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"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 deht that ritual had been destroyed after Alice"

"Apparently not,"I said "But it's not so swent so wel for theot up fro ic to dispose of their dishes

"If your dad says it's okay, do you want to go out with the to stand beside ht give us a good chance to learnon here"

Jenna buainst mine Or at least she tried to She's so short that it was h "I love when you think al deviously, Soph"

Cal s on with me?

Jenna looked back and forth between us "Oh! I just reonna go do that Come find "By which of course sheout with Cal, then tellJenna irl

But as soon as she left the room, Cal rose to his feet "I pro"He wiggled his fingers, and little silver sparks fleeen theht,"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 hed before saying, "I'l see you later, Sophie"

Once he was gone, the rooainst the buffet

Lara stuck her head in the door "Sophie? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine Just, you know"I waved "

"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' better than I had my first day at Hex HalNo one's slobbered on me, I haven't developed an inappropriate crush, and I haven'tcompared to Elodie-

Chapter 7

Suddenly I remembered my promise to Jenna to tel Mrs Casnoff about Elodie I real y didn't want to have to find a vaiven me to cal Hecate, but no one could put you on the spot like Mrs Casnoff, and I knew she'd have a bajil ion questions

Fro 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 ive Jenna a vaive her ten bucks

Fifteenout 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 Stil , I hesitated before sending it What if Elodie acknowledgingdeal? I wasn't sure I could handlewas back, and when I took a deep breath, trying to ht 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 roo it alEvery roo one bedroom that contained five co but taxider Mrs Casnoff-and paid up my ten bucks-and that seeht us sandwiches in the conservatory-which, it turned out, was a large sunlit rooest piano I'd ever seen, as wel as about a thousand ferns-and told us that she'd talked to Dad He would be hoo to the vil age with Nick and Daisy

"But,"Lara added, "you're to be ho farther afield is absolutely forbidden"

Yeah, that sounded like soo?"I asked Jenna once Lara had gone "We're in the ht We were supposed to meet Nick and Daisy by the back entrance (wherever that was) at eight At 7:45, I was in the bathroo an outfit that I can only describe as Hel o Kitty Goes Goth

"Isn't that a bither hot pink go-go boots

She shut the door and hoisted herself up on the counter "We're not going to the vil age,"she replied "I asked Daisy They're taking us to London"

I nearly poked my eye out with theto steal a car or so?"

Jenna shook her head "Sophie, when are you going to start re, we'rewel , I don't knoe're getting there, exactly, but it'l be, you know"She waved her hands in the air "Maaaaaagic"

"Great,"I loss My stomach lurched nervously If Daisy expectedspel yeah, that wasn't happening "Why exactly are we going to London?"

Jenna grinned "There's this club that's just for Prodigiuh A club for Prodigiues of way st than I was up for

"I don't know,"I said "That sounds awful y 'afield'to me"

"Yeah, but if anna find out more about Daisy and Nick"