Part 59 (2/2)

”So,” said Manon The spell had taken over and I suddenly found myself in her dreamsin her , or fen There was a house, a e of it, and there, in the background, I saw theto have a Houseuntil they came This is what happened to my Family And why I joined the benandanti”

I didn't knohat I expected The Lenoir?

But these weren't va ago had it been since her Family had been attacked?

”They came and destroyed my House, and I-I've wandered ever since,” said Manon

It was ringed in fire, the House Wizards and witches appeared, coughing, fro their ori, who tore at their flesh This rage was filling inside of me Not for myself, but for Manon ”I was number twelve,” she said, ”until they were destroyed I caht”

I watched as the Grigori blocked the wizards' spells They looked like Rayven, only worse; huge and inti with massive clawstheir upper torsos malformed and twisted, packed with muscles Their skulls wolfish, to fit all their teeth

Had my parents s been sent to kill the I could about the Dark Order and the Master House; but that wouldinit from methe way Manon's whole life had been taken frohtered, but they're back now,” she said ”They're back And nobody cares, Halsey My House was destroyed, and no investigation was ever begunI think the Master House covered it up The Grigori were never good about thinking for themselves Cruel and inhu It would have taken somebody to unite them Somebody sent them to my House Someone powerful”

Lenoir It had to have been Only, why? What did he want? They didn't just attack of their own accord, did they?

Lennox cut in ”It wasn't us, I can assure you of that The Grigori and Our House split after the First War We're leaving this fray Paris is withdrawing”

”Then who is it?” said Manon, a questioning in her eyes that would never go away

In Manon'stheir own in retaliation They had a visceral claw-and-tooth approach They also fought in numbers

I perused House Rooket there? There were no obvious signposts Willow trees? Where were those? I felt directionless, delirious, and deciduous

The Grigori and soht of the story I had heard about the Dark Lord Perhaps Lenoir's idea of redefiningauthority? It sounded like so Three were immune (Houses Harcort, Coven, and Ravenseal) and, okay, the Master House, itself Should I have gone to Ravenseal? It would be safer, I thought

No; I ht call I was sure of it Yet, a prickle of fear shot throughfor ori and whoever else caet me?

I knew Rayven was backHe was a Watchtower, after allperhaps no They're gone; and nothing you do can bring them back

My parents were dead I needed to take irl, I said toMistress Genevieve's words

That left the Dark Orderthose evil witches and wizards and otherkin kind who had been responsible for the First War Who were they? And were they the ones trying to stopHouse Rookan to pour Manon fell in step besidewhich had been killing in the forest ”so obviously it's one of us,” she said, ”aor other

”We should split upno, listenHalsey and I over hereand, Lennox, you that e'll go twice as fast I'll watch out for her, I promise,” she said

So Lennox headed down the left fork, and Manon and I the other Pretty soon it was pitch-black Not even the stars peeked overhead I decided to use one of the spells, I'd learned, which would enableeffect Everything went night-vision green (”Wow, you have dog's eyes,” said Manon, ”the way they look in the dark”); now the forest stretched before me; I could see depth and detail I ertips to her forehead like she had a ed

Her eyes looked the way Rayven's had done, filled with energy ”You want to split up?” she said, mischievously, with Lennox out of earshot

”I don't know,” I hedged, stepping on one toe, then the other

”If anything happens, just scream, I'll come find you Swearsies”

So that's e did It was like the three of us were spreading out, circling Like ere a coordinated pack Still, ould it be like to fly? To ski, I told a through thetrees, about to find my House I should've just asked Manon why someone would want her coven destroyed? What were they up to that the Grigori had been sent?

You're either IN or you're OUT, I suppose A part or apart Still, it was the first ti of a Houselike they were tight-knit No hierarchy in her group, I thought I knehen Manon said she was a twelfth, she est in a house She had escaped They had protected her They hadn't given her up Neither had leskin was, it had just run away Poof Gone The way Manon had escaped when the Grigori had co for her House

Here was a problem A fundain to learn the things I needed to find out?

Ballard had helped me, and look what happened to hiood idea, or breaking up Maybe, I dunno, I had to do this onother people astray But that would et my past to find the future?

My orchid twisted alive What did it mean? Was it a feiknstafir? A Dark curse latched ontoould I be able to handle it, or would the ones I cared about be drawn in? That was a dileot down onto ht visionsurreal At any moment, I expected to stus I should not Perhaps I'd talk to Manon about reinstating her House She was Fledged, after all? That meant she could lead her own House

”Blindr,” I whispered

I turned off the night-vision spell Suddenly, the woods cafor theiriic, sense, tingling in ertips Why did I suddenly have deja vu? Perhaps it was because of what I had heard back at my birthday, in December, when Lennox hadn't shown, and I had envisioned Rayven for the first ti voice had rasped: ”The war is starting Battle lines will be drawn She and the vaue”

Well, the as starting; I could feel it Lines were being drawnalliances forgedHouses hunted down and destroyedothers renewed She and the va fell into the pit of my stomach Find the other one and kill hi Lennox cah ”Halsey, where's Manon?”

I opened my mouth to scream, but no words ca

”Ballard's in trouble?”

”Manon, find Manon” I said

I felt htless through the airI opened h the treessailing across the face of theme!

How could I have been so stupid? I wasn't special at all! It was Ballard! Ballard was differentspecialeveryone said soThe first thing Rayven had ever said to me was, ”Your friend, where is he?” He wasn't interested in me at all It was Ballard! Hadn't Gaven told me to look out for him?

Idiot Selfish, I berated myself