Thea smiled at him. And was so proud to see that even now, surrounded by people who must seem likefigures from some horrible legend to him, he could give her a wry half-smil e back.
"I have an idea," she said to Gran and the Inner Circle. "The Cup of Lethe."
There was a silence. People looked at each other. Gran was startled.
"Not just for him," Thea said. "For me."
Long breaths quietly drawn in the silence.
Gran shut her eyes.
"If I drank enough, I"d forget everything," Thea forged on, talking to all the grave faces. "Everything about the Night World. I wouldn"t be a witch a nymore, because I wouldn"t remember who I am."
"You"d become a lost witch," Aradia said. Her lovely face was calm, not app alled. "Like the psychics who don"t know their heritage. And lost witches c an live with humans."
"And neither of us would remember about the Night World," Thea said. "S o how could we be breaking any laws?"
"The law would be satisfied," Aradia said.
Eric"s hand tightened on Thea"s. "But-"
She looked at him. "It"s the only way for us to be together."
He shut his mouth.
This silence was very long.
Then Blaise, who had been standing with crossed arms, watching, said, "Sh e told me they were soulmates."
For an instant, Thea thought she was saying it spitefully, to harm.
But Gran was turning in surprise. "Soulmates. That"s a notion I haven"t heard in a while."
"An archaic myth," Rhys said, shifting in his lab coat.
"Maybe not," Mother Cybele said softly. "Maybe the old powers are waking u p again. Maybe they"re trying to tell us something."
Gran looked down at the floor. When she looked back at Thea, there were tea rs in her fierce dark eyes. And for the first time since Thea had known her , those eyes looked truly old.
"If we did let you do this," she said, "if we let you renounce your heritage and walk away from us ... where would you go?"
It was Eric who answered. "With me," he said simply. "My mom and my sister already love her. And my mom knows she"s an orphan. If I tell her Thea ca n"t stay here anymore-well, she"d take her in, no questions."
"I see," Gran said. Eric hadn"t mentioned that his mom already thought The a was living in an unstable home with an unbalanced old lady, but Thea had the feeling Gran knew.
Another pause, as Gran looked around the Circle. Finally, she nodded and let out a breath. "I think the girl"s given us a way out," she said. "Does anyb ody disagree?"No one spoke. Most of the faces were pitying. They think it"s a fate worse th an death, Thea realized.
Blaise said suddenly, "I"ll get the Cup."
She clashed through the bead curtain.
Good. It"s good to get it over with, Thea thought. Her heart was pounding wi ldly. She and Eric were holding hands so tightly that her burned fingers stu ng.
"It won"t hurt," she whispered to him. "We"ll be sort of confused ... but it should come back to us ... except anything about magic."
"You can transfer into zoology," he said. "And go to Davis." He was smiling, but his eyes were full.
Dani stepped forward. "Can I ... I"d just like to say good-bye." She got thr ough that much steadily. Then she choked and threw herself into Thea"s arms.
Thea hugged back. "I"m sorry I got you in trouble," she whispered.
"You didn"t-you told them it wasn"t my fault. They"re not going to do anythin g to me. But it"s going to be so lonely at school without you . . ." Dani ste pped away, shaking her head, trying not to cry. "Blessed be."
Blaise was back, little bells ringing. She had a pewter chalice in one hand and a bottle in the other.
Just seeing the bottle sent a shiver through Thea. The gla.s.s was so dark wit h age she couldn"t tell what color it had been originally, and so misshapen it was hard to know if it was meant to be round or square. There was wax ove r the cork and all sorts of seals and ribbons.
Gran broke through the seals, pulled off the ribbons. She tried to twist the c ork out of the wax, but Blaise had to help.
Then she tipped the bottle above the cup Blaise held.
Brownish liquid ran out. Gran poured until the cup was half full.
"When you drink this," Gran said to Thea, "you"ll forget me. You won"t know anyone here. But we won"t forget you." She spok e formally, an announcement before the Circle. "Thea Sophia Harman, let t he record show that you are a true daughter of h.e.l.lewise."
She shuffled forward and kissed Thea"s cheek.
Thea hugged her, feeling the fragile old body for the last time. "Good-bye, G ran. I love you."
Then Blaise came, offering the cup in both hands. She looked wild and beauti ful, her hair a cataract of black tumbling around her, her hands pale around the chalice.
"Good-bye," Thea said, and took it from her.
Blaise smiled.
Now, Thea told herself. Don"t hesitate. Don"t think about it.
She lifted the cup to her lips and drank.
And choked slightly on the first swallow. It was- it tasted like . . .Her eyes went to Blaise"s.
Which were large and gray and luminous. They looked at her steadily. So ste adily that it was a warning.
Thea kept drinking.
Tea. Watered-down iced tea. That was what the Cup of Lethe tasted like.
That bottle was sealed-she didn"t have time- there was wax on the cork . . .
Thea"s mind was churning. But she had enough sense to do one thing-she dran k a lot of whatever was in the cup, so there wouldn"t be any left over for the Circle to examine when Eric was done.
And she kept her face blank as Blaise took the chalice from her and gave it t o Eric.
Eric drank, looked slightly surprised, and kept drinking.
"Finish it allll," Blaise said. Her eyes were still on Thea"s.
And that was when Thea knew for sure.
You did it before, when you were first talking about giving human boys the Cup of Lethe after spilling their blood at the Homecoming dance. You pour ed it out and stashed it somewhere and put in tea and redid all those seal s-of course you could reproduce them with molds. And now ... and now ...
As Blaise took the chalice back from Eric, it hit Thea in a wave that almost made her hysterical.
This is never going to work. They"re never going to believe it. But ...
Thea took Eric"s hand and sank her nails into his palm. She didn"t dare say a word to him, didn"t dare even look at him. But she was thinking, don"t speak , don"t do anything, just follow my lead.
She made her face as blank as a wax doll.
Eric was just standing there. He didn"t know what to expect, but he obvious ly felt Thea"s nails. And he proved how smart he was by not speaking.
"We stand adjourned," Gran said tersely. "Blaise, take them out while they"
re still confused. They should be able to get home on their own." She turne d away without looking at Thea.
"No problem," Blaise said.
Aradia said, "I"ll go with you."
CHAPTER 17.
They walked out to Eric"s jeep. The night air was very cold and there was n o moon.
Thea kept her hand on Eric"s back, ready to press if he hesitated. But he neve r did.
At the door of the jeep, Thea looked at Blaise. She was afraid to show any expression. Could Aradia see them? She wanted desperately to give Blaise a last hug.
Aradia said, "Is there a window from the shop onto this street?"Thea looked at Blaise. Blaise said, "No."
"Then you can say good-bye. After this you"re going to have to pretend not to know each other."
Thea stared at her, then felt a wild choked giggle well up. "Now I know why you"re Maiden," she said, in a bare whisper. "But-does anyone else realize ?".
"l don"t think so. Some may wonder, but I think they"ll keep their mouths sh ut. Say good-bye quick."
Thea hugged Blaise, couldn"t make herself let go. "Thank you. Oh, Eileithyia, Blaise, I"ll miss you."
"Now I"m the last of the Harman line," Blaise said in a bad imitation of a smirking voice. "I"ll have a bedroom to myself," she added in more believab le tones. "And I"m going to get Sheena good."
"Who?"
"That"s right, you didn"t hear. She was the one who turned us in. She"s one of Tobias"s little girlfriends, Circle Midnight. It seems he"s been spying o n us. He told her enough that she understood we were doing forbidden spells, and she told Gran."
"It doesn"t matter now."
"Are you kidding? I"m getting sent to the Convent. I"m going to kill her." Th e bells rang as Blaise tossed her head.
Then she tightened her grip on Thea. "I don"t know why you want to be with a human," she whispered. "But I hope you keep on wanting it now that you have it."
"Blaise, when you get back-please don"t hurt them anymore. They"re people.
Really."
Blaise sighed noncommittally; Thea could feel it. But all she said, almost too softly for Thea to hear, was, "I"ll miss you-sister."
Then Thea could let go.
When she was in the jeep, Aradia leaned into the open door.
"Two things," she said rapidly. "And they"re all the help I can give you. M other Cybele mentioned Circle Daybreak. I"ve heard rumors that there axe wi tches somewhere who are starting it up again.
Witches who want to forget the Burning Times, and who don"t hold to Night Wo rld law. I don"t know if it"s true. But if it is, maybe you can find it."
Thea"s breath was taken away. The possibility leaped inside her like some u nimagined joy.
"And the other thing," Aradia said, with a rare smile-almost a brief grin. "
Word is that some of your Redfern cousins have started going peculiar. I"ve even heard that they"re talking about finding human soulmates, just like you . You might try and contact them and see what the story is."
Thea"s breath came back, and with it, tears. "Oh, Aradia. Thank you.""Good luck, Thea. And Eric. Both of you, wherever you go."
Eric, who had been sitting quietly behind the wheel, reached out to touch he r hand lightly. "And you, too." Thea could tell by his voice that he was puz zled and dazed, but he was trying not to show it.
Then they drove away. Thea turned around to watch Blaise getting smaller a nd smaller. A little wind blew Blaise"s hair, and she looked like a dark a nd mysterious Aphrodite, a G.o.ddess who always did what you least expected.
Eric drove fast until they were a good distance from the shop, then pulled t o the curb on a tiny residential street. He looked at Thea and said cautious ly, "Am I immune to this stuff? Because I"m not forgetting anything. Or is i t going to kick in any minute now?"
Thea kissed him.
Then she began to laugh hysterically.
"No. No."