Chapter Ten

Sunday morning, I stumbled into the kitchen, still yawning, in search of my tonic. Instead, I found Edna, Evelyn, and Granny with plates of cake and cups of tea.

“Did your reunion with Vaughn go well?” Evelyn asked.

“Of course it did.” Edna nudged her. “Don’t you remember when we were seventeen?”

I gaped at them, floundering for an answer. I couldn’t reveal Vaughn’s secret without his permission. Finally, I settled for, “I was surprised to see him.”

Granny held up a plate with a piece of cake on it. “Want a slice?” she offered. “It’s lemon and lavender pound cake.”

“Isn’t it a little early for dessert?” I asked. I rummaged in the fridge until I found my Thermos. I opened the lid and sniffed it.

“This is our afternoon snack, Tansy,” Evelyn said.

I frowned. I’d had a late night, but it was getting harder for me to wake up before noon even on the best of days. I had to set three alarms to make it to school on time.

“No, thanks,” I said. “I’m not hungry.” I gulped down the nasty beverage that kept me semi-human.

“I got you something.” Granny dug into her book bag and then handed me a new charm. It was a tiny silver moon.

“It’s so cute,” I said. “What’s this one do?”

“That one is special,” Granny said grimly. “Something tells me you might need this. It’s protection against certain creatures of the hidden world. Wear it next to your cornetto.”

“Thanks, Granny,” I said. I kissed her cheek. “I need to take a shower.” I still smelled like sweat and fear from the night before.

“We’ve got to go,” Evelyn said. “Edna wants to paint the bedroom, so we’re off to look at color samples.”

“Rose should be here any minute,” Granny said.

“Rose is coming over?” I asked. “By herself?”

Granny nodded. “I told her she could use a corner of the backyard to plant an herb garden.”

“What kind of herbs?” I asked. Rose’s specialty was poison, so I was curious what kind of plants would end up in my backyard.

After I got out of the shower and changed into my favorite Saturday outfit, a worn tee and shorts, I wandered into the backyard. I stayed under the pergola and watched Granny and Rose bond over gardening.

Rose was on her hands and knees, digging in the dirt, while Granny handed her the seedlings. They were both wearing gardening gloves and hats.

“What kind of herbs do you plant in the fall?” I asked curiously.

“Peppermint, rosemary, thyme,” Rose replied. “And a few others.”

“What kind of others?”

Before Rose could answer, Granny held up a plant and cooed in delight. “This is a rare one, and it’s so pretty,” she said. “What’s it used for?”

Rose glanced up. “I believe that an extract from that plant’s blooms will render someone unable to move or speak within seconds.”

“Oh, that kind of others.” The deadly kind. Rose was so sweet that I sometimes forgot that poison was her choice of weapon.

Granny handed it to her quickly. Granny used plants to heal, and Rose used them to kill, but that didn’t seem to bother either of them.

Granny glanced over and saw me. “Why don’t we take a short break? There’s something I want to show Tansy.”

Witchcraft was about learning the secrets of the universe, the things only the hidden world could reveal to those in the craft. So whenever Granny wanted to show me something, I listened.

She handed me a small golden cylinder. “You can hang it on your necklace,” she said. “But open it.”

Inside was a piece of chalk, except instead of the typical white, this had a muddy color to it.

My brow furrowed. Why was Granny giving me chalk?

“It’s mixed with Mariotti native soil,” Granny said. “I’m going to teach you something new. We’ve been neglecting your education.”

While Vaughn had been learning to hunt vampires, I’d been in California, learning to be queen. I was looking forward to learning a new witchy skill, which I hoped would be something slightly more useful than the ability to cast a spell to find a parking spot.

Rose brushed off her hands and came over to observe.

I picked up a piece of chalk and waited for further instructions.

“Draw a flower,” Granny said.

“What kind?” I asked.

“Whatever you want,” she replied.

I found some blank sheets of paper and then sat at the kitchen counter and sketched a daisy, which was the simplest flower I could think of. When I finished, I looked at Granny. “Now what?”

“Now you use your powers,” she said. “Tell it to bloom. Magic has its own language. You need to find yours. Try it in Italian.”

At my blank look, she prompted me, “Fiorine.”

I wasn’t fluent in Italian, but I copied her accent the best that I could. “Fiorine.”

Nothing happened. “Bloom, dammit!”

The dull chalk began to glow, to change color, from muddy-white to pale yellow to brilliant lemon, the stems bright emerald. I blinked, and then the two-dimensional drawing was a living plant reaching toward the sky.

Apparently, my magic involved the use of sentence enhancers, as my granny called swear words. Words to be used sparingly, if at all.

Rose let out a gasp. “I’ve never seen that before.”

I stared at the flower. Swear words and a bad Italian accent were the key to success, at least in my case.

“Very good,” Granny said. She held out her hand, and I put the chalk in it. She put the chalk back in the box and gave it to me. “It’s yours.”

I glanced back at the flower, but it was already withering.

“Was that supposed to happen?”

“Things die, Tansy,” Granny replied.

“What kind of magic is that?” I asked. “And how am I supposed to use it?”

She studied my face for a long moment. “My grandmother used her chalk in emergencies, but once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

“What would happen if I drew a dragon?” I asked.

“I believe a dragon would appear,” she said. “But you don’t have that much chalk.”

“That’s all it would take?”

“There’s always a cost to magic,” Granny reminded me. “You can also use your chalk for protection.”

“Does my mother have one of these?” I asked, holding up the box.

“Your mother is beyond this kind of magic,” she replied.

“Because she’s evil?” I asked.

“Because she’s drained a human of blood, felt their heart stop, and reveled in it. She can’t come back from that.”

“But I’ve been thinking about something. What if Jure was her maker? Now that he’s dead, wouldn’t she become human again?”

“Possibly,” Granny Mariotti said and shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not like vampires share information with witches.”

My grandmother didn’t like talking about my mother, so I changed the subject. “Rose, did I tell you someone sent me a ruby the other day?”

I didn’t think it was a big deal to tell her, since she and Thorn were helping me get the realm in order.

I glanced over at Rose, who was staring at me. She looked like she was going to be sick.

“Are you okay, Rose?” I asked.

“Just a little too much sun,” she said.

“Sit in the shade and have something cold to drink,” I said, but she shook her head.

“I have to go.” She rushed out, abandoning the plants in their trays.

I gave Granny a perplexed look. “Was it something I said?”

“That was odd,” Granny replied.

I stared after Rose for a minute. Neither twin was great at talking about emotions, so I decided to let it go for now and returned to grilling my granny.

“Did your friend from Italy ever find that book you were looking for? The one that mentioned a cure?” There hadn’t been many striga vies in history, mostly because vampires were smart enough not to bite witches.

“It was a dead end,” she said, but she avoided my eyes, which meant she’d probably discovered bad news instead of the solution I’d been hoping for.

Where did that leave me? I was part vampire, part witch, all alone with no one to talk to.

I would find the information. I had to, before I turned into a monster myself.