Defensively, Thea gestured at the scattered amulets. "What do you think? A witch." ,
"But who?"
"How should I know?" Thea almost yelled, fear giving way to anger. "This is the one I was going to call back." She snatched up the "auburn hair and cracked amulet of Phoebe Garner. "That one was just whichever one fell out when you grabbed the box."
"Don't try to make this my fault. You're the one doing forbidden spells. You're the one summoning ancestors. And whatever happens with that one"- Blaise pointed at the window-"you're the one responsible."
She got up and shook out her hair, standing tall. "And that's what you get for trying to sic the spirits on me!" She turned and stalked out the door.
"I wasn't trying to sic the spirits on you!" Thea shouted-but the door had already slammed shut.
Thea's anger collapsed. Feeling numb, she looked at the overturned silver box, where she had temporarily stored the tissue with Eric's blood.
I was just trying to find a protector for him. Somebody who'd help him fend off your spells, who'd understand that he's a person even though he's a human.
She looked forlornly around the room. Then, feeling older than Gran, she struggled to her feet and started mechanically cleaning up the mess.
When she dumped the ashes out of the bowl she found some sort of residue sticking to the bottom. She couldn't wash it off and she couldn't pry it off
with a steak knife. She stashed the entire bowl under her bed.
All the while she cleaned, her mind kept churning.
Who got out? No way to know. Process of elimination wouldn't help, not with all those unmarked amulets.
What to do now? She didn't know that either.
If I tell anyone-even Gran-they'll want to know why I was trying to summon the dead. But if they find out the truth, it means death for me and Eric.
Around sunset, a limousine pulled up in the back alley. Thea saw it from her window and rushed downstairs in alarm.
Grandma was being helped out of the car by two politely expressionless vampires. Servants of Thierry's.
"Gran, what happened?"
"Nothing happened. I had a little weak spell, that's all!" She whacked at one of the vampires with her cane. "I can help myself, son!"
"Ma'am," said the vampire-who might have been three or four times Grandma's age. To Thea, he said, "Your grandmother fainted-she was pretty sick there for a while."
"And that good-for-nothing apprentice of mine never showed up," Gran said, making her way to the back door.
Thea nodded good-bye to the vampires. "Gran-it was my fault about Tobias. I let him have the day off." Her stomach, which had been clenched like a fist all day, seemed to draw even tighter now. "Are you really sick?"
"I'm good for a few years yet." She began laboriously working her way up the stairs. "Vampires just don't understand old age."
"What did you go there for?"
Gran stopped to cough. "None of your business, but I had to settle some arrangements with Thierry. He's agreed to let the Inner Circle use his land on Samhain."
Upstairs, Thea made some herb tea in the tiny kitchenette. And then, when Gran was in bed with the tea, she gathered her courage.
"Gran, when the elders call up the spirits on Samhain-how do they send them back?"
"Why should you want to know?" Gran said crossly. But when Thea just looked at her, she went on. "There are certain spells that are used for summoning-and don't you ask me what they are-and you say those backwards to send them back. The witch who calls a spirit has to be the one to dismiss it."
So only I can do it. "And that's all?" Thea asked.
"Oh, of course not. It's a long process of kindling the fire and strewing the herbs-but if you do it all right, you can draw the spirit down from between the standing stones and send it back where it came from." Grandma went on muttering, but Thea had snagged on a earlier phrase.
"From between-the standing stones... ?" she got out.
"The standing stones that encircle the spirits. Well, think, Thea! If you didn't have a circle of some kind to hold them in, they'd just-voom." Gran made a gesture. "They'd zip out and how would you ever find them again? That's why I went to Thierry today/' she added, taking a noisy sip of tea. "We need a place where the sandstone forms a natural circle... and naturally it's up to me to arrange everything...." She went on grumbling softly.
Thea felt faint.
"You have to be-physically close to them-to send them back?"
"Of course. You have to be within spitting distance, And don't think I don't know why you're asking."
Thea stopped breathing.
"You're planning something for Samhain- and it's probably all Blaise's idea. You two are like Maya and Hellewise. But you can forget about it right now- those spells are for the elders, not for girls." She stopped to cough. "I don't understand why you want to be crones before you're done being maidens. You ought to enjoy your youth while you have it...."
Thea left her still grumbling.
She hadn't cast any kind of a circle before calling the spirit. She hadn't realized she was supposed to.
And now... how could she ever get close enough to the spirit to send it back?
Well-it'll just have to stay out in the world, she told herself bravely. Too bad... but it's not as if there aren't other spirits floating around out there. Maybe if it doesn't like roaming around, it'll come back.
But she was sick with guilt and disheartened. Not to mention worried-if only a little-about Gran's fainting spell.
Blaise didn't come to bed. She stayed downstairs and worked on her necklace long into the night.
On Monday, everyone at school was talking about Randy Marik and the ruined dance. The girls were annoyed about it and furious with Blaise; the boys were annoyed and furious with Randy.
"Are you okay?" Dani asked Thea after world lit class. "You look kind of pale."
Thea smiled wanly. "It was a busy weekend."
"Really? Did you do something with Eric?" The way she said "do something" alerted Thea. Dani's heart-shaped face looked as sweet and concerned as ever... but Thea couldn't trust even her. She was a Night Person, a witch, a human-hater.