"Well..." Blaise smiled. "Let's just say I think I'll have transportation to the dance. Of course, I'm still not sure who I'm taking...."
Thea got up. Dani had sat silently through lunch, and now she was watching Blaise, her velvety dark eyes half horrified and half admiring.
"I'm getting out of here," Thea said significantly, and was relieved when Dani stopped staring at Blaise and stood up.
"Oh, by the way," Blaise said, picking up her backpack, "I forgot to give you this." She handed Thea a small vial, the size that perfume samples came in.
"What's it for?"
"For the dance. You know, to put the boys' blood in."
Chapter 5
What?" Thea said. This was something she could speak out about. "Blaise, are you out of your mind?"
"I hope you're not saying you don't want to do spells," Blaise said dangerously. "That's part of it, you know."
"I'm saying there's no way we can get enough blood to fill this without them noticing. What are we going to tell them? 'I just want a little to remember you by?'"
"Use your ingenuity," Vivienne said musically, twining a red-gold strand of hair around her fingers.
"In a pinch we could always use the Cup of Lethe," Blaise added calmly. "Then no matter what we do, they won't remember."
Thea nearly fell over. What Blaise was suggesting was like using a nuclear bomb to swat a fly. "You are crazy," she said quietly. "You know that maidens
aren't allowed to use that kind of spell, and we probably won't even be able to use it when we're mothers, and probably not even when we're crones. That's stuff for the elders." She stared at Blaise until the gray eyes dropped.
"I don't believe in classifying some spells as forbidden," Blaise said loftily, but she didn't look back at Thea and she didn't pursue the subject.
As she and Dani left the patio, Thea noticed that Dani had taken one of the small vials.
"Are you going to the dance?"
"I guess so." Dani shrugged lithe shoulders. "John Finkelstein from our world lit class asked me a couple weeks ago. I've never been to one of their dances before-but maybe this is the time to start."
Now what did that mean? Thea felt uneasy. "And you're planning to put a spell on him?"
"You mean this?" She twisted the vial in her fingers. "I don't know. I figured I'd take it just in case...." She looked up at Thea defensively. "You took one for Eric."
Thea hesitated. She hadn't talked to Dani about Eric yet. Part of her wanted to and part of her was scared. What did Dani really think of Outsiders, anyway?
"After all," Dani said, her sweet face tranquil, "they're only humans."
Saturday night Thea took a dress out of the closet. It was pale green-so pale that it almost looked white-and designed along Grecian lines. Witch clothes had to feel good as well as look good, and this dress was soft and lightweight, swirling beautifully when she turned.
Blaise wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing a tuxedo. It had a red silk bow tie and cummerbund and it looked fantastic on her.
This is probably going to be the only dance in history where the most popular girl has on cufflinks, Thea thought.
Eric arrived right on time. He knocked at the front door of the shop, the door that only Outsiders used. Night People came around back, to a door that was unmarked except for what looked like a bit of graffiti-a spray-painted black dahlia.
Okay, Thea thought. She took a deep breath before she unlocked the door and let him in.
This is business, business, business....
But the first moment wasn't as awkward as she'd feared. He smiled and held out a corsage of white orchids. She smiled and took it. Then she said, "You look nice."
His suit was pale fatigue brown, loose and comfortable looking. "Me? You look nice. I mean-you look wonderful. That color makes your hair look just like gold." Then he glanced down at himself apologetically. "I don't go to many dances, I'm afraid."
"Don't you?" She'd heard girls talking about him at school. It seemed as if everyone liked him, wanted to get close to him.
"No, I'm usually pretty busy. You know, working, playing sports." He added more softly, "And I have a hard time thinking of things to say around girls."
Funny, you never seem to have a problem around me, Thea thought. She saw him looking the shop over.
"It's my grandmother's store. She sells all kinds of things here, from all around the world." She watched him closely. This was an important test. If he-a human-believed in this stuff, he was either a New Age geek or dangerously close to the truth.
"It's cool," he said, and she was happy to see that he was lying. "I mean," he said, obviously struggling to find a polite way to praise the voodoo dolls and wand crystals, "I think people can really affect their bodies by changing their state of mind."
You don't know how right you are, Thea thought.
There was a clack of high heels on wood, and Blaise came down the stairs. Her shoes appeared first, then her fitted trouser legs, then all the curves, emphasized here and there with brilliant red silk. Finally came her shoulders and head, her midnight hair half up and half down, framing her face in stormy dark curls.
Thea glanced sideways at Eric.
He was smiling at Blaise, but not in the goofy, dying-sheep way other guys smiled. His was just a genuine grin.
"Hi, Blaise," he said. "Going to the dance? We can take you if you need a lift."
Blaise stopped dead. Then she gave him a blistering glare. "Thank you, I have my own date. I'm just going to pick him up now."