The long flight from Georgia to England had been pretty uneventful. Except that Cal had sat next to me.
Which was fine.Really.
It wasn't like I'd been hyperware of his presence and jumped the three times his knee bumped mine. And after that third time, he definitely hadn't shot me a kind of disgusted look and said, "Chill out, will you?"
And when Jenna gave us both a quizzical look,we hadn't snapped, in unison, "Nothing!" Because all of that would have been weird, and Cal and I weren't weird. We were cool.
"You'll feel better soon," Dad said. For the first time since I'd met him, his eyes were bright and he actually looked relaxed. I guess being back in the motherland will do that to a guy.
Mrs. Casnoff made me write a statement to the Council a few weeks after it happened. Everything's in there."
"I read that. And neither I,nor the rest of the Council, believe it contains the entire truth."
I made a sound that I'd like to say was a cry of indignant, but it was actually closer to a bleat. Probably because Dad was right: that stupid statement didn't even begin to touch the whole truth.
"Your entanglement with Archer Cross-"
"We were never entangled," I spluttered.
They have statues," Jenna said. "In a hallway." Sure enough, two bronze statues of veiled women guarded the massive staircase, where even more people were now lining up. They were all wearing black uniforms, and had nearly identical smiles plastered on their faces.
"What are those people doing?" Jenna whispered to me.
"I don't know," I replied through a frozen grin, "but I'm afraid a musical number might be involved."
"This is our household staff," Dad said, sweeping his arm toward the group. "Anything you need, they'll be happy to help you with."
"Oh," I said weakly, feeling like my voice echoed in the cavernous room. "Great.
Well,if there's nothing else you ladies need in the library, Sophie, would you care to accompany me on a walk about the grounds?"
I wondered if there were ever times when Dad didn't sound like he'd just escaped from a Jane Austen novel.
So did The Eye come here tonight looking for me?"
"Actually, we came because we heard it was free corn dog night. Imagine our disappointment."
I jerked my head to look at him. That was a mistake. We were already so close that turning to face him meant our noses were about an inch apart. So I craned my back away and addressed my words to the street. "The last time we saw each other, you pulled a knife on me. So if you could spare the banter, that'd be great." Of course, the last time we saw each other, we'd also shared a kiss so hot it nearly set my hair on fire,but I wasn't about to bring that up.
Here"-she handed me the coffee-"I was just bringing this up to you."
"Oh,wow,that's really nice of you," I replied, mentally adding Lara to my list of People Who Are Awesome. At Hex Hall, we were practically blasted out of bed in the morning by an alarm that was somewhere between a foghorn and the baying of hell hounds. People bringing you coffee in bed was a way nicer way to wake up.
I've loved this house from the moment I set eyes on it," Dad said quietly.
"I just wish it were a little bigger," I said. "I need at least five hundred bedrooms to keep from feeling cramped, you know?
It sounds dumb, but one of the first things I'd thought of was that I'd look like the Vandy: covered in swirling purple markings, even on my face. It wouldn't be an easy thing to explain away in the human world, but I was hoping "crazy spring break" might work.
Rachel HawkinsI didn't stay just for you."
I kept my eyes down. "Right.Of course you didn't.Duh."
His foot nudged mine under the table, and I finally looked up at him. He was leaning forward, his face intense. "I mean it. I like Graymalkin. I like being close to the ocean and working outside. Working for the Council would've meant..." He sighed, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. "Offices and planes. And wearing a tie. It wasn't for me."
"Cal,it's fine," I insisted, even as my cheeks burned. "I didn't actually think you were hanging out at Hex Hall because of your burning love for me. But that's what I'm telling all the girls back at school," I said, stabbing a forkful of eggs. "I'm thinking 'heartbreaker' might be a nice addition to my 'avenging witch' reputation.
I wondered if there were any rooms in all of Thorne Abbey that wouldn't leave me gawking in wonder at the doorway.
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