A Necklace of Water (13 page)

“Oh my God,” I whispered, awed. “That was amazing. That was its power, its magick?”

Carmela nodded seriously, then gestured down at the orchid.

I sucked in my breath, recoiling instinctively.

The orchid was … not dead. Still alive, it drooped in its pot, but I had the shocking feeling that it was obscene somehow, something grotesque and perverse. I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what I was seeing.

It was … an orchid, in a pot. It drooped visibly, and its colors were definitely duller, faded. But besides that, there was something about it that filled me with revulsion, that felt awful and horrifying, like I’d stumbled on a rotting corpse in a wood.

“What’s … wrong with it?” I managed to get out.

“We stripped it of its magick. Like you want to do to your witch.”

“It’s not dead?”

“No. It won’t live long, but it’s not dead.”

“Why does it feel so awful?” I could barely speak; my eyes were riveted to the plant.

“Because it has no magick.”

I met her dark eyes, confused.

“Magick is what makes life worth living,” she said matter-of-factly. “This has no magick.”

I stared again at the plant, how it seemed so repugnant to me, worse than dead.

“And this will happen to Daedalus? The witch?”

Carmela’s eyes flashed. She seemed to look right through my pupils to my soul itself. “Yes.”

I swallowed, feeling like I might be sick. “Good,” I whispered.

“W
hat?” Nan looked shocked, and two spots of heat appeared on her cheeks.

I scraped my plate into the garbage and picked up Thais’s. Neither of us had eaten much dinner, but I didn’t think I would be sick. The herbs and spell that Daedalus had given me earlier had helped a lot, and I was acting pretty normal. As opposed to Thais, who had slept all afternoon after some strenuous shoe shopping.

“Here.” Thais put our three glasses on the counter, then took a dishcloth to wipe down the table. She’d been acting weird since yesterday—cold, not looking at me or talking to me. I hadn’t had a chance to ask her what was up.

“I said,
what
?” Nan was looking at me in horror.

I’d known this conversation was going to be really hard, but it had been on my mind, and I wanted to get it over with. Since Nan had just told me to call Melysa to set up a time to study for my ROA, this seemed like a good moment.

“I don’t want to do my rite of ascension,” I repeated. “At least, not right now.”

“Clio—you’re going to be eighteen next month.” Nan left the trash where it was and folded her arms, looking at me.

“I know. But with everything that’s been going on—the Treize, the rite, everything—it’s impossible for me to focus on it,” I explained. “Maybe next year, when things have settled down.”

“No, not next year!” Nan exclaimed. “
This
year, next month, like we planned.”

“Plus I think it would be great if Thais and I did it together.”

Thais snorted over by the table.

“Thais won’t be ready for her ROA for maybe five or six years,” Nan said. “And you know it.”

“Well—” There was something else that I wasn’t telling her. Usually, in our religion, a witch made her rite of ascension as both a test
and a tool to help her solidify her strengths and knowledge. I didn’t need to do that. Right now I couldn’t see how it would help me feel more centered in my power. I was studying with Daedalus, learning a lot, and I already knew I was more powerful than any other witch in Nan’s
cercle
, besides her. The witches of the Treize were all so much more powerful than ordinary witches, and it looked like that power had been handed down to me and Thais.

I just couldn’t see the point.

“Clio, you’ve been working toward this for a long time,” said Nan, leaning over and tying the top of the trash bag.

“I know. I don’t want to disappoint anyone,” I said. I scrubbed a plate with soapy water and rinsed it. “But I’ve got too much going on. You have to admit, the last month has been a roller coaster. There’s no way I can focus on the ROA.”

“The party has been planned.”

I looked at her. “No, it hasn’t,” I said, smiling. “You know you haven’t gotten that far with it.”

Nan pressed her lips together, clearly thinking,
Smartass
.

“Look, I’ll do it later,” I said, thinking that I wasn’t really lying. “But goddess, Nan—I’ve had so many huge things explode in my life lately. I can’t take one more pressure.”

“No, I can’t allow you to throw this away so easily,” Nan said crossly. “You’ve been studying for a long time, and I won’t have you waste it.”

“Knowledge is never wasted,” I said, keeping a lid on my temper. “
You
said that.”

“Look, you’re going to make your rite of ascension next month, and that’s final.”

I didn’t say anything but dried my hands on a dish towel. There wasn’t any point to arguing more. Later I would probably have to dig my heels in again, but for now I was going to drop it. I looked up to see Thais watching us, and I was sure she was happy to be out of it.

“What are you doing tonight?” I asked her. “How’s the Kevster?”

After a quick, startled glance at the change in topic, she looked away from me, her face guarded. “Fine.”

I wasn’t positive she needed to break up with him myself. Maybe this was why she was acting weird. No—it seemed to be about me in particular.

“I’m going to meet Racey downtown,” I said. “Want to come with?”

For a moment she paused, as if considering, then gave me a cool look and shook her head. “I’ve got a killer headache,” she said. “Maybe it’s allergies. I’m going to stay in and go to bed early.”

“Okaaay.” We couldn’t have it out in front of Nan, but if she wanted to be that way, fine. I draped the dish towel over the sink to dry, and when I glanced up, Nan was giving me an eagle-eyed look.

“What?” I said.

“This discussion is not over,” she said.

I sighed. “Please just think about where I’m coming from. But right now I’m going to meet Racey.” I prayed that she wouldn’t suddenly put her foot down and say I couldn’t go. I wasn’t up for a big battle.

I saw the thought processes going on in her head. Finally she nodded shortly. “We’ll talk about this later. Don’t be out too late.”

I nodded. “Okay. Hope you feel better, Thais.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Then I grabbed my purse and car keys, and I was gone.

In the car, I pulled out my phone and dialed Racey’s number. At the last second, I didn’t hit send. I steered with one hand, holding my phone in the other, and thought about where my head was. What did I feel like doing? Who did I feel like being with?

No one. Someone new and fabulous.

With irritation I remembered how Richard had grabbed me the other day, when Nan had been working on Luc. No one had ever pissed me off as regularly as Richard did. If only I could wipe that smirk off his face once and for all.

And Luc. Goddess, what had happened to him? I really did think it was a shame, but it also seemed to be a living example of the threefold law. He’d put some bad energy out into the world, some real pain, and what do you know, he’d gotten the same back.

I was amazed at how resigned he was too, how incredibly horrible he looked, after looking like a god on earth for so long. He seemed to accept it as his fate—he wasn’t raging against it or saying it was unfair. To me that meant he understood that what he’d done had been wrong and bad and that he should pay for it.

My thoughts exactly.

But I did feel sorry for him. Nan had said that he felt like a leper, walking around town. That people actually gasped and turned away. That had to suck. If that had happened to me, I’d be hiding under my bedcovers for the rest of my life or until it got fixed somehow. At least Nan had mentioned that his face was improving a bit.

Looking up, I saw I was already at Jackson Avenue, halfway downtown. Maybe … maybe I would go see Luc. See how he was. He didn’t deserve my help, and I wouldn’t offer it. Still, if everyone was freaking out when they saw him, it would be nice for him to see someone who could deal with his face the way it was.

Richard answered the door, unfortunately. He was in his standard uniform of unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt, ratty jeans, and bare feet. His sun-streaked hair looked like he’d just gotten out of bed. I’d been taking extra care with my appearance to cheer myself up, and I looked hot in a gauzy peasant shirt you could see my bra through and a pair of tight capris that stopped just below my knees.

It was nighttime, but the Quarter was well lit, and I was standing practically under a streetlamp. I frowned up at him, and something hit me—he looked different, but how? I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I was hoping you were out,” I said bluntly.

“You’re out of luck,” he said. “What’s up? Selling something door-to-door?” He looked me up and down with a mocking gaze, making it clear what he thought I should be selling. Bastard.

“Here to see Luc,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Should I frisk you for weapons?”

I tried not to shiver at the thought of his hands patting me down. Instead I smiled sarcastically and didn’t answer. He stepped back from the door and made a sweeping motion with one hand, waving me inside.

I walked through the doorway, careful not to touch him, but as I passed, I smelled his detergent, the scent of cigarette smoke, and … some kind of spice? Unmistakably Richard. I knew it very well.

He inhaled as I passed, and from the corner of my eye I saw the smooth tan skin over his collarbones, saw the beginnings of his tribal tattoos. Keeping my eyes straight forward, I went down the hall to Luc’s room, which I’d never been in. Ironically enough.

Their apartment was a typical half of a double: the front door opened into a long hall that had a row of rooms on the right-hand side. First was a living room, which I’d never paid attention to. I didn’t even know if it had furniture. Then Richard’s room, with its single mattress on the floor. Then Luc’s room. At the end of the hall was the bathroom, and the last room was on the left in a stuck-on addition, making a T: the kitchen. The ceilings were at least twelve feet high, the floor moldings maybe fourteen inches. Two small brass chandeliers, one at each end of the hallway, cast inadequate light. It would be beautiful if someone with money bought it and redid it.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Richard said behind me, and I heard the door to his room shut. I knew it had to be burning him that I was here to see Luc and not him.

Tough.

I knocked on Luc’s door. He must know I was here, from my voice if not my vibes.

“Let me in,” I said. It was then that I realized he wasn’t alone—I felt a female presence. My jaw dropped, and without thinking I turned the doorknob and pushed.

Luc sat on the side of an antique sleigh bed. His arms were around a girl who was covering her face, clearly sobbing. I stood there, dumbstruck, thinking,
My God, even with that face he’s getting girls
. Then she looked up, and I was struck again: it was
Sophie
, and she looked like hell. I knew that she and Manon had broken up, that Manon had moved to Axelle’s—but here she was on Luc’s
bed
, with his arms around her. Was he taking advantage of her wrecked emotional state to get somewhere with her?

I gave him an icy glare.

“Clio!” he said, clearly surprised.

“Never mind,” I said, stepping back and pulling the door shut hard. My face burned and I was furious at him all over again.

“Clio, wait!” he called through the door.

Sophie sobbed again, and Luc said something to her. But I was already striding down the hallway, incensed, reaching for my phone to call Racey to meet me at Amadeo’s.

Predictably, Richard’s door opened, spilling a rectangle of warm light into the hallway, and I whirled on him.

“Get a good laugh out of that?” I hissed. “You knew he wasn’t alone!”

He pretended not to know what I meant, looking confused. “No, Sophie’s in there.”

“No fricking duh!” I said. “Thanks, jerk!” I spun away and headed for the front door. Richard caught up to me, and since he never had a problem putting his hands all over me, he grabbed my arm. I stopped with a jolt.

“What did I do?” he demanded. “I didn’t make her go in there. And it’s just Sophie.”

“ ‘Just Sophie,’ “ I mimicked. “And they’re on his bed, and his arms are around her!”

Richard looked at me oddly. “Well, we
are
in the South.”

I stared at him, having no idea what he was talking about. Was he saying that being in the South makes people act crazy from the heat? Makes them hornier? I shook my head and tried to yank free, but instead he dragged me into the living room.

It was dark and unfurnished, because Luc and Richard were perhaps the two least-domestic guys I’d ever met. The long French windows overlooking the street were shuttered, but their transoms let in the streetlamp’s light, so I could see Richard’s face.

He pushed the door shut with one foot, keeping hold of me.

“Let go of me!” I hissed.

“Why are you so mad at
me
?” he said, his eyes watching my mouth.