As soon as our lips met, I was glad I had my back against the door. My knees were in definite danger of failing me. Archer wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tighter as I clutched the front of his shirt and poured all that I’d been feeling for the past few weeks into the kiss-the despair I’d felt when I’d thought he was dead, the relief I felt now, pressed between him and the cellar door.
When we finally parted, I rested my forehead on his collarbone and took deep breaths. It was a few moments before I was capable of speech. “I though you said we’d do this ‘later.’”
He kissed my temple. “It’s been like, twenty minutes. That counts as later.”
Chuckling, I raised my head to look at him. “I kind of missed you.”
Even though it was dark, I could see him smile. “I kind of missed you, too.”
“I should probably get upstairs now.”
“You probably should,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to mine.
By the time I finally made it up to Jenna’s and my room, I was practically skipping.
But as soon as I walked through the door, my happy feelings evaporated so quickly, I practically heard the pop.
“Oh, man,” I said softly. “Why do I keep being surprised when everything turns out gross and depressing?”
Jenna was sitting in the middle of her bed. “I thought the window was the worst,” she said quietly. “Or, you know. Evan getting eaten. But now I really feel like crying.”
Our room had never been what anyone would call luxurious, but thanks to Jenna’s obsessive love for pink, it had been…okay, I was going to say “comfortable” but “bright” and “maybe a little insane” were probably better descriptions. Still, it had been ours, and I’d never really realized how much Jenna’s lights, scarves, and Electric Raspberry comforter had made that tiny dorm room feel like home.
Do you think Archer is right about everyone here being de-magicked? Or maybe the fog, like, made his and Evan’s magic…de-magic.”
Crossing over to the closet, I sighed and said, “I’m betting the kids here are de-magicked, but it doesn’t really matter.” I flung open the closet. Just as I’d thought, the only things hung up inside where Hex Hall uniforms. “I’m pretty much de-magicked myself these days,” I said to Jenna over my shoulder. “Also, maybe we should stop saying de-magicked. It’s starting to sound weird.”
She sat up straighter. “What?”
“You know, when you say things too much, and-“
“Sophie,” Jenna said, tilting her head and frowning at me.
Sighing, I sat down on my own bed, facing her. “Thanks to some mojo from the Council, I’m currently powerless.”
Her expression softening, Jenna breathed, “Oh, Soph. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” I told her. “My powers aren’t gone gone. They’re still bumping around in here, but I can’t use them unless I touch this particular-whoa.”
“What?”
I crossed the room to grip the footboard of Jenna’s bed. “There’s this spell in the Throne family grimoire. If I touch it, my powers will be restored. And Dad was sure the Casnoffs had the grimoire. It might be here, Jenna.” I let go of her bed to pace as my magic pounded inside me. “If we find it, I could be demoning up the place by dinnertime.
Because if I’m gonna get to the bottom of whatever is going on here, I’m definitely going to need my vampire sidekick.”
Jenna snorted and tossed her hair. “Whatever. You’re obviously the sidekick. With that hair, and all the sarcastic remarks?”
“Hmmm,” I said, pretending to think it over. “And you do have a way more angsty backstory.”
Jenna waved her hand. “Exactly. Vampire for the win!”
We laughed again. Then I glanced out the window. The gray sky was already darkening, and the fog that surrounded the house seemed to slither.
Jenna had gotten quiet. “What do you think is going to happen to us?”
The first thing that came to mind was “Nothing good,” but instead I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, “We’re going to be fine. Think of all the stuff we’ve already been through. You think a little killer fog is gonna get in our way? Ha!”
Jenna didn’t look convinced, but she did say, “I’m not sure if you’re confident or delusional, but thanks anyway.
This isn’t going to be good, is it?” Jenna whispered.
“Maybe the special purpose involves us eating brownies?” I suggested. “Or, like, wrangling unicorns? That may actually be possible.”
Jenna studied me. “You must be really freaked out.
You must know something.”
“And why is Archer Cross here?” That was from Jenna. His voice had apparently changed over the summer, since he actually said the words instead of squeaking them. “He’s an Eye.”
“Didn’t he try to kill you?” Nausicaa had drifted up, and she narrowed her eyes at me. “And if so, why exactly were you holding his hand earlier?”
Conversations like this usually ended in pitchforks and torches, so I held my hands out in what I hoped was an “everyone just calm the heck down” gesture. But then Jenna spoke up. “Sophie doesn’t know anything,” she said, nudging my behind her. That might’ve been more effective if Jenna weren’t so short. “And whatever reason we’re here, the Council had nothing to do with it.” Jenna didn’t add that that was because the entire Council, with the exception of Lara Casnoff and my dad, was dead. “She’s just freaked out as the rest of us, so back. Off.” From the expressions on the other kids’ faces, I guessed Jenna had bared her fangs, and maybe even given a flash of red eyes.
“What’s going on here?” a familiar voice brayed. Great. Like this night didn’t suck out loud enough already. The Vandy-who had been a cross between school matron and prison guard at Hex Hall-shoved her way through the crowd, breathing hard. Her purple tattoos, marks of the Removal, were nearly black against her red face. “Downstairs, now!” As the group began moving again, she glared at Jenna and me. “Show your fangs again, Miss Talbot, and I’ll wear them as earrings. Is that understood?”
Jenna may have muttered, “Yes, ma’am,” but her tone said something totally different. We jogged down the stairs to join the rest of the students lining up to go into the ballroom. “At least one thing at Hex Hall hasn’t changed,” Jenna said.
“Yeah, apparently the Vandy’s powers of bitchery are a constant. I find that comforting.”
Less comforting was the creeptasticness of the school at night. During the day, it had just been depressing. Now that it was dark, it was full-on sinister. The old-fashioned gas lamps on the walls had once burned with a cozy, golden light. Now, a noxious green glow sputtered inside the milky glass, throwing crazy shadows all over the place.
I know ‘What’s Going On?’ has practically become a catchphrase around here,” I said to Jenna, “but seriously. What is going on?
Rachel HawkinsWell, we know the plan now,” Jenna said. “Any counter plans?”
“Stop the Casnoffs from raising a demon army, save everybody, and get the heck off this island. Then maybe we’ll have a party or something. You know, to celebrate how awesome we are.”
“Sounds solid enough,” Archer said, bumping my shoulder with his. “Any idea how exactly we’re supposed to do any of that?”
The greenish lights in the ballroom winked out, and I sighed. “None.
Are broken windows a new decorating theme around here?” Archer asked, coming up behind Jenna and me and poking his head into the parlor.
“So it would seem,” I said. I was still looking outside when a faint light appeared in the gloom. It took me a minute to realize that it was from Cal’s cabin. Was someone out there? Was Cal out there?
But just as quickly as it had appeared, the light went out again. Frowning, I turned from the doorway, and I went to slip my arm through Archer’s. Then I remembered what Nausicaa had said earlier. Now wasn’t exactly the best time for PDA, probably.
The three of us trailed behind everyone else into the ballroom. Here, at least, things looked more or less the same. Of course, the ballroom had always been one of the more bizarre rooms at Hex Hall, so that didn’t say much. Still, I was relieved to see the familiar jumble of tables and chairs and not, like, tree stumps or whatever.
They were all the same size, but when you put them on, the clothes shifted and slid until they fit. The uniforms were apparently the same, because as Jenna slipped into the skirt, the hem brushed her shins, only to slither back up her body until the skirt fell just below her knees.
“I don’t know if that’s convenient or creepy,” she said, inspecting her legs.
Shoving off the covers, I got out of bed and went to get my own uniform. “Let’s go with creepy, shall we?”
Jenna pulled on her blazer, and I noticed she was chewing her lower lip, obviously thinking something over.
“You know, that’s a dangerous habit for a vampire,” I told her, nodding at her mouth.
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