Neophyte / Adept (27 page)

“You saved me,” I said. “It wasn’t Ballard, after all, it
was you.
You’re
the Fourth
Protector...”

I went to give Selwyn a big hug but he hopped out of my
reach. “When Marek attacked me last summer,” I said. “You were watching out for
me. You
have
been watching out for
me. But why? You needn’t worry about him. In fact, I think Marek’s one of my
protectors, too. He may have just been overzealous, is all. He has a thing
about me, you see. But I’m seeing someone else. Lennox. Lennox
love
.”

The panther blinked and then licked its lips. For a magical
creature he was very snuggly-looking.

“He’s house-trained, I swear. But then, I have another kind
of House, don’t I? You, Marek, Lennox, and Ballard. You’re like the Fourth
House. And I’m the Fifth of Fourth. So I guess that means we’ll have to Hive.
No, that’s silly. We’re
family
,” I
said. I couldn’t believe it.

The Selwyn-cat didn’t move this time, just pawed the turf
uneasily.

“You don’t have to talk to me,” I said, “if you don’t want
to. I
would
like to know how long you
have been following me, though, and if it’s you I see in my dreams, because you
don’t have to worry about me, I can take care of myself. There, you see?” I had
shot the ball of light out of my hand; it flew down the hallway.

Selwyn followed after it at a trot. I could barely keep up.

He slowed. I nearly bumped into him. He held his nose to the
ground. His panther ears swiveled forward.

“Hey––you’re a
shifter
,” I said, so that only he and I could hear. “You’re a
wizard
and
a shifter. But I thought that
hadn’t happened in a century. Not since––Rhea Silva, whoever she
was.”

But Selwyn gave me a sphinx-like look and I shut my mouth. I
could suddenly hear them, too, the other voices. The voices I had heard before.

They were here with me now, on the outskirts of Rome, in a
tiny underground facility, which had been hollowed out to accommodate the
Gathering. I put my hand on Selwyn’s back and kneeled down with him. At my
touch, he shivered, but then relaxed. His powerful muscles were still in a
crouch, as though he were stalking whoever was making the noises.

“Is it the twins?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice
down. “Or, I know, Maria and what’s-his-name, Pier Alexander, they’re always
whispering to each other.”

But Selwyn shifted his muscles, dismissing such claims.

“Then who then?” I said.

It was not long before I found out.

Chapter 23
– Vittoria’s Secret

I could feel every mystical vibration from when we had all
been animals––my instincts honed from eons of magic in the blood.
The voices were like the voices I had heard at Lennox’s family’s house. “She
drew him with her blood.” That’s what Camille and Dallace had said. My mind had
subconsciously been thinking about it all this time. Did I?
Had
I drawn Lennox subconsciously with
my blood? Had I drawn Marek that way, too? Was I the Super Bitch? To quote
Frobenius Foucart’s ugly words. Her? The One?

When I thought about my time together with Lennox, it was
almost like it had been some other Halsey, some other Lennox. Not us.

We hadn’t been at Rat Rock at all. Somebody else had.

It was like we were in a trance. Even when we first met.
When had I ever fallen for a guy like that?

And here. At this Gathering. Hadn’t I had a thing for Lux?
And then Asher? And now... wasn’t I, in a way,
attracted
to Selwyn? Sure, he was much older––I didn’t
know how old exactly. But when had that ever stopped me before? Wasn’t
Lennox
considerably older? And even
Gaven. He was a tricenarian but he was also incredibly good-looking and if he
had chosen to indoctrinate me, so be it, I wouldn’t exactly have complained.
How could I? He should be on billboards, Gaven. Advertising cologne and world
peace. But far from being a predator, he was a gentleman in wolf’s clothes. If
he was still a werewolf. Something about the way Ballard was behaving made me
feel uncertain.

Ballard wasn’t, was he––he couldn’t possibly be
Head Wolf, could he?
Il Gatto
, the
King of Cats?

I almost hissed the last word. Selwyn was a cat. How had he
managed it. He was Selwyn, wasn’t he?

Halsey––and
I’ve said it before
, I told myself.
You
really haven’t got a clue about, well, any of it. Maybe what you were feeling
about Lennox was put there by somebody else. Something else.

And then:

Were feeling?
I
told myself.
Were feeling?
I wasn’t
getting over Lennox, was I?

The train of thought felt like an over-numbered Hive.

Selwyn seemed to sense my indecision. Around the corner was
Something
. Something I didn’t want to
think about. I could sense that it was important. Selwyn wanted to show me it,
after all, and when had he ever been exactly outspoken on anything? The inner
sanctuary of his mind was averse to any kind of openness. Something about
Selwyn––his quietness, for one thing––led me to believe
that he had deep dark secrets to hide. And he had given out that he had known
my parents––At the Wiccaning, when he had slammed his fist down.
That was also important. Foolish me. I could have asked Lia any time if Selwyn
had tried to read her mind? Or if it was just me? Instead Selwyn remained a
mystery.

I wanted to pet him. He could have carried me on his back,
if he wanted to. His body was one satin-black series of interconnected muscles,
all flowing and ripply, with beautiful rosettes––spots particular
to the mythical panther. He was breathtaking, in a Selwyn-cat kind of way.
Absolutely amazing. When I looked into his eyes, I realized. He wasn’t cold.
Just aloof. And maybe there was a reason for that. He didn’t have to be
defensive with me. It was important he understood that.

So
, I said,
remembering the symbols, and speaking to myself.
This was Lennox. And there, Ballard. And that, that was Marek. And this
one must be Selwyn.
I drew the symbols in my mind, and pointed each of them
out to myself.

It looked like a spinning propellor. One... two... three...
blades...

Four Protectors. A werewolf, two vampires, and a wizard who
could shift. But if this was what Ballard had meant by being my full
moon––by protecting me––he seriously needed to
reconsider his commitment.

Could they really all have been here to protect me? If so,
from what?

Selwyn could sense I had something on my mind.

“Sorry,” I said. “Where were we, and where are we? Because I
don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”

The pack of muscles at his shoulder blades flexed. The light
in his eyes that was usually blue became predatory. So I guessed that meant
shifters couldn’t speak when in their animal forms. I adjusted my hood so only
my eyes stared out and flexed the fingertips of my Wiccan W. It was like I was
clawing the air or something. I waited for him to turn the corner, and the two
of us to meet our destiny, together.

Selwyn-cat hunkered and listened to the voices. They were
whispering something together.
Hissing
at each other.

“She scares us. We
must––kill her. It is––imperative. Yes.”

“We cannot act until
the Initiates are drawn. We must be patient.”

“No,”
hissed the other
one
, “better––we shall pin it
on him, yes.”

“Yes,”
they
agreed, one after the other
.

“Silence. Come. Gather
your forces. We must gather like they do.”

I wanted to find out who
they
were, but Selwyn refused. It was like he just wanted to let me know
about
them. He forbade me going forward.
But the speakers, whoever they were, had already disappeared. Instead I was
overwhelmed by a nauseous feeling. They were plotting something. Somebody was
in danger. There were dangerous
things
at the Gathering. “I want to go,” I said. “Come on.”

He looked back at me.

“Come on, Selwyn. We shouldn’t be here,” I said.

Blinking, he turned to follow me.

* * *

Day two of the selection ceremony dawned with Lia, all
smiles, and I, enjoying our breakfast together. She already knew that I had
been chosen by Ravenseal. “I can’t believe it. Right? You must be really
excited. Are you excited?” she said. “Because I would be.
Ravenseal.
They’re supposed to be the best.”

I knew she was only being kind. I decided not to vent to her
about anything. There was no need to ruin her afterglow. But just when I was
settling in for a peaceful day,
Ballard
happened
.

Lia and I were going to see who else would be selected, but
I had to confront Ballard first. Or, I didn’t know, slap him or something. So
that’s what I did.

“Check your six, Bal.”

“Bal, is it?” I said.

I had just interrupted him and Paolo talking to some other
werewolves about something called
lungotevere
embankments
or something. “They prevent the Tiber from flooding the city,
you see. Just like we do, eh? What is it? What do you want?” said Ballard to
me.

It was the first time he had spoken to me in weeks.

“You’re a real shit, you know that, Ballard?” I said. I
couldn’t help it, I stomped my foot. The tears had started to well.

He shrugged and left me there. “Come on, guys,” he said.

* * *

Some of the other Houses had chosen their Initiates. Coven
got Badgley, which, go and figure. There was only polite clapping. A lot of
talk, up in the stands where Lia and I were at, involved the Rookmaaker
Choosing, as I heard it referred to. I put my hood up.

“Is it true her parents used to be in Pendderwenn? Where is
Pendderwenn, anyway?”

“Probably off sulking. He lost his pick, you see. Oh, you
mean the House? I don’t know. Somewhere.”

I didn’t want to hear anymore. I held Lia’s hand. Now that I
was finally leaving Rome, we were closer than ever.

“Don’t listen to them, Halsey,” she said to me.

“It’s hard not to,” I said.

Veruschka continued her Selection duties. I wondered if the
Lenoir had a pick. “With the tenth pick,” she said...

Nora Blackknight had just been selected.

I found it funny that some of the Initiates
with names
––that is to say,
acknowledged Wiccan surnames––were being chosen after those without
them. Nora Blackknight went after Astra, Shaharizan, and some of the others,
who didn’t have last names, or pedigree, or provenance.

“Just because you’re in doesn’t make you
in
,” said Lia, referring to this Wiccan
pedigree or provenance that I didn’t fully understand yet. “They take into account
talent. Look at Vittoria... What happened to her, anyway?”

I told Lia.

“We’ll see her again,” said Lia. And then, changing tack:
“Guess what I heard?”

“What?” I said, listening hard. I didn’t want to hear the
rest of the voices anymore.

“You know that hiving business, you know why they do it?”
said Lia.

“Why?” I said.

“It’s so that no one Wiccan House will get too big. No,
listen to this. Gaven told me. Apparently that was what he was talking to those
two Wiccans about, the day we came––what were their names, Stavros
and Gisela? It’s called having a Storm of Covens, and it’s absolutely
forbidden.”

I listened on, intrigued.

“It’s what the Lenoir were so scared about––a
hundred and twenty-five years ago,” said Lia, “at the whatchamacallit, the
meeting. It’s all in your book. I looked it up.
‘If a House,’”
she said, quoting from the
Magus Codex, “‘elects a leader––and that leader creates a
Storm of Covens––’
you know, a bunch of Wiccan Houses all
beholden to it––then that Household is said to be in breach and one
of two things will happen. Either it must hive––which means number
threes going to the Houses and them emancipating themselves fully and
completely from their parent coven––or the Lenoir will be sent, to
destroy it. The coven and its satellites. Anyway the Lenoir get to go kill that
House and all of its offspring.”

“A Storm of Covens,” I said.

Lia was wide-eyed. “I forget what else exactly,” she said.
“You’ll have to look it up. Anyway. That’s what Maria and all of
them––” She waved her hand at all of the invisible vampires.
“That’s what they were afraid of, when they signed the documents, agreeing to
the peace treaty, in 1887. A single powerful Wiccan leader who could somehow
unite the Houses, and, I don’t know, march against the vampires.
That’s
why there’re only twelve spots
allowed in each House, and why choosing is so important. You don’t want to make
the wrong choice.”

“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.