An owl brought a letter from Julia the next day, and letters from Anna and David finally arrived the following week. Charmbridge Academy was excited about the upcoming Junior Wizarding Decathlon, and of course, their champion, Larry Albo. Even David, while no fan of Larry and his Pureblood friends, was enthusiastic about the contest itself.
He and Anna had collected as much information as they could about previous Junior Wizarding Decathlons and the sorts of trials that happened there. The challenges used to simply be named after the skill being tested — Alchemy or Charms or Divination. In recent years, however, the titles of the contests had become more dramatic in theme: Acromantula Challenge, World Curses, Sirens of the Seventh Sea, A Giant Surprise, Manticore Races, An Envenoming Evening, Dueling Demighosts, Tomb Raiders. Alexandra thought they actually sounded kind of fun.
"These contests are really dangerous, Alex," Anna wrote. "The adult Wizarding Decathlon has a fatality rate of one in twenty, and even in the Junior Wizarding Decathlon kids die sometimes. I know that won't make you reconsider doing this, but please be careful. It's not just a dueling competition like what we did at Charmbridge."
Anna knew well enough that Alexandra had faced things much more dangerous than the Junior Wizarding Decathlon. But Alexandra wasn't surprised that Anna was anxiously imagining her being eaten by a manticore or something.
David had researched past Decathlons even more thoroughly, and compiled statistics on them as if they were a sporting event. She studied his charts, but they seemed more useful for betting on champions than winning as one.
According to her friends, Sonja continued to insist she had the gift of prophecy. All the teachers had told her to stop going on about her "Inner Eye"; even Ms. Estrella, the Astrology teacher. This didn't stop her from scribbling predictions in a notebook day and night, and she'd insisted that David and Anna forward a collection of them to Alexandra. Alexandra unrolled the bits of parchment Sonja had enclosed, and began reading them.
Mirrors don't always show the truth, sometimes they show your enemy.
Beware of alligators.
Don't do that! Seriously. You'll know what I mean when it happens.
You won't get what you want but you'll get what you need.
It wasn't him, it wasn't him, it wasn't him, it wasn't him!
On your birthday, a black cat will cross your path after a long journey.
Avoid humble pie, it might be poisoned.
Charlie will spy something and steal something.
You'll see someone who's dead again.
You will not finish everything but you'll go further than anyone else.
All your sisters will be together only once.
The monster you never see is the one you need to kill.
One ring to save them both, and in the darkness find them.
Don't fly too close to ships, especially haunted ships.
When you open the World Away, it will be the last time you see me.
Don't steal something you can't steal twice.
There are rats in New Amsterdam.
Alexandra shuffled all these predictions together, annoyed. David and Anna said she'd given similar long lists of predictions to them and anyone else who'd listen. Making so many vague "prophecies," of course some had come true, or resembled things that had happened, so Sonja had apparently convinced a few kids at Charmbridge that she really was a Seer. She was becoming quite strange and full of self-importance.
Alexandra put down the letters as Lucilla strode into the kitchen, looking particularly glamorous, with a softly glowing robe and charms illuminating her face. Her hair was tied into many long, thin braids, and she wore an array of rings and necklaces and spinning earrings.
"You're going out," Alexandra said, with some surprise. She hadn't seen either of the twins leave the house since she'd arrived weeks ago, though she supposed they must. For that matter, her letters from her friends and sisters had made her suddenly aware of how long she'd been stuck in the house.
"I am." Lucilla smiled and cupped Alexandra's chin in her hand. "You haven't been out at all, have you? You and Dru should go into town."
"Town? There's a wizard town around here?"
"No." Lucilla shook her head. Her earrings flew about her head, then settled back into their regular orbits. "In this part of New England, wizards all live sequestered among Muggles, or else out in the boonies. Drucilla can show you the wizard establishments hidden across the river." She gestured toward the city on the other side of the submarine base. "I don't much like going there myself. Being around that many Muggles…"
Alexandra frowned. "You don't like Muggles?"
Lucilla's eyebrows went up. "Goodness! I didn't mean it like that. I just… don't understand Muggles or Muggle society."
"You didn't have a Muggle Culture class in school?"
"I skipped it. But some of my best friends were half-bloods. Until they found out who my father was." Lucilla shrugged. "In any case, I am going out. You and Drucilla should go out, too. Really, it will be good for both of you."
"Where are you going?" Alexandra asked.
"I," said Lucilla, primping her hair with an exaggerated gesture, "have a date." She winked at Alexandra. "Tell Dru not to wait up for me." She stepped out onto the porch, and with a snap of her fingers, Apparated away.
"Huh." Alexandra looked across the snowy hillock past the porch where Lucilla had been standing.
She was in the library studying her Auror's Field Training Grimoire when Drucilla emerged from the basement half an hour later. "I don't recognize that book," Drucilla said.
"I, um, picked it up in Chicago," Alexandra said. "Some of the spells might be useful in the Junior Wizarding Decathlon. You don't know the Patronus Charm, do you?"
Drucilla shook her head. "That's only taught to Aurors and Regimental Officers."
"I'll bet our father knows it," Alexandra said.
"Quite possibly," Drucilla said. "But it has nothing to do with Artificing."
Alexandra closed the book, and Drucilla looked around. "Where's Lucilla?"
When Alexandra told her of Lucilla's departure, she muttered, "Fool."
Alexandra raised her eyebrows.
Drucilla said, "There are reasons we don't leave the house much. When we do, it's with Misdirection Charms and under a Glamour, or some other disguise. But Lucilla chafes under the isolation. She's always been the sociable one, and I suppose I can't blame her for wanting a life, but..." Drucilla shook her head.
"I wouldn't mind going to town," Alexandra said. "I haven't left the house since I got here. I mean, if that's part of apprentice training, that I don't get to go anywhere for weeks and weeks…"
"Sometimes it is, but I understand. You want to go out, too. We're not keeping you here out of spite." Drucilla seemed pensive. "I do have some business to take care of. I suppose you can follow along, though you'll have to stay outside for most of it."
"Shouldn't I learn your business, as an apprentice?" Alexandra asked.
"Not this business. It's for your own good, Alexandra." When Alexandra began to protest, Drucilla said, "Remember the terms of our agreement? Apprentices don't argue."
Alexandra closed her mouth. "Yes, mistress."
"Stop that." Drucilla waved a hand. "Tomorrow morning, we'll conjure a fog bank and cross the river. Be ready an hour before dawn."
"Yes mistr— I mean, sister." Alexandra grinned.
Lucilla did not join Alexandra and Drucilla for breakfast the next morning. It was still very early. Alexandra asked if Lucilla was coming along, and her twin said no. Alexandra considered asking if Lucilla had come home last night, and decided not to.
Alexandra and Drucilla left the house together dressed in winter clothing — Alexandra in a parka, pants, and her magical waterproof boots, Drucilla in a long fur coat over witch's robes. Alexandra left her backpack back in the house, but carried a wallet with what little Muggle money she had left, and her dead cell phone.
They walked through the snow down to the riverfront, and found that the submarine base was no longer across the river.
Alexandra looked questioningly at Drucilla. "The house has moved."
"I told you, it does that sometimes." Drucilla consulted a half-spherical object on her wrist. "Only a few miles this time. We're perfecting the locus enchantments. Now, let's call in the fog."
Alexandra knew almost nothing of weather magic. She could summon a wind, and knew basic charms for heat and cold, but what Drucilla did, as easily as Alexandra could conjure a breeze, was turn the river and the air against each other. She took time to show Alexandra the gestures she used, but it was a complex ritual in abbreviated form.
In minutes, heavy fog was crawling past their ankles, then rising above their heads. Before the first rays of sunlight appeared, the fog was dense enough that Drucilla, only a few feet away, was an indistinct form.
"Do you think you can reproduce that?" Drucilla asked, even her voice muted by the fog.
"After you showed it to me once? Maybe? Probably not." Alexandra ran through the ritual in her mind. "Can I practice?"
"Another day. I'm glad to see you're allowing for a degree of uncertainty. You're still overconfident, but you're learning. The fact is, Lucilla and I have cast charms before to make this easier. You might say, I cheated. So you certainly would not be able to reproduce the effect on your own without knowing where we laid those helping charms. At least not this quickly."
Alexandra was certain Drucilla was smiling, though she couldn't see her face.
"Let's cross," Drucilla said. They stood on a snowbank, just above the icy shore. Drucilla cast a Water-Walking Charm, and Alexandra did the same, a little less confidently. The river was colder than Lake Michigan had been during Alexandra's fateful journeys to and from Eerie Island. Chunks of ice floated past them as they walked across its rolling, swelling surface. Though the dense fog made it impossible to see more than a few yards, they heard several boats pass nearby, one so close as it loomed out of the mist that Alexandra could have reached out and touched it. The men aboard it were busy dragging some sort of equipment out of the water, and didn't notice the two witches walking past.
"They won't notice us," Drucilla said. "They never do."
They came ashore in a frozen fen, with dead reeds visible here and there in the ice near the riverbank. The fog thinned, and barely touched the town itself.
Just a few yards away was a metal fence with red signs facing the street. Drucilla and Alexandra walked up the slope to the metal fence, which lined a jogging trail. There were few joggers at this time of year, but a woman in sweats and a scarf and woolen cap did huff past, giving them a curious glance before continuing on.
"She noticed us," Alexandra said.
"We're not Unnoticeable anymore," Drucilla said. "We're surrounded by Muggles and we don't belong here. But they still usually don't pay much attention to us." She waited until the jogger had disappeared down the trail, then slid her wand out of her sleeve and cast a charm that caused the metal fence to dissolve into mist just long enough for her and Alexandra to step through, before it became solid again.
"I wish I didn't have to drag you along on my errands," Drucilla said. "But I don't want you getting into trouble. We're going to be surrounded by Muggles."
Alexandra said, "Um, you realize I grew up with Muggles, right? I'll bet I know Muggle towns better than you do."
Drucilla looked as if this thought had not occurred to her. "I suppose you do. But this isn't the town you grew up in."
"I've been to Chicago. And New Mexico and the Ozarks. It's no big deal. If you don't need me, I'd rather go see a movie or something. Maybe get a closer look at those submarines."
"What's a submarine?" Drucilla asked.
Alexandra stared at her. "You live right across the river from a submarine base!"
"Do you mean those gray metal ships that sink below the surface of the water?"
"Yes!" Alexandra said in astonishment.
"I have often wondered how they work. They're not magical, so they must work by some engineering contrivance, involving gears and pumps and wires, yes? Perhaps someday I'll study them."
Alexandra shook her head. "You two act like Muggles are aliens. And I thought Julia was sheltered." She gave Drucilla a hard look, and noticed a twinkle in her eyes.
"You're messing with me," she said.
"I have no idea what you mean, little sister," Drucilla said.
"So, can I can go into town by myself?" Alexandra asked.
Reluctantly, Drucilla said, "I suppose so. Do remember that even if the Trace is not on you, any magic is likely to be noticed, and above all, we must not attract Aurors. If you are detained again, Alexandra… Lucilla and I may not be able to help you."
"Don't use my wand, and no flying. Right, got it."
"Also, don't forget you're still an apprentice, and mind your manners."
They walked on until they saw traffic at an intersection ahead. Drucilla said, "I need to pick up some Alchemical supplies, and then I am going to speak with someone who handles many of our commissions. I plan to be finished by afternoon." She pointed. "Down that street is a little shop owned by a witch who's lived in this town for generations, and she occasionally has Goody Pruett pies or other delicacies from the Goblin Market in New Amsterdam. We'll meet back here shortly after noon, all right?"
"Okay." It had been ages since Alexandra had eaten at Goody Pruett's, and she felt oddly nostalgic for two worlds at once. The establishments around her and the sounds of Muggle traffic felt like home, yet the thought of treats from shops in the Wizarding World, treats now denied her in most places where she might show her face, made her think of Charmbridge Academy and the Goblin Market in Chicago, and New Roanoke.
"Do avoid trouble," Drucilla said. "I confess I have some misgivings about giving you the run of the town. Muggles are usually harmless, but every now and then they can be dangerous."
"So can wizards," Alexandra said.
Drucilla smiled tightly. "Indeed. But seriously, don't make me regret this. We're not nearly as strict with you as is traditional with apprentices."
Alexandra sighed. "I'm really not up to anything. I just want to walk around and see a movie or something. If any trouble comes, it won't be my fault."
Drucilla hesitated, then patted Alexandra on the shoulder. "Well then. I'll see you in a few hours."
She walked down the street, her robes snapping around her ankles in the breeze coming off the river. A few people looked askance at her odd dress, but as Drucilla had said, Muggles rarely paid much attention even to the stranger things around them.
Alexandra walked in the opposite direction. She had only a little money, but she found a cafe and sat there for half an hour, drinking tea, while her cell phone charged.
She was pleased to find her number still worked. All these months she'd been gone, Archie and Claudia had continued to pay for her service, and now she saw that she had messages. She had to hold her phone away from her wands, but the voice that spoke in her ear was Claudia's.
"Hello, Alex," her sister said, in a husky voice. "I don't know if you'll ever hear this. I don't know exactly where you are right now. I don't… I don't know if I'll ever see you again…"
Alexandra sat in the cafe, listening to one message after another from Claudia, while her tea grew cold. Claudia had called her weekly. At first not even knowing she was still alive. Then, having learned she was on Eerie Island, not knowing if she'd ever be freed. And then, after she'd received news of her escape, not knowing where she'd gone or what had happened to her.
All those months, Alexandra had not really reached out to her, but Claudia had been reaching out to her, speaking into the void and unburdening herself as if Alexandra's voicemail was a journal. Voicing her fears, her regrets, her sorrow, telling her all the things she'd never talked about before. Raising a little witch sister like her own daughter, the awe and terror of seeing Alexandra's first uses of magic, the knowledge that their father was always out there, always watching, like a wolf hiding in the shadows who's supposedly protecting you… And the Confederation's Special Inquisitors, visiting her yearly to remind her of what she was and what she was not. The loneliness that had led to dating a cop in the small town she'd moved to, and her fear of Archie discovering what Alexandra really was and not being able to handle it. Of missing her other sister, and watching Alexandra leave for Charmbridge for the first time, and knowing someday she would leave and not come back.
Alexandra stayed composed until the final message, which was not from Claudia. It was from Archie.
"Hey, Alex," her brother-in-law's gruff voice said. "I know your mo- Claudia has been leaving you messages. She said she's not worried that you never call back. Something about phones not working where you are." He grunted. "Listen… She misses you… We miss you. Come home when you can. Or at least call your mother. I mean — dammit, you know what I mean." He cleared his throat. "I really want to say—"
The rest of his message was cut off by a toneless voice saying "Mailbox full."
Alexandra set her phone down. She wiped at her eyes. Her face was wet. The woman behind the counter glanced at her and smiled sympathetically, but said nothing.
Alexandra picked up the phone again, and called the house on Sweetmaple Avenue.
She got their answering machine.
"Hi," she said. "It's me. I guess you're both at work. I just wanted you to know I'm okay. And… I hope I see you soon." She hung up quickly, swallowed past a lump in her throat, and walked back up the street to where she'd seen a small movie theater.
A couple of hours later, she emerged from the darkness of the theater, having spent almost the last of her money on a tub of buttered popcorn and a soda. The movie, a romantic comedy, had starred the same actor who'd been in the film Alexandra had seen with Brian and Julia in Larkin Mills. Alexandra had enjoyed the funny parts, but the romantic parts just reminded her that she was becoming more and more isolated from everyone who'd once been close to her.
She headed for the street Drucilla had pointed out, where the local wizards did business.
It was hardly a Goblin Market, or even a main street like that of New Roanoke. Most of the shops at street level were run by Muggles: convenience stores, pawn shops, and fast food places. They were clearly unaware of the nature of the tiny doorways and alleys squeezed between their storefronts, which the pedestrians on the street walked past without a glance. As Alexandra watched, a small man in a shabby frock coat descended the steps leading down from one of the doors on the second floor above a fried chicken restaurant. A truly garish red and green muffler was wrapped around his neck and covered the lower half of his face. Tiny, perfectly round spectacles perched on his nose. Tufts of hair stuck up from the sides of his head like hedgehog bristles.
He peered around, glared at a passing car as if it were the misplaced intruder, then stared at Alexandra for a moment. Alexandra stared back, and he blinked and turned away.
There was something about wizards, Alexandra thought. Not everyone in the wizarding world walked out into the Muggle world looking like some poorly-dressed caricature in a children's picture book, but they did stand out enough that she could usually spot magical folks.
She didn't see Drucilla anywhere, so out of curiosity, she went up the steps the wizard had just descended. They weren't hidden, exactly, and Alexandra didn't think any spells were cast on them, but they had an aged look of archaic wrought iron that, like the wizard, didn't fit the buildings on either side of the narrow alley. The steps were old stone that could have been original construction from hundreds of years ago, despite the neon light flashing yards away.
The door at the top of the stairs was made of very dark wood. Brass letters stenciled across a smoky glass pane spelled out "Sojourns."
Alexandra had half-expected a wizard pub, but "Sojourns" made her think of the black brick building with that name located in New Roanoke, set apart from the rest of the wizard town's shops. She hadn't gone inside, and Julia hadn't told her anything about it. Alexandra tried the door, and it opened with a creak.
Inside, the smell was a mixture of acrid smoke and pungent chemicals. Alexandra recognized the scents of wizard tobacco and Alchemy.
The front of the shop was extremely dim, and barely larger than her bedroom back in Larkin Mills. There was a glass counter and walls lined with packed shelves, but Alexandra could barely make out what was on them. The only light in the establishment came from the pane in the front door, a dirty glass window near the ceiling, and the lit tip of the proprietor's cigar. It glowed redly as the man holding it took a puff, then exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"You look underage," he said. He was a big man, Alexandra could see that much. His shoulders were bare, and prodigiously muscled. Alexandra took a step closer, and saw he was wearing a tank-top and a jangling mass of medallions around his neck. He also had impressive rows of earrings in both ears, a nose ring, and elaborate, abstract designs tattooed on his cheeks and neck. His head was bald, except for a bristle-brush mohawk.
"You look…" Alexandra realized she wasn't quite sure what he looked like. The smart retort had just come out of her without bidding, and then died.
"I look what?" the man asked gruffly. "What do you want, little bit?" She couldn't judge his age; she wasn't even sure of his skin color.
"I was just curious," she said lamely. Then added quickly, "I'm not a Muggle." She looked down into the glass case. It was full of sharp needles and small knives and dishes full of liquids of various colors. On the lower shelf was a variety of insects captured in amber. Stacked on the counter were old books. Alexandra started to reach for one, and stopped.
"You look like a Muggle. Muggle-born?" The proprietor puffed his cigar again.
"Close enough," Alexandra said, lowering her hand. "What is this place?"
"Off-limits to little bits. Get out."
"There's a place called Sojourns in New Roanoke," Alexandra said.
"I know it. It's the main shop. I get most of my supplies from there."
"Supplies for what?" Alexandra asked.
The man with the mohawk sighed. "Tattoos, piercings, scars, brands, and more exotic modifications."
Alexandra looked around. There seemed barely any space for someone to sit down and be tattooed, or… branded. She grimaced. "Why?"
"Why?" the proprietor repeated. "Why does anyone do anything? Because they want to. Decorative, arcane, ritualistic, I am an artist in all forms of alteration."
"So, I could get a tattoo here?" Alexandra said. "Like, a wizard tattoo?"
"No, you could not. Under. Age. I know you're working for the Aurors, little bit. I'm not so much as piercing your ears."
"My ears are already pierced, and I'm not a… a little bit. I'm not working for Aurors. I'm working for Lucilla and Drucilla White."
The wizard's demeanor changed abruptly. He put down his cigar. "Really? The Whites have taken an apprentice?"
"Yes. I'm their sister, actually."
"Their sister?" He leaned forward, planting his meaty palms on the greasy counter. "Does that mean… your father is… ?"
"Yes. Him."
"Well, Merlin's smelly slippers." He ran a hand over the bald portion of his scalp. "Are you doing business for the Whites?"
Alexandra wasn't sure what he meant, but knew she should probably say no. Instead, she shrugged.
He lowered his voice. "Listen, if they've changed their minds about that Infernal Rum, I can still move it. I'm, er, I'm willing to go ten percent higher. And I have a line on some basilisk teeth… they're the real thing, guaranteed."
Alexandra hesitated. Basilisk teeth? "I'll let them know. Anything else?"
"I've got a batch of Koryŏ Firewhisky that'll put hair on your chest."
"Gross." When he frowned at her, she said, "Yeah, I know, it's a figure of speech."
"Actually, it's not. Merlin's beard, you're too young for this. Why are they sending their little sister to me?"
Alexandra shrugged again. "I have to learn the business somehow."
"Orders have been slow lately. Business has been bad up and down the coast, thanks to your father."
"None of us have much say in that."
"Well, I can understand if your sisters are planning to stop the trade, with all the panic over the Dark Convention and the WODAMND Act." He scowled and picked up the cigar again. "But if they're planning on moving into the European market without JJ, they're making a big mistake."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Alexandra said, with perfect conviction, since it happened to be true.
"Right. Well then… tell your sisters not to send a little bit next time. It could cause problems for me if underage witches are seen frequenting this establishment. Cursed licensing bureau." He puffed on his cigar.
Alexandra decided not to push the charade any further. She had enough to ask Lucilla and Drucilla about now. She walked back out onto the landing and closed the heavy black door behind her. She stopped at the top of the steps when she saw who was waiting for her on the snow-covered sidewalk below.
"Alexandra," said Diana Grimm. "I do hope you haven't been up to no good."
The Special Inquisitor wore a red coat and shiny black boots. Her hair was hidden beneath a tall fur cap. She displayed no wand, and could have been just another Muggle out shopping, except her outfit was far too upscale for this street.
Alexandra's face went cold. She reached slowly, almost casually, for her wand.
"Are you here to arrest me, Aunt Diana?" she asked. "Because I'm not going back to Eerie Island."
Her aunt's eyes followed the movement of Alexandra's hand, then she raised them back to Alexandra's face and arched a brow.
"Do you really want to duel here in the street, child?" she asked.
"The way I see it, I don't have much to lose," Alexandra said.
"Oh, you're wrong about that," Diana Grimm said. She shook her head. "Always so troublesome. Please, keep your wand in your pocket. If I meant to arrest you, I'd have Petrified you as soon as you left that shop. What are you doing in such an establishment, anyway?"
"Getting a tattoo," Alexandra said.
Her aunt snorted.
"What do you want?" Alexandra asked.
"To talk." Grimm held her hands out, palms up. "No wands. No Aurors, no one else around."
Alexandra descended the steps, slowly and without taking her hand away from her pocket. Grimm watched her, letting her own hands fall to her side.
"Why, Alexandra?" Grimm asked when Alexandra stood on the sidewalk next to her. "Why must you make everything so difficult?"
Alexandra felt anger surging, until it throbbed in her temples. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I make things difficult by being sent to Eerie Island without a trial? Where I was tortured by goblins, and almost got eaten by a sphinx? Or did I make things difficult by escaping? Because I was just supposed to rot in prison until everyone forgot about me? Or was it running away to the Ozarks instead of staying in Central Territory that made things difficult for you?"
"Alexandra, you would have eventually been released."
"I WAS THERE FOR MONTHS!" Alexandra shouted.
Someone across the street paused to look in their direction.
"You were there for a few weeks," Grimm said.
"They were going to keep me there until I was twenty-one!" Alexandra said through clenched teeth.
"You wouldn't have been there that long. Mr. Black made a grievous error."
"No kidding? And you couldn't have told me that at some point? You saw what happened to me, and you did nothing! You just stood there and watched while I got dragged away in chains —"
"Let's not forget that you lost control and assaulted a Confederation official. You could have killed Mr. Brown, Alexandra. Don't play the innocent lamb."
"He left Penny in a room with a Boggart! He hit me! He was abusing students, and worse…" Alexandra's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure how much Diana Grimm knew about the Accounting Office, or if she'd care, or if saying something to her about it would only incriminate herself further. "Why are you here, Aunt Diana?"
"I told you to stop calling me that." Diana Grimm began walking slowly down the street, without a word or gesture. Annoyed at once again allowing the Special Inquisitor to steer her, figuratively and literally, Alexandra followed.
"Do you know why you haven't been pursued from Central Territory?" Grimm asked.
"Their Aurors don't have any authority here."
"True, but the Office of Special Inquisitions does."
"Have I been declared an Enemy of the Confederation?"
Grimm laughed harshly. "You probably should be. Do you have any idea what you set free back on Eerie Island?"
"You mean Typhon and Edna? What makes you think I freed them?" Alexandra didn't know how much Grimm knew, but didn't see any purpose to admitting anything.
"Don't play games with me, girl. You unleashed Powers that have been imprisoned for centuries. No one is bothering with you right now because they are a little distracted. And because of the example that was made of Carlos Black."
Alexandra wondered what that meant. What had her father been up to, while she was breaking out of prison and living as a fugitive?
"So why are you here, if you're not going to arrest me?" she asked.
"I understand you intend to go to New Amsterdam to compete in the Junior Wizarding Decathlon."
"So?"
"You've been protected a great deal, Alexandra. You may not think so, because you only see what affects you directly."
Alexandra stopped walking and folded her arms. "I'm still not sure why you're here, Special Inquisitor Grimm."
Diana Grimm stopped, and turned back to her.
"Don't go to New Amsterdam," she said. "The eyes of the entire Confederation, and the Governor-General himself, will be on you if you're foolish enough to present yourself at the Junior Wizarding Decathlon as the… the Ozarker champion."
"Will I be arrested and thrown in a dungeon?" Alexandra asked.
Grimm pursed her lips. "Probably not. The Governor-General wants you to disappear, not stir up even more controversy."
"Will he make me disappear?"
"That isn't what I meant."
"Sure it isn't." Alexandra glared at her aunt. "Because you'd never do a thing like that, would you, Aunt Diana?"
Diana Grimm's jaw tightened. "If you keep testing your allies and taunting your enemies, you will learn there is a limit to how much trouble you can cause before someone does decide that disappearing you is worth the risk."
"Well then, what do I care if everyone's eyes are on me? They're already on me! You say I've been protected a great deal, but I've also been watched and made a pawn since before I even knew who my father was. Are you really worried about me, or are you worried about what I might do?"
"What is that, exactly, Alexandra? I can't imagine it's just your love of dueling that makes you want to compete in the Junior Wizarding Decathlon."
Alexandra shook her head. "If I told you I just want to prove I'm the best, you wouldn't believe me. Or maybe that I want to see New Amsterdam and this is the only way I can get there. With the protection of being the Ozarker champion. I don't know what you expect from me. And I never know if you're talking to me as my aunt or a Special Inquisitor. You like threatening me, and when that doesn't work, you act like you're trying to protect me. Just like Aunt Lilith. But even she knows the Governor-General is a rotten bastard. You know everything Hucksteen has done, and you still work for him."
Diana Grimm's lips pressed together as Alexandra made her speech. Her face grew pale with anger, but her voice remained level when she spoke.
"The Governor-General is a politician. What I do is arrest dangerous criminals — like Cygnus Nero, Pasquale Mercurio, and Elisabet Todd, whom you set free among Muggles, just as you set free Typhon and Echidna. Like father, like daughter. Your father can justify everything he does far more eloquently than you, and he's done terrible things, Alexandra. You don't know everything he's done, but you know enough — and you still protect him. And if you don't work for him knowingly, you're certainly still doing his bidding."
Down the street, Alexandra saw a flutter of robes, which quickly vanished. Had that been Drucilla? When Alexandra looked in that direction, Diana Grimm's gaze followed, but now only Muggles were on the street.
"Thanks for the warning, Diana," she said. "I'll think about it."
This provoked a spark of anger in her aunt's eyes, quickly suppressed. Then she said, "I understand you acquired a new wand in the Ozarks. I am curious how you escaped Eerie Island and made it to the Ozarks without one."
I'll bet you are, Alexandra thought. She said nothing.
Diana Grimm reached under her jacket. Alexandra tensed and her hand went to her wand again. Grimm sighed, and very carefully withdrew a wand, held between her thumb and forefinger. Alexandra recognized the basswood wand the Special Inquisitor had taken from her when she was arrested.
"Carlos Black never bothered to ask me for this," Grimm said. She handed it to Alexandra, who took it wordlessly. "I'm sure the Ozarker wand you have now is much better than a Grundy's wand."
Alexandra tucked the basswood wand under her jacket. Now she was carrying three wands on her person, one more than Diana Grimm thought she had.
A little too casually, the Special Inquisitor asked, "Where are your sisters, by the way?"
Alexandra shrugged. "Around. They let me go to town by myself."
"Did they? How… trusting of them."
Alexandra had a sudden flash of intuition. "You're not after me, you're after them."
"There have been a lot of Dark Artifacts circulating in New England lately. And the Whites have managed to hide themselves even from the Office of Special Inquisitions. They're overdue for questioning."
"And you think I'll take you to them? No way."
Grimm gazed down the street again, then back at Alexandra. "I could make you."
Alexandra met her gaze. "Maybe. Maybe not. But since you're not doing it, there's some reason you don't want to. I'm not sure what that reason is. I mean, you keep talking about the WODAMND Act and how I've pissed off the Governor-General himself, so what keeps you from just doing what you threatened to do, and dragging me back to wizard prison again?"
Her aunt didn't say anything, just continued staring at her.
"You probably don't want a wizard duel in the street, but I'll bet that wouldn't really stop you, when you can just Obliviate any Muggle who witnesses it. Like you Obliviated Brian." Alexandra tried to keep her voice cool, but there was anger in it now. Diana Grimm's expression flickered. Was it guilt, or uncertainty that Alexandra saw? "Are you really protecting me, Aunt Diana? Or is something else protecting me, something you don't want me to know about?"
Grimm gave her a sour smile. "Don't let that sort of thinking go to your head, Alexandra. I assure you, you are not beyond the Governor-General's reach, nor are you immune to consequences."
And yet, Alexandra thought. She was still walking around free.
She took her hand away from her pocket, and held out her wrists, as if offering them up to be manacled.
"Whatever you intend to do with me, do it," Alexandra said. "But if you want me to give up my sisters, you'll have to Crucio me. And you'll have to Crucio me good, because I already know what it feels like."
Indeed, it took all of her willpower not to shudder violently at the thought. She knew her bravado was empty, should her aunt actually take her up on her suggestion. But for the first time, Diana Grimm looked horrified.
"Stars Above, child. I do not Crucio people! Especially not…"
Alexandra stared at her, still holding out her wrists.
Her aunt let out a short, bitter laugh. "You are truly incorrigible. I do not mean that fondly. Alexandra, stay away from New Amsterdam. It will go badly for you."
She glanced around to look for any Muggles on the street, then Disapparated away with a pop.
Alexandra lowered her hands and looked around. She was alone on the street. She walked slowly back to the river, only realizing when she saw Drucilla waiting for her beyond the fence that she never had visited the wizard sweets shop.
"That was your aunt, the Special Inquisitor," said Drucilla, confirming for Alexandra that Drucilla had seen them on the street together.
"Yes. I thought she was after me, but I think she was actually looking for you." Alexandra looked around nervously.
"We're safe, for the moment," Drucilla said, without explaining how she knew this. "But we should hurry home. She'll be back. She or one of her colleagues. So did you tell her about our secret stash of Corpse Candles and Infernal Rum?"
"No," Alexandra said. She thought Drucilla was joking… but after her conversation with JJ, maybe not. "Um, I know where you can get some basilisk teeth."
Drucilla's eyes narrowed. "Come along, apprentice. I think you've seen enough of the town for one day."