Part 54 (1/2)
A few days had passed, in which I did not think about leaving, though, quietly, I had been preparingThe rundown e of sorts, since seeing it, a hoht of it often Absently I wandered itstrees, wondering what had happened to the old place, and if I would ever get to it It was like a House ofit The weeds, which had overgrown the old place, cut out the light
The emptiness of it! The solitude of House Rook a new phase I didn't knohere I was going to! Whom I should meet? What obstacles would be overcoot the better of me I wished I could re intruded I didn't knohat to call it, either destiny or purpose I had terrible things to do, I knew that now I had been selected For what, I did not know
A bitterness ate at ive to have soht? And ould I not confront, to knohat had been done to me? And what I had to do?
Then, there was this pursuer, whoever he was, this creature, Rayven A wizard and a shi+fter Part offor hi out what he knew He er My Har I had not removed it since Lia told me to put it on ”Do you know the secret?” I asked of it
The ring did not respond It was not ical, per se Iive its wearer special attributes, unlike, say, the tridents my old Styles Master Lux had worn He needed those tridents, otherwise he couldn't craft And I thought about that It was an altogether , especially as the Wiccan Redean oath I had takensuggested that evildoers should be punished elevenfold Would be Or perhaps they could escape? The criainst my family were monstrous, but who had perpetrated theainst? Was he this master Rayven had spoken to? And, if so, and my parents had been unable to defeat hied Educated in the ways of Wicca I was not In fact, judging by my circumstances, and the destroyed nature of House Rookical outcast with rudi Big lot of good that will do, I thought, wondering about words like wheelhouse and skill set, and if I had the a ic spell, I had been able to perform it, twice now Stormr hamrinuioand again, when Ballard was healed, presuun to think I had doneto Prague was Ballard, and the fact we had begun this journey together Somehow, I felt, I needed hiic, that place that was like a beacon to , it was a part of me now Had always been Would always be It spoke to soer than ainst them
Harolden rule I could re the Wiccan Rede verbatiic that was already in-built
”IDo Solemnly SwearI had saidThat I will not use , unless I a visited upon me elevenfold”
It was the sa indoctrinatedincluding, I presumed, Lenoir himself!
Was there karma? Was there divine retribution? Could I have justice? Both for my parents and their Wiccan House and for me? I swore to myself, there in the Stroht I would not rest until itand everything elsewas put to rights Until I stood on its groundsand saw itand Kneweverything
It would be important, if Ballard and I were to continue, to have the utmost confidence in each other's instincts and abilities Mine for his was of the highest regard; but as his for e would hone, until it would beco As for my own abilities, who knew? So far they had proven theht, that I could be the Wiccan Priht, who really is the Prime Mover? The Super bitch? That seemed like an important question to have answered One that had been scratched, but not sufficiently punctured
What could she do, and why could she do it?
Holding the ring up to the light of the rising sun I saw it glow there like firea ic firethe one which burnt within s todanced in s They used it in recyclingThree different arrows pointing in the sa out of nothing Or the new from the old I decided the triskele, which was , and looked like this represented h whatever fear or foul placeto the places I needed to go WhichAdept
But as Adept? How did I becoed could lead House Rook Adept
Massachusetts spoke of the Blizzard of '78 This , but there was one last good snowit iced the eaves and weighed down the trees I would stand in it, thinking of St Martley's It ca an invisible army
Asher told me of a lake, spectacular, really, buried deep within the woods I could go to it, he said, while I waited for Ballard to get better I think the other benandanti were sick of h the snow had yet to thaw, and the lakewherever it ould probably be frozen over
It hen I finally found it
The Vltava fed into the lake It was pretty, helas firs and cranberrybushes; they looked like Christmas trees, fat with snow
No et, the Stro if I could open the Power of Sight between me and Lennox, if I could hallucinate him It didn't work Instead, I flipped open my Diary It was my confidante, my counsellor, and my therapist
Today's entry was on enius, intolerable, dead-as-ashes, in-the-can I knew her no better than a handshake Who was I kidding? The sun had risen and set, just as it had on her life I had never shared anything withon my first kiss Stillhow do you pick up the pieces of a life un-lived? I felt like I was on the outside, looking in; like the ice of the lake was aback at me her face, which waslike her? Did I want to be? Who was Kinsey Rookmaaker, anyway? Who had she been?
I felt pale in coulf existed between me and her, I didn't think would ever be surain So thick I couldn't see I putabout too s
A spell came instinctively to my lips, which shocked htbut it wasn't Rayven; I flinched, catching ori It was a worown up Like she was an adult and I was not Like she was fledged, and I was not
”It's beautiful, isn't it?” she said ”The trees and whatnot”
Excellent use of whatnot, I thought
”My name's Manon, by the way,” she said
I could see the tell-tale points at her fingertipsthe swirls, whichpale slender-looking legs, and a heart-shapedcasually prettyface, all angles and eyeliner; and like ht a gli a tunic dress, black like her hair In complete contrast with the weather
”So one of those times And you are?”
”Halsey Rooklimpse of myself as I may have appeared to outsiders Was that who I was?
”What are you thinking about, or do you
”Nothing I'llI'll see you later,” I said I needed to be alone I got up to go
”Don't go,” she said ”We should talk soed? I thought eclectics couldn't be What House are you from?” I demanded
”Does it matter?” she said
”Yeahit kind've does to some people”
She stood on top of the snohereas I slushed in it ”Ooh, look!” she said
I turned and saw a grey wolf stepping out of the trees, the grey wolf It was the saht know-it-all look, the sa its head down, and then trotted closerlifting its paws in a curious way I watched it sniff closer to me And then it sat, very wise, and continued to stare
Perhaps it had been trying to get tooingto keep searchingTo find ueall the way to the Master House itself!
My eyes lit up But that didn'tinto the trees Don't go, I thought Now that it was here, I wanted the Grey Wolf to stay forever I'll coood luck!” said Manon She rehtness and pep ”Wellsee you!” she said
”Yeah See you later,” I said
She left ht it was? It see me otherwise
I sought out Asher, h the trees If Ballard awoke and I had any luck, I could bring hiined what his reaction would be ”You found out and I wasn'tthere”
”Asher,” I said, arriving out of breath, anxious to put my theories to the test He was deep in conversation with Laurinaitis; they were eating their dinner, there in the Hollow, at a table that had been set out, like at a ca, and if Asher and Laurinaitis were any nearer to catching Rayven?