Hallowed Circle

"You are a pack. More than that, you are the Lustrata's pack. And she will have need of you."

"You mean we're her pets?" Erik asked, his tone clearly offended.

"Not pets," Nana said, "but you must honor her summoning."

Erik came forward. "No." He stopped, facing Joh

Joh

Erik asked, "You're going to let this ruin the deal for the rest of us, aren't you?"

Joh

"Celia," Erik said, and left.

Head down, she followed him out.

"Nana, let me out." I was going after them.

She didn't budge from the end of the bench.

"Give him time," Theo said. "He'll cool down. They'll be back."

Chapter 29

Joh

Nana got up and motioned me to get off the bench.

"What?" I asked. She hadn't moved an inch when I wanted out, but now she wasn't giving me an option.

"Go talk to him," she whispered.

After a glance at Theo, I scooted from the bench. Behind me, Theo asked, "So, Demeter, can you tell me about the spell that did this to us?"

Joh

I picked up the receiver from my desk phone and dialed his number. Suddenly the sound of Motley Crue's "Looks That Kill" filled the living room. He turned and looked askance at me. I shrugged. "I wanted to know what my ringtone was."

He turned away. I hung up the phone and walked into the living room.

"So you got a contract. That's fantastic." I wished it had come out more enthusiastically. Something of greater value.

"Haven't signed it yet."

"Why not?" I asked, surprised. "It's what you want, isn't it?"

"I want a lot of things."

The muscles in my neck and shoulders felt so taut they might snap. I moved past him and sat on the couch, off to the far end. "I have something to say. And I don't want you to interrupt me." He nodded. "I couldn't figure out if I had done what we did because I wanted to or if the stain was in charge. I had to sort some things out and, until I knew for certain, I couldn't falsely let you think all was perfect. I see now that my reaction may have made you think I was regretful, childish, and scared. I don't know if I was more afraid that it was the stain or more afraid it would be just me because then, if it was me, then what I felt would be… real.

"I came to the show to tell you that I'd figured it out." I paused. "I hadn't heard the band before. You guys sound great. Celia had said you were a great singer but I didn't know how…" I struggled for the right word.

"Look Red, Celia told me she saw you at the show. And that you hightailed it out of there after we left the stage."

Realizing my lowered eyes was a defeatist position, my chin raised to face him squarely. I'd done nothing to be ashamed of. I wouldn't be the embarrassed one here. I put on a mirthless smile. "My exit was so fast I left my leather blazer in the coat check."

"I know what you saw," he said, hands sliding into his pockets. "And I want to explain."

"You don't have to. You don't owe me anything." My voice was flat, firm, and void of emotion.

Those Wedjat-tattooed eyes fixed on me. "Yes, I do."

I waited, unaffected. Blank.

He knew I had mastered the skill he'd taught me; the sorrow he couldn't hide made it clear. "They are Samantha and Cameron Harding, Sammi and Cammi."

"As in Harding Bank?" I'd seen their commercials.

"Yeah. They're the forty-something twins whose rich daddy died and left them his banks, so they kind of don't live in the same world we do, if you know what I mean. They've been waere for six years and even bankrolled an underground vault with ke

I waited, hands in my lap.

"I thought it was cool they'd got all Gothed up and come to the gig. I pulled them up onstage so they could go back to the Green Room with us. That kiss was totally unexpected. After seeing you, Celia came back in and ripped them both a new one." He chuckled. "You should've seen it."

Seeing Celia get mad was an uncommon thing, but I knew from our college days she was formidable.

"Turns out they'd been seeing some guy for years, a happy threesome, ke

He turned his head and looked out the window for a moment.

"Without the boyfriend, they couldn't exactly ke

I looked him up and down, taking in his posture, his expression, but I kept my thoughts to myself. He had more yet to explain.

"So, they ke

I said, "So what advice did Celia give you about explaining all this to me?"

He came closer and lowered himself to sit on the floor with his back to the couch. Though he was facing away from me, I could hear him clearly as he said, "Grovel at your feet." He laid his head on my knee.

"Joh

"Damn what?"

"You know what I said. You've researched the Lustrata; you know what the Domn Lup is and you know you are he."

"Wolf King."

"So get up."

He made a swift little bounce of a move and was on the couch next to me. The furniture frame creaked a complaint. "Red, this is miscommunication, pure and simple. I want it to be right again."

I stood up and paced away, arms wrapped around myself. "You moved out fast enough to make it seem like you were eager to get out." I turned back.

"Let me see," he said, crossing his arms and placing one finger thoughtfully at the corner of his mouth. "Live at my own place or be obligated into tooling around town in a rusty Le Sabre all winter? Tough decision."

He was trying to be fu

"I didn't take everything. After what you'd seen, I figured you might throw my guitar outside or something. If it didn't break, the neck would warp." He got up and came to me. He put his hands on my arms. "I only took the stuff I didn't want to risk losing. The guitar was pretty much it. And some clothes."