I still couldn't believe that Lennox could craft.

I grabbed his arm and took him over to a cafe. They all had names like At the Sign of This, or At the Sign of That; such a linguistic setup was commonplace in Prague. We were At the Sign of the Double-Edged Sword.

I kid. It was The Spygla.s.s Cafe. My pockets were empty. I had no cash. Lennox removed more silver coins, pressing them into the hands of the waiter and ordered two rauoskeggjaor, cinnamon-topped latte macchiatos, then he turned, and smoldered at me. "These are skillingr," he said, indicating the tiny silver coins. "I knew we would be in Prague. I saw it; as I'm sure did you."

He pa.s.sed me a tiny coin and I looked at it. It was stamped with the Golden Dome. So much had gone unsaid, I really didn't know where to begin. Not saying was worse than not knowing. Perhaps Lennox had his reasons for never informing me of things.

"The vendor. Was he a wizard?" I asked.

Lennox had given the newspaperman magic moneythe skillingr.

"Skillingr, to non-magicals, becomes regular money," said Lennox. "He saw what he wanted to see."

Maybe I saw what I wanted to toohad I ever thought of that? But it was weird to think the money could look like euro, if need be. I would need to get my hands on more skillingr, if I was going to go shopping, I told Lennoxbecause, let me tell you, I said to him, my eyes beheld.

Primarily I wanted a dictionary of spellsif such a volume existedand in all languages! Books were the order of the day. Where were the books?

"That'll have to wait," said Lennox. "Now tell me about Selwyn."

So he did know....

Our drinks had come. "Thank you, gildisbrodir; enjoy!"

Mine hissed with some unknown magic. Lennox thanked the waiter, who departed.

For all the neon lights and come-hitheryness of the Districts of Magic, cracks in the wonderland were beginning to appear. Don't look at the lights, I told myself. I didn't want to be dissuaded from what I had to do. I needed to stay focused. Lennox was right. Stillit couldn't hurt to at least peek, could it...? Where was the Master House?

"Wellwhen you were goneI met himand that's another thing, Lennoxmy parents left me a House" I said. "Selwyn told me"

He put down his drink. His hood was so low I saw only his eyes glowing out of the darkness. I couldn't be sure but it looked like something like victory pa.s.sed his eyes. He obviously knew the power a Wiccan House entailed.

"And when we get backI'm going to go looking for it!" I proclaimed.

House Rookmaaker. I smiled fiendishly.

My eyes probed for the Master Houseand then to Lennox's sleeve.

"Hopefully, we can take care of that as well," said Lennox.

He asked for all the rest of the pertinent information, which I gave to him: the marker; Selwyn; Veruschka Ravenseal ("So why she thinks she can win me," I said).

"The place we're going to is called Ma.s.simo's," said Lennox. "But first, I think we should do some shopping!"

It was the magic word. We spent two hours going through the stores. Lennox wasn't kidding, when he said Praguers stayed up late. It seemed to get noisier the later it got. As everyone came out, I saw nothing of vampire hunters or any of that kind of stuff. Rather, the magical inhabitants of the city were stocking up on things like amulets and lunoculars and horoscopes. Lennox bought me a silver necklace made of apat.i.teblue asparagus-stone.

The lady who sold it, kept going on and on about its metaphysical properties. "It aids in communication, sir, 'tis a most spiritual stone, and may be used as an elixir against weight gain, thus its position on the Mohs scale. 'Tis also known as the Stone of Acceptance. Will you receive it?

"And for you, Miss?" she asked me. "Ah, black onyx, combine it with silver as a mirror onto the soul!"

The silver chains were engraved with the word Italy, making me feel homesick?

Lennox and I left the apothecary's shop, him with onyx, and me the apat.i.te; onyx offered protection, and I liked that word (or should it be ward?).

I looked and looked for spell books, but there were none. It can't be just the codex, I thought, disappointed. Maybe crafting was an oral traditionspoken, not written down. The only problem was, I couldn't see myself speaking it with anyone, unless we were in a duel; by which point I wouldn't have very much to say to them anyway! Finally, I found the place.

It was in an out-of-the-way dungheap, which didn't speak well for the literacy of wizards. It was run by a pair of warlocks. They reminded me of the S Bros, actually, Sandor and Septimusfinicky and like they knew stuff. The shop was called Voettfangsand it was run by the Voettfang brothers, Samuel and Stig Voettfang.

Stepping over the threshold, a silver bell tinkled, and I felt a rush of immense pleasure. It was just as a shop should look with umpteen heavy cases full of bookssome so old and neglected they were filled with duststacked right up to the ceiling, and all over the place. Books were everywhere, and on all things. I wanted to live here. There was a spiral staircase which led to the next level. It was like navigating a forest. Stacks and stacks of books were in all directions. They were simply everywhere, stuffed in cases, or else stacked higgledy-piggledy wherever s.p.a.ce could be found; and where there was no s.p.a.ce one simply re-stacked the books to make s.p.a.ce available. I didn't know how I was ever going to find anything. It was a mess. Confused. Out of order.

"Not to worry," said Samuel Voettfang, the head of the shop; his brother, Stig, had his face in a book of numbers. "Now, how can I help you?" he said.

Erright. For such a small and claustrophobic place, they were way too bigfacial hair was everywhere. The Voettfangs were more like lumberjacks than librarians.

"I'm looking for a book of spells," I said.

"Ah, now. What degree are you? Nodon't tell me! Let me guess.... A Neophyte, correct?"

"Wellyes," I said.

"Uh-huh," said Samuel Voettfang. Lennox had wandered off someplaceI saw him flipping through books by the window display. An old-fashioned press, with movable type, sat in the window. I remembered his immense collection back home.

Voettfang nodded. "I know just the thing," he said. "Now where is it?" He began rummaging through his books. They toppled on top of him. "Neophyte... Neophyte... N forHere we are!"

Pleased that he had not just pulled out The Idiot's Handbook to Becoming Adept, I looked at the new volume. "Unadornedbut specifically for Neophytes," he said.

It looked rudimentary. The t.i.tle was NEOPHYTE: HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST YEAR OF MAGIC by Swillard Mannfall. I'd already done that, thank you very much.

"Have you got anything more advanced?" I asked, thinking of Vittoria and her training, and sure she was making headway.

Voettfang grabbed it back. "Not to worry," he said. "Advanced... advanced... Let me see. Ah! The Ill.u.s.trated Magical Arts, Volume I. A picture book. No? You're right, you want something advanced-advanced. Trying to be Adept, good on you!"

Perhaps he could see I wasn't kidding around.

"Don't worry. Not to worry. Now where is it?" he said.

He dug through his books some more. "Ah-hah!" he finally shouted. "No, that's not it!" He looked like his shop had never let him down beforebut it was giving him a serious run on the matter. "Ah!" He lifted out a huge leather-bound tome. It was falling apart, the pages spilling out of it. "Some light foxingboards knockedbut it will doit will do," he said.

He put it down on the counter where it thudded, causing the lightbulb next to me to explode. Or possibly that was me.

"The Everything Book," he said. "...If you want more, you'll just have to figure it out for yourself." It sounded perfect.

"Book of Shadows, obviously well-beyond fledgedmy only copy too Unannotated The language is kind of tricky Are you sure you don't want something easier?"

My only question was how I was going to carry it out of the shop? Voettfang looked good-naturedly at me and I shook my head. "This is the oneI want this one," I said.

Lennox settled up with him. I promised to pay him back, in full. It went into my backpack, which was suddenly full (full of secrets and things to learn). The Everything Bookeven in my head it sounded fantasticand sure to make me fledged.

"A word of advicejust because you can do something doesn't mean you should," said Voettfang.

As I left I heard his brother say "They always want to become Fledgedthinking it means something."

"Just because you're a numskull," said Samuel Voettfang to his brother.

"Where to now?" I asked Lennox. "Ma.s.simo's?"

My bag felt heavy. I wanted to be home right now, so I could peruse the The Everything Book thoroughly. Here were things that could not be found on the Internet. And I'd tried. Voettfang had handed it to me like it was dangerouslike he was glad to be rid of itand maybe he was. Stillit looked very old, and very used; like the secrets it contained were worth knowing.

Voettfangs went into the back of my head as a place to revisit on the off chance I ever found myself in Prague again.

"If anybody knows what's been going on, or where your friend is, it'll be Mas," said Lennox, slipping his onyx necklace out of his pocket and putting it on.

But, how come Lennox looked nervous, like we were in danger? Were we? This was Prague, I thought. Of course we were!

I hurried after him, down the cobblestone street, until finally, we turned a corner, and there, glowing in the distance, was the Master House!

It looked like Broadway, with the Master House stuck in the middle of Golden Lane. What I was not prepared for was just how many of them there were: hundreds upon thousands of witches and wizards jostling every which way. All of whom, it may be said, could not possibly be in magic houses. It was just impossible. Who were they with, anyway? Not Eclectics. For some reason I felt Eclectics were unwanted here.

The golden dome dominated the skylinewhich was lit up with pastel light. That was where the twins were at! And Selwyn...

I suddenly felt very small. What could I do? There were streets which led off in all directions, but they all came here, and at its center, The Master House.

Before I did anything else, I found a mailbox which was nearby and sent off the letter to Lia, explaining what had happened, and where Ballard was now. The Sons and Daughters of Romulus needed that information. Perhaps they could come and get him. I did drop one interesting tidbit, however. "Guess what?" I wrote. "I may finally be able to explain how you can craft and be a werewolf at the same timeor at least one at a time."

I was still unsure how wizard-shifters did both simultaneously. I guessed being a werewolf was a magic all its ownbut maybe with The Everything Book I could find that out.

I felt so lighthearted, it was a moment before I felt the omnipresence of something evil. "Is it always like this?" I asked, mugged by the atmosphere.

Lennox was incognito. I imagined a Vampire hunter swooping down on himwondering if that was not just the product of a gullible mind. Perhaps Camille had been kidding when she told me of the Vampire hunters.

"A curfew is in effectthey have to get indoors soon," said Lennox, indicating the shoppers. They looked like there was a tremendous weight upon their shoulders.

The Master House was to blame. I could feel it. Lennox pointed to something.

Flyers had been stapled around. "BEAST ON LOOSE. SKILLED CRAFTSMEN AND WOMEN REQUESTEDTO STOP THE KILLING." As if we'd do otherwise.

Faces of victims had been pasted one over another on a center pole in front of the Master House, which was big and imposing, built of marble, like a modern-day Pantheon. All except for the dome, which shone like gold. Looking up at it made the hair stand up on the backs of my arms. I don't know why.

n.o.body came or went from the Master House. For all its authority, it looked cold, austere, unoccupied, silent and empty. Later... I thought.

Right now Lennox and I were on our way to Ma.s.simo'sbut I spared a moment for the dead men and women and their children and dogsall killed in Letna Park. That was on the edge of Stromovka. Maybe that explained how the benandanti had not stopped whatever it was. They didn't know about it.

We turned down a lane. Someone came out at me; I reacted instinctively. "Spare some change...." His eyes on me, I formed the W. I could see the blueness. An aetherhead.

I handed him the skillingr Lennox had given to me before we continued on our way. "I wouldn't go down there, miss," said the aetherhead.

"Is magic that addictive?" I asked Lennox, trembling.

To the aetherhead, it must've been. Always I had felt like I had something inside mesome other meI attributed to the fact I had been leading a dual existence: on the one hand, a student at St. Martley's; on the other, everything that had happened since I started keeping The Wiccan Diaries. Would Prague furnish me an answer to this seeking feeling I'd always had in my guts but been unable to do anything about, or would it only add to the mystery and confusion?

What is power, if you don't know how to use it? I thought. Aetherheads were magic.u.n.til they were junkies. Could Wicca really be abused that badly? How would I know when I did?

Lennox said, "At first, the aether is neat and fun before it grabs hold of you. Afterwards, everything is harder, including the magic.... It's Fledged in a bottle, is what it isuntil it wears off..."

He stopped. "Remember, we mind our own business and they mind theirsit's when people forget that, we get in trouble. Sed esse in silentium. The silent existence. Come on," he said.

He opened a door I didn't even know was there, and raucous sounds came out. You to your corner, we to ours.

I wanted the no-talk rule abolished.

Lennox and I walked into Ma.s.simo's, but it wasn't called Ma.s.simo's. It was called Tungleskins; a reference, he a.s.sured me, to moonlight, and the fact nothing good ever happened past midnight, especially in Prague!

The talking died down at once and everyone eyeballed the newcomers.

Where was Ravenseal, in all of this? Or the Council of Magic? I wanted to see everything I'd turned down by not coming to House Ravenseal.

Lennox led the way past Wiccans and warlocks and whathaveyous. I think I saw one man with a face like a crocodile, but it couldn't have been! The bartender gave us a stern look. He hissed when we spoke. "Tsss-o... Tsss-o..." he said.

Lennox plunked down his skillingr. "Gimme two. Clean gla.s.ses, this time, Menelaus."

"Lennox! 'S that you? Only, I'm not allowed to serve you drinks. You know that. Ma.s.sIMO! Ma.s.sIMO!" he shouted.

"Quiet!" hissed Lennox.

"Mas told me not to let you in. 'I don't want that vampire barking around here, no more,' he said to me."

"Where is he? Get him, Menelaus. But first, our drinks, if you please."

"Right," said Menelaus, pouring two jiggerfuls of some murky liquid, which hissed and smoked, and smelled like menthol.

"We'll be over here. I'm sorry I yelled at you," said Lennox.

"Right you are, Lennox. Always happy to help one of the brotherhood!"

Lennox raised his gla.s.s to me, while Menelaus went to fetch his boss; "bottoms up," he said.

I tipped mine back and he followed suit. This chill went over mefollowed by a kind of euphoria which was intoxicating. "Whoa. What was that?"

Lennox poured himself another one. "That," he said, "is the aether; one shot won't hurt you, Halsey. Besides, we're going to need itand you'll be glad of the tastenow you know what it feels like."

My blood was boiling. Menelaus came rushing forwardhe was a giant, walrus of a man.

"I told you. I told you you were going to get me in trouble, Lennox."

"IS THAT THE VAMPIRE?" shouted a voice. I could hear Lennox clench his teeth. "You should be in Rome! Along with the rest of the relics! Ha! Ha! Ha! HAAAA!"