Demonglass (18 page)

T
he sun was just beginning to rise when we reached the corn mill, which surprised me until I remembered that A) England has freakishly early sunrises in the summer, and B) we’d been gone nearly two hours. I was pretty sure I’d never been so wiped out in my entire life. I felt hollow and exhausted, and as I looked at Archer, almost unbearably sad. I tried to tell myself that it was just because I’d been nearly squished by the space-time continuum, but I knew that wasn’t it.

I think Archer was feeling something similar, because his hands shook slightly as he lifted the chain from around our necks. It hit the floor with a heavy thump, sending up a cloud of dust motes. They sparkled in the shaft of pale pink light that fell between us, looking surprisingly pretty for dirt.

Archer’s face was streaked with sweat, and there was a smudge above his left eyebrow, as well as a dark stain on his torso that was probably ghoul blood. I had a feeling I looked just as rough.

“Well,” he said at last, his voice slightly hoarse. “That was the worst first date I’ve ever been on.”

Despite being so tired that I thought I might dissolve right there on the grimy floor, I laughed. So did he, and once we started, it was like we couldn’t stop. I knew it was just that weird mix of relief and fatigue, but it felt so good to laugh with him, I didn’t care.

Tears dripped down my cheeks, and my sides ached, and for just a moment, I could forget I’d gotten myself involved in yet another potentially deadly mystery. I could forget that if anyone found out I had conspired with an Eye, I’d probably be killed in some sort of nasty, magical way.

But as I stood across from Archer, I couldn’t forget that I was completely, stupidly in love with the one person I could never have.

The laughter died on my lips, and I dashed at my eyes with the back of my hand. “I need to get back,” I said.

“Right,” he replied. He was still holding his sword in his right hand, and he twirled the hilt, the point scratching the wooden floor. “So this is it. We’re done.”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat. “And I have to say, the world’s first and last Eye-demon reconnaissance mission went pretty well.” It was a struggle to meet his eyes, but I managed it. “Thank you.”

He shrugged, his dark gaze full of something I couldn’t quite read. “We were a good team.”

“We were.” In more ways than one, I thought. Which is why this sucked so bad.

I stepped back. “Anyway, I should go. See ya, Cross.” Then I laughed, only it sounded suspiciously like another sob. “Except I won’t, will I? So I guess I should say goodbye.” I felt like I was about to shatter into a million tiny shards, like the mirrors I’d broken with Dad. “Okay, well, best of luck with the whole Eye thing, then. Try not to kill anyone I know.” I turned away, but he reached out and caught my wrist.

I could feel my pulse hammering under his fingers. “Mercer, that day in the cellar…” He searched my face, and I could sense him struggling for what he wanted to say. Then finally, “I didn’t kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to.” His eyes dropped to my lips, and it was like the whole world had shrunk to just me and him and the shaft of light between us. “I still want to,” he said hoarsely. He tugged my wrist and pulled me into his arms.

My brain registered the sound of his sword clattering to the ground as his other hand came up to grab the back of my neck, but once his lips were on mine, everything else faded away. I clutched at his shoulders, raising up on my tiptoes, and kissed him with everything I had in me. As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, so I didn’t know if the pounding heartbeat I felt was mine or his.

How stupid, I thought dreamily, to have ever thought I could give this up. Not just the kissing, although, as Archer’s hands cupped my face, I had to admit that part was pretty awesome. But all of it: joking with him and working beside him. Being with a guy who was my friend and could still make me feel like this.

“Oh, Mercer,” he murmured against my temple once we’d come up for air, “we are so screwed.”

I pressed my face against his neck, breathing him in. “I know.”

“So what do we do?”

Reluctantly, I tried to move away. It was hard to think when he was so close to me. “If we were good people, we’d never see each other again.”

His arms locked around my waist, pulling me back. “Okay, well, that’s not happening. Plan B?”

I smiled up at him, feeling ridiculously giddy for someone on the verge of ruining her entire life. “I don’t have one. You?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. But…look. I’ve spent basically my whole life pretending to be someone I’m not, faking some feelings, hiding others.” Reaching down, he clasped my hand and lifted it so that our joined hands were trapped between our chests. “This thing with us is the only real thing I’ve had in a long time.
You’re
the only real thing.” He raised our hands and kissed my knuckles. “And I’m done pretending I don’t want you.”

I had read a lot about swooning in the romance novels Mom had tried to hide from me, but I’d never felt in danger of doing it until now. Which was why a snarky comment was definitely called for.

“Wow, Cross. I think you missed your calling. Screw demon hunting: you should clearly be writing Hallmark cards.”

His face broke into that crooked grin that was maybe my favorite sight in the whole world. “Shut up,” he muttered before lowering his head and kissing me again.

“Why is it,” I said against his lips several moments later, “that we’re always kissing in gross, dirty places like cellars and abandoned mills?”

He laughed, pressing kisses to my jaw, then my neck. “Next time it’ll be a castle, I promise. This is England, after all. Can’t be too hard to find one.”

We didn’t talk for a long time after that, and when we finally managed to break apart, the light in the mill was slightly brighter. “I have to go,” I said, resting my head against Archer’s chest. It occurred to me that my cheek was probably right over his tattoo. Without thinking, I lifted my face and tugged at the neckline of his T-shirt. This time, the stark black-and-gold mark wasn’t hidden. No need for that spell anymore, I guess. Still, I covered it with my palm. Archer’s hands clutched reflexively on my waist. Our eyes met. “It doesn’t burn this time,” I whispered.

His breathing was ragged. “Beg to differ, Mercer.”

Magic was rushing through me, and when Archer covered my hand with his own, there was a little blue spark. Slowly, he moved my hand off his chest, then gripped both my shoulders. I thought he was going to kiss me again—and with the way we were feeling, there was a chance we might set the whole mill on fire—but instead, he gingerly pushed me away. “Okay,” he said, closing his eyes. “If you don’t go now, we’re…You should go now.”

Once we were several feet apart, the lust-fog cleared a little. “We still have no idea what we’re going to do.”

Archer opened his eyes and took a couple of steps backward. “Right now, you’re going to go back to Thorne and check in with your dad. I’m going to go back to my people and do the same. Then tomorrow night, we’ll meet here. You’ll stand over there”—he pointed at a corner—“and I’ll stand over
there
”—the complete opposite corner—“and there will be no physical contact until we’ve figured something out. Deal?” I smiled, even as I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from grabbing him again. “Deal. Midnight?”

“Perfect. So.” That grin again. “See ya, Mercer.”

Happiness flooded through me as warm and bright as sunlight. “See ya, Cross.”

T
he corn mill was just out of sight when reality sunk in. Now I knew that Archer wanted to be with me just as much as I wanted to be with him, but there was a lot of major stuff standing between us. Namely, the fact that basically everyone I knew wanted to kill him, and everyone he knew wanted to kill
me
. As far as obstacles went, that had to be the ultimate. And it wasn’t just what other people thought. I’d gotten kind of used to the idea of being head of the Council one day, and at Thorne, I’d felt less like a freak with crazy powers, and more like…well, someone useful. Valuable, even.

As soon as Archer and I went public, that would be gone.

I made my way through the garden maze, the tall hedges making deep shadows in front of me.

Also, there was Cal to think about.

I stumbled slightly at the thought of him. It’s not like I thought he’d be heartbroken or anything; Cal and I were friends, and sure, maybe he was a little interested in me, but I think that was just a result of the betrothal. I mean, hadn’t I tried to make myself crush on him just because it would be easier?

The closer I got to the house, the more my happy feelings began to deflate. The Eye was Archer’s family. And, I thought as Thorne Abbey loomed above me, the Council had become mine. I wasn’t willing to give that up. Was he?

Ugh. Why did I have to have so many thoughts? Why couldn’t I just be a normal girl and bask in the glow of finally knowing that the boy I wanted wanted me back?

I slipped in the back door, and as I did, one of the maids gave me a quick curtsy. Ah, right. Because I wasn’t a normal girl.

I had hoped to get back to my room without seeing anyone else, but I met Cal on the landing. Wonderful.

“Hey,” he said, taking in my disheveled appearance. “Why are you up so early?”

“Oh, I was just, you know, exercising.” I jogged in place for a second before realizing that I probably looked like a mental patient.

“Okaaay,” Cal said slowly, confirming my suspicions. “Well, I was about to go for a walk. You wanna come with?”

You couldn’t actually die from guilt, right? No matter how stabby it felt in your chest?

“I’m actually fitnessed out,” I told him. “But can we hang later?”

“Sure,” he agreed.

As I watched him walk away, I told myself it was stupid to feel bad about Cal. It’s not like he was going to be heartbroken when I called off our betrothal. Pissed, maybe, but not devastated. He didn’t like me like that. If he did, surely he would have made a move by now.

I walked up the rest of the stairs to my room, the house hushed around me. Opening my door, I flipped on the light and started to sigh with relief.

But the breath caught in my throat when I saw who was standing in the middle of my bedroom.

Elodie.

Well, her ghost, obviously. She was much more translucent than she’d been at Hex Hall, and I could barely see her, but it was definitely Elodie. Her red hair waved out from her face, and she floated several inches off the ground.

I was so shocked to see her that it took me a second to realize she was trying to say something.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in a harsh whisper. I’d never heard of a ghost leaving Hecate. As far as I knew, it was impossible.

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought she rolled her eyes. A horrible thought occurred to me: “Is this about Archer? Please don’t tell me you’re upset about us, because…I mean, you’re dead.”

She floated closer to me, until she was right in my face. At first I thought she was going to spit ectoplasm on me or something, but then I saw her lips moving again. I wasn’t an expert lip-reader, but she was close enough and speaking slowly enough that I was able to make out what she said. “I told you,” her pale lips mouthed, “that I’d haunt your ass.”

I stared at her mouth, horrified, as she smirked. And then, just like that, she was gone. The air near my face wafted slightly, like someone had just opened a window.

“I don’t need this!” I said to the empty room. “Seriously, plate? FULL.”

But there was no reply.

I’d planned on getting my nap on for most of the day, but instead, I ended up spending most of it in the library, researching ghosts and demons. It was not exactly the lightest reading, and none of it did me any good.

All the books on spirits and haunting said the same thing: ghosts are tied to the place where they died, not to people. As for
Demonologies: A History
, I was beginning to think it would have been better employed as a doorstop. There was nothing in there that shed any light on the Daisy/Nick situation.

I thought about asking them at dinner—quietly, and hopefully somewhere in private—if either of them had any weird memories that might correspond to what I’d seen at Hecate, but they didn’t show up in the dining room that night. I also couldn’t find them the next morning, which was weird. Missing dinner was one thing, but Nick and Daisy always showed up for breakfast. No one seemed that concerned about it, though. “You know those two,” Jenna said. “They’re probably off doing their weird Kurt and Courtney thing somewhere.”

Still, when they didn’t turn up for dinner again, I was worried. I hovered around the hallway where their rooms were until nearly ten that night, but there was no sign of them. I was still hanging around when Roderick found me to say that Dad was back.

“That was fast,” I said, following him inside, even as my stomach started doing jumping jacks. I had to tell Dad what I’d seen at Hecate, but I didn’t have a good excuse for how I’d come by that information. I’d thought I’d have a few more days to cultivate one.

By the time I crossed under the marble arch leading to Council Headquarters, my mouth was completely dry, and my knees felt wobbly.

I wanted nothing more than to flop into one of Dad’s leather chairs and tell him everything. For the first time, I understood why soldiers who go on dangerous missions have to be debriefed. I wanted to get the whole story out as quickly as possible, mostly so I could erase it from my memory. I thought again of that ghoul with the mismatched features, and was suddenly afraid I might hurl all over the diamond-patterned carpet.

But when I opened the door to Dad’s office, he wasn’t alone. Lara was in there, and even though they were speaking in low voices, the magic in the room was so intense it made me dizzy. They were both so busy glaring at each other that they didn’t even notice me standing there, which was good. It gave me a chance to study Lara. I knew I wasn’t going to figure out what she was up to just by reading her face; I seriously doubt there’s an expression that says, “So me and my sister are raising demons at Hecate Hall.” Still, I thought there might be some hint as to whether she already knew someone had found the demon spot.

But there was nothing. She was every bit as good at hiding her emotions as Mrs. Casnoff was. Must run in the family.

“So that’s it then,” Lara said, crossing her arms. “You’re not going to do anything.”

“What can I do,” Dad said in that deceptively calm voice, “if neither you nor Anastasia will tell me what exactly has happened at Graymalkin?”

Well, there was my answer. I’d known that Lara and Mrs. Casnoff had to have had something to do with whatever was going on at Hecate, but to have it confirmed like that still blew my mind. How? How could these women who worked so closely with Dad be up to something so heinous without his knowing?

“The school is our domain,” Lara snapped. “And so this is our affair.”

“And yet you ask for
my
help.”

Lara sprung forward suddenly, slamming her hand down on Dad’s desk. “There was an intruder on a forbidden part of the island, and the security system was compromised.” Another image of Archer’s sword slicing through a ghoul came to mind. Yeah, compromised was one word for it.

Suddenly she changed tactics. “You swore. You swore to my father that you would do everything in your power to protect Anastasia’s and my interests in Hecate.”

Even I could have told her that was a bad move. Dad just looked pissed. “Don’t bring him into this, Lara.”

Dad finally noticed me then, and as he looked over Lara’s shoulder at me, she whirled around. Immediately, her face softened, and she even smiled. Her eyes, however, were every bit as hard and shiny as the varnish on Dad’s desk.

“Sophie, there you are! Where have you been the past few days? We’ve hardly seen you.”

“A-around?” I stuttered, inwardly cringing. Oh, that was an awesome alibi. “Dad gave me a bunch of reading to do. Am I interrupting something?”

Lara waved her hand. “Just some boring Council business. Nothing that concerns you.” She glanced at Dad. “We can finish talking about all this later. I’ll leave the two of you to chat.” As she left the office, she patted my hand in that familiar way she always did. It took everything I had in me not to wince away from her touch.

The door clicked behind her, and I gave a sigh of relief. Dad gestured for me to sit. Once I had, he said, “I’m afraid my trip wasn’t quite as successful as I’d hoped. Aislinn Brannick continues to—”

“They’re raising demons at Hex Hall,” I blurted out. “I went there the other day—I took the Itineris—and I saw it myself. That’s where it’s happening, and six students have disappeared from the school in the past eighteen years. Two of them were Anna and Chaston, the girls Alice attacked last year.” It felt good getting it all out like that. It didn’t give me time to be scared that there were holes in my story.

Dad just stared at me like I’d started speaking Greek. Of course, Dad probably spoke Greek, so maybe it was more like I was talking Martian. In any case, he looked equal parts freaked out and confused.

“What?”

I made myself slow down as I went back through the story, leaving out Archer’s part in it, of course. I told Dad that I’d remembered seeing something weird at Hecate, so I’d gone back to check it out, then described the pit, the rock in the middle, even the ghouls.

By the time I was finished, Dad looked older and sadder than I’d ever seen him. “None of this makes any sense.”

“I’m beginning to think I should make that the title of my autobiography.”

“Lara and Anastasia are two of my most trusted allies,” he said, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “Why on earth would they be behind all this?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. Is there any way to check and see if Nick and Daisy were ever at Hecate? They must have had different names or you’d remember them.”

I don’t know why I was holding out hope that Dad would be all, “Why, yes, let me check the Hecate Enrollment Roster 9000 computer database.” Those lists were probably written on pieces of parchment with quill feathers. Still, I was disappointed when Dad shook his head and said, “No, Anastasia keeps all those records. And if what you say about Anna’s and Chaston’s parents is true, then Nick’s and Daisy’s own families would never have reported them missing.”

Dad got that faraway look in his eyes, the one that said he was about to go in search of really ancient books and cryptic passages. Sure enough, he got up from his desk and walked over to his bookshelf.

He pulled out one of those giant leather tomes he was so fond of and started paging through it, so I decided I was dismissed. Fine by me. I heaved myself out of the chair and shuffled for the door.

Just as I turned the knob, Dad said, “Sophia.”

“Yeah?”

When I looked back at him, he said. “I’m very proud of you for what you did. I have no idea what the far-reaching consequences of your actions may be, but—”

I held up my hand. “Let’s leave it at the proud part for now, okay, Dad?”

Especially since a lot of that pride would probably dissolve once he found out about Archer, I thought with a pang of sadness.

He smiled. “Very well. Good night.”

“Night, Dad.”

I walked out into the lobby. It was nearly empty, for once, except for the two vampire guards standing watch. The whole house seemed quiet as I walked down the massive staircase. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was nearly eleven. Less than an hour until I was supposed to meet Archer, and I had no idea what I would say to him when—

“Sophie?”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Daisy standing at the top of the stairs, just inside the archway. There was something weird about her posture: her hands were clenched at her sides, and her head was tilted slightly to the right. Her face was blank. Alarm bells clanged in my head, but I raised my arm in a halfhearted wave. “There you are,” I said, as I backed up. “We haven’t seen you—”

I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence. Daisy started moving toward me, and then I noticed her eyes.

There was nothing human in them.

Everything seemed to slow down as nearly every hair on my body stood on end. I had seen eyes like that before, and I knew what they meant.

I raised my hands, and despite my fatigue, the magic came, clean and pure. I thought of Mom, and with one flick of my wrist, sent a burst of power crashing into Daisy’s shoulder. I didn’t want to hurt her, just slow her down. But even though she stumbled on the steps, she kept coming.

“Dad!” I yelled, even though I knew he couldn’t hear me.