Part 48 (1/2)
They were standing there, staring atnew people always ht I wondered if I had what it took to be the leader of House Rookmaaker
”My name is Halsey,” I said
The leader of the two said ”You're Ballard's girl, aren't you?” Their broad grins widening into identical smiles
”Well, his friend, actually,” I said
”We're Sandor and Septiether
The shorter of the two (Sandor) had on a houndstooth jacket and sported a curious diamond-shaped soul patch under his bottom lip It pointed doards to a necklace with a pendant shaped like a swirl His brother, Septi, with hair to rival even Lennox's; it was leaht
I suddenly found s are usually kept by witches as fa my way ”And vice-versa”
So upstairs ”Are you Halsey? I' you, are they?”
She was tall and slender, exactly like Lia I had expected so ”How do you do?” she said
She saw the red Gauys knohat's going on here?” I asked, looking around at all of the lonely, and I needed a shorthand, co, I think,” said Septiround But he was jokingjoking Why did I always have to be so super aard?
Sandor, his eyes shi+ning, said, ”You uard Rome from them and so forth?”
”We had no idea,” said Septimus, who smiled at me
”We're in on the family secret, Halsey,” said Sandor, ”don't worry In fact” He looked at his brother ”Can I say?”
”If you must She'll find out anyway,” said Septimus
”Ballard recalled usCyno here too,” said Sandor ”She's kunos oura That's Greek for our little predica shape shi+fters You know, anthropoarou,” said Septimus
”Lycanthropes,” said Sandor
”Vyras, berserkind, lupins wearers of wolfs' skins wargs, beast eroul, ulfs, h,” said Septimus ”We are initiated Halsey, to the transmutandi corpora nostra, but are unable to shi+ft, unlike soet you both ready,” said Ballard'sfor the their jambalaya of word soup
I felt that fa, and I was trying to keep up Were Sandor and Septiht they were? And why had they been recalled? Obviously, so on I wanted to knohat
Lia was in her dressing room, which had been converted from one of the spare bedrooms, when I arrived There were a lot of spare bedroo who had lived here It was like Ballard's entire faotten out of Rome Sandor, Septimus His mother and father Suddenly they were all in town
Lia was in a chair being groo her hair It looked like the two of thehter Lia's hair was done up in an extreems knotted into it, so that they shi+el the stars have ever seen,” said Cyno, glowing at her daughter Lia wasn't the only one getting made over, however It was my turn in the chair next to her Clothes racks were behind us, just waiting for our attention
”For you,” said Lia, opening a s me a clasped jewelry box Cyno yanked at my hair ”Do you mind, dear?” she asked
”No Go ahead”
It was just the four of us Lia and I in our undergar Both Cyno and Liesel exclai sat on a velvet cushi+on ”Silver and zoisite,” said Lia ”I thought it would ertips” She looked al, and thanked her Engraved on it was a triskele and the words HARM NONE; ”to co,” said Lia ”Mine and Gaven's,” she elaborated unnecessarily ”The others are getting moonstones, but I wanted yours to be special Wiccan”
Cyno yanked ”Tricky customer, eh?”
”Lia, I don't knohat to say,” I said My Mark flared, and I slapped it ”Ow!” I said Hers was like gold, and I rein The silver ink likeBut Lia's was unalterable Like it knehat it wanted to be Like it had been cast that way forever
I didn't have that luck I ishy-washy; she was not
I put on the ring and let Lia'swhat I wanted to say What was there to say? It was clear Lia and Ballard's parents loved the on: about vampires and olves and Risky and, said a certain part ofsoon,” said Cyno ”Other Supernaturals, including from Houses What fun!”
”Gaven invited the hed ”Thank goodness!” she said
I got suddenly nervous ”You don't mean to say from House Ravenseal?” I said
”Sure Why not?” said Lia ”Only they couldn't make it” She frowned and then said, conspiratorially, ”So into it But Harcort is cohtly ”Do you remember Fanishwar Harcort and Gemma Moonflower? They'll be here And of course the other je-rouges I asked ate in h”
The knowledge that Ravenseal had been invited superseded whatever else Lia had just said If they had come, why hadn't Ravenseal coue Find the other one and kill him Do not let it survive
AND THEM? said the Hunter
What had happened?
Maybe Ravenseal had sent Lux Was he in danger? What had happened to him? I needed to see Ballard i out on me We didn't used to have secrets Noith his Il Gattodo driven between Ballard and me Cyno said, ”You lookbefore,” I said I was thankful Lia had sparedto be a very simple ceremony ”Just your attendance is necessary,” she had answered me
”It's easy Just don't flub the toast,” said Cyno
My heart rate spiked unco, dear Relax I'm finished” She trilled ”Done Beautiful Done Fabo, fabo”
I had studied quite a bit about lycanthropy So I knew, for instance, that their eyebroere supposed to , ape-like strides Not to speak too unkindly of them
There was also the aversion to wolfsbane If you called their names three times (”Ballard, Ballard, Ballard”) they were supposed to co olves and so forth Also, there was a great deal to do with re about the criuilt But these were Ro Ballard three tithe se
”No, of course not,” she said ”But I do have to go Your chaperone will be arriving directly”
”But where?”
Lia was escorted froone down Even indoors I could feel it Like a sixth sense
There was a knock at the door and Ballard careat,” he said Then he said ”Wow” to h in parts It was very Stonehenge My hair done up in a twist I wore ht on Via dei Condotti, which was a black-thorn earring thingy, which curled itself along the outer rim of my ear like a snake; it re, and, of course, my mother's locket, were also on ain