"We moved in last month, just in time to start school," Dani said. Her brow puckered. "But it you're new, what do you mean you haven't seen me around?"
Thea sighed. "Well, it's kind of complicated...."
A bell rang. Both she and Dani looked at the school building in frustration, then at each other.
"Meet me here at lunch?" Dani asked.
Thea nodded, asked which way her French class was, and then flew off toward the other side of the building.
She sat through her next two classes trying to actually listen to the teachers. She didn't know what else to do. She had to concentrate to keep the image of gray-flecked green eyes out of her mind.
At lunch, she found Dani sitting on the steps out front. Thea settled beside her and opened a bottle of Evian water and a chocolate yogurt she'd bought at the snack bar.
"You were going to explain how you know Vegas," Dani said. She spoke softly because there were kids everywhere in the front courtyard, sprawled in the sun with paper bags.
Thea eyed a row of sago palms and felt herself sighing again. "Blaise and I-our mothers died when we were born. They were twin sisters. And then both our dads died. So we grew up sort of moving around from relative to relative. We usually spend the summers with Grandma Harman, and we live with somebody else during the school year. But these last couple of years... well, we've been in five high schools since we were sophomores."
"Five?"
"Five. I think five. Isis knows, it could be six."
"But why?"
"We keep getting expelled," Thea said succinctly.
"But-"
"It's Blaise's fault," Thea said. She was mad at Blaise. "She does-things-to boys. Human boys. And somehow it always ends up getting us kicked out of school. Both of us, because I'm always too stupid to tell them she's the one responsible."
"Not stupid, I bet. Loyal," Dani said warmly, and put her hand on Thea's. Thea squeezed it, taking some comfort in the sympathy.
"Anyway, this year we were in New Hampshire living with our Uncle Galen-and Blaise did it again. To the captain of the football team. His name was Randy Marik...."
When Thea stopped, Dani said, "What happened to him?"
"He burned the school down for her."
Dani made a sound halfway between a snort and a giggle. Then she straightened out her face quickly. "Sorry, not funny. For her?"
Thea leaned against the wrought-iron stair railing.
"That's what Blaise likes," she said bleakly. "Having power over guys, messing with their minds. Getting them to do things they would never ordinarily do. To prove their love, you know. But the thing is, she's never satisfied until they're completely destroyed...." She shook her head. "You should have seen Randy at the end. He'd lost his mind. I don't think he'll ever get it back."
Dani wasn't smiling anymore. "Power like that... she sounds like Aphrodite," she said softly.
And that's right, Thea thought. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love who could turn passion into a weapon that brought the whole world to its knees.
"Remind me sometime to tell you what she's done to the other guys she's played. In a way. Randy was lucky...."
Thea took a breath. "So, anyway, we got shipped back here to Grandma Harman because there weren't any other relatives willing to take us. They figured if Gran couldn't straighten us up, nobody could."
"But that must be wonderful," Dani said. "I mean, living with the Crone. Part of the reason my mom moved us here was that she wanted to study with your grandmother."
Thea nodded. "Yeah, people come from all over to take her classes, or to buy her amulets and things. She's not always easy to live with, though," Thea added wryly. "She goes through a couple of apprentices a year."
"So is she going to straighten Blaise up?"
"I don't think anybody can. What Blaise does-it's just her nature, the way it's a cat's nature to play
with mice. And if we get in trouble again, Gran says she's going to send us to our aunt Ursula at the Connecticut enclave."
"The Convent?"
"Yeah."
"Then you'd better stay out of trouble."
"I know. Dani, what's this school like? I mean, is it the kind of place where Blaise can keep out of trouble?"
"Well..." Dani looked dismayed. "Well-I told you before, there's only two other witches in our class, and they're both Circle Midnight. Maybe you know them... Vivienne Morrigan and Selene Lucna?"
Thea's heart sank. Vivienne and Selene-she'd seen them going to summer Circles, wearing the darkest robes of any of the Circle Midnight girls. The two of them plus Blaise would make... well, a lethal combination.
"Maybe if you explain to them how important it is, they might help you keep Blaise under control," Dani said. "You want to go talk to them now? They'll be on the patio by the cafeteria-I usually eat with them there."
"Um..." Thea hesitated. Talking to those two- well, she doubted it would help. But on the other hand, she didn't have a better idea. "Why not?"
On the way to the cafeteria, she saw something that made her stop dead. Taped to the stucco wall was a giant piece of butcher paper, painted orange and black at the margins. In the center was a grotesque figure: an old woman with a black dress, disheveled white hair, and a wart-covered, haglike face. She was straddling a broom and wearing a pointy hat. Lettering under the picture said coming
OCTOBER 31 ... THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN PARTY.
Hands on hips, Thea said, "When will they learn that witches never wore pointy hats?"
Dani snorted, her heart-shaped face surprisingly dangerous. "You know, maybe your cousin has the right idea after all."
Thea looked at her, startled.
"Well, they are an inferior species. You have to admit that. And maybe it sounds prejudiced, but then they're so prejudiced themselves." She leaned closer to Thea. "You know, they even have prejudices against skin."
She held out her arm. Thea looked at the flawless skin, which was a deep, clear brown. "They'd think we were two different races," Dani said, pressing her arm against Thea's tan one. "And that maybe one was better than the other one."
Thea couldn't deny it. All she could say, feebly, was, "Well, two wrongs don't make a right...."