internet!
I connected back up and typed so havoc withLennox would return
PARIS COVEN THE VAMPIRES LENOIR
By hitting enter I was stepping over the invisible threshold which separatedthe rules The search held a proviso, a warning against it It was akin to Lennox's drea We only let those co all the way What was this commitment? Did I want to become a vampire? I needed to knohere he was at! If I taive uards surrounding the Lenoir were impenetrable My search yielded several actors, actresses, an old historical figure But no actual Paris vampire coven Disappointed, I shut down my computer and went to bed My drea the land, alone and without hope, and suchlike general un-at-easiness
Chapter 6 Lupercalia
The wedding day e fro, followed by a blinding hot Roest in memory It was February 14th, Valentine's Day I arrived to the Rosen fa spent the ti sense of uneasiness over who the olf had been I had seen in my dreams I decided I would tell Ballard as soon as possibleAbout the Hunter and so forth Ballard was the new Il Gatto, after all He needed to know If anything skullduggerous was going on, it was his business, was it not? But Ballard was not at the Rosen fae, with two strangers I had neveron Ballard's coet it to work
”No, I think it's dead How old is this thing, anyway?”
”hello,” said the other of the two