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Jenna reached into her blouse and pulled out her bloodstone The liquid inside was pitching and rolling, like there was a storic in ic is near And that's so her necklace so hard her knuckles hite "It did this the day of the ball too," she said, her eyes still on the pendant in ot that dirt out I should have said so then, but you seeic couldn'tto her I was re that Mrs Casnoff said no one kne Alice had become a witch How she had only spoken to me after Chaston was attacked, how much more alive she'd seeiven her her necklace

Elodie ith her right now

I dropped the necklace, and the stone cracked against the corner of my desk A drop of black liquid seeped fro a small burn mark

I was aet Mrs Casnoff and Cal Tell theraves She'll knohere that is"

"Where are you going?" she asked, but I didn't answer I just ran--the way I had the night I'd found Chaston

I plunged into the woods, branches scratching atpajama pants and a T-shirt, but I barely felt the cold I just ran

Because now I understood how Alice had been corporeal, how she had all that power even though she was supposed to be dead That black ht in hadn't turned her into a witch: it had made her a demon

You too, my mind whispered If that's what she is, that's what you are

CHAPTER 31

I was certain I'd find Elodie lying bleeding or ot to the ce next to Alice, s as she faded away--only to reappear seconds later about a yard away

She'd finally mastered the transportation spell

Alice sawI stared at her and wondered how I'd ever believed she was just another ghost None of the ghosts at Hecate had ever looked so real, so whole Life radiated fro it before

I neared the the instant she sawsomewhere over my head

"Elodie," I said in what I'd meant to be a calm voice, but I know I sounded as strained and scared as I felt "I think we should go back to the school Mrs Casnoff is looking for you"

"No she's not," Elodie answered She reached down into her blouse and pulled out her necklace "It glohenever so for , and I could old

"Family heirloo flicker in her eyes "Now, Sophia, don't be jealous"

"I'm not jealous," I said too quickly "I just think Elodie and I should head back to the school now"

Mentally, I was calculating how long it would take Mrs Casnoff and, I hoped, Call to get out here If Jenna had found theht after I'd left, surely they were only a few minutes behindthe air--there was nothing even reesture I felt htened, Sophia," she said "Why on earth would you be afraid of avethee shadows skittering across the ground Alice turned her head and took a deep breath This tiht intruders on us Why would you do such a thing, Sophia?"

She flicked her hands toward the woods, and I could hear a loud groaning, like the trees were uprooting the Mrs Casnoff and Call down, I realized with horror

"You led Casnoff here?" Elodie asked, but my eyes were locked on Alice

"I knohat you are," I said, my voice little more than a whisper I'd expected Alice to look surprised or at least angry, but she just sain

Somehow, that was much scarier

"Do you indeed?" she asked

"A dehed, a low throaty sound, and her eyes flashed a reddish-purple

I turned to Elodie She looked guilty, but she didn't flinch froaze

"You did summon a demon," I said, and she nodded, like I'd just accused her of dyeing her hair, or so equally innocuous

"We had no choice," she insisted "You heard what Mrs Casnoff said: our eneer all the time I ainst us We had to be prepared"

She said all of this in the patient tone of a kindergarten teacher

"So what?" I asked,"You let her kill Holly?"

Now her eyes dropped, and she said, "A blood sacrifice is the only way to bind a demon to you"

I wanted to run at her, hit her, scream, but I was frozen in place

Elodie looked ateyes

"We didn't mean to kill Holly We knee needed four to hold the de But we had to have blood So I did a sleeping spell on her and Chaston pierced her neck with a dagger We thought we could stop the bleeding before it was too late, but she just bled so much"

I could taste bile at the back of my throat "You could have taken blood from anywhere," I said "You took it from her throat so you could blame Jenna for it Kill two birds with one stone, huh?"

I went on "You knew that you killed Holly, but you let everyone think it was Jenna You ht it was her who attacked Chaston and Anna," Elodie said, a tear trickling down her cheek "We just thought the ritual had backfired I never saw Alice before that night with you, I swear"

Now I looked at Alice "Why didn't you appear to theed "They weren't worth my time They pulled irls"