"Oh, God. Oh, my God." Electricity was running up and down Gillian's body, setting her whole skin tingling. Tears stung in her eyes-not tears of sadness, but of pure, shocking revelation. "That's it. That's it.
Oh, God, we've got to help her. We've got to tell her-"
"I agree. But first we have to get you under control. And it's not exactly a thing you can just spring on her without any warning. You could do more harm than good that way. We've got to build up to it."
"Yes. Yes, I see that. You're right." Gillian blinked rapidly. She tried to calm her breathing, to think.
"And just at the moment, she's stable. A little depressed, but stable. She'll wait until after Monday. But Tanya won't."
"Tanya?" Gillian had nearly forgotten the original discussion. "Oh, yeah, Tanya. Tanya." David, she thought.
"There is something very practical you can do about Tanya-now that you know what you are."
"Yes. All right." Gillian wet her lips. "Do you think Dad will come back if Mom realizes what she is and gets it all together?"
"I think there's a good possibility. But listen to me. To take care of Tanya-"
"Angel." A slow coil of anxiety was unrolling in Gillian's stomach. "Now that I think about it ... I mean, aren't witches bad? Shouldn't you-well, disapprove of this?"
Angel put his golden head in his hands. "If I thought it was bad would I be here guiding you through it?"
Gillian almost laughed. It was so incongruous- the pale northern lights aura around him and the sound of him talking through clenched teeth.
Then a thought struck her. She spoke hesitantly and wonderingly. "Did you come here to guide me through it?"
He lifted his head and looked at her with those unearthly eyes. "What do you think?"
Gillian thought that the world wasn't exactly what she had thought. And neither were angels.
The next morning she stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She'd done this after Angel had first come to her and made her cut her hair-she'd wanted to look at her new self. Now she wanted to look at Gillian the witch.
There wasn't anything overtly different about her. But now that she knew she seemed to see things she hadn't noticed before. Something in the eyes-some ancient glimmer of knowledge in their depths.
Something elfin in the face, in the slant of the cheekbones. A remnant of faery.
"Stop gazing and come shopping," Angel said, and light coalesced beside her.
"Right," Gillian said soberly. Then she tried to wiggle her nose.
Downstairs, she borrowed the keys to her mother's station wagon and bundled up. It was an icy-fresh day and the whole world sparkled under a light dusting of new snow. The air filled Gillian's lungs like some strange potion.
(I feel very witchy.) She backed the car out. (Now where do we go? Houghton?)
(Hardly. This isn't the kind of shopping you do at a mall. Northward, ho! We're going to Woodbridge.)
Gillian tried to remember Woodbridge. It was a little town like Somerset-but smaller. She'd undoubtedly driven through it at some point in her life.
(We need to go shopping in Woodbridge to take care of Tanya?)
(Just drive, dragonfly.)
Woodbridge's main street ended in a town square bordered by dozens of decorated trees. The stores were trimmed with Christmas lights. It was a postcard scene.
(Okay. Park here.)
Gillian followed Angel's directions and found herself in the Woodbridge Five and Ten, an old-style variety store, complete with creaking wooden floorboards. She had the terrifying feeling that time had
gone back about fifty years. The aisles were tight and the shelves were jammed with baskets full of goods. There was a musty smell.
Beyond asking questions, she stared dreamily at a jar of penny candy.
(Head on to the back. All the way. Open that door and go through to the back room.)
Gillian nervously opened the rickety door and peered into the room beyond. But it was just another store. It had an even stranger smell, partly delicious, partly medicinal, and it was rather dimly lit.
"Uh, hello?" she said, in response to Angel's urging. And then she noticed movement behind a counter.
A girl was sitting there. She was maybe nineteen and had dark brown hair and an interesting face. It was quite ordinary in shape and structure-a country girl sort of face-but the eyes were unusually vivid and intense.
"Um, do you mind if I look around?" Gillian said, again in response to Angel.
"Go right ahead," the girl said. "I'm Melusine."
She watched with a perfectly friendly and open curiosity as Gillian moseyed around the shelves, trying to look as if she knew what she was looking for. Everything she saw was strange and unfamiliar-rocks and herby-looking things and different colored candles.
(It's not here.) Angel's voice was resigned. (We're going to have to ask her.)
"Excuse me," Gillian said a moment later, approaching the girl diffidently from the other side. "But do you
have any Dragon's Blood? The-activated kind?"
The girl's face changed. She looked at Gillian very sharply. Then she said, "I'm afraid I've never heard of anything like that. And I wonder what makes you ask."
Gooseflesh blossomed on Gillian's arms. She had the sudden, distinct feeling that she was in danger.
Chapter 11
Angel's voice was taut but calm. (Pick up a pen from the counter. The black one's fine. Now-let go. Just relax and let me move it.)
Gillian let go. It was a process she couldn't have described in words if she'd tried. But she watched, with a sort of fascinated horror, as her own hand began to draw on a small white invoice slip.
It drew across the lines, in some kind of pattern. Unfortunately the pen seemed to be out of ink, so all Gillian could see was a faint scribble.
(Show her the carbon copy.)
Gillian peeled off the first sheet of paper. Underneath, in carbon, was her design. It looked like a flower-a dahlia. It was crudely colored in, as if it were meant to be dark.
(What is it, Angel?)
(A sort of password. Unless you know it, she's not going to let you buy what you need.)
Melusine's face had changed. She was looking at Gillian with startled interest.
"Unity," she said. "I wondered about you when you came in. You've got the look-but I've never seen you before. Did you just move here?"