A Circle of Ashes Read online

  “I’ll look for you at school tomorrow,” said Kevin, and the look he gave me was more than a superficial, just-met-you glance.

  “Um, okay,” I said, and got out.

  I waved goodbye and walked up the street, through the traffic barriers and in and out of the crowds of mourners. I had no idea who had died, but it was someone who rated a full-blown jazz-band parade, complete with umbrella walkers. I felt like an extra in a movie.

  It was dark—after the movie we’d gone to Camellia Grill, which I loved. I’d had pecan waffles. Now it was almost eight o’clock, and I reviewed whether or not I had homework due tomorrow. The idea that I still had to think about homework, after everything I’d been through in the past few days, seemed crazy. But education waits for no one.

  Kevin LaTour. He’d been really nice. Plus he was on the honor roll and was funny too. He seemed so much younger than Luc. Well, yeah, I guess he was—but even if Luc were only nineteen or so, the way he looked, Kevin still seemed much younger, still a kid.

  But a nice kid.

  And Sylvie was great, and she was so cute with her boyfriend. I was so glad that I knew them—a tiny island of normal sanity in my stormy life.

  Even after I was out of the funeral, the streets were busy and well lit. In less than five minutes I was letting myself through the side gate at Axelle’s. I hoped Luc wouldn’t be there again. I didn’t know how many more horrible, heartbreaking, dramatic scenes I could stand. None, actually.

  Right before I put my key into the door lock, I heard raised voices from inside. I stood very still and listened, listened with all of me, not just my ears. I closed my eyes and pretended the words inside were little arrows, slipping right through the door….

  “How dare you!” That was Daedalus.

  “You should have checked with her.” Axelle. “You know she’s happy here. I can’t believe you would go behind my back like this!”

  “It’s unsupportable!” Daedalus sounded pompous, as usual. “It’s a betrayal!”

  “Oh, Daedalus, put a sock in it,” said another voice. Petra! It was Petra!

  I unlocked the door and rushed in. “Petra! You’re back!”

  Then she was hugging me, and I was hugging her back, my eyes closed, thinking of how incredibly glad I was, considering that really, I didn’t know her all that well. But I belonged to her because my sister did.

  Finally we separated, and she held me at arm’s length and looked at me closely, examining my black eye.

  “When did you get back?” I asked. “Does Clio know?”

  “Yes, she does,” said Petra, smiling. “I got back late this morning and saw Clio this afternoon. And now I’m seeing you.”

  “What happened to your eye?” Axelle said, coming closer.

  “I… walked into a door,” I said. I’d tell Petra the truth later.

  Axelle’s eyes narrowed, as if she knew I was lying. I didn’t care.

  “Oh, I’m glad you’re back,” I told Petra, and she smiled again.

  “If I’d known I was going to get these enthusiastic welcomes, I would have gone away sooner,” she said. “But I’m very glad to be back and to see you. And I have some news for you.”

  “Petra,” Daedalus said warningly, but she ignored him.

  “Are you hungry, Thais?” Axelle broke in. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “What?” She’d never worried about that before.

  “Listen,” said Petra, putting her hands on my shoulders. “I’ve got some news. I was in Connecticut. I had your father’s will changed so that I would have custody of you.”

  It took a moment for it to sink in. “Me? You have custody of me? How can you change a will?” Her blue-gray eyes looked into mine. “Oh. Magick.” What a creepy thought.

  “I’d like you to come home with me tonight,” said Petra.

  This was incredible—everything I’d hoped for.

  “Thais—surely you don’t want to leave,” said Axelle.

  I stared at her. Was she kidding? “I want to go live with Petra and Clio. Clio’s my sister. And at least I’m related to Petra.”

  “Don’t you want to stay? It hasn’t been so bad, has it?” Axelle said coaxingly.

  She actually wanted me to stay. I didn’t think it was because she’d become fond of me. She had another reason, one I didn’t know. And Daedalus was standing there looking furious. Clearly he wanted me here.

  Well, that settled it. “Give me ten minutes to pack,” I told Petra.

  “Thais!” said Axelle.

  “Look, you’re right, it hasn’t been that bad,” I said to Axelle. Despite everything, I didn’t want to be mean to her. “But—you know, it just feels more homey at Petra’s. I want to be with my family.” Plus I didn’t want to be in the Quarter anymore, with Luc living maybe six blocks away. I dreaded running into him and would never go into my special secret garden again. “I’m sorry, Axelle. But I just want a regular kind of home,” And to live with someone I don’t think could maybe be trying to kill me, I added inwardly. Somehow I didn’t really feel like it could be Axelle, but then again, I didn’t know her very well. I didn’t know any of them, really, but at least Clio and Petra were related to me!

  Axelle glanced around at the chrome and black leather, the full ashtrays, the empty wine bottles on the counters. She looked as if she wanted to protest that this was a regular home but knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on. “I wish you would stay, Thais.” She gave me a smile, and Axelle is not a smiley kind of person. Even her cat would have known it was fake.

  “I’m sorry,” I said again, and went to my room.

  It really did take only ten minutes to throw my stuff together. I had some cardboard boxes from my old house that I hadn’t even unpacked, and my clothes fit into several suitcases. To my surprise, Richard came in while I was packing.

  He leaned against the door frame, and his wide leather bracelet clicked against the wood. “Need some help?”

  “Um—could you carry some of this out to Petra’s car?”

  “Yep.” He picked up two heavy boxes as if they weighed nothing and left.

  Twenty minutes later the car was loaded and Petra was driving us uptown to my new home.

  “I’m so glad you’re back,” I said again. “So much has happened. Did Clio tell you everything?”

  “I think so,” said Petra, smiling at me. “But you tell me again. She said something strange happens when you make magick.”

  “You could say that,” I said, gingerly touching my eye. I told her everything I could remember about the spells we had done and what had happened. She asked questions, and I answered them as best I could. “Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

  Petra let out a sigh. “No, I actually don’t. Perhaps it’s the twin-power thing, though I hadn’t expected your strength to be so reactive yet. But I’ll look into it, sweetie. Now that I’m back, I’m going to try to get things more under control.”

  It was a comforting thought, and I felt even more comforted when we pulled up in front of their—my—house. I was going to live here. I felt like I was finally coming home.

  “Am I going to be in Clio’s room?” I asked as we started carrying my stuff up to the porch. “Or… on the couch?”

  “No.” Petra put down her load and went back to the car. I followed her. “Clio and I cleared out my room this afternoon. I’ve moved into the alcove room, under the stairs, and you’ll have my room. You can repaint it if you want.”

  “What?” I was dumbstruck. “You gave up your room?” I was so touched by that and by her going to Connecticut to get custody of me. Tears welled up in my eyes and I sniffled.

  Clio, I thought. Then the front door opened and Clio came out. I looked up at her, hoping she was okay with my moving in.

  She smiled at me, not hugely effusive, but sincerely. “What a trip, huh?” she said, picking up one of my suitcases. “Oof. Glad to see you brought all your own personal bricks.”

  I laughed and P
etra smiled, and it was right then that I felt like I really had a family.

  That night I lay in my new bed, staring up at my new ceiling. My room at Axelle’s had been long and narrow and kind of dark, with only one small window that was shaded by plants outside. This room wasn’t big, smaller than my old room had been in Connecticut, but it was full of light in the daytime, with windows on two walls. It was painted light turquoise, which I thought I would keep, at least for a while. There was a painted border all around the room, about a foot from the ten-foot ceiling. It was painted in gold and was made up of a set of symbols, painted over and over again. Petra had explained that they were symbols of health and happiness, of peace and tranquility and magickal power. She’d told me their names, but I only remembered a few.

  Now, as I lay with the moonlight shining bright through the Indian-print curtains, I closed my eyes and tried to feel whether there was any magick around me. The last couple of times we had tried doing spells, it had been awful and scary. But I was magickal, from a family of witches. Magick ran in my blood. I had just started to tap into it—I couldn’t avoid it or pretend it wasn’t there. It was like one of those party-favor flowers that blooms underwater, slowly unfolding and sending out colorful streams. It felt… different. I felt different. I felt like my life until now had been fine, even good, but that I’d been living under a layer of Saran Wrap, kind of. Now the wrap was slowly peeling off, showing me brighter colors, stronger flavors, fresher breezes. It was scary and weird, but also kind of exciting.

  And here’s the really strange thing, which I only realized just then: despite my mixed feelings about magick, despite being kind of afraid of it, I felt centered in myself. Before, it had been my dad who made me feel centered. The last couple of weeks, it had been knowing I had a real sister and Petra, who cared for me. But now I realized that somehow I felt connected and grounded all by myself, and I thought it was probably because of the magick. Like there was a magickal thread that kept me rooted to the earth, tapped into its ancient, unending life and power. I felt strong in myself in a way I hadn’t before. Even though part of me wanted to keep away from magick, keep safe, a much larger part of me was being drawn to it, to its beauty and strength and goodness. I wanted to know more.

  So Thais moved into Nan’s room, and Nan moved into the tiny alcove room downstairs, where you could hardly stand up straight. I felt much less freaked and worried now that Nan was back, but in a way, having her right there was a constant reminder that she had betrayed me by not telling me the truth my whole life. It was hard. I loved her and depended on her, yet I was also kind of seething with resentment and anger.

  I still thought of her as Nan, my grandmother, even though now I knew she wasn’t. But I’d called her Nan for seventeen years, and it would be too weird to call her anything else. Still, something inside me felt like I couldn’t trust her completely, the way I always had.

  But with everything else going on, I knew I needed her more than ever now, even if I couldn’t look at her the same way.

  I also needed to get my mind off all this intense crap.

  “Hey, I realized something,” I said to Thais Friday morning. “My wardrobe just doubled. We’re the exact same size. Now I’ve got twice as many clothes.” Always looking on the bright side, that’s me. Actually, not really, but this was an upside.

  Or not.

  “Who’s been buying your clothes?” I said, examining her closet critically.

  “Me,” she said, sounding defensive.

  “Uh-huh.” I stepped back and closed her closet door. “We must get you clothes that I’ll actually want to borrow.”

  Thais gave me a sour look. Of course, she went to school wearing a layered tank top from the Clio Collection, so clearly she knew what I was talking about.

  At school I waited while Thais gave her new address to the office.

  She turned back with a smile. “It’s official.”

  We pushed our fists together, then split up to go to our different homerooms. Her last name began with an A, mine with an M. I wondered if one of us should change.

  So yeah, we were twins, and now we even lived together, but at lunch we still sat with our separate gangs. Racey, Della, Eugenie, Kris, and I sat outside on the sidewalk under the overhang, out of the sun. Thais sat with Sylvie and her boyfriend and a couple of other people over on the grass in the school’s side yard. I noticed the same guy from Botanika sit next to Thais. Kevin something?

  “Yo,” said Trey, coming up to us. He dropped to one knee next to Racey.

  Racey popped a few chips in her mouth. “Yo back.”

  “So. Collier Collier,” said Della meaningfully. She tugged her miniskirt down an inch and leaned back against the building.

  “Got any money?” Trey asked Racey.

  “For lunch?” she asked him, and he shrugged.

  “Go on,” I said to Della. “Spill.”

  Racey rummaged in her purse. “All I have is a ten.”

  Trey plucked it from her fingers. “Ten-Q. Later.”

  Racey sighed and watched her little brother disappear. “That kid hits me up for more money….”

  “Race, Della’s telling us what happened with Collier Collier,” I said pointedly.

  “Ooh,” said Racey, sitting up. “Do tell. How’s cradle robbing going?”

  Della made a face at her, and Racey held up her hands. “What? He’s younger than Trey!”

  “That’s ‘cause Trey is only eleven months younger than you!” Della said. “You’re like Irish twins!”

  Racey rolled her eyes. “Go on. I’m all ears.”

  “He’s really sweet,” Della said, kind of lamely since she had all of our attention.

  “Sweet?” I said.

  “Yeah. He’s just… really sweet. He doesn’t take anything for granted,” said Della. “Anything I do, he’s all ‘thank you’ and everything.”

  “I bet.” Kris smirked.

  “No, I mean little things, like if I drive or ask him if he wants something to drink. He just doesn’t take me for granted. It’s really… different. Nice.”

  We all looked at her in silence.

  Della sighed. “And okay, he’s really hot too.”

  “Now we’re talking,” Eugenie said.”Are you teaching him everything?”

  “He knows everything,” Della said wryly. “If this is instinct, I’m all for it. That boy was made to please. He’s… fabulous. Like he’s made for me.”

  I knew how that felt. Don’t think about it.

  “Huh,” Racey said, looking at Della speculatively. “Sounds serious.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t know.” Della picked up her soft drink can and drank from it. She seemed embarrassed, as if she hadn’t mean to say so much.

  I exchanged a look with Racey. Della was usually the love-’em-and-leave-’em girl, like me. Or at least, how I used to be. I’d never heard her say anyone was sweet before or talk about someone’s actual personality. I looked around the school grounds and saw Collier Collier sitting with a bunch of sophomore guys. His eyes were on Della, and the puppy-love look on his face made my eyebrows raise.

  How nice that some people had guys who were interested in them and only them.

  “So, you know, if you want to borrow this car sometime, it’s cool,” I told Thais as I pulled up in front of our house.

  “Oh, okay. Thanks,” she said. “I don’t even have a Louisiana driver’s license. Guess I should get one.”

  I got out of the Camry and headed through the front gate. “Yeah. Then you won’t have to use turn signals anymore.”

  Thais laughed, following me up the steps, and for just a second I flashed on how different our lives would have been if we’d grown up together. We would have come home from school together just like this every day. And we would have hung out and fought over stuff and known each other really well. And either she wouldn’t have known our dad or I wouldn’t have had Nan.

  I was putting my key in the lock when Thais said, �
�I wish you could have known Dad.”

  Just like that, out of the blue. One of those twin things, I guessed. I bit my lip. “Me too,” I said softly.

  Inside, Nan was waiting for us with Melysa, one of my teachers, in the kitchen. I hadn’t seen Melysa since she’d saved our lives last week, and now I saw that she was checking us out for aftereffects.

  “Ready to do some metal work?” Melysa asked me.

  “Yeah—just let me grab something to eat,” I said. “And that reminds me—I guess Thais won’t be doing her rite of ascension, will she?”

  Nan shook her head. “Not this year.”

  “Well, maybe by the time she’s thirty,” I said brightly, and Thais groaned.

  Nan and Melysa laughed.

  “What exactly is the rite of ascension, anyway?” Thais asked. “I’ve heard you mention it.”

  “It’s a rite where a witch is tested on how much he or she knows on any number of given subjects,” Nan explained. “About spellcraft skills, historical knowledge, decision-making abilities, and even just raw magickal ability.”

  “It’s an incredibly important rite,” Melysa clarified. “Passing it, undergoing the process, greatly enhances your own personal power. Quite a few people don’t pass it on the first try.”

  “So it’s like the SATs,” Thais said glumly, “but for witches. The WSATs.”

  “Yes, something like that,” Melysa said, smiling. “I’m sure your time will come. But Clio’s time is coming in only two months, so we better get to work.”

  “I’d like to learn more,” said Thais hesitantly. “But it’s been so weird lately…”

  “Actually, Thais, if it’s okay, I’d like you to hold off working any spells for just a little while,” said Nan. “You and I can start to go over some basic knowledge, though, about plants and properties of other elements. But I think you two shouldn’t work any magick together until we figure out what’s going on. Okay?”

  “Okay,” said Thais, and I thought she maybe even looked a little relieved.

  I shrugged. “Okay.”

  That afternoon Melysa and I worked until it got dark—there were a couple of spells that are particularly effective right at dusk. She put me through my paces and I did really well, except for one little glitch where I accidentally wrote the wrong rune and had to start over.