A Feather of Stone #3

by Cate Tiernan

  “I have to go.” I got to my feet awkwardly. My wrists burned.

  “Clio—believe that I’m so sorry about how I tried to hurt you and Thais. I can’t really explain it, except I just went crazy. But you have to know that I would never hurt you now. I wouldn’t let anyone else hurt you if I knew about it. When Petra told me about your car catching on fire, I was—”

  I picked up my purse and my messenger bag and brushed dust off my clothes. Not looking at him, I headed to the front door, knowing I must look like I’d been dragged through a hedge backward. Whatever.

  His warm hand touched my upper arm, holding it lightly, keeping me there. “Clio.”

  “Don’t touch me.”

  He let go at once, and I walked to the door. It was going to be a long, wet walk to Canal Street.

  As I reached the front door, I realized that someone was talking loudly outside, and then the door flew open and Luc was there, right in my face.

  “Where is he?” Luc said, his eyes cold and hard.

  “Luc, come on,” said Thais, and I saw her right behind him.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as Luc pushed past me.

  “You bastard!” Luc shouted, lunging for Richard, who already looked beaten down and weary. Luc slammed his hands against Richard’s shoulders, shoving him into the wall—I heard Richard’s head crack against it, saw him wince.

  But not fight back.

  “What were you thinking?” Luc yelled. “What were you doing? Have you finally gone totally insane? Clio and Thais!” He pushed Richard hard again, and Richard staggered but stayed on his feet.

  “Get in line, Thais,” Richard said over Luc’s shoulder. “First Petra, then Clio, then Luc, then you. And I guess Ouida and Sophie and whoever else gives a crap will show up soon.”

  “How could you do it?” Luc shouted again. “How could you try to kill them? Are you a murderer? How could you possibly stand to hurt them?”

  Richard frowned, straightening up. “I don’t know,” he said. “You tell me.”

  Luc’s face flushed, his hands curled into fists.

  “I mean, how could I possibly do something stupid and boneheaded that would hurt the twins when I don’t even know them?” Richard’s voice was mocking and sardonic.

  “Shut up! I didn’t try to kill them.”

  “No. But I wonder who hurt them more?”

  They stood there glaring at each other, both tense, ready to spring.

  I looked at Thais, the only person I was happy to see in this whole mess. I would worry about what she was doing with Luc later. Right now, she was my sister and the only person in the room I didn’t want to shred.

  “I’m sick of both of them,” I told her. “Let’s split.”

  “Oh God, yes,” Thais said, holding the door open.

  Then we were out in the rain, walking toward Canal Street. The rain actually felt good, and I knew I couldn’t possibly look worse.

  “So,” said Thais after a couple of blocks. “You gave Richard a hard time?”

  “Yeah. It was pretty ugly.” I shifted my bag to my other shoulder. “What were you doing with Luc?”

  “I went to Axelle’s to wring some answers out of her.” Thais sounded as fed up and tired as I felt. “Luc was there, and he followed me out of Axelle’s when I left, and then we almost got plantered to death.”

  “What?”

  She told me about how a huge, heavy planter had narrowly missed her. A long scratch on her arm looked red and painful.

  “Was this another attack, or was it a coincidence?” I asked, knowing that there weren’t any coincidences.

  “I don’t know,” Thais said. “It looked all rusty, like it might have happened anytime. Anyway, I was freaked, and I said something like, I guess it wasn’t Richard this time. And then Luc ran with it from there.”

  “Well, maybe they’ll kill each other,” I said hopefully.

  Thais looked at me, and a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. Suddenly it felt okay to smile myself, and we grinned at each other. Sisters.

  Tonight

  Petra finally saw Clio and Thais on a streetcar, with rain running down the window next to them. They looked alive, if not well, and Petra couldn’t see or feel any sense of dark intent around them.

  The crystal icicle she was scrying in was still spinning in the window when she realized that someone was knocking on the front door.

  Daedalus.

  Wonderful. This would be the crowning touch to an already tense, frustrating day.

  Petra opened the door, and as soon as she saw his exultant face, she realized that the time she’d been dreading was at hand.

  “We have everything,” he announced, stepping across her threshold as if walking onto a stage. “The final form of the rite is complete. We have a full Treize. And I have found the Circle of Ashes.”

  With long practice Petra kept the dismay off her face. He’d found the Circle of Ashes? They should have cloaked it better.

  “The time is now,” Daedalus said grandly.

  “Now? You mean, before Monvoile?”

  “I mean now, tonight,” Daedalus said.

  “ Tonight!”

  “Yes. Everything is aligned, as if it were all decreed by the heavens.” Daedalus smoothed his hair back with one hand.

  What a load of . . . hot air, Petra thought.

  “Please get Clio and Thais and meet us at the circle at midnight tonight.” Daedalus handed her a printout of a map and directions. He didn’t know that she, Ouida, and Sophie had found the circle weeks ago. “The rite will begin at precisely twelve twenty-seven, when the moon is at its utmost fullness.”

  “I don’t think we’re ready to do the rite,” Petra tried.

  “You will be.” Daedalus looked down at her, and then his face softened. Unexpectedly, he took one of her hands in both of his. “Petra. We’ve had more than two hundred years to think about this, to dream about it. To prepare for it. On that terrible night so long ago, Melita gave us all a gift and a curse. This is our chance to heal past injuries, to enhance our gifts, correct our curse, and achieve that which is dearest to our hearts. You’re ready for it. You’ve been ready for it for a long, long time.”

  She looked directly at him. “I don’t trust you.”

  He laughed, putting his head back. Petra remembered that he had been handsome as a young man. But he hadn’t aged well. Instead of achieving distinction, he had acquired only superciliousness.

  “The beauty is, you won’t need to, my dear,” he said. “Each of us brings to the rite our own strengths, our own powers. None of us is a Melita. Each of us may have different goals. We might not agree with or support each other’s goals—they’re inherently personal, relating only to ourselves. Take care of yourself, and everything will be well.”

  He let go of her hand and walked to the front door. “At midnight, then.” His eyes were sparkling, his face animated and alive. Still smiling, he let himself out, not seeming to mind that Petra hadn’t promised to come.

  She hadn’t expected things to happen this quickly. There were arrangements she still had to make. But at least the important plans were already in place, the key individuals ready to fulfill their roles. It was a shame, the price it would cost, but at least it was a cost another was already looking to pay.

  The rain had stopped. Petra was in the newly replanted front garden when she felt the girls walking home from the streetcar stop. They had deliberately disobeyed her, completely flouted her authority, and, what’s more, hadn’t been stopped by the knowledge that she would be out of her mind with worry.

  They paused at the front gate, seeing her kneeling on the damp brick walk next to the small bed of herbs.

  “Nan,” Clio said.

  Petra looked up. They both looked like drowned rats, almost as bad as when she’d pulled them out of the waterspout—oh goddess, had that been only yesterday? But looking more closely at Clio, Petra saw that she had been crying and looked shaken and upset. She�
�d gone to see Richard, Petra assumed immediately. But surely he hadn’t put those bruises on her wrists? Not unless he’d lost his mind for good this time.

  “Um, hi, Petra,” said Thais.

  “You’re both really wet. Go inside and change your clothes. I’ll put the kettle on to make tea. Then we need to talk.”

  Thais

  Half an hour later the three of us sat around the kitchen table, mugs of hot tea in front of us. “If you believe that Richard didn’t blow up Clio’s car, then who’s doing it?” I asked. “I mean, maybe the planter wasn’t an attack, but maybe it was. It has to be one of the Treize.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right,” Petra said, frowning. “I truly don’t know who, though. However, I think it will all probably come to a head tonight.” Her clear blue-gray eyes met mine and then Clio’s across the table. “Daedalus stopped by. He wants to do the rite tonight, at midnight.”

  My heart seemed to seize in my chest. We’d been dancing around this idea for weeks now, almost pretending it wasn’t real, wasn’t coming. Now Petra was saying that it was coming right at us, right now.

  “Tonight?” Clio said, looking alarmed. “But I’m not ready. I mean, we’re not ready, none of us. Right?”

  Petra sighed. “I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve put certain plans in place for the rite. I know you two will be safe. I don’t know what else will happen.”

  “That’s just it!” I exclaimed. “No one does. Everyone seems to think something different will happen. But I’ve got no idea what it will do to me. Plus, the last time we did a circle with Daedalus, he used our power without permission.”

  “I’ve thought about that,” Petra said. “But Ouida, Sophie, and some others are all in agreement. I’m sure that neither of you will be harmed tonight. Nor can Daedalus take anyone’s power unless they give it to him.”

  I took a sip of tea, my mind whirling. “This is all happening much too fast.” I thought about Clio and how she was studying Hermann Parfitte’s book.

  “Couldn’t we wait a couple of weeks?” Clio asked, as if she had read my mind.

  Petra looked at her. “Why? I don’t think it will make any difference to you two.”

  Clio and I met eyes, and I knew she wanted more time to work on her spells. But she wouldn’t tell Petra that.

  “Tonight is when a lot of different elements come together,” Petra explained. “The phase of the moon, the position of the stars, the time of the year—apparently it’s all just right, perfect for the rite to happen tonight.”

  “But what’s going to happen?” I asked pointedly. “What will happen to us?”

  “I think you’ll get a huge surge of power,” Petra said. “After the rite, I believe your magick will be much stronger, though neither of you has gone through your rite of ascension.”

  “What else?” After Récolte, I’d felt terrible.

  “I don’t think you’re going to become immortal,” said Petra. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

  “Among other things.” I couldn’t believe this conversation was part of my life. “I thought I would have a lot more time to think about this. Why don’t you think we’ll become immortal?”

  “No one will be spelling you to be.” Petra looked into her tea mug, as if the answers lay there. “I’ll be spelling you to be protected, to be safe. But no one will be trying to make you immortal.”

  Clio looked disappointed, but then her face became determined, which gave me a bad feeling.

  “Can we refuse to go?”

  Petra looked thoughtful. “We could, of course, but actually, honey, I don’t think it would make much difference. There are reasons to do the rite—to become more powerful, more in tune with magick. To help our friends if we can. To learn. Because I’m sure you won’t be harmed, it seems pointless to refuse to go.”

  I didn’t know what to think. I’d been hoping that if enough time went by, I could ride out Clio’s plan to become immortal. Maybe with time I’d feel more prepared, more braced. Now it was happening much too fast. I was somewhat reassured by Petra’s promise of safety and the knowledge that no one could spell us to be immortal. But I was worried about what Clio was thinking, what she might be planning to do.

  Q-Tip jumped up on the kitchen table, rubbing against Petra’s arm.

  “Hi, baby,” Clio said gently, reaching out to pet him. He shied away from her, hurrying across the table and jumping off next to me. Clio gazed after him, looking upset.

  I got up and put my mug in the sink. “I’m going to take a hot bath.”

  “Good idea,” said Petra. “Put some rose petals and lavender in the water and relax.”

  That didn’t seem too likely.

  Upstairs I got my robe and was heading into the bathroom when Clio appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “Can you come into my room for a sec?” she whispered.

  In her room I sat down on her bed, the only clear surface. She shut the door and sat next to me.

  “I don’t want to do the freaking rite,” I said.

  Clio nodded. “I need more time to get ready. But still—if we have to do it tonight, I feel like it will be okay. I do know how to protect from Daedalus taking our power. And Nan’s covering the other bases.”

  I shook my head, not convinced.

  “I do,” she insisted. “I won’t be trying to get anyone else’s power. All I’d be doing is protecting us.”

  I put my head in my hands. “You can’t make us immortal?”

  “I don’t think so,” she said regretfully. “Maybe in another month . . .”

  “I’m just . . . afraid.”

  “So am I,” Clio surprised me by saying. “I’ve never been part of anything like this. I mean, you know—things like this just don’t happen. Not anymore. Not that anyone would hear about, anyway.” She leaned back against the wall, her legs straight out. “This is some freaky stuff, Thais. But . . . I believe Nan. I believe that she’ll make sure we’re safe. She may have lied about a lot, but she’s always protected me. I know since you’ve discovered magick, you’ve seen it get all wonky pretty easily. But remember, this is different—these are people who’ve spent all this time working on their powers. And I can protect us too, guard against our power being used. I mean, isn’t it kind of exciting in a way? Tonight is the culmination of hundreds of years of history.”

  “Tonight is why they killed my dad. Our dad.”

  Clio’s face went white. “What?”

  “I talked to Axelle. I’m pretty sure Daedalus killed him to get me here,” I explained. “So how can I do this? Just on principle, I hate everything about it, don’t want any part of it. It would be like justifying what they did.” My poor dad. From the time he’d met our mom, he’d stumbled from one lie to another. That she was a witch. That he’d had two children, not just one. That we could live a normal life if we weren’t in Louisiana. And then he’d been killed. What a bad deal he’d gotten, just because he’d fallen in love with our mom. And no one ever talked about her. I had no idea what she’d been like.

  “Yeah, I get what you mean,” Clio said. “But . . . see, if we do this, but play by our rules—it’ll show them that they can’t control us like they think they can. We’re strong, Thais. We’re weirdly strong together. The two of us can show them that they can’t mess with us, that we’re calling the shots for ourselves, now and for the rest of our lives.”

  I gazed up at the ceiling, seeing the fine cracks in the old-fashioned plaster.

  Clio was silent for a minute, regarding her sparkly purple toes. “It might not even work,” she said finally. “Who knows if they’ve really re-created the rite the way they need to? But as long as we’re there for each other, with Petra watching out for us, you and I will be okay. And if we don’t go . . . we’ll never know who’s trying to kill us. They’ll just keep trying, and what if it works next time?”

  I shivered, already knowing there was no point saying anything else.

  We were goin
g to this rite.

  Please Forgive Me

  Sophie gripped the steering wheel tighter, hoping Manon would assume she was tense because of the rite. Which she was, of course. She and Manon had talked everything out exhaustively, over and over. She felt like she’d been crying for years. But now she knew without a doubt what Manon planned to do.

  Next to her, one small hand reassuringly on Sophie’s leg, Manon was oddly calm.

  Sophie swallowed and peered into the darkness, looking for a road sign. She only hoped that someday Manon would be able to forgive her for what she was about to do.

  A Burst of Divine Power

  “Are you all right?” Ouida’s concerned voice was soothing in the car’s darkness.

  “Yes, quite. Thank you.” Marcel felt more all right than he would have thought possible, thanks to Petra. Now he was quietly exultant, filled with hope and anticipation. At last, at last, his hope and dream, his longing would come true. It would serve Daedalus right.

  Had He Learned Nothing?

  Petra glanced at the twins in the backseat. Thais looked sad and afraid. Clio looked both calm and expectant . . . which was worrisome. What was on her mind? Please, goddess, don’t let her be planning anything stupid, Petra prayed silently. Well, Petra would just have to be alert, ready to circumvent it.

  Petra was sure Thais was regretting every aspect of her new life, new religion, new relatives. But after tonight, things would settle down some, at least for a while.

  It wasn’t hard to find the site. Daedalus had written very clear directions, and besides, Petra had been here recently. She turned in to an unmarked, unpaved road; its crushed white shells practically glowed in the bright moonlight. She glanced up at the sky through the windshield. It was perfectly clear, the stars popping brightly.

  That would change soon.