Demonglass (7 page)

M
y heartbeat pounded in my ears. I quickly put my fork down so that no one would see that my hands were shaking. But I met Nick’s gaze across the table and said, “No. I’m not. But we were friends. He had a girlfriend, Elodie Parris. She was one of the girls killed by a demon at Hecate.”

My words hung in the air for a minute while Nick and I stared each other down. He broke first. “Okay, well good, then,” he said, his voice jovial. “Glad we got that cleared up. Just wanted to be sure your boyfriend wouldn’t be dropping by with any of his buddies.” He smiled at me, and it was easily one of the scariest things I’d ever seen.

Roderick cleared his throat. “Nick, please remember your manners,” he said. “Sophie is our guest.”

“I’m just making conversation, Rod,” Nick said. “After all, involvement with The Eye is something me and Sophie have in common.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh, just that they tried to kill me too.” He leaned back in his chair and tugged his shirt up, revealing a vicious purple scar that snaked from his waistband to just below his sternum.

Everyone at the table was deathly silent, and next to me, Daisy shuddered.

“I was fifteen when they found me. Living in a foster home in Georgia, not knowing why I could make things happen with my mind. Not knowing much of anything, for that matter.”

“Nick doesn’t remember anything before he was thirteen,” Daisy interjected, her voice so quiet I could barely hear her.

Nick nodded. “I was homeless for a while, but then the great state of Georgia took me in. Shuffled me off to the Hendricksons’ house.” He snorted. “Which ended up really sucking for the Hendricksons. The Eye killed all four of them while they were trying to kill me.”

“How did you get away?” Jenna asked. Her shoulders were tense, and I know she was remembering her own escape from The Eye.

Nick shot another look at me. “Used my powers. Figured that made more sense than attempting hand-to-hand, you know?” Something crackled against my skin like electricity, and Daisy’s hair ruffled. There was a distant look on Nick’s face as he continued. “One of the guys caught me as I was trying to get out a window. He had this black knife.” The china on the table began to rattle, and I saw Kristopher and Elizabeth shoot each other worried looks. “I didn’t know what demon-glass was then,” Nick said, “but I knew it hurt like a mother—”

Suddenly, Lara reappeared in the doorway. “Nick,” she said, her tone just a little too sharp. “Perhaps that story can wait for a more appropriate time. If you’re finished with breakfast, why don’t you and Daisy go practice the exercises Mr. Atherton taught you?”

Just like that, the surge of power evaporated, and I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

“Sure thing, Lara,” Nick said, smiling that creepy smile again. He rose from the table, and Daisy followed suit. “Oh yeah,” he added. “Meant to ask if Daisy and I can take Sophie and her friends out tonight.”

I started at that. After what I’d just seen, the last thing I wanted to do was go anywhere with these two.

“Out where?” Lara asked.

“Just to the village. Isn’t she here this summer to spend more time with her own kind?”

Lara hesitated, and Nick went in for the kill. “James asked me specifically to take Sophie under my wing, Lara,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder. It took everything I had not to throw it off.

Still not totally convinced, Lara said, “I’ll talk to James this afternoon and see what he thinks. Now go on.”

Nick gave my shoulder a squeeze before he and Daisy headed out of the room. Cal, Jenna, and I sat in silence, staring at each other. At least now I knew how Elodie, Chaston, and Anna had pulled off that three-way glance thing. Finally, the other Council members and various underlings trickled out of the room until it was just the three of us.

It was Jenna who spoke first. “So that was creepy as all get-out.”

I shivered. “No lie. Captain Mood Swing totally gives demons a bad name, which is quite an accomplishment.”

But Jenna shook her head. “It wasn’t him. Well, I mean, it was him, but not
just
him. It was the Council members. Did you see how weird they were with Nick and Daisy? Nick looked like he was seconds from blowing us all away, and no one said anything. And that stuff about changing his room?”

“Makes sense that they’re scared of him,” I said. “I’m a demon and
I’m
scared of him.”

“How can those two be demons?” Cal asked, leaning back in his chair. “I thought that ritual had been destroyed after Alice.”

“Apparently not,” I said. “But it’s not so much the
how
that bugs me as the
why
. I mean, it’s not like demon raising went so well for them the last time they tried it.”

I got up from the table, carrying my plate to the buffet. The others had used magic to dispose of their dishes.

“If your dad says it’s okay, do you want to go out with them tonight?” Jenna asked, rising to stand beside me.

“Not really. But I still think we should. Might give us a good chance to learn more about what’s going on here.”

Jenna bumped her hip against mine. Or at least she tried to. She’s so short that it was more like her hip against my thigh. “I love when you think all deviously, Soph.”

Cal smiled at us, and my face flushed. Seriously, what was going on with me?

Jenna looked back and forth between us. “Oh! I just remembered, I need to, uh, unpack some more stuff, so I’m…gonna go do that. Come find me in a little while, and we can do some more exploring.” By which of course she meant,
Come find me when you’re done talking to and/or making out with Cal, then tell me everything.
Jenna may have been a vampire, but she was still a girl.

But as soon as she left the room, Cal rose to his feet. “I promised your dad I’d check out one of the gardens this morning.” He wiggled his fingers, and little silver sparks flew between them.

“Right,” I said, relieved. “Go work your plant mojo, and we can, uh, talk or whatever later.”

“Sounds like a plan.” His voice was low, and I felt a shiver race up my spine. I think he could tell, because he kind of laughed before saying, “I’ll see you later, Sophie.”

Once he was gone, the room felt bigger again, and I sagged back against the buffet.

Lara stuck her head in the door. “Sophie? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Just, you know…” I waved my hand. “Adjusting.”

“It is a lot to take in, I know,” she replied, her voice sympathetic. “When your father—”

I didn’t want to hear anything about Dad, so I cut her off, even though I felt bad doing it. “It’s fine. I’ve had lots of experience dealing with new places.”

And, I thought, I’m already doing better than I had my first day at Hex Hall. No one’s slobbered on me, I haven’t developed an inappropriate crush, and I haven’t made any enemies yet. Well, there’s Nick, but he’s nothing compared to Elodie—

Suddenly I remembered my promise to Jenna to tell Mrs. Casnoff about Elodie. I really didn’t want to have to find a vampire pony. I
could
use the cell phone Lara had given me to call Hecate, but no one could put you on the spot like Mrs. Casnoff, and I knew she’d have a bajillion questions. From me, there would be stuttering and lots of “ums,” and “I don’t knows,” and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. Then I remembered the sweet, shiny laptop in my room. “Lara, do you know Mrs. Casnoff’s e-mail address?”

“Certainly. It’s ACasnoff at Hecate dot edu.”

Great. I may not have to give Jenna a vampire pony, but now I
would
have to give her ten bucks.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in front of my computer, typing out an e-mail to Mrs. Casnoff. I tried to make it sound as casual as possible, and I used the phrase “it’s no big deal” twice. Still, I hesitated before sending it. What if Elodie acknowledging me actually
was
a big deal? I wasn’t sure I could handle much more weirdness. Besides, that feeling was back, and when I took a deep breath, trying to make it go away, I caught the faint whiff of smoke.

But I’d promised Jenna.

So I sent it.

I
spent the rest of the day exploring Thorne Abbey with Jenna, and even though we spent hours wandering through its rooms, we didn’t come anywhere close to seeing it all. Every room was filled with bizarre, dusty treasures, including one bedroom that contained five complete suits of armor, and another that held nothing but taxidermied animals. I told Jenna about e-mailing Mrs. Casnoff—and paid up my ten bucks—and that seemed to make her happy.

At lunch, Lara brought us sandwiches in the conservatory—which, it turned out, was a large sunlit room that housed the biggest piano I’d ever seen, as well as about a thousand ferns—and told us that she’d talked to Dad. He would be home later that evening, and we had his permission to go to the village with Nick and Daisy.

“But,” Lara added, “you’re to be home by midnight, and you’re only to go to the village. Anything farther afield is absolutely forbidden.”

Yeah, that sounded like something Dad would say. “How much ‘farther afield’ could we go?” I asked Jenna once Lara had gone. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

I found out that night. We were supposed to meet Nick and Daisy by the back entrance (wherever that was) at eight. At 7:45, I was in the bathroom putting on some mascara when Jenna slipped in wearing an outfit that I can only describe as Hello Kitty Goes Goth.

“Isn’t that a bit much for strolling through the village?” I asked, eyeing her hot pink go-go boots.

She shut the door and hoisted herself up on the counter. “We’re not going to the village,” she replied. “I asked Daisy. They’re taking us to London.”

I nearly poked my eye out with the mascara wand. “London is like three hours away. Are we going to steal a car or something?”

Jenna shook her head. “Sophie, when are you going to start remembering that we have magical powers? We’re not driving, we’re…well, I don’t know how we’re getting there, exactly, but it’ll be, you know.” She waved her hands in the air. “Maaaaaagic.”

“Great,” I muttered, fishing in my makeup bag for some lip gloss. My stomach lurched nervously. If Daisy expected me to perform some sort of awesome demon traveling spell…yeah, that wasn’t happening. “Why exactly are we going to London?”

Jenna grinned. “There’s this club that’s just for Prodigium. Daisy says it’s pretty awesome.”

Ugh. A club for Prodigium? That conjured up images of way more velvet and dry ice and angst than I was up for.

“I don’t know,” I said. “That sounds awfully ‘afield’ to me.”

“Yeah, but if we wanna find out more about Daisy and Nick…”

“I know. It’s so obnoxious when you’re right about stuff. Still, there’s no way Cal is going to be cool with this,” I said, hoping that might put an end to the whole thing.

Jenna looked confused. “Cal’s not coming.”

“What? Why not?”

She shrugged. “He got caught up in dealing with some sort of botanical emergency. Apparently there were a lot more sick plants here than he thought.”

“Huh,” I said, turning back to the mirror.

“Why, Sophia Mercer! Is that disappointment I detect with my super-special vampire powers?”

“No, I just…I just wish he’d come to tell me himself.”

“Uh-huh,” Jenna said with way too much smugness. “And you wore that low-cut shirt and those high-heeled boots for my benefit, right?”

I tossed a compact at her. “No one likes a nosy vampire, Jenna.”

Nick and Daisy were waiting for us by the back door once we finally made it downstairs. Nick shot me a surly glance, but didn’t say anything.

“I take it Jenna filled you in on our plans for this evening?” Daisy asked me in a low voice. Her gray eyes were lined with kohl and practically glittering.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to feign some excitement. “Can’t wait!” There was nothing I wanted less than to hang out with a bunch of Prodigium and two demons, one of whom was obviously unstable.

“You know if you narc on us to your dad, he’ll probably kick us out,” Nick said, opening the door.

“Wow, I sure would hate that after you’ve been so friendly and welcoming to me,” I replied brightly.

“She’s right,” Daisy admonished, pulling on Nick’s sleeve. “Be nice.”

He studied me with those unnerving blue eyes.

“I’ll try,” Nick said finally.

We stepped out into the damp night. Just outside the door, a gravel path led to a long row of shoulder-high hedges. It disappeared into the darkness near the edge of the forest that surrounded the back of Thorne Abbey.

We followed the path as it wound its way toward the woods. Jenna clutched my arm, our shadows stretching out before us in the moonlight.

Up ahead, Daisy lit a cigarette, and I could see its tip glowing bright red. Nick walked next to her, hands in his pockets, and I could hear the two of them talking, his voice low and clipped. I was pretty sure I heard my name.

“They’re not so bad,” Jenna whispered. “And it’s like they don’t even care that I’m a vampire. Apparently they’ve met lots of them at this place where we’re going tonight, Shelley’s.”

“Shelley’s?”

“Yeah, you know. As in Mary. Frankenstein, monsters…”

“Cute.”

We reached the edge of the forest, and I saw that the gravel path continued through the trees, although it was a lot narrower. My heels sank into the damp ground, and soon Daisy, Nick, and Jenna were pretty far ahead of me. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets, wondering if I was ever going to be able to walk through a forest at night without thinking of Alice, and all of the time Elodie and I had spent learning spells.

The path came to an end just in front of a large stone building. Nick was nowhere in sight, but Daisy was standing in the doorway. “Come on,” she said, waving us forward before disappearing inside.

We followed her. Even though the night was warm, the stone structure felt damp and gloomy. The musty scent of age and disuse hung in the air. I heard a flutter of wings and looked up to see a large dark bird fly out of a giant hole in the roof. “What is this place?” I asked.

“It used to be a corn mill for the estate,” Daisy replied. She pointed toward the destroyed roof. “A tree fell on it during a storm about sixty years ago.”

“So why not tear it down?” Jenna asked.

Even in the dim light, I could make out Daisy’s incredulous look. “Because,” she said, “it houses an Itineris.”

“That’s not some kind of hideous Latin monster, is it?” I asked, trying to raise an eyebrow.

Daisy laughed as she picked her way over fallen beams to lead us deeper into the mill. “It
is
Latin, but it means journey, or road.”

I stumbled over a pile of broken stone. “Well, that sounds equal parts fun and terrifying,” I muttered, but Daisy was already too far ahead to hear me.

Nick stood at the back wall. There was a tall opening, probably about eight feet high. It looked like a doorway. Inside, all I could see was darkness.

“Oh, man, I really hope we’re not crawling all the way to London,” I said, but as I got closer, I could see that it wasn’t the opening of a tunnel like I’d originally thought. The doorway led to a shallow alcove, no more than three feet deep.

Daisy smiled shyly at me. “I take it you’ve never traveled by Itineris.”

“I’m not even sure I could spell it.”

To my surprise, Nick graced me with a tiny smile, one that actually looked genuine and not unhinged. Then he walked into the opening. There was no flash of light or surge of magic. One minute he was there, the next he wasn’t. Somehow, that was so much scarier than if there’d been a big light show, or maybe some smoke. Daisy went next. It was the same way with her, like she just blinked out of existence.

Jenna and I stood there, staring at the passageway. “We could go back,” I suggested weakly. “Tell them their magical road thingie didn’t work for us.”

But Jenna shook her head. “It can’t be that bad,” she muttered.

“We could try to go together,” I said. “I think we’d both fit, and that way, if we end up transported to another dimension or morphed into a wall, at least we’d have company.”

Jenna laughed. “All right, then. Let’s do this.”

Hand in hand, we walked toward the opening.