"I hadn't thought about that."He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Curiouser and curiouser."
Startled, I glanced at him. "I say that sometimes."
Even with his face tight with worry, Dad managed to look a little amused. "It's from Alice in Wonderland. Appropriate, don't you think?"
Yeah, except that our rabbit hole was a heck of a lot darker, I thought.
I pretended to study the bookcase in the far corner. I'd expected boring books about Prodigium history or shifter economy, and there were a few of those, but I also noticed some recent fiction, as wel as several Roald Dahl books. Dad went up in my estimation another notch.
"Do you think whoever-or whatever-raised Daisy and Nick had that piece of paper?"
"They would've had to."
I turned back to him. "And that's bad."
"Worse than bad."He leaned forward. "Sophie, Virginia Thorne raised a demon to use as a weapon. I can only think that whoever raised Nick and Daisy had similar motives."
I blew out a breath. "Dad, this is a total cluster...um, a mess."
He flashed me a wry smile. "I think the word you were about to use is probably the best summation of the current situation."
"So what do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do right now except wait and see how it al plays out."
I tapped my fingernail. I'd never been very good at concealing my emotions, and fear was practical y making my internal organs shake. Whoever had that ritual could technical y raise a whole army of demons if they wanted to. And if Prodigium had that on their side in a war against The Eye? I fought back the image of Archer lying broken and bloody at the feet of some demon, of al that horror spil ing out into the human world as it had before. Trying to keep my voice light, I said, "Wel , waiting is lame-sauce."
"I'm not sure I know what that means, exactly, but I think I share the sentiment."Dad put the grimoire back in his desk, closing the drawer with a soft click.
I hoisted myself out of the chair. "Dad, do you real y think finding out who did this can stop a war from coming?"
"I don't know,"he said quietly. He was looking at me, but I got the feeling he wasn't real y seeing me. "I hope so."
As far as reassurances went, it wasn't great, but it would have to do.
I was almost to the door when Dad said, "Before you go, Sophie, would you tel me why you've been carrying a Saint Anthony's medal ion in your pocket for the past two days?"
"Huh?"Then I remembered the coin Archer had given me. Reluctantly, I pul ed it out of my pocket and handed it to Dad. "It's just something I found.
How did you know I had it?"
He turned it over in his fingers. "I could sense the magic."He glanced up at me. "Saint Anthony's medal ions are very powerful objects. Witches and warlocks used them in the Middle Ages, usual y if they were travel ing. You could give them to someone and use them to telepathical y show your location. Very useful if you got lost or captured, both of which happened quite often in those days."He flicked it back at me. "I'm actual y not surprised you found one. We have dozens in the cel ar at Hecate."
Wel , that explained it, then. Secret demon hunter and thief. Man, did I know how to pick 'em.
I entertained the idea of going back to bed, but when I opened the door to my room, I discovered Nick and Daisy waiting for me. Nick was holding the picture of my mom, while Daisy lounged on my bed, flipping through my copy of The Secret Garden.
"Is this your mom?"Nick asked. "She's a hottie."
While Nick no longer set my teeth on edge, I stil wasn't crazy about him-or Daisy for that matter-pawing through my stuff. "What do you guys want?"
Nick whistled through his teeth as he placed the photograph back on my nightstand. "We were just coming to check on you. Heard you got hurt doing a spel today."
"Oh,"I said. "Uh...yeah, I was practicing with Dad. But I'm fine now."
Throwing himself down on the bed next to Daisy, Nick folded his arms behind his head. "Ah, yes, al the breathing and focusing stuff."
"Such a waste of time,"Daisy murmured, tracing her finger over an il ustration of Mary Lennox wandering the hal s of Misselthwaite.
I let that go. "Wel , as you can see, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me."
Nick made quite the production of getting off the bed. "I think we're being dismissed, my love,"he said to Daisy before pul ing her to her feet.
"But we didn't get to talk to Sophie about the party,"she said, a hint of whine in her voice.
"What party?"I asked.
Nick smiled. "Your birthday party. Apparently, the Council is throwing quite the shindig."
Thanks to al the moving around Mom and I had done, I hadn't had a birthday party since I was eight years old. That had been at Chuck E. Cheese.
Something told me the Council had something more elaborate in mind.
"They don't need to do that,"I said, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Especial y with al that's going on right now."
Nick flashed me a wolfish grin. "That's Prodigium for you. Very 'fiddle while Rome burns.'"
Daisy looped her arm through his. "Besides, it'l be fun. They'l go al out for-"She broke off suddenly, and her smile turned into a grimace of pain.
Al the blood seemed to drain from her face, turning her ivory skin ashen. She dropped her head, and Nick caught her elbow.
"Daisy?"
Her hands clutched the footboard of my bed, and she took several deep shuddering breaths. Then she raised her head and opened her eyes. I half expected them to be violet-red, like Alice's had been the night she'd kil ed Elodie, but they were her usual light green. "I'm fine,"she said, but her voice was tight. "Just a little...magic flare-up. Nothing to worry about."
Nick's face creased with worry, but Daisy waved him off. "I'm fine,"she said again, steering him toward the door. "Now let's let Sophie get some rest. She looks a bit rough."
I couldn't have looked any worse than Daisy, but I didn't say anything as she and Nick left. Only once they were gone did I catch that familiar scent of burning wood in the air. But this time, it was no hal ucination.
There, in the footboard of my bed, were two singed and smoking handprints.
For the next three weeks, I kept a closer eye on Nick and Daisy. There were no more "magic flare-ups,"but it seemed like both of them were drinking more than normal, and every time they sat in on "demon yoga"with me and Dad, they ended up leaving early. After one of the lessons, Dad gave them a copy of Demonologies: A History. I found it later, stuffed in a tal brass urn.
A couple of days before Vix was supposed to leave, Lara drove Jenna, Cal, Vix, and me into London-Dad put the kibosh on any more Itineris travel-and I final y got to do al the touristy stuff. When we went to the Tower of London, Lara gave us these little brochures that talked about the Prodigium history of the place, like how Anne Boleyn was real y a dark witch (no surprise there), and that one of Queen Victoria's grandsons had been held in the White Tower after becoming a vampire.
It was a fun day, I guess. I mean, there was fish-and-chips, and a ride on one of those double-decker buses. But going to London made me realize how accustomed I'd gotten to only ever being around Prodigium. Hex Hal was super isolated, obviously, and so was Thorne. It had been nearly a year since I'd been around humans, and I was surprised by how nervous I felt. I kept waiting for someone to notice the weird brochures, or Vix's and Jenna's bloodstones, and realize what we real y were. It was an unsettling sensation, and I wondered if that's how other Prodigium felt al the time.
So I breathed a sigh of relief when our car turned down the gravel drive later that evening.
Our next trip to London came two days before my birthday. Not only did we have to take Vix back to the airport, but also Jenna, Nick, Daisy, and I had an appointment at Lysander's, a super-posh boutique. Lysander was a faerie, but he kept his shop glamoured so the rich human women who shopped there didn't know it. This day, however, the store was closed to everyone but us.
"The costume is great,"I said to Lysander, "but a crown? Real y?"
He glared at me, his black wings beating. I'd only been in his shop for thirty minutes, but I was pretty sure the guy already hated me. "It was my understanding that you were to go dressed as the goddess of witchcraft, and Hecate wears a crown."
"It's not real y a crown, Soph,"Jenna offered from her spot on a nearby white satin settee. "It's more like a tiara."She had her chin in her hand, and there was practical y a little black rain cloud over her head. We had taken Vix to the airport, so Jenna was Sulky McSulkerton. Nick sat next to her, with Daisy on the other side. They'd tried on their costumes earlier, and while they'd both looked great-Nick in a white doublet, flowy shirt, and black pants; Daisy in a simple column of purple silk-I had no idea who they were supposed to be.
"Lysander's right,"Lara added. She was sitting in a chair, her legs demurely crossed at the ankles. "The crown is an essential part of the costume.
And besides, it looks lovely."
I turned around on the little raised platform and studied myself in the three-way mirror. It had been Lara's idea that my birthday party be "fancy dress."At first I'd assumed that meant black tie, kind of like the Al Hal ow's Eve Bal back at Hex Hal . But apparently in England, fancy dress means costume party.
It has also been Lara's idea that I go as Hecate, as a nod to the school. I thought that was kind of crappy-it made me feel like I was Hex Hal 's mascot or something-but Dad liked it, and since he was the one footing the bil for this whole thing, Hecate it was.
Stil , as I took in my reflection, I couldn't help but wish I'd put up a little bit more of a fight. It wasn't that the costume wasn't gorgeous. Lysander was the go-to guy when Prodigium needed fancy clothes, and he had certainly outdone himself on this dress. It was made of a shimmery black fabric that sparkled with silver in the right light, and despite it covering pretty much every bit of me except for my shoulders, it was undeniably sexy.
And then there was the crown.
Jenna could cal it a tiara al she wanted, but it was a filigree band of platinum topped with a diamond and sapphire crescent moon, and it definitely felt crownlike.
I fought the urge to pul at the dress where it fastened around my neck. "It's beautiful,"I said for what had to be the third time. "It's just awful y...
elaborate."
Lysander made a disgusted sound and threw up his hands. "It should be elaborate! You're meant to be a goddess!"
I had no idea how to reply to that, but Nick saved me. Leaping to his feet, he said, "And you do look like a goddess, Sophie."He took my hand and pul ed me off the platform, spinning me. "See? Embrace your goddessness."
Nick may have been a weirdo and a half, but I chuckled.
Then he pul ed me to him like we were going to dance, and the laugh died in my throat. For an instant, al I could see was another dance, another dress, another dark-haired boy holding me, and the sudden pain that lanced through me caught me by surprise. Before I could stop myself, I raised a hand to his chest and pushed him away.
An awkward silence descended over the room. Lara discreetly cleared her throat and said, "Nick, Daisy, why don't you come with me and let Jenna and Sophie get changed? Lysander, we can discuss your payment."