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At that moment Thea almost hated her cousin
But there was no choice Four pairs of eyes atching her: Blaise’s gray eyes, Vivienne’s ereen, Selene’s dear blue, and Dani’s velvety dark ones They aiting
Thea got up and began the long walk across the patio
She felt as if everyone atching her She tried to keep her steps measured and confident, her face serene It wasn’t easy The closer she got to that sandy hair, the more she wanted to turn and run She had tunnel vision now: everything on the sides was a blur; the only clear thing was Eric’s profile
Just as she got within earshot, he glanced up and saw her co
He looked startled For a reen than Vivienne’s, more intense and more innocent
Then, without a word, he turned away and walked quickly down a path between two buildings He was gone before Thea kneas happening
She stood rooted to the ground There was a huge amount of e heart trying to fill it
Okay; he hates ood; et him now But when she went back to the shady table, Blaise
was frowning thoughtfully
"You just don’t have the technique yet," she said "Never mind I can coach you"
"Viv and I can help, too," Selene murmured "You’ll learn fast"
"No-thank you," Thea said Her pride was hurt and her cheeks were on fire "I can do it myself Tomorrow I have a plan already"
Dani squeezed her hand under the table "You’ll do fine"
Blaise said, "Just ht think you don’t really want him"
And then, to Thea’s i
"Hawthorne, yarrow, angelica" Thea peered through the thick blue glass of an unlabeled jar "Some kind of nasty powder"
She was in the front roorandmother’s shop, deserted now because it was closed for the evening Just being with all these herbs and ge of coht, looking around at
the floor-to-ceiling shelves of bottles and boxes and dusty vials One whole as devoted to trays of stones-unpolished and polished, rare and seraved on the her hands in the their names: tourmaline, amethyst, honey topaz, white jade
And then there were the good-sestion or to call a lover; to soothe arthritis or to curse your landlord Some of these-the simples-worked whether you were a witch or not They were just natural remedies, and Gran even sold thee and psychic power, and no hu up a real spell
First, heartsease That was good for any love charered the dried purple and yelloers gently Then she dropped a handful of the
What else? Rose petals were a given She unstopped a large ceraot a whiff of sweetness as she sprinkled them in
Chamomile, yes Rosemary, yes Lavender she twisted the cork out of a sht this minute She mixed it in her palrant liquid on her temples and at the back of her neck
Blood, flow! Headache, go!
The tension in her neck started to ease al breath and looked around
Some bones of the earth would help Rose quartz carved in the shape of a heart for attraction A lump of raw anetisarnets for fire
It was done Toiant tea bag infuse the water while she burned a circle of red candles She’d soak in the potentthe smell of it, the essence of it, seep into her skin And when she got out, she’d be irresistible
She was about to walk ahen a leather pouch caught her eye
No Not that, she told herself You’ve got a mixture here to proh just to get hi stronger
But she found herself picking up the soft pouch anyway Opening it, just to look inside
It was full of reddish-brown chips, each about the size of a thumbnail with a woody, aromatic smell
Ye heart But usually forbidden toherself think about it, Thea transferred half a dozen chips to herThen 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 thebehind her back
"Your specialty Herbs, stones, a to be one of those chanting girls I hate that whiny music"
Thea loved the s Gran had mentioned-but she loved animals even better And there wasn’t much of a place for animals in witch life, not since fa Times
You could use bits of aniue Blaise was always trying to get hold of Thea’s ani her off
"I don’t know Gran," she said "I’ot ti slowly toward her Edgith Harman’s face was a mass of creases, she hunched, and she used two canes-but that wasn’t bad for a woman over a hundred who ran her own business and tyrannized every witch in the country
"Rehteen You and Blaise are the last of our line The last two direct descendants of Hellewise That means you have a responsibility-you have to set an exahteen, she would have to decide not just her specialty, but which Circle she would join for life: Twilight or Midnight "I’ll think about it, Gran," she pro her free arot six months"
Gran stroked Thea’s hair with a veined, gentle hand It chased the last of Thea’s headache away Still holding thebehind her back, she said, "Gran? Are you reallyus here for the school year?"
"Well, you eat too uess I can stand it" Gran s as you stay in line until the end of the ain "But what’s happening at the end of the ave her a look "Samhain, of course! All Hallow’s Eve"
"I know that," Thea said Even the hu one of her vague spells
"Samhain-and the Inner Circle," Gran said abruptly "They’ve picked the desert for their ceremony this year"
"The desert-youhere? Mother Cybele and Aradia and all of them?"
"All of theri theirls screw up-1 have a reputation, you know"
Thea nodded a little dazedly "I-welt no wonder you orried We won’t embarrass you I promise"
"Good"
As Thea discreetly tucked theunder her arm and started for the stairs, the old woman added
"You’d better toss soether"
Thea felt herself blushing furiously "Uh thanks, Gran," she said, and went 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 bu on her bed, reading a thick book with a red cover Poetry Despite her frivolous act, she wasn’t stupid
"Guess what," Thea said, and without waiting for Blaise to guess, told her about the Inner Circle coining