Ritual Magic

the sort of things you’re used to wearing.”
    “They’re pretty, but they aren’t . . . they just . . . I don’t know how to be an old woman!” All at once she felt horridly close to tears.
    “Then don’t try. You don’t have to make yourself fit what you think your body says about you.” This smile wasn’t
oh, geez
, but it wasn’t happy, either. “You may want to get some different clothes later. Are you hungry? The kitchen’s out of commission right now, but we’ve got—”
    A ridiculously loud noise interrupted her. “What’s that?” Julia had to raise her voice to be heard.
    “I think it’s the wet saw. They use it to cut tiles. Rule did tell you that the house is a disaster area, didn’t he? We’re having a lot of work done. Most of the work’s downstairs, but they’ll be up here, too, trying to get at least one of the bathrooms finished. That’s why you don’t get eggs this morning. No kitchen. But we’ve got croissants and fruit and cereal and bacon.”
    “How do you fix bacon if the kitchen isn’t working?”
    “In the microwave. Um . . . I guess microwaves are new to you.”
    “I’ve heard of them,” she said, indignant. “That’s another word for electronic oven, isn’t it?”
    “I don’t know. Want to see how it works?”
    “I guess.” Some bacon would be good, too. Her stomach didn’t feel icky anymore, but it did feel empty. “I need to get dressed. There, uh, there seems to be a lot of people here.”
    “Grandmother is staying with us, too, and her companion, Li Qin. They’re still asleep. You met Grandmother.”
    Julia nodded. “She said to call her that, even though she isn’t my grandmother.”
    “Then you probably should.”
    “That’s okay. I kind of like her.” For one thing, Grandmother was really old—even older than Julia’s body, which made her feel less of a freak. Plus, she made Julia feel steadier. Not the way Mr. Turner did, but it was like you knew you could count on her. She’d boss you around a lot, but you could count on her. “I thought I heard Mr. Turner talking to another man, too.”
    “That would probably be Scott. He’s one of the guards. Did he explain why we have guards?”
    Julia’s eyes were big. “Guards? Does it have something to do with him being . . . uh, I think I’m not supposed to say werewolf.”
    “They prefer to be called lupi. He told you about that?”
    “Sam did. He didn’t tell me about any guards, though.”
    “Rule is the Rho of one lupus clan. That means he’s their leader. He’s also sort of the assistant Rho for another clan. Rhos always have guards. You don’t seem upset about him being lupus.”
    Julia shook her head. When she thought about Mr. Turner being able to turn into a wolf it made her feel like when she stood in line for the roller coaster. As if something exciting was going to happen, even if she wasn’t sure if she’d like it. But it didn’t upset her.
    “I guess I’d better let you get dressed.” Miss Yu—Lily—moved to the door, but then stopped with her hand on the doorknob and looked at Julia. Her face said there was more she wanted to say, but instead she shook her head and smiled in that I’m-making-myself-smile way and left, closing the door behind her.
    Julia didn’t go to the bed and get her clothes. She grabbed the almost-empty glass, drank the last of the water, and went to the door. She put the glass on the door and her ear on the bottom of the glass. She used to do this at Mequi’s door when her sister and her friends were giggling about boys. You could learn a lot that way.
    On the other side of the door, Lily Yu dragged in a deep breath that broke in the middle, like when you’re trying not to cry. Then Mr. Turner said something quietly, but he was close enough that Julia heard him
.
“Was it as hard as you feared?”
    “Yes. How did you trick me into doing that, anyway?”
    “I didn’t.”
    “I was pretty fuzzy last night, but I remember enough. You tricked me.”
    “No, but I did expect you to change your mind. You’re not very good at refusing to deal with things,
nadia
. It took everything I had to persuade you to stop dealing with every damn thing long enough to get some sleep.”
    “
That
was the trick.”
    “Mmm,” he said, which was not an answer but seemed to satisfy Lily Yu, who didn’t sound mad when she said she had to go if she was going to stop by the hospital first to check on Nettie. They moved away from the