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"If the spel on these gloves irl, I' his eyebrows at ain, and Archer had just been a boy I liked, and I'd thought the only secret between us was just how much I liked him

This ti onto Jenna's shoulder "Yeah,"I final y said "That was a good night"

Jenna and I hung out in the garden until early evening Once ere back at the house, she went in search of Vix while I decided to go hang out in my roo down "Oh, Sophie, I was just looking for you,"she said, forcing a ginorive this to you He asked that you read as far as you can tonight"

I read the title staies: A History

"Oh Umyay Thanks for this"I tried to lift the book in a kind of salute, but it ay too heavy for that In fact, when I got back up to my room and tossed it on the bed, the mattress creaked in protest

I opened my laptop and mindlessly surfed the Internet for a while, butThere was so the cohtstand and opened the drawer I stared down at the coin, but before I could pick it up, Jenna ca intoneither of the heart

But Jenna's attention was on the book on ht there"

"Yeah,"I said, walking over to pick it up I winced slightly as I hefted it into my arms "Just some demon homework from Dad"

"We were just about to head down to dinner,"Jenna said "You wanna colanced back and forth between the two vampires I'd had Jenna al to myself forStil , seeing them beam at each other and throe"around reminded me just how crappy my love life was "Nah, I actual y think I'l just chil up here tonight Get started on so"

Jenna raised a pale eyebrow "Sophie Mercer, turning down food for homework?"

"Yeah, it's the new, lahed at that and, afterout with them tomorrow, practical y waltzed out the door I felt like there should have been rainbows and rose petals in their wake or soh That was catty

Jenna deserved rainbows and rose petals, I re painful y against h, Jenna had earned an eternity of nothing but good stuff So why did seeing her with Vix ies: A History? I looked at the nightstand again and sighed Then I opened the heavy book and tried to make myself read

For the next few hours I h Chapter One

For a book that was supposedly about fal en angels running around and creating havoc with their super-aweso, and al the weird spel ings definitely didn't help

Sighing, I settled deeper intoto rest it on ed, thinking it was one of the pages, but then I realized the paper was a lot whiter, and not nearly as nized Dad's handwriting immediately from al the impersonal birthday cards he'd sent over the years They'd always been pink and glittery-and I now realized that Lara ned thee or even his own "happy birthday"

This note wasn't much warmer Al it said was, "Be prepared to discuss this book and al that you have read tomorrow-Your father"

"Yeah, Father, I'l be sure to do that,"Imy eyes Did he real y need to write e three hundred? Because if he thought I was reading that far tonight, that was pretty freaking opti to crueI'd been reading for too long, but when I looked back at the note, the letters were stil shaking And then they started sliding around A lot of theathered together to spel out an entirely different ain, and as I watched, the discarded letters slipped up the page until the original e was back in place

"Cryptic Dad is cryptic,"I muttered There was no doubt in inia Thorne's gri out alWas there no tiical bookcase at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow, cool?"

And what the heck did he want to do at that bookcase?

By now, my eyes felt like I'd rubbed sand in theiu with Dad today, this was turning out to be the least relaxing vacation ever I looked around my palatial room, and for just a second I wished I were back at Hecate Hal , sitting onwith Jenna

But Jenna was down the hal , either hanging out with Vix or sleeping, and I was on htstand, surprised that the weight of it didn't break the tiny piece of furniture Mos in life that can't be cured by a hot bath, and I decided to test her on that advice