Neophyte

  “And the Houses?” I said.

  “Independent from each other. For the most part. Here’s the thing, though. Gaven says some of the Houses don’t play fair. They cheat.”

  “What d’you mean?” I said.

  She looked around at all of them. “Some of the Houses––” she said, “Ravenseal, for instance––”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Gaven and some of the other delegates think they’re trying to, and these were his words, grow their power. You know, handing over Houses to number twos, weak Adepts whom they can control. Pendderwenn, for instance. They get to elect who they want, you see?”

  I nodded my head for her to continue. I knew this.

  “Anyway,” said Lia. “It’s only a matter of time before one House gets too strong––and––blammo. The other Wiccans fear that it will march against them. A so-called War of Wiccans. Wiccan attrition or something. I don’t know. But it’s happened before. That’s what the First War was all about. And the vampires and other supernaturals––you know, us,” she said, referring to The Sons and Daughters of Romulus, “we got drawn into it, too. The War of the Houses. So I read, anyway.”

  “What about the Lenoir?” I said.

  “The Lenoir are powerful. They hide their numbers,” said Lia. She shrugged.

  I looked around at the Gathering. Maria was still at the judges’ table, along with the twins.

  “I’ll bet that’s why she’s here,” I said. “Maria. She wants us to, I don’t know, fight among ourselves––all of the Wiccans––or something. I mean, that makes sense. Magic was broken up at the 1887 Thing. She wants to keep breaking it up. To keep us in-fighting.” I looked at Maria and knew that it was true.

  Lia said, “Look at this place. Look at the hierarchy. Some Houses are better than others. Just as some Wiccans, Halsey, are better than other Wiccans. We are picked in order of our significance,” she said. “Just something to think about.”

  I clapped along with the rest of them. Larissa Nightbloom had just been selected. Apparently, that was it. Except for Vittoria, the Initiates had all been chosen.

  “But what if a single House,” I said, “were to elect a leader who controlled all of the other Houses...”

  The last Initiate was awarded by default. The Gathering was over. “It would be either join with them or die...” I said.

  Lia shrugged.

  We made our way back to our dormitories. I couldn’t help thinking about Vittoria and where she was right now. Good to her word, she had said goodbye to nobody and just left. I mean, apart from her epic goodbye. I decided I would flip through my codex and try and find out what her Wiccan Mark was, based on her W I had seen. It was a long shot but maybe it was in there.

  Locke called to me. Lia went on without me. She was in no mood to speak with any of the werewolves, she said, apart from Gaven. Locke was one of the Team Leaders. An alpha. I realized that could be seen as a stepping stone to being elected Head Wolf.

  “You have a note,” he said, handing me a slip of thick cream-colored parchment. It had been written on with a nib. I thanked Locke, who looked at me with his secretive eyes, but he wasn’t a Wiccan, so I didn’t have to worry about that––and broke the seal, opened the note.

  “Dear Halsey,” it began. I went away to a corner to read it.

  “You have until New Years––and then I will expect you at my home. Remember––I’m watching you. And keep a lookout for my man. He will come to get you.

  VR”

  Veruschka Ravenseal. The seal was an ornate waxen R. Veruschka said she was leaving after the finish of the ceremony. So I guessed this was it. She must be packing to leave.

  I folded the note and put it in my pocket. Back at our dormitory, the werewolves were also getting ready to leave the Gathering. I saw Ballard, but he didn’t look at me.

  Instead I laid down on my bed and pulled out my parents’ copy of the Magus Codex. I put my map of the Gatheringplace and the note from VR inside of it, when I was interrupted by a knock at my door. “I just wanted to say goodbye,” said Lux.

  “You’re leaving?” I said. I got up out of my bed to––shake his hand. Our dormitories were like prison cells.

  He saw me holding the book, with the papers sticking out of it.

  “I see you’re modifying your codex. That’s good,” he said. “They’re ‘all different, accordingly.’” He smiled at me.

  I didn’t know what to say to Lux. I think we had been intensely interested in each other, if however briefly, and then we sort of came to our better senses.

  “You were a really great teacher,” I said, as if that cut through all of that stuff that was between us.

  “You know, I envy you,” he said to me.

  “Why?”

  “A brand-new Wiccan––Chosen at the Gathering, no less! There aren’t many who can say that.”

  I supposed.

  “Well––you take care,” he said.

  “Wait. Don’t go,” I said.

  He turned back around.

  “Yes, Halsey?” said Professor Lux, expectantly.

  I didn’t have anything to say. I wanted to ask him about his Mark. I wanted to tell him that he was a world-class Crafter and that he didn’t have to run away from his magic anymore––just because of whatever had happened. Instead, I just shook my head and said, “Nothing. I’ll––I’ll see you later. Okay?”

  “I have no doubt of it,” he said, and bid me farewell. It was foolish of me to think that life could stand still. That we could always have potential without ever having to do anything.

  Lux’s awesome Wiccan arm waved goodbye at the door and he was gone. I stood there with the book in my hands. I didn’t know what to do. Flipping through it, I turned to the section on Marks. Distinguishing Marks and their features. I studied them all. Some of them were so beautiful-looking I could hardly stand it. I definitely had Mark envy. Belladonna. Deadly nightshade. Vittoria’s Mark was a flower.

  Chapter 24 – Birthright

  Wiccans more interested in the politics and ramifications of Hiving, would do well to consider the following. A House is a Hive, with one queen bee. She’s in charge.

  I put my book down. No wonder Veruschka Ravenseal was so nasty––she could afford to be. She was Mistress of Ravenseal, one of the Three, elite. It was just as Lux had said.

  Somewhere I found myself reading about Hiving. I wanted to see what Lia had been talking about earlier today. It was getting pretty late at night, and we had a big day tomorrow. Everyone was leaving. I looked down the page, to find an interesting paragraph.

  If a House of thirteen or greater does not Hive, that House is in contravention of the Rules. One of two things will happen. Either its parent coven will come to its rescue, and the Houses, combined*, will make one Super House, in which case we have war. Or the vampires taking it upon themselves––as stipulated by the 1887 Convention––will come to rout out that House.

  There was a footnote:

  *If a House elects a leader, and that leader creates multiple affiliate covens, then a Storm of Covens is said to exist, and all such Houses shall be forfeit.

  Which I guessed meant the Lenoir would come and kill them. I was beginning to understand it all, now. Ravenseal had satellites. Affiliate covens.

  Pendderwenn, for instance.

  But, to the outside world, it appeared House Pendderwenn was independent.

  It wasn’t. If a war broke out––

  If it ever broke out––Ravenseal would contract. Lux was right about that. He had told me that once before. Ravenseal was bigger than it looked because it controlled House Pendderwenn. But secretly.

  How many Houses were beholden to Ravenseal, anyway? And was that Veruschka’s endgame? To control the Wiccan world? Whatever it was, it sounded like the Lenoir were sanctioned by the Houses to police the supernatural world. A concession no doubt to their size. I wondered how many vampires there were.

  I was beginning to see the secre
t side of Wicca and I didn’t like it. It freaked me out. I snapped shut the book. The dust flew into my nose, making me sneeze. Lia turned above me, then went back to sleep.

  I sat up in my bed and took one of the candles. Asher had never shown up. Wherever he was, it must be important, because he had never let me down before. Then, reconsidering, I blew the candle out and went to sleep. I had learned my lesson about wandering. You always meet people, I told myself. Asher was right––and Selwyn––and Gaven––and everyone. It was unsafe to walk around the Gathering at night. I was also beginning to suspect, with so many factions, that the world itself was a dangerous place. Rome, more than ever, felt like a bastion against all that.

  I believed in the werewolves. In Ballard and Lia and us. In Gaven and all them. I suddenly understood why it was so important they did what they did. Rome was a foothold. A place of safety. A fire in the Night. It was Rome. And we were safe by it. It was worth fighting for.

  I zonked out. Epic me had said her piece. But as I slept I had this uneasy feeling, like I wasn’t safe. Like none of us were.

  I was on my Gambalunga again. Ballard and I were going somewhere. I knew because my mind did the thing where the moon became my headlight again. So the moon was Ballard and the headlight was my Gambalunga. Which meant that we were going somewhere. I mean obviously we had someplace to be. But the weird thing was, we weren’t moving. It was like we were standing still. It was one of those kinds of dreams. And since when did Ballard ever want to do anything with me, anyway? We were practically strangers. What was I doing to myself?

  When this light snapped on.

  It wasn’t a lightbulb going off in my head or anything like that, but I definitely saw stars. “Murgh,” said Lia. “Mrngargh. Nargh!” she said.

  I woke up. The lights were on in our dormitories and our door––Lia’s and mine––was open. Asher was standing there. “I thought you stood me up,” I said, groggily, and then sat up in my bed.

  Asher said, “There’s no time. Get dressed. Both of you.”

  Lia said, “Why? What’s up?” But Asher had left. We looked at each other and did as he told us. I slipped into my robes. Lia did not. She put on her leather riding pants and her fire-red racing jacket. “Just in case,” she said.

  We collided with the other werewolves, who headed from the dormitories, out into one of the hallways. Locke, Leander and Liesel were directing them, as was Paolo––

  Lights were on down the hallway, shouting, loud noises.

  “Where do you two think you’re going?” said Locke. He snapped his fingers at us, getting our attention.

  Lia said, “We have carte blanche, remember?”

  That put him in his place.

  Locke soured at once. “I don’t think Gaven meant––” he said.

  But Lia and I went on without him. The rest of the werewolves looked like they were mustering, the Team Leaders organizing them into groups. “What’s going on?” I shouted at Lia, who was racing ahead.

  Pretty soon we found out exactly what was going on. We turned a corner and a huge ruckus greeted our eyes. Veruschka Ravenseal was standing there in her traveling robes. She looked like she was ready to depart. Gaven and Ballard were also there, as were the Heads of Houses Coven and Harcort. And so were the twins and the Lenoir. Maria was with Pier Alexander. Pier Alexander smiled at me and made strange clicking noises, which I guessed Maria could interpret. “Look who’s here,” he said. “Two Wiccan Initiates. What fun.” Something about his demeanor suggested Pier Alexander was above it all. He wasn’t the only one. Maria seemed to be smiling in an ambivalent way, too. She had that Mona Lisa look again, which must’ve meant she was trying hard not to laugh. “Does someone want to tell us what’s going on?” said Lia.

  “Yes, yes, I would like to know that, too,” said Mariska Coven. Her hair was a mess––green bits of fluff going everywhichway. Mine must’ve not looked any better. I put my hood up. Ballard looked at Lia and I, but left it for Gaven to explain.

  “Pendderwenn is dead,” he said. The air seemed to go from my lungs. “We heard a strange noise and came to investigate––”

  “Who found the body?” asked Maria Lenoir, cutting through Gaven’s explanation.

  “I did,” said Ballard. He looked at her, waiting for her to respond. She didn’t. Just smiled.

  “We think the rooms should be searched––and this traitor––found. Yes.”

  “Yes,” said the other twin to his brother. I had never heard them speak before. It was almost a hiss. Veruschka had her hand up to her throat.

  “Absolutely not,” said Fanishwar Harcort.

  Maria looked at her.

  “The mind and our personal space is inviolate. That was agreed upon. Remember?” said Fanishwar, looking at Maria’s marigold eyes with her blue ones.

  “We could read their minds,” said the twins. They had delicate voices, almost a whisper. It was like they were speaking to each other. We weren’t involved. By their, I took it the twins meant everyone’s minds at the Gathering.

  “I agree,” said Maria at once.

  “I won’t allow it,” said Gaven. The twins looked at him, but he just stared right back. Gaven wasn’t the type to be intimidated by anyone. Not even by them. Even if they were from the Master House.

  It was a moment before I saw the half-open door and realized who must be behind it. Julius Pendderwenn. Dead.

  “I––” I said.

  “You wanted to say something, Halsey?” said Gaven to me.

  “Maybe if we checked––the body,” I whispered, “it would tell us who––who killed him. Pendderwenn...” I said. My voice constricted; I could barely talk.

  “There is no need. We have already performed that search,” said one of the twins. He held up three hairs. They were short, black, fine.

  “Whatever it was, tore him apart,” said Maria, and stifled a grin. “Are you sure we can’t just peek?” she said to Gaven.

  “None of my people did this. My word should be good on that score. As for any further molestation of our minds––” He looked at Lia and me. “I won’t allow it,” he said. “Not unless you wish to upset me.” He said it more delicately than even the twins.

  “No,” said Maria. “I don’t wish to do that.”

  “Then good,” said Gaven. “I suggest we continue to patrol the halls. And the delegates inform your Houses to prepare for departure.”

  Veruschka looked at me.

  “Unacceptable,” said one of the twins. “Let us use them. They will find your killer.” They had spinning red eyes. I realized the effect was a trick of my eyes––but I couldn’t help it. They bothered me big time, the twins.

  “I don’t think you heard me,” said Gaven, and stood forward. I noticed, as he spoke, Ballard break off from Gaven, and circle to a position on the other side of the invisible circle they were making around the twins. Lia did also. Maria smiled at the unconscious aggression.

  Something tingled in my fingertips.

  “Careful, dog. If you draw a line between us, we might just step across it,” said one of the twins, and smiled. I looked at his evil face, which seemed to come alive. As he said it, his brother manifested as well. They were unnatural, creepy-looking things. They gave me the heebs.

  Gaven neither flinched nor attacked. But stood his ground.

  “Only something like you would threaten so broadly,” he said. “I want you out of my city immediately. This Gathering is over. Is that understood?”

  “When we say it is,” said the twins. “But you are right. We will go.”

  “And Pendderwenn?” said Veruschka. She looked through the open door. Now that it was time to draw lines, to pick sides, so to speak, it was clear who she was siding with. She was siding with the twins. They were from the Master House, after all––somewhere she wished to be.

  “A Wiccan of no measurable import, and or skill,” said the twins. “Why someone would wish to murder him is a mystery to us.”

 
“He was a number two. Adept. Perhaps they want to give Pendderwenn House to a third. You know, a fledged Wiccan Elder,” I said.

  “They?” said Maria Lenoir.

  “Pendderwenn House is extinct,” said Veruschka Ravenseal, cutting me off. She turned her hardened expression upon me. “Julius was the last of that House. There are no more Pendderwenns. He will be given a proper burial, of course?” she said, turning to Gaven.

  “Of course,” said Gaven. “We are very near our gravesite.”

  Via Appia Antica, he must’ve meant––or the Columbarium. I didn’t know.

  “I should think so,” said Maria. “We are standing in it. Are you two satisfied?” she said to the twins.

  “This mystery isn’t worth solving,” they said. “We leave for Prague at once. Oh, and here are your hairs.”

  The twin holding them, dropped the black hairs. They fluttered down to the ground. Looking at his brother, he said, “They almost look like cat hairs, don’t they? What do you say, Il Gatto?”

  They left, but not before Gaven said “I want your things gone from Rome––take them with you.”

  The twins hissed something, but whatever it was, I didn’t hear it. I was too busy looking at Ballard. He seemed to be looking at me for the first time in weeks. But instead of saying anything, he tapped Gaven on the shoulder, who nodded, listening to what Ballard had to say.

  “Pendderwenn had no family, is that correct?” said Gaven to the Heads of the Three Houses.

  “And no friends,” said Veruschka Ravenseal. “He was a mediocre wizard. You can bury him immediately. The Wiccan rites must be performed, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Gaven. The other two Mistresses nodded, as if this made perfect sense.