Page 4 (1/2)

"It's a big island, Jenna,"I said "And even if Archer is there, I seriously doubt he's anywhere near Prodigius, but he's not an idiot"

Jenna turned her attention back to her food, but when her green beans had made their third circuit around her plate, I pushed my dinner away and said, "Spit it out"

She put down her fork and looked into h, if you did see hi as I could I knehat she wanted me to say She wanted me to tel her that I'd turn him in to the Council-ould almost certainly execute him-or maybe even that I would kil hi time, I let myself remember Archer, real y reh, and how I felt when I ith him How his voice sounded when he cal ed me "Mercer"

The way he had kissed me

I lowered my eyes to the table "I don't know,"I final y said

Jenna sighed, but she didn't say anythingabout the trip again, and Ias vah tea "And when you ask for Earl Grey, you actual y get Earl Grey,"I sules

I felt better as we left the dining hal , and Jenna h ht she'd put inArcher's eyes and hoping with land

Even as a not so tiny part of it hoped that he was

Three weeks later, I left for England

Mom and Mrs Casnoff walked down to the ferry with the four of us late in the afternoon Mo, but she tried to seee "Make sure you take lots of pictures,"she toldwords like 'queue'or 'lorry,'I'l be very upset"

We stood on the deck, the sea breeze ruffling our hair Jenna had already clai in a low voice to Mrs

Chapter 3

Casnoff I saw her look over his shoulder atfor the suot God knows, I'd brought nothing but trouble to Hecate Hal

I also wondered if I should have told her about Elodie's ghost Actual y, I knew I should have If I'd told her about Alice when she first appeared to ht that had burned at the back ofthe saain

Before I could think about that any more, Moht, and I could feel her tears atto miss your birthday next month I've never ht that I couldn't speak, so I just hugged her closer

"Sophie,"Dad said, appearing at ave Mom one last squeeze "I'l cal lots, I promise,"I told her as we pul ed apart "And I'l be back before you know it"

Moaveslanced over at him, he had turned away

"Good-bye, James,"Mom cal ed after hi as the ferry pul ed away froo, but Mo back into the woods that surrounded the beach I was glad It was aalready

The ferry chugged out into the broater Over the trees, we could make out the very top of Hecate Hal

"I haven't been away from this place since I was thirteen years old,"Cal said softly "Six years"

I'd never asked Cal what he'd done that had landed hiuy to do the dangerous spel s that usual y got warlocks sent to the school He'd decided to stay on after his eighteenth birthday, although I'd never been clear on whether that had been by choice But the farther we got from the school, the more troubled he looked

Even Jenna, who usual y acted like she was co a thesis on al the ways Hecate sucked, looked wistful

I stared at the bit of roof I could see against the blue sky, and a strong sense of foreboding caone behind a cloud

The three of us will never co that I shivered I tried to shake it off That was ridiculous We were going to England for three ust Pre paranoid

Stil , the feeling stayed withafter Graymalkin Island had faded in the distance

"Being a de,"I mumbled hours and hours later as a sleek black car carried us through the English countryside The long flight froland had been pretty uneventful Except that Cal had sat next to me

Which was fine Real y

It wasn't like I'd been hyperaware of his presence and jumped the three times his knee bumped mine And after that third tiusted look and said, "Chil out, wil you?"

And when Jenna gave us both a quizzical look, we hadn't snapped, in unison, "Nothing!"Because al of that would have been weird, and Cal and I weren't weird We were cool

"You'l feel better soon,"Dad said For the first tiht and he actual y looked relaxed I guess being back in the uy

Jenna was practical y bouncing with excitement, but Cal looked as tired as I felt I hadn't been able to fal asleep on the plane, and I was paying for it now My eyes felt gritty and hot, and al I could think about was col apsing into a bed After al , land it was nearly lunchti for what felt like hours