If she thought I was about to do the whole “have a conversation with the villain” thing, she was dead wrong. I raised one hand while the other reached into my waistband for the grimoire. One super magical destructo-blast coming up.
Rachel HawkinsJenna went to take my hand, but I stood up and gave her my best “Everything Is Fine, No, Really, It Is” smile.
Rachel HawkinsI stood in the doorway, taking that image in: a Brannick, cooking breakfast for two demons. Who could have imagined that?
Nick saw me and grinned. Well, tried to. Like me-heck, like all of us-he still had that haunted look in his eyes that made friendly expressions seem sad. “’Morning, Sophia. I saved you a slice of bacon. You too, Jenna,” he said, glancing over my shoulder. His eyes flicked to my other side. “Sorry, cuz, you’re out of luck.”
Archer gave a little snort of amusement, but there was still something wary in the set of his shoulders as he moved into the kitchen. He also took the chair farthest away from Nick when he sat down. I wasn’t sure Archer and Nick could ever have anything approaching a normal relationship, but that was probably to be expected. After all, Nick’s parents had murdered Archer’s, and Nick had tried to kill Archer not once, but twice.
That would definitely make for awkward family reunions in the future.
It also didn’t help that the people who Archer considered family were now determined to kill him, too.
Yes, the island is still there. Yes, we found Nick and Daisy and can bring them here. Yes, The Eye has put a price on Archer’s head that could buy a small island.”
That last bit Archer had taken pretty hard. Apparently, his little squad of Eyes had gone back to tell their boss lady that Archer had used some kind of magical artifact to put a compulsion spell on them. That was the only reason they’d fought for Prodigium.
“Is that true?” I’d asked Archer. His eyes had slid away from mine, and he’d given an exaggerated shrug.
I took that as a yes.
I was just about to get up when Dad rushed into the kitchen. He was in pajamas, which was totally bizarre. Dad never came down to breakfast until he was completely dressed. Of course, his pajamas even had a little pocket and handkerchief, so maybe he felt dressed.
He had a sheet of paper in his hands and was staring at it, his eyes wide.
“James,” Aislinn acknowledged. “You’re up kind of late this morning. Is Grace sleeping in, too?”
Dad glanced up, and I could swear he blushed. :”Hmm? Oh. Yes. Well. In any case. Um…to the point at hand.”
“Leave Dad alone,” I told Aislinn. “His Britishness is short-circuiting.” Instead of being grossed out, I was weirdly happy at the thought of my parents being all…whatever (okay, I was a little grossed out). In fact, their apparent reconciliation was maybe the one good thing to come out of this whole mess. Well, that and saving the world, obviously.
Dad shook his head and held out the papers. “I didn’t come down here to discuss my personal…relations. I came here because this arrived from the Council this morning.
I sat back in my chair. “The Council? Like, the Council Council? But they don’t even exist anymore. Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe it’s the Council For What Breakfast Cereals You Should-“
“Sophia,” Dad said, stopping me with a look.
“Sorry. Freaked out.”
He gave a little smile. “I know that, darling. And to be perfectly honest, perhaps you should be.”
He handed the papers to me, and I saw it was some kind of official letter. It was addressed to Dad, but I saw my name in the first paragraph. I laid it on the table so no one would see my hands shake. “Did this come by owl?” I muttered. “Please tell me it came-“
“Sophie!” nearly everyone in the kitchen shouted. Even Archer was exasperated, “Come on, Mercer.”
I took a deep breath and started to read. When I got about halfway down the page, I stopped, my eyes going wide, my heart racing. I looked back at Dad. “Are they serious?”
“I believe that they are.”
I read the words again. “Holy hell weasel.
Can I ask you guys something?” No one nodded, but I kept going anyway. “Why did you pick me? I mean, sure, I’m a demon, but so is Nick. Why not ask him? Is it because of the whole ‘He Once Went Crazy And Killed A Bunch Of People’ thing?”
The green-winged faerie stared at me. “That is a large part of it, yes.
It looks better. I mean, it’s still creepy as hell, but it’s back to its regular level of creepy.
Rachel HawkinsNervous?”
“Nah,” I replied, but since I bleated it like a sheep, I doubt she was convinced.
The newly formed Council all rose to their feet as I entered the room, but I immediately raised my hands. “Oh, God, please don’t do that. I’m freaked out enough as it is.”
One of the faeries, a huge man with emerald green wings, frowned at me. “But as heir presumptive to the Head of the Council, you’re afforded a certain degree of respect.”
“I can feel respected with you all sitting down. Honestly.
So you’re going to be the Big Boss Lady?”
I opened my mouth to make some quippy comment, but nothing came. So I just said, “Yeah. I am.”
She gave a little nod. “You’ll be good at it. But if you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll kill you.”
I chuckled. “Fair enough.” For a long moment, I watched her watching the house. And then, very quietly, I said, “If you’re ready for me to…I don’t know, set you free or whatever, I can now. At least I think I can.”
Elodie turned to me, her feet hovering just off the ground. “Where would I go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you…” She trailed off, and if I hadn’t known Elodie better, I would’ve sworn nervousness crossed her face. Then her lips moved so quickly that I couldn’t make out any of the words.
“Whoa, slow down. My lip-reading skills aren’t that great.”
She drifted closer. “I said, if you’re staying at Hex Hall, then…I want to stay, too.”
I blinked. “For real? You want to stay tethered to me for all eternity? Because if you think for one second I’m letting you in my body again, you’ve got another think coming.”
“I don’t want to be in your body anymore,” she said, before screwing her face up. “That sounded gross. Anyway, I just want to stay here. For now.”
“Why?”
She threw up her hands. “Because you’re my friend, okay? Because helping you and your loser crew these past few weeks has been…I don’t know, fun. And way more fun than I thought I could have dead.”
I was weirdly touched.
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