Part 62 (2/2)

Chapter 14 The Trial

The trouble ere about six hundred iant black panther on the Eurorail

The sun was pale in the east and the Silver Lindens ranged high overhead, e finally left Prague It was just Ballard andSelwyn back separately Selwyn's mind was still a blank That part of hied, I wrote in my Diary Still, half a protector was better than none, especially as Selwyn had giant claws and could rip to shreds anyone who triedwith me, Veruschka, et al

So what if I didn't want to join their House? They should've just taken Vittoria, anyway I bet she'd go with theest it to her, when I got back: Hey, V, good news! Ravenseal has an opening! Now you can leave here and never co our way through Central Europe Crossing borders reain my visa was up Naturally, we avoided several spot checks

The thing was, I needed a perot back to Italy Otherwise, the EU could kick me out I could apply for a work peret

”Mr Person In the Questuraplease, please, please,” I said to myself, ”I was born in Rome, I just can't prove itbut if you check ic's at”

I was a foreigner asn't, an erated Plus, I didn't exactly have tis were out there I needed to open House Rook They had already attacked once in a maneuver to unseat us Before I knew it, Ballard and I were in the Veneto, the plains beneath the Dolomites The last of the drumlins receded pastback at ht

It was the twentieth of May; the annual solar eclipse floated over Ro back to my room But on the outskirts of Ro by a line ofat Ballard and ers I couldn't tell who they were Just, that they were not the usual I Gatti Or were they? They kept their helmets on and their visors down We couldn't see their faces

Ballard cut off his engine On every Rider were black leather jackets with the words The Warlockes stitched into them Who were The Warlockes? I wondered

The leader of their pack stepped from his motorcycle I could see ”I-Gatti” stenciled on it It was a bike Ballard had worked on A lot of the bikes were like that

Paolo lifted his visor

”Sorry, Bal, can't let you pass,” he said ”You or your girlfriend”

”What the hell is this?” said Ballard

”New rules, kid, for a new regime”

Ballard walked past him ”I see other Riders, but they don't show me their faces Who put you up to this?” he said ”Wait, let uess, Paolo The War-Lockes? Locke did”

He drew his finger across a pink Rider's jacket who could only have been Liesel She fidgeted, nervously ”I see how it is, now,” he said

”It's not just Locke, Ballad, the Council said, as well,” said Paolo

”Yeah, but Locke is the Council,” said Ballard, coht? I am still Head Wolf, Paolo”

”Don't push it, Bal”

But Ballard, getting on his motorcycle, did push it

”A trial, Paolo It's the only way”

Liesel wasn't the only Rider I recognized Blunt's and Giorgio's square frames were unmistakable as was Lysander's Who else was here?

”Ballard, what is it? What are they doing?” I asked

”They want to exile us, Halsey”

So not only did I have a House to find Now, I h the things up? Ballard waved good-bye and I sped off for Via dei Condotti, to my landlady

BANG!

Vittoria was still in her roo her what she was up to, but decided against it

There was a flop atever since I took out those newspaper subscriptions If so, I'd know about it in a heartbeat Sah theh, in La Repubblica, on stray Roentinawhich was a place near here: ”Calicoes, gingers, srimalkins have always had their place in Romeand their supportersuntil now,” she wrote

I read the rest of it Fro, Halsey She would never do that But would she?

I booted upchecked it in so long

Nothing

Nothing fro strong Stars and syed It was still counting down, still botheringwhat their reactions ori attacked and Ballard and I weren't in Roone, I thought No more Chosen One If I am If House Rookmaaker ithin the city lio there? I decided to ask Ballard

On the way, however, twoainst us How had the Riders ered the accelerator

The shop was e on the outs with I Gatti didn't see on his own pet project A logo for his newure every time I sell a custom jobby I'll slap one of those on the side of it,” he said ”Maybe create a new army The Ballards” He smiled at me, happily ”If you want,” he said, ”I'll h, or represent theht now I' it, huh?”

I shookHouse Rooknia for it look like?

Rooks are birdstoo close to Ravenseal, I thought

Ballard took the sketchpad back

Maybe, I thought, I wasn't supposed to find House Rookainst my parents' wishes? They stuck me down the rota, after all It was on their orders Selwyn shi+pped me off to St Martley's Or someone did Maybe they had no intention for me to come back to Ro Why had he intended Ballard and I toa picture, ”a place that big would have to be noticeable Your House, I mean You couldn't just put it anywhere”