by Lynne Ewing
"What happened?" Catty lunged across the bed.
"I broke my collarbone." Tianna scowled and pinched her face with discomfort.
At the same time, a glass of water slid off the nightstand and spilled onto the rug.
"The guys threw her up at an odd angle in a tumbling exercise and weren't able to catch her." Derek picked up the glass, put it back in place, then unrolled some paper towels and started sopping up the puddle.
"The fall wrecked my power," Tianna complained. "After the pain medication wore off, things started flying."
"You should have seen the hospital room." Derek tossed the wet towels in the trash.
"Do you want something to eat?" Tianna offered. "We could order pizza."
"No," Catty answered. "I came over to ask a favor, but it'll have to wait now."
"Sorry." Tianna shrugged, then flinched. "Ouch. I keep forgetting. I'll call you as soon as I'm back to normal."
Catty nodded, trying to conceal her disappointment, but she was anxious to get home. She hurried outside and started jogging. Catty had been staring up at the Hollywood sign in the hills when an odd feeling came over her. She gazed at the quiet, residential street where she lived. Tree limbs made a canopy overhead.
When she didn't see anything odd, she started walking beside a fence heavy with honey suckle. A sudden wind gusted around her, blowing the blossoms free. She breathed the sweet fragrance, then stopped abruptly, a chill racing up her spine. The day was still. The hulking branches overhead didn't move. The leaves drooped, motionless. Her body tensed. What had caused the sudden swirl of air?
She searched for the jangle of tiny sparks that betrayed the presence of a Regulator. Not seeing any arcs of static electricity, she studied the afternoon shadows that clung to the sides of the houses and the trees.
Was it only her imagination, or had her amulet sparkled? She lifted it and looked down at the moon etched in the silver. It wasn't glowing now.
She stared back at the street resisting the urge to run, and started walking again. Her fingers nervously played over the strap of her backpack. She forced her steps to stay slow and easy.
A few minutes later, she walked across her porch, the wind chimes silent overhead. She turned back and looked at her neighborhood. Regulators had taken up residence close to her biological mother, hoping she would lead them to Catty. Could they be living near Catty now, waiting for the Scroll to come to her again?
Farther down the street, the Stevens children played on the front lawn, their laughter trilling in the air. Jacob Passerin worked on his car, cursing, as usual. Mrs. Miller raked her lawn. Could one of them be a Regulator in disguise?
Catty unlocked her front door and hurried inside. She slid the dead bolt into place. The fragrance of clove and sandalwood incense still hung in the air. She let out a sigh, wishing her mom had been there. Kendra was away at a Reiki retreat.
In the kitchen, Catty ate Oreos and drank milk, then went upstairs and took a shower. She didn't do the homework she had put off all week. She was too tired now. She plopped onto her bed and switched on the small nightstand water fountain, hoping the sounds of flowing water would help her relax. She snuggled under a fluffy, down comforter and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Hours later, Catty awakened with a start. The fountain had been knocked over; water was dripping onto the nightstand and carpet. At first, she thought she had hit it in her sleep, but then she had the odd feeling that someone was watching her.
"Mom?" she whispered, thinking Kendra might have come home early .
When no one answered, Catty's fingers frantically searched for the flashlight she kept beside her bed for earthquake emergencies. She found it, then clicked it on and waved the beam of light around the room.
A sense of impending danger rushed over her. The room grew colder, but she saw no reason for the icy chill. Her windows were locked; the heater was on.
It wasn't the first time she had been startled awake in her bedroom. She wondered if her father came to her sometimes at night and whispered into her ear the plans he had for Catty in the future. She shuddered, thinking about him. Members of the Inner Circle were the essence of evil. Her biological mother had told her that even Regulators were afraid of her father. What would happen if Catty ever met him? Her mother had said she would meet him only when it was essential—but essential for whom?
CHAPTER SEVEN
MO N D A Y M O R N I N G,Catty waited to go through the metal detectors in front of La Brea High. She clutched a newspaper in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and balanced her purse and books in the crook of her arm.
Behind her, kids danced and shouted out a new rap song. Normally she would have stopped to listen, but today she had other things on her mind.
She sipped her white-chocolate cappuccino, letting the paper cup linger on her lips, and breathed in the aroma, hoping the steam would ease the headache she had gotten after making a small jaunt back in time.
She scanned the campus, searching for Serena and Vanessa, her impatience rising. She needed to tell them about the Scroll. Maybe they could come up with a plan. If not, then perhaps it was time to tell the world the truth. Her stomach tensed.
Hi, Catty. The words tickled across her mind.
Serena stood on the front steps, waving, her cello case beside her. She wore high platform boots and a gypsy skirt.
I need to talk to you, Catty answered back, but Serena's telepathic attention had already wandered away, probably searching for Stanton.
Serena's gift had become incredibly strong since spending so much time with Stanton, but her devotion to him was dangerous, and it upset Catty. Serena was the key, the one with the power to alter the balance between light and dark, so how could she trust Stanton?
"Step on up, Catty." Mr. Bellows, one of the security guards, interrupted her thoughts. He smiled and motioned her to his table, his gold capped teeth catching the morning sun. He took her purse and looked inside, then rubbed his thick fingers over the material, checking for anything hidden in the lining. Last week, kids had smuggled beer onto the campus.
Catty walked through the metal detector and started across the quad. Already, heat was rising from the blacktop.
"What's up?" Serena asked, her musky perfume scenting the air. Thin gold chains of varying lengths hung from under her hair, dangling to her shoulders, each ending in a charm of moon and stars.
Catty handed Serena the newspaper clenched in her fist, but instead of reading it, Serena plunged into Catty's mind, gliding through her recent memories. Catty tried to hold back the ones of Kyle, but Serena's power was too strong.
"The Scroll?" Serena's eyes widened in disbelief "Stanton didn't know it was back."
Catty tried to look unconcerned, but inside, she was a whirling mix of emotions. Stanton had to have known about the Scroll. It was just one more reason Serena shouldn't see him. Catty was confident he was only using her.
"You think Stanton is playing me?" Serena looked up, her smoky eyes puzzled. "Hasn't he done enough to earn your trust yet?"
"How could Stanton not know about the Scroll?" Catty asked accusingly.
"You didn't know about it," Serena argued. "So why is he suspect?"
Catty sighed. She didn't need to fight with Serena, not now. She had more pressing problems. "It's just that he did try to take the Scroll from me, once."
Before Serena could answer, Vanessa greeted them, her smile as big as sunshine. "Hey."
"Vanessa doesn't know, either." Serena shot Catty an angry look and handed Vanessa the newspaper.
"Know what?" Vanessa began reading. Her long, surfer-blond hair was crimped today, and she wore the new, hip-hugging jeans, with the bungee cord set on the first snap, so that it pulled the waist provocatively low in front. She carried a sweater to tie around her waist before she went into class.
"The art museum has the Scroll." Catty started to sip her coffee, but her nervousness was making her nauseous, so she dropped the paper cup in a nearb
y trash can.
"They're translating it?" Vanessa's fingers trembled and started to blur. That was her gift. She could become invisible, but she didn't have total control over her power, especially when she was stressed. "That's big trouble. What did Chris say?"
"I haven't seen Chris." Catty didn't like the reaction visible on Vanessa's face.
"I thought Chris—" Vanessa began.
"He's supposed to protect the Scroll until he can give it to the rightful heir," Catty interrupted. "Why isn't he here to help me?"
"Like Maggie used to," Vanessa said softly and looked away. "We haven't seen her for so long. What's happening to our guides?"
Chris was more than a guide to Catty, but she didn't want to consider what might have happened to him.
"We can't wait for Chris," Serena said. "Stanton will help us."
Catty rolled her eyes.
"What do you want us to do, then?" Serena shot back. "Go it alone against Regulators?"
"We did before," Catty answered.
"Maybe I could make the Scroll invisible," Vanessa said. "It would be easy to lift from the museum then." But her expression looked doubtful. Something big had been bothering her lately, and she'd had less control over her gift than she normally did.
"It's too dangerous," Catty warned. "I'm the only one immune to the curse."
"We don't have a choice."Vanessa handed the newspaper back to Catty and started to say more, but something distracted her.
Catty followed her look.
Tianna ran toward them, her ponytail swinging behind her. Catty was surprised to see her there at school.
"How can anyone look so gorgeous?" Serena asked, bewilderment in her voice.
"If I dressed like that—" Vanessa said, referring to Tianna's B-girl style.
"You'd still be the glamour queen," Catty interrupted, but Tianna's unearthly beauty made Catty pause. Even dressed casually in Tommy jeans and big hoop earrings, she looked incredible.
"Hi, guys." Tianna joined them on the top step.
"How's your collarbone.'" Catty asked. "I didn't think you'd be able to come to school yet."
Tianna rubbed her shoulder. "Better. I can almost use my power again. At least things aren't flying around on their own anymore."
"What happened?" Vanessa asked, playing with the lace trim on her cropped camisole.
"As soon as we got back from San Diego I got hurt at cheerleading practice," Tianna told them about her fall. When she had finished, Catty handed her the paper. "We're trying to come up with a plan to get the Scroll back."
Tianna stared at the picture. Fear flashed across her face and then disappeared. She gave the paper back, her breathing harsh, as if her memory of the sorcerer Gerard de Molaire were close to the surface. He had tricked her into using the Scroll to summon the Atrox, and the curse had made her ill.
"Let's go over to the museum after school," Tianna said, even though she was obviously afraid. "It'll be easier to come up with a plan there. I can break down a wall if we need to."
"Where's Jimena?" Vanessa asked. "Maybe she can drive us over. I didn't bring my car to school. Michael drove."
"She won't be able to drive us," Serena said.
"Drive where?" Jimena pushed through the crowd of students climbing the steps and stopped next to Serena. She wore a short-sleeved, fuchsia tee that showed off the crescent-moon-and-star tattoo on her arm. Two teardrops were tattooed under her right eye, one for each of her stays in Youth Authority Camp, and a triangle of three dots adorned the web between her index finger and thumb, a reminder of when she had been ganged up and living la vida.
"We're going over to the art museum after school," Catty said. "Can you drive us?"
"Sorry." Jimena looked apologetic. "I've got my community-service work at Children's Hospital today." She glanced down at her wrist watch and started to leave. "Got to go. I'll catch you later."
Her long black hair whipped behind her as she dodged through the throng of students, but then she stopped and turned back, her eyes blank with fear.
An eerie tension gathered around Catty, and in spite of the sun's warmth, her arms broke out in goose bumps.
Jimena walked back to her, kids jostling around her. "Something bad is going to happen. You feel it, don't you?"
Catty shook her head and sensed the others doing the same.
"What should we be feeling?" Serena asked .
Jimena gave Catty a quizzical look. "It's in the air, and somehow it's related to Catty." She touched the Medusa stone hanging around her neck. She no longer wore a moon amulet. She wasn't a Daughter now. On her seventeenth birthday she had chosen to give up her powers and her memories of being a goddess, but she still wore the stone given to her that last night to protect her from harm. "Be careful," she said.
Her look unnerved Catty.
"I'll be careful," Catty promised. She glanced at the small cameo pinched between Jimena's fingers.
The curling hair on the woman in the cameo was actually a nest of snakes writhing around each other. Catty watched, perplexed. The serpents' twisting had to be a trick of sunlight and shadow. She blinked, trying to sweep the image away, but the sinuous movement continued.
"Promise." Jimena touched her arm, then started easing backward, seeming unaware of the kids bumping into her.
"I promise," Catty said.
Jimena nodded, then turned and disappeared into the crush of students.
"I thought she was supposed to lose her goddess power," Serena said, as she picked up her cello case, anticipating the first bell. "But she seems more attuned to the future than ever. It's starting to freak me out."
"Maybe she was always psychic." Tianna touched the moon amulet hanging around her neck. "I had my powers before Maggie made me a Daughter."
Serena spoke in a low voice. "Have any of you noticed the way the snakes move in that cameo she wears now?"
"I wish Maggie were here," Vanessa said. Sadness settled over them.
"I wonder what happened to her." Catty felt the loss more strongly than ever. She desperately needed to talk to Maggie and ask her what she should do.
"Maggie's dead." Serena's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Don't say that."Vanessa nudged her angrily.
"Serena's just saying what the rest of us are afraid to say," Catty added. "Only death could keep Maggie away for this long."
"Maybe she'll come back." Tianna tore off the scrunchie holding back her ponytail and shook out her hair.
Something in the tilt of Tianna's head reminded Catty of the miniature painted on the Scroll. She glanced down at the picture in the newspaper, and a chill swept through her. The resemblance between the goddess opening the jaws of hell and Tianna was uncanny. Catty slid the paper between two books, wondering if the others had noticed it.
The bell rang, and they started walking to class. Catty lingered behind.
Except for Tianna, each of the Daughters had been born a goddess. Tianna had become one, later in her life. Now, Catty wondered about her resemblance to the goddess in the picture. Could Tianna be something more than what she claimed?
CHAPTER EIGHT
TH E S U N W A S A L R E A DY drifting toward the horizon when Catty jumped off the bus at the corner near the La Brea Tar Pits. She stopped, startled by what she saw, and Vanessa bumped into her.
Serena joined them. "What the—"
"What is it?" Tianna asked as the bus pulled away, blowing dried leaves and dust around them. A line of people stretched from the art museum entrance down to La Brea Avenue. Street entertainers had set up an impromptu show, and the music of pipes and drums drifted toward them, adding a surreal feel to the afternoon. Yellow police tape fluttered between barriers, closing off one lane of eastbound traffic on Wilshire Boulevard, to make more room for the immense crowd.
"Do you think all these people are here to see the Scroll?" Vanessa asked, rubbing her hands together as if she were trying to stop her molecules from separating.
Tianna shook her
head. "How could this many people want to see it? It's got to be a fund-raiser or some special event."
"Let's go check it out." Catty started walking. "But if this many people have come to see the Scroll, then what happens to us when they finish translating it?" Vanessa asked nervously.
"We'll be as famous as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster," Serena added, increasing her pace. Catty broke into a run. The others pounded down the sidewalk after her. The sudden smells of hot dogs and grilling onions filled the air from a stand set up in the street.
Tianna started up the steps of the museum.
"I'll get the tickets," she yelled to the others. "Get us a place in line."
Catty threaded her way through the crowd, Serena and Vanessa close behind her.
"It's like a carnival," Vanessa said.
Catty shook her head at a man offering to sell her a poster of the manuscript. Other vendors wandered up and down the sidewalk, selling T-shirts with poor renditions of the Scroll on the front and I SURVIVED THE CURSE written on the back.
A heavy woman with dozens of gold neck laces dangling from one thick arm approached them with a broad smile. "You want to buy a charm to ward off the manuscript's curse? Guaranteed to protect you."
"No, thank you," Catty said as she tried to push around her, but the woman caught her arm and pulled her back.
"What kind of charm is that around your neck?" she asked. "All sparkly and whatnot."
Catty glanced down. The intensity of her amulet's glow surprised her. "Oh, that's just the reflection from the sun," she lied and clamped her hand around it.
"I've got to get some of those," the woman said. She turned and began hawking her necklaces to others.
Catty glanced back at Vanessa. Her amulet glittered with a fiery brightness.
Vanessa slipped on her sweater, hooking the first button to hide the charm, her eyes scanning the people, looking for the danger. "Do you see anything?" she asked Catty.
"Nothing." Catty shook her head.
Serena joined them, looping a silky scarf around her neck to conceal her amulet's sparkle. "It's a full moon tonight," she began. "Followers are weakest then, but what about Regulators?"
