It was full of reddish-brown chips, each about the size of a thumbnail with a woody, aromatic smell.
Yemonja root. Guaranteed to draw an unwilling heart. But usually forbidden to maidens.
Recklessly, not letting herself think about it, Thea transferred half a dozen chips to her mesh bag. Then she put the worn leather pouch back on its shelf .
"Figured it out yet?" a voice behind her said.
Thea whirled. Gran was standing at the foot of the narrow stairway that led to the apartment above the store.
"Uh-what?" She held the mesh bag behind her back.
"Your specialty. Herbs, stones, amulets ... I hope you"re not going to be one of those chanting girls. I hate that whiny music."
Thea loved the music. In fact, she loved all the things Gran had mentioned- but she loved animals even better. And there wasn"t much of a place for ani mals in witch life, not since familiars had been outlawed during the Burnin g Times.
You could use bits of animals, sure. Lizard foot and nightingale tongue. Bla ise was always trying to get hold of Thea"s animals for just that purpose, a nd Thea was always fighting her off.
"I don"t know. Gran," she said. "I"m still thinking."
"Well, you"ve got time-but not too much," her grandmother said, walking s lowly toward her. Edgith Harman"s face was a ma.s.s of creases, she hunched , and she used two canes-but that wasn"t bad for a woman over a hundred w ho ran her own business and tyrannized every witch in the country.
"Remember, you"ve got some decisions to make when you hit eighteen. You and Blaise are the last of our line. The last two direct descendants of h.e.l.l ewise. That means you have a responsibility-you have to set an example."
"I know." At eighteen, she would have to decide not just her specialty, but w hich Circle she would join for life: Twilight or Midnight. "I"ll think about it, Gran," she promised, putting her free arm around the old woman. "I"ve sti ll got six months."
Gran stroked Thea"s hair with a veined, gentle hand. It chased the last of Thea"s headache away. Still holding the mesh bag behind her back, she said, "Gran? Are you really mad about having us here for the school year?"
"Well, you eat too much and you leave hair in the shower . . . but I guess I c an stand it." Gran smiled, then frowned. "Just as long as you stay in line unt il the end of the month."
There it was again. "But what"s happening at the end of the month?"
Gran gave her a look. "Samhain, of course! All Hallow"s Eve."
"I know that," Thea said. Even the humans celebrated Halloween. She wonde red if Gran was having one of her vague spells.
"Samhain-and the Inner Circle," Gran said abruptly. "They"ve picked the dese rt for their ceremony this year."
"The desert-you mean here? The Inner Circle is coming here? Mother Cybel e and Aradia and all of them?"
"All of them," Gran said. Suddenly her wrinkles looked grim. "And by Air a nd Fire, I"m not having them come here just to see you girls screw up-1 ha ve a reputation, you know."
Thea nodded a little dazedly. "I-welt no wonder you were worried. We won"
t embarra.s.s you. I promise."
"Good."
As Thea discreetly tucked the mesh bag under her arm and started for the st airs, the old woman added.
"You"d better toss some plantain into that mix to bind it all together."
Thea felt herself blushing furiously. "Uh . . . thanks, Gran," she said, and we nt to look for plantain.
Above the shop were two tiny bedrooms and a kitchenette. Grandma had one bedroom and Thea and Blaise shared the other. Tobias, Gran"s apprentice , had been b.u.mped to the workshop downstairs.
Blaise was lying on her bed, reading a thick book with a red cover. Poetry. D espite her frivolous act, she wasn"t stupid.
"Guess what," Thea said, and without waiting for Blaise to guess, told her ab out the Inner Circle coining.
She watched to see if the news would scare Blaise-or at least alarm her into good intentions. But Blaise just yawned and stretched like a well-fed cat.
"Good. Maybe we can watch how they summon the ancestors again." She raised her eyebrows at Thea meaningfully. Two years ago in Vermont, while the human world was trick-or-treating, they"d hidden behind maple trees and spie d on the Samhain summoning. They"d seen the elders use the magic of Hecate , the most ancient witch of all, the G.o.ddess of moon and night and sorcery , to bring spirits across the veil. For Thea it had been scary but excitin g, for Blaise just exciting.
Thea gave up on trying to alarm Blaise.
Thea looked at the three star-shaped blue flowers lying on her palm. Then, o ne by one, she ate them.
"Now say "Ego borago guadia semper ago," " Selene instructed. "It means, "I , borage, always bring courage." Old Roman spell."
Thea muttered the words. For the second day in a row, she was on the patio looking at a sandy head across the room.
"Go get "im, tiger," Blaise said. Vivienne and Dani nodded encouragingly. T hea squared her shoulders and started across the room.
As soon as Eric saw her coming he went down the side path.
You idiot, Thea thought. You don"t know what"s good for you. Maybe I shoul d just let Blaise have you.
But she followed him. He was standing just beyond the buildings, staring in to the distance. She could only see his profile, which was nice-clean and s omehow lonely.
Thea swallowed, tasting a lingering sweetness from the borage flowers. Wha t to say? She wasn"t used to talking to humans-especially human boys.
I"ll just say "What"s up?" and be casual she thought. But when she opened h er mouth, what came out was, "I"m sorry."
He turned immediately. He looked startled. "You"re sorry?"
"Yes. I"m sorry I was so mean. What do you think I was following you for?"
Eric blinked-and Thea thought his cheeks colored under his tan. "I thought you were mad because I kept staring at you. I was trying not to get you mad der."
"You were staring at me?" Thea felt a little flushed herself. As if the herbs from her bath were steaming fragrantly out of her skin.
"Well-I kept trying not to. I think I"ve got it down to one look every thirty seconds now." He said it seriously.
Thea wanted to laugh. "It"s okay. I don"t mind," she said. Yes, she could def initely smell the love potion now. The heady floral scent of rose and heartse ase, plus the spice of yemonja root.
Eric seemed to take her at her word. He was definitely staring. "I"m sorry I a cted like such a jerk before. With the snake, I mean. I really wasn"t trying t o feed you a line."
Alarm whispered through Thea. She didn"t want to think about what had happ ened in the desert."Yes, okay, I know," she said. He was watching her so intently, his eyes su ch a deep green. "Well- you see, the reason I wanted to talk to you was . .
. you know, there"s the Homecoming dance this Sat.u.r.day. So I thought we co uld maybe go together."
She remembered at the last instant that in human society boys frequently ask ed girls to dances. Maybe she"d been too direct.
But he looked-well, extremely pleased. "You"re kidding! You"re serious? Y ou"d go with me?"
Thea just nodded.
"But that"s terrific. I mean-thanks." He was as excited as a kid at Beltane. T hen his face clouded over.
"I forgot, though. I promised Dr. Salinger-that"s my boss at the pet hospita l-that I"d spend the night there Sat.u.r.day. Midnight to eight a.m. Somebody n eeds to watch the animals that stay overnight, and Dr. Salinger"s going to a conference out of town."
"It doesn"t matter," Thea said. "We"ll just go to the dance before midnight."
She was relieved. It meant less time play-acting in front of Blaise.
"It"s a date, then." He still looked so happy. "And, Thea?" He said the nam e shyly, as if almost afraid to use it. "Maybe-maybe we could do something else sometime. I mean, we could go out, or you could come over to my house.
"Uh . . ." The yemonja smell was really making her dizzy. "Uh . . . well, thi s week-I"m trying to get adjusted to the new school and all. But maybe later.
"Okay. Later." His smile was unexpected, astonishing. It transformed his face , turning the sweet, serious shyness into charismatic radiance. "If there"s a ny way I can help, just ask."
Why, he"s handsome, Thea thought. She felt a sort of tug at her insides, like a bird being charmed out of a tree. She hadn"t realized how attractive he was, or how the gray flecks in his eyes seemed to catch sunlight. . . .
Stop that! she told herself abruptly. This is business, and he"s vermin. She felt a flush of shame at using the word, even in thought. But she had to do something. Without meaning to, she"d moved closer to him, so she was lookin g up into his face. Now they were only inches apart and she was feeling dist inctly giddy.
"I have to go-wow. I"ll see you later," she murmured, and made herself back up. "Later," he said. He was still glowing. Thea fled.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, she tried to ignore him. Avoided him in t he halls, acting as busy as possible. He seemed to understand, and didn"t chase her down. She just wished he wouldn"t look so dreamy and happy all t he time.
And then there was Blaise. Blaise already had a couple of husky football players who followed her everywhere, Buck and Duane-but neither of them was invited to the dance. Blaise had a unique method of choosing a partner. S he told them all to go away.
"You don"t want me," she said to a gorgeous Asian-American guy with one e arring.
It was lunch break on Thursday, and the witches had a whole table to them selves: Vivienne and Selene with Blaise on one side; Dani with Thea on th e other. The gorgeous guy had one knee on a chair and was looking very ne rvous.
"You can"t afford me, Kevin. I"ll ruin you. Better get out of here," Blaise sai d, all the while looking up with sleeping fire in her gray eyes.
Kevin shifted. "But I"m rich." He said it simply, without affectation.
"I"m not talking about money," Blaise said. She gave a deprecating smile. "A nd anyway, I don"t think you"re really interested."
"Are you kidding? I"m crazy about you. Every time I see you ... I don"t know ; it just makes me crazy."
He glanced at the other girls and Thea knew he was uncomfortable at having an audience. But not uncomfortable enough to stop talking. "I"d do anythi ng for you."
"No, I don"t think so." Blaise was toying with a ring on her left index finger.
"What"s that?" Vivienne interjected nonchalantly.
"Hm? Oh, just a little diamond," Blaise said. She held out her hand and ligh t scintillated. "Stuart Mac-Ready gave it to me this morning."
Kevin shifted again. "I can buy you dozens of rings."
Thea felt sorry for him. He seemed like an okay guy, and she"d heard him ta lk about wanting to be a musician. But she knew from long experience that i t wouldn"t do any good to tell him to get out of here. It would only make h im more stubborn.
"But I wouldn"t want a ring from you," Blaise was saying in a soft, chiding voice. "Stuart gave this to me because it was the only memento he had of h is mom. It meant everything to him-so he wanted me to have it."
"I"d do the same thing," Kevin said.
Blaise just shook her head. "I don"t think so."
"Yes, I would."
"No. The thing that means the most to you is your car, and you"d never give that up."
Thea had seen the car. It was a silver-gray Porsche. Kevin lovingly touched it up with a chamois in the school parking lot every morning.
Now Kevin looked confused. "But-that car"s not really mine. It belongs to my parents. They just let me use it."
Blaise nodded understanding. "You see? I told you that you wouldn"t. Now, why don"t you go away like a good boy?"
Kevin seemed to collapse internally. He stared at Blaise pleadingly, not maki ng a move to go away. At last, Blaise tilted her head at the football flunkie s.
"C"mon, man," one flunky-Thea thought it was Duane-said. They took Kevin by the shoulders and propelled him away. Kevin kept looking back.
Blaise dusted her fingers off briskly.
Selene pushed back pale hair and drawled, "Think he"ll cough up the car?"
"Well..." Blaise smiled. "Let"s just say I think I"ll have transportation to the dance. Of course, I"m still not sure who I"m taking. ..."
Thea got up. Dani had sat silently through lunch, and now she was watching Blaise, her velvety dark eyes half horrified and half admiring.
"I"m getting out of here," Thea said significantly, and was relieved when Da ni stopped staring at Blaise and stood up.
"Oh, by the way," Blaise said, picking up her backpack, "I forgot to give yo u this." She handed Thea a small vial, the size that perfume samples came in .
"What"s it for?"
"For the dance. You know, to put the boys" blood in."