Demonglass (9 page)

Instead, she took a deep breath and said, “I fell in love with a vampire. I let her turn me because I bought into that whole eternal love spiel. Then The Eye staked her, and I…I killed someone because I was starving. Eventually the Council took me in and sent me to Hecate.”

Her voice was flat and emotionless, but I could see how much it cost her to tell that story, even such a condensed version of it.

“Oh, wow,” Daisy breathed. “I’m so sorry.” For a second, I thought she was making fun of Jenna, and my hands tightened into fists in my lap. But then I really looked at her, and saw that her sympathy was totally genuine. There might have even been tears in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Nick said, sounding completely sincere. “That’s rough.”

No one at Hex Hall had known about Jenna’s past except me and, I guessed, Mrs. Casnoff. Still, nearly everyone there had treated Jenna like a freak and a killer. But the two demons across from us were looking at Jenna with nothing but compassion.

The music had changed, going from that thumping techno to something softer and slower. It was a welcome relief. “So you two really have no idea how you became demons?” I asked. Hey, if they were gonna pry into Jenna’s personal monster business, I could pry into theirs.

They didn’t seem offended, though. Daisy laid her head on Nick’s collarbone. “We really don’t.” Her face got distant as she said, “Not even dreams. It’s like everything before is just this big black hole.” She waved her fingers dreamily in front of her face, and I saw Nick’s fingers tighten on her shoulder.

“All we know is that someone did this to us,” he said, his voice tight.

Jenna shot me a look before saying, “How could you know that?”

“We can feel it,” Daisy said, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they nearly glowed with unshed tears. “It’s like we were…”

“Violated,” Nick finished, and Daisy nodded slowly.

“Yeah, exactly,” she said. “It’s like everything inside us is different. Our brains, our souls, our blood…”

I found myself nodding. After all, hadn’t Dad said demonhood was literally in our DNA? And I’d been born this way. How weird would it feel to just wake up a demon one day?

“It’s awful,” Daisy continued, her words coming out a little slurred. “All this magic just pounding inside your skull every single day.”

Her words sounded strangled, like she was trying hard not to cry. I had no idea what to say. I mean, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about being a demon either, but I certainly didn’t feel like
that
. If that’s what being demons was like for Nick and Daisy, no wonder they drank all the time.

I cleared my throat. “So do you guys actually use your powers?”

But before they had a chance to reply, a loud cracking sound echoed through the room.

“What was that?” Jenna asked, nearly dropping her glass of blood.

“Thunder?” I guessed, even though the sound had been more like the crack of a whip, or wood breaking.

The music cut off abruptly, just as a chorus of howls started up from somewhere on the dance floor.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick said with a wave of his hand. “Probably just a shifter fight. Happens like every night.”

But then someone—or something—screamed, and suddenly the room was full of shrieks and guttural cries and pounding feet.

“Sounds like more than a shifter fight to me.” I stood up, trying to see the dance floor. It was hard to make out anything through the smoke. All I could see were hazy forms that seemed to be running toward the door. Then a purpled-winged faerie shot above the crowd, her wings beating furiously. There was a flash of silver as something curled around her ankle. She shrieked with pain and fell back into the throng.

Then I saw them. Moving in and out of the smoke, like they were made of it, were dozens of dark figures. One moved near enough for me to see the blue lights gleaming off the dagger he held in his hand.

My mouth went dry, and my heart plummeted to somewhere south of my toes.

“What is it?” Daisy asked, looking more curious than worried.

I could barely get the words out. “It’s The Eye.”

“W
hat?” Jenna cried, leaping to her feet. Nick stood up too, but slowly, shaking his head. “That’s impossible.”

A bright flash of blue illuminated the room, like a bolt of lightning, as the witch I’d seen dancing with the werewolf earlier struggled with three of the dark figures. Nick’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.”

“The Eye can’t get in here,” Daisy said, shaking her head. “And they’ve never tried to raid Shelley’s before. Ever.”

Nick blinked like he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The dance floor was utter chaos now. There was so much magic flying around that my skin ached with it, but none of the spells seemed to be doing any good. The Eye just kept coming, more and more of them, spilling into the cramped club. They were outnumbered, but they had the element of surprise on their side, not to mention that most of the Prodigium in Shelley’s had been drinking. That “hazy” feeling Daisy had talked about didn’t make for stellar magic.

“How do we get out of here?” Jenna asked. She was breathing hard, and her fangs were poking out from under her top lip. “Is there a back door or something?”

Nick finally tore his gaze away from the front of the club. “No,” he said. “But we can make one.” He reached down and grabbed Daisy’s hand, pulling her to her feet.

“Wait!” I yelled. All three of them froze, staring at me. “It’s just…we could do something.” Off to my right, I saw another faerie trying to fly above the fight. He was struggling, though, thanks to a large rip in one of his iridescent wings. “We should help them.”

Nick looked at the faerie, his mouth set in a grim line. “They wouldn’t do it for us. And we need to get you out of here. Now come on.”

“Nick,” I said, but Jenna grabbed my hand.

“Sophie, he’s right. Let’s go. Please.”

I hesitated for just a second before squeezing her hand in return and following Nick as he turned toward the back of the club, tugging Daisy behind him.

The back wall was solid brick, but Nick simply raised his hand and flicked his fingers. A section of the wall crumbled, and I don’t think I’d ever seen anything as beautiful as that opening.

But we weren’t the only ones who’d run for the back, and as soon as the hole opened up, a crush of Prodigium gathered around it, trying to squeeze themselves through.

The screams got louder behind us, and I knew without looking that The Eye was headed our way. The pushing at the hole got more intense, and I watched as a werewolf snarled and bit a warlock who was trying to shove his way to the front.

“Oh my God,” Jenna whimpered. Her eyes were bloodred and her fangs were out.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told her, even though I was pretty sure we were all going to be skewered on L’Occhio silver daggers any minute now. For a split second I wondered if Archer was out there, hacking his way through Prodigium. The thought made me nauseous, so I shook it away and held Jenna tighter.

More bodies pressed in on all sides of us, so close I was afraid I’d be lifted off my feet. I shut my eyes, my body shaking.

Move
, I thought, as my chest tightened with panic.

And then I felt it. Magic rose up from the ground beneath me. I didn’t even have to lift my hands.

I focused all my concentration on the Prodigium in front of me, even as I pictured a sort of shield around Daisy, Nick, and Jenna.
Move
, I thought again, stronger this time.

I’d only meant to knock them out of the way, like my spell was a bowling ball and they were the pins. But as usual, my power was too much. As one, the Prodigium were flung into the wall before sliding to the floor. Only Daisy, Nick, and Jenna were left standing.

“Nice one, Sophie,” Nick said, clapping me on the shoulder as he and Daisy stepped over the dazed Prodigium and out the door. Even Jenna smiled at me as she went by.

The exit led to the alley we’d been in earlier. I was shocked by how cool the night air felt compared to the humidity in the club, and shivered as the sweat began to dry on my skin. Daisy and Nick were already running down the street in the direction of the Itineris, but I turned to look back into Shelley’s. Jenna was waiting next to me.

A few Prodigium had staggered to their feet, but the rest still lay inert on the ground. One, a witch who was about my age, blinked at me in confusion. And behind her, I could see a group of Eyes rushing toward the exit, daggers drawn.

“Jenna, go with Daisy and Nick,” I said, without taking my eyes from the hole.

“Sophie—”

“Go!” I said, more sharply than I’d intended. “I’ll catch up.”

She hesitated for a second before turning and following Daisy and Nick.

I didn’t know how much magic I had left in me, but I gathered up all my strength and raised my hands toward the men in black. There was no spark or flash of light, but I could feel the attack spell—one of Alice’s—surge from my fingertips. The Eyes dropped like rocks, and my knees hit the pavement. No magic in six months, then two heavy spells within seconds of each other. How stupid could I be?

Even though my head was fuzzy with magic and exhaustion, I forced myself to my feet. I had to get to the others, had to make it to the road. I could see the three of them just ahead as they passed under a streetlamp. Jenna glanced over her shoulder and skidded to a stop when she saw how far back I was. I managed to lift my arm and wave her on. She stood still, but Nick nodded at me and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the alley. I noted that the three of them headed left, and struggled to catch up. Running was out of the question, but I walked as fast as I could, my heels slipping and sliding on the damp street.

Still, I was too slow.

I was nearly to the end of the alley when an arm snaked around my waist and yanked me backward, out of the light. I wasn’t sure if it was an Eye or a Prodigium, or just your run-of-the-mill rapist/scumbag type, but it was definitely a guy. He was several inches taller than me, and I could hear his ragged breathing in my ear as he struggled to hold me. There was no way I’d be able to do a spell on him: I was too tired and too frazzled. But while I didn’t have magic, I did have a whole bunch of the Vandy’s Defense classes on my side.

Skill Nine, you asshat, I thought as I drove my elbow back, while at the same time attempting to drive my boot heel as hard as I could into his instep.

He blocked both easily, pulling his torso back from my elbow even as he tightened his grip on my waist, lifting me slightly off the ground so my heel came down harmlessly on thin air.

For a second I felt real panic. Anyone who could block Prodigium Defense moves was a lot more dangerous than some random pervert. I was about to try Skill Fifteen, which involved both breaking his nose and potentially ending his chances of ever having kids, when my captor bent down and whispered in my ear, “Don’t even think about it, Mercer.”

T
his is not happening
.

That was the only thought in my mind as Archer set me on my feet and released my waist.

This was some kind of mistake. There was some other guy running around England who just happened to know Defense and called me Mercer. Because there was no way that tonight, of all nights, could also be the night I came face-to-face with—

I turned around.

The light was dim in this section of the alley, but it was definitely Archer Cross standing there. He looked a lot rougher than he had the last time I’d seen him. There was dark stubble covering the lower half of his face, and his hair was longer. More than that, though, he looked older. Tired. And still, seeing him again was like being punched in the chest.

There were so many emotions rushing through me that it took me a while to identify them: fear, definitely. Shock.

But underneath those, there was something else, a feeling I wasn’t sure I wanted to give a name to.

It felt a little bit like joy.

But I stamped that right the heck down. The shock was wearing off, and I remembered that the last time I’d been alone with Archer, he’d pulled a knife on me. I wasn’t going to stand around and see what he had this time.

I gathered up my last reserves of strength to do some kind of magic. I may not have been able to manage a transportation spell, but a quick lightning bolt would probably be pretty effective. I could feel the magic start to creep up from the soles of my feet, but it was weak. I’d be lucky to throw a couple of sparks at him.

But before I could even do that, he grabbed my arms and pulled me farther into the shadows, spinning me so my back was pressed against the wall.

I brought my knee up. It was less of a defense skill and more of a girl instinct, but it didn’t matter. He dodged that too. Then he stood in front of me, his hands clamped around my wrists as I tried to get away.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “But I can’t say the same for the others.”

I stopped struggling as I remembered just how many members of L’Occhio had been in Shelley’s. Just then, I heard a young-sounding voice yell out, “Cross!”

Archer glanced over his shoulder and angled his body so I was hidden from view. “It’s not her,” he called back. “Just a human girl, wrong place, wrong time.”

The guy rattled off a string of words in a language I guessed was Italian. At least it sounded like it. I couldn’t understand what he said, obviously, but whatever it was, it made Archer mutter a
very
recognizable word under his breath before replying in the same language, the words sounding strange in his familiar voice. I heard the slapping sound of footsteps running off into the distance.

Archer dropped my wrists and braced his arms on the damp brick wall behind me, but I held my body stiff, afraid that if I relaxed even an inch, we’d inadvertently touch.

He sighed. “That makes, what? The second time I’ve saved your life? Third, if you count that thing in Defense with the Vandy. Speaking of which, you’re still thrusting your elbow too high on Skill Nine.”

I swallowed twice before I was able to answer. “I’ll work on that.”

I waited for him to move away. I
needed
him to move away, because I’d already started shaking. But he stayed right where he was, so close that I could see the violet shadows under his eyes, and how gaunt his cheeks were. I tried my hardest to keep my gaze at a spot somewhere over his right shoulder. I had pictured meeting Archer again so many times, and there were a million things I wanted to ask him, like why he had saved my life tonight, how long had he been working for The Eye.

If he’d only pretended to like me.

Instead, I just said, “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 neck 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 me 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.

Still, I wondered if he was thinking it, too, because I was pretty sure I felt his gaze on my mouth for just a second before he said, “Fine. Yes, we’re here looking for you. What are you doing here anyway?”

I blinked at him. “Me? The Council wants to kill
you
on sight,” I hissed. “And where are you hiding out? In their freaking backyard.”

“I’m not hiding out. London is where I was assigned. And you didn’t answer my question.”

This time, I figured out how to tilt my head back enough so I could avoid any face touchage as I looked at him. It still meant we were close enough for me to see my reflection in his eyes. I ignored the sharp drop in my stomach and said, “I’m here with my dad.”

He quirked an eyebrow, and for just a moment looked a lot more like the Archer I remembered. “Demon family reunion?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him about the Removal, but before I could say anything, the guy from earlier shouted some more Italian from somewhere in the distance. Archer closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath before calling out a response. Then he reached into his pocket.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I tensed up even more.

“Relax,” he murmured as he pulled out a dull gold coin. “That was Raphael. In addition to being one of the youngest Eyes, he’s also the one of the stupidest. He asked what was taking so long, and I told him I was wiping your mind before I sent you on your way.”

“You can do that?”

He flashed a brief grin. “No, but he doesn’t know that. That’s why he’s staying so far back. Scared of catching Prodigium germs.” He said it lightly, but there was bitterness behind the words. For roughly the thousandth time, I wondered how on earth a warlock had become a member of L’Occhio di Dio, and I wished I had time to ask him.

He pressed the coin into my hand. “Are you staying in London?”

“No, Thorne Abbey. It’s—”

“I’ll find you,” he said, closing my fingers over the coin. “Just keep that on you.”

“No,” I said, grabbing at the sleeve of his jacket. “Archer, the Council is at Thorne. Not to mention my dad, who put an execution order out on you.”

“There’s a lot we need to talk about, Mercer,” he said, glancing back toward the other end of the alley. “I’ll risk it.”

I shook my head again, but he was already moving away from me. “Keep out of the light and get out of here,” he murmured. “And Mercer, from now on, stay out of Prodigium clubs, okay? These people aren’t your friends.”

“What do you mean?” I made one more grab for his sleeve, but he ran back toward Shelley’s. I could see Raphael now, and Archer was right: he was young.

Really young, actually. I guessed around fourteen. I kept myself close to the wall as Archer clapped his arm around Raphael’s shoulder, saying something in a light, jovial voice. Raphael shook his head and kept looking in my direction. Then a burst of blue light exploded from the back exit, and both he and Archer turned toward it, giving me a chance to run out of the alley.

My head was still spinning, and my knees were shaking by the time I turned left out of the passageway. I braced my hand on the slimy brick and tried really hard not to throw up. I had no idea where the road would be. I only hoped that Daisy or Nick had left some sort of demon bread crumbs for me to follow.

But when I got to the end of the street, I saw that all three of them were waiting for me in front of a squat, concrete building. Daisy and Nick were smoking again, and Jenna was pacing back and forth, her fangs still out, her eyes still red.

When she saw me, her whole face lit up, making her look less like a vampire and more like a kid on Christmas morning. I staggered up to the three of them, and Jenna threw her arms around me. “I was so sure they caught you,” she said, her voice thick.

I hugged her back, a lump in my throat. I’d sworn there would be no more secrets in my life, but there was no way I could tell Jenna about seeing Archer. Jenna was my best friend, but there were some things even she couldn’t understand.

“It’s these stupid boots,” I told her with a shaky laugh. “They’re not exactly the best running shoes.”

Jenna pulled back and cupped my cheeks. Her eyes weren’t red anymore, but they were wide and bright with tears. “I am so sorry, Sophie,” she said. “If I’d had any idea that this place would be so dangerous for you…”

“Yeah,” Daisy said, coming to stand beside Jenna. “Seriously, Sophie, nothing like that has ever happened to us at Shelley’s, I swear. We never would’ve taken you there if we’d known.”

Even Nick came forward, frowning with worry. “James would kill us if he found out. We’re supposed to be helping you adjust to being a demon and instead we nearly handed you over to L’Occhio di Dio.”

All three of them looked so genuinely sorry, so guilty, and I felt sick all over again.

“It’s fine,” I said, waving my hand as though demon hunters raiding clubs to kill me were something that happened all the time. “
I’m
fine. Now let’s get out of here.”

Daisy had said that the second road trip wouldn’t be as rough as the first one, but she was either wrong or a liar. The second one seemed far worse, probably because I was so drained. Still, we made it back to the corn mill, and even though it felt like a dwarf with a chisel had taken up permanent residence in my frontal lobe, I managed to stagger all the way back to the house. Luckily, everyone appeared to have gone to bed, because the front hall was dark and silent as we let ourselves in. After more whispered apologies, Daisy and Nick headed for their rooms on the second floor, while Jenna and I went up to our hall.

At her door, Jenna stopped. “Soph, I really am—”

“Jenna, if you say sorry one more time, I’m going to punch you in your tiny pink head.”

She gave a little smile. “Okay, okay. Still, the next time I suggest going to Prodigium nightclub, please smack me.”

“Will do,” I said.

I practically had to drag myself to my room. I put on a nightshirt and brushed my teeth in a daze, my mind replaying those minutes in the alley with Archer on a continuous loop. Six months ago, he’d pulled a knife on me in the cellar at Hecate. Tonight, he’d protected me from the other members of L’Occhio di Dio. Why?

My jeans were crumpled up on the floor, and before I got into bed, I reached into the front pocket. The gold coin he’d given me was still warm. It was old, the likeness stamped in the metal so faded that I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a man or a woman.

Keep it on you
, he’d said.
I’ll find you
.

I should’ve thrown it out. I should’ve found whichever one of the hundreds of bedrooms in this place was my dad’s and told him what happened. I should’ve done anything but what I did, which was to close my fist over it and slide it under my pillow.