room. I don’t need much space anyway. It will be fine.”
Right now, the tiny little room under the stairs was our junk room.
“Well, if you think so. I’ll help you clear it out,” I said.
“Thank you.”
And then here’s the Clio part: it occurred to me that with Thais living here, I’d be much more involved with her life, know what she was doing. Like if she was seeing Luc, for example. I felt ashamed as soon as I thought that, but I knew it was true.
“Oh my God—there’s stuff I haven’t even told you,” I said, my heart beating faster. “Someone’s trying to kill me and Thais, and there’s something wrong with Thais’s magick.”
Nan’s eyes opened wide, and I went on to tell her all about our attacks, and the wasps, and how Melysa, one of my teachers, had saved us. I ran down our current theories and who we’d eliminated. Nan looked increasingly concerned as I went on, and her lips pressed together the way they did when she was mad at me.
Finally she nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “Okay. I’m back, and I’ll get to the bottom of that. Now, what do you mean, there’s something wrong with Thais’s magick?”
So I told her about the spells we’d tried, and how they’d gone wonky, and then we’d done the joining spell, which had blown us across the room. Nan had nodded approvingly at the mention of the spell, but when I mentioned the hand-grenade effect, she looked astonished.
“What?” she said, as if she hadn’t heard right.
“We got blown right out of the circle, across the workroom,” I said again. I told her how I’d set the spell up, putting in every detail I could think of. “I felt like a rag doll. Then, just this morning, I thought we could try to do a
réléver la griffe
to see if we could find out who was trying to hurt us.”
Nan nodded; it was perfectly reasonable.
“We did it at Racey’s because I felt weird here. And I set it up carefully, four stones of protection, blah blah blah, and I was doing my song, and Racey joined in like a million times before, and then Thais joined in, singing, and she sounded good, you know? Like she knew what she was doing. Or at least, like what was coming out of her mouth was real.”
I realized I hadn’t asked Thais how she’d known what to sing. I’d ask her later.
“Then what happened?”
“We got blown across the room. All of us. We felt like crap, and Thais hit her face on the cabinet. She has a black eye.”
Nan looked at me like I’d announced I was joining the Peace Corps.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “Racey got thrown too?”
I nodded. “And Azura felt it, a big boom of magick, inside their house, and she came running. She said not to mess with it again unless you were with us.”
Nan shook her head. “You physically got moved, through a closed circle.”
“We got thrown across the room,” I repeated.
“Thais has a black eye? Where is she now?”
I shrugged. “She ran into some friends from school and was going to hang with them. Azura patched her up pretty good. It should be mostly gone by tomorrow. I mean, do you have any idea what could cause something like that?”
Nan didn’t answer.
The Marked Girl Brings You Death
T he snake—a nonpoisonous boa constrictor—coiled around the fortune-teller’s neck. Claire watched it, amused. It might actually spook someone who didn’t know squat about snakes.
The tiny Thai woman, her face the color and texture of a dried tobacco leaf, peered down at Claire’s palm very solemnly. Claire shot a glance at her friend, who’d convinced her to come see Madame Chu, one of the most respected fortune-tellers in Phuket. Her friend gave her a “be patient” glance and bent her head to light a cigarette.
This market was like any number of markets Claire had seen, in any number of countries. Uneven rows of canvas stalls, beat-up coolers holding fish, squid, shrimp. People hawking gold jewelry next to a stand selling fried batter. Roasted
Right now, the tiny little room under the stairs was our junk room.
“Well, if you think so. I’ll help you clear it out,” I said.
“Thank you.”
And then here’s the Clio part: it occurred to me that with Thais living here, I’d be much more involved with her life, know what she was doing. Like if she was seeing Luc, for example. I felt ashamed as soon as I thought that, but I knew it was true.
“Oh my God—there’s stuff I haven’t even told you,” I said, my heart beating faster. “Someone’s trying to kill me and Thais, and there’s something wrong with Thais’s magick.”
Nan’s eyes opened wide, and I went on to tell her all about our attacks, and the wasps, and how Melysa, one of my teachers, had saved us. I ran down our current theories and who we’d eliminated. Nan looked increasingly concerned as I went on, and her lips pressed together the way they did when she was mad at me.
Finally she nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “Okay. I’m back, and I’ll get to the bottom of that. Now, what do you mean, there’s something wrong with Thais’s magick?”
So I told her about the spells we’d tried, and how they’d gone wonky, and then we’d done the joining spell, which had blown us across the room. Nan had nodded approvingly at the mention of the spell, but when I mentioned the hand-grenade effect, she looked astonished.
“What?” she said, as if she hadn’t heard right.
“We got blown right out of the circle, across the workroom,” I said again. I told her how I’d set the spell up, putting in every detail I could think of. “I felt like a rag doll. Then, just this morning, I thought we could try to do a
réléver la griffe
to see if we could find out who was trying to hurt us.”
Nan nodded; it was perfectly reasonable.
“We did it at Racey’s because I felt weird here. And I set it up carefully, four stones of protection, blah blah blah, and I was doing my song, and Racey joined in like a million times before, and then Thais joined in, singing, and she sounded good, you know? Like she knew what she was doing. Or at least, like what was coming out of her mouth was real.”
I realized I hadn’t asked Thais how she’d known what to sing. I’d ask her later.
“Then what happened?”
“We got blown across the room. All of us. We felt like crap, and Thais hit her face on the cabinet. She has a black eye.”
Nan looked at me like I’d announced I was joining the Peace Corps.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “Racey got thrown too?”
I nodded. “And Azura felt it, a big boom of magick, inside their house, and she came running. She said not to mess with it again unless you were with us.”
Nan shook her head. “You physically got moved, through a closed circle.”
“We got thrown across the room,” I repeated.
“Thais has a black eye? Where is she now?”
I shrugged. “She ran into some friends from school and was going to hang with them. Azura patched her up pretty good. It should be mostly gone by tomorrow. I mean, do you have any idea what could cause something like that?”
Nan didn’t answer.
The Marked Girl Brings You Death
T he snake—a nonpoisonous boa constrictor—coiled around the fortune-teller’s neck. Claire watched it, amused. It might actually spook someone who didn’t know squat about snakes.
The tiny Thai woman, her face the color and texture of a dried tobacco leaf, peered down at Claire’s palm very solemnly. Claire shot a glance at her friend, who’d convinced her to come see Madame Chu, one of the most respected fortune-tellers in Phuket. Her friend gave her a “be patient” glance and bent her head to light a cigarette.
This market was like any number of markets Claire had seen, in any number of countries. Uneven rows of canvas stalls, beat-up coolers holding fish, squid, shrimp. People hawking gold jewelry next to a stand selling fried batter. Roasted
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