Part 61 (1/2)
”For one, Lia's grown very fond of you.”
”And the second reason?” I asked, snuggling up to him.
”Vampires aren't exactly welcomed in Prague,” said Ballard. ”He won't be able to visit much.”
Would Ballard join my House? Could he, now that he was Head of the cyanthropesof all the cyanthropes, because the Benandanti still owed him their allegiance. The Bennys had essentially hived from the Sons and Daughters of Romulusbut Lux, who had taught me of hiving, was right: Houses didn't just break from other Houses, not really.
”Traduttore, traditore. Gaven was right. Look at this place,” said Ballard. He stared up at the Master House. ”I could just peek, you know? If Selwyn's in there...”
”He may not be turned, Ballard. Come on,” I said, dragging him away.
We rushed through a crowd of shoppers, down the Lane as it forked to the left, until we were walking along a hedgerow, out of town. The Districts of Magic were disappearing behind us.
According to the book, Ravenseal House was somewhere down this avenue, we just had to find it. I stopped to get my bearings, but also check my House.
Hair blowing helter-skelter I found the page I was looking for. ”R, R,” I whispered to myself, turning the pages frantically. Ballard must've thought I was a madwoman.
A new tingling was in my fingertips. Was I about to discover the secret whereabouts of my House?
”It's not here,” I said, flipping through the Directory despondently.
IF YOUR HOUSE IS NOT LISTED, said the book, SEARCH THE BACK OF THE DIRECTORY.
Of course. The index listed Houses no longer with us.
THESE ARE THE HOUSES THAT WERE, BUT ARE NO LONGER, said the book.
I flipped to the back. Whereas the living Housesthose that had not been eradicatedlisted physical addresses, along with those who were in them, their Heads and so forthwhat I called the dead Houses listed only the House names and dates of obliteration. No other information was presented. No wonder the book was shrinking. There were hundreds of them... Thousands of listings... Houses from the past that had been wiped outmost of them pre-dated the twentieth centurybut no House Rookmaaker. I didn't know where it was at.
Hoping it was some kind of mistake, I turned to the t.i.tle page, but it was last year's copy. Rookmaaker, if it existed, should've been listed. ”But it's not!” I said, slamming the Directory shut.
Ballard seemed antsy”Um, Halls?”
”Yes, Ballard?”
I flipped back to Ravenseal. A list of eleven names was presented, with Veruschka's at the top.
HOUSE RAVENSEAL.
its Members Veruschka Ravenseal *
Rumor Scroop *
Balthasar LeFlaq Pirapong Bonewits Rosamund Rasmussen Tatiana Tower Polixines Derevjanik Pericles Pike Lara Tanner Djonga Hardesty Lux Aeterna *
missing *Symbols next to names denote powers not usually a.s.sociated with Wicca-craft. Names ranked in order of their significance.
Lux was at the bottom. I got a kind of icy p.r.i.c.kle when I saw the twelfth spot, where I should have been listed. No twelfth. Missing.
”I hate to bother you and all, but you might want to get ready for a fight,” said Ballard.
”What?”
I looked up. Two witches and a wizard were making their way down the hedgerow. It was getting late and the clouds were making parhelia, sundogs, bright spots of light on either side of the sun, which may have been their Lights. The Wiccans were shooting them at us.
I put my book away, stuffing it into my backpack, when suddenly Lux appeared. Comprehension dawned on his face.
”Halsey? What are you doing here?” he said.
”h.e.l.lo Professor Lux.”
He formed the W. The talons were on his fingers, tridents which helped him to craft. Had he been? That would have been unusual. He didn't normally do magic.
I hoped he didn't inquire as to the further development of my Mark. As always when I was around him, I felt my shortcomings like a hard edge, cut into my flesh.
Ballard seemed to encourage a confrontation. The sun was not fully down yet. I didn't want to get into anything without Lennox present. We were still within the purlieus of the Districts of Magic, were we not? I hadn't been caught on Ravenseal territory, unawares, had I? If so, I didn't know what I would do.
Lux looked towards Stromovka. The cloud of ash had still not dissipated. How must I look? I got an uneasy feeling, like Ravenseal knew what had happened, almost like they had been in on it. But what did they know of the Benandanti?
Ballard s.h.i.+fted infinitesimally.
”Right. Introductions,” said Lux. ”This is Pirapong Bonewits” he said, pointing to a tallow candle of a witch”and Rumor Scroop”
”h.e.l.lo,” I said.
”Ladies, allow me to introduce Miss Halsey Rookmaaker!”
”Wait, not the Miss Rookmaaker?” said Bonewits.
”As in our twelfth?” said Scroop.
”Turned us down, I'm afraid,” said Lux.
Rumor Scroop continued to stare at me like I was a bug.
”It's not right,” said Bonewits.
”No, it's not,” said Scroop. ”I think you should come along with us, now, dear. Leave the dog. I daresay it's not Housebroken yet.”
”Now, now,” said Lux. ”Clever pun asidethat was rude.”
Ballard let the insult roll off him. The only question I had was why Risky and my parents had been so rock-steady, being as they were, respectively, a wolf, a wizard, and a witch, when it didn't seem like the two sides got along? Werewolves had originally come to Rome to get away from wizards and witches.
”Well? Are you coming or not?” said Scroop. She made what looked like a C instead of a W, reversed and laid horizontally, and then pointed her two fingers at me. ”I'm waiting,” she said, dramatically. She had hair tinted the same color as her mistressshocking bluein a wave down her left eye; snakebites; and a stud in her upper lip. Her eyes were like two black holes sucking upon the irises and on the tips of her eyelashes were decorative white droplets.
Why was it the most powerful Wiccans looked this way? I immediately cautioned myself against her. How powerful was she, anyway?
I shook my head no.