@namespace h "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"; .calibre { display: block; font-size: 1em; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 5pt; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0; padding-left: 0; padding-right: 0; page-break-before: always } .calibre1 { height: auto; width: auto } .calibre2 { display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 1em } .calibre3 { font-style: italic } .calibre4 { font-weight: bolder } .calibre5 { display: block; page-break-after: always } .calibre6 { display: block; font-size: 2em; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.67em; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0.67em; page-break-before: always } .calibre7 { display: block; font-size: 1.125em; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 1em } .calibre8 { display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 1em; text-align: center } Later that afternoon, I went in search of Jenna. It wasn't hard to find her: she and Vix were stil hanging out in the garden. When I approached, shading my eyes against the bright sunlight, they were sitting side by side on the edge of the fountain, their shoulders touching, bare feet dangling in the water. I half expected to see cartoon hearts floating over their heads.

"Hi,"I cal ed out, giving a particularly lame wave.

Jenna twisted around to look at me. "There you are!"she exclaimed, eyes bright and cheeks flushed. "Where have you been al morning?"

I kicked off my sandals and sat on the other side of her. The water in the fountain was cold enough to make me wince. "Hanging out with Dad mostly. You know, doing the father/daughter bonding thing."

"Your dad is a wonderful man,"Vix said, leaning past Jenna. Her voice was low, and like Jenna's, held just a little trace of a Southern accent. She was also ridiculously pretty with big green eyes and silky brown hair. No wonder Jenna was so smitten.

"Wel , he's definitely my favorite person on earth right now,"Jenna said, reaching down to squeeze Vix's hand. "How cool was he, flying Vix out here?"

"So cool,"I murmured in reply. I wondered if it had even crossed Jenna's mind that Dad had brought Vix here to distract her. Something about the starry look in Jenna's eyes told me no. "It's great to final y meet you,"I said to Vix. "Jenna talks about you al the time."

Chapter 11

She laughed. "Same to you. And of course, your dad was always talking about you, so between him and Jenna, I feel like I already know you."

Man, first Cal, then Lara and the other Council members, now Vix. Did Dad have a blog about me or something? "My Daughter Sophie and Why You Should Al Fol ow Her and/or Marry Her."

"So what did you and your dad do?"Jenna asked.

I hesitated, but Vix pul ed her feet out of the water. Bracing her hands on the edge of the fountain, she spun around so she was facing the other way.

"I think I'l go unpack,"she said. "I was so excited to see Jenna that I just threw my suitcase in my room."She grinned, two dimples appearing in her pink cheeks. I noticed the bloodstone around her neck, glinting in the sun. "Come find me later?"she asked Jenna.

"Okay,"Jenna replied before shyly leaning over and brushing a brief kiss on Vix's lips.

We watched Vix practical y skip back to the house. I bumped Jenna with my shoulder. "Your girlfriend is soooo dreamy."

Jenna turned back to me, her face glowing. "I know!"she squealed, and we both laughed.

When we'd settled down, Jenna pushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "Okay, so there are some deep thoughts going on in that head, Sophia Alice Mercer. What's up?"

"What's not up is a better question,"I told her. "Things are getting...intense with The Eye."

Jenna watched me. "How intense?"

I sighed and kicked out one foot, sending up an arc of water. I didn't want to tel her about Council Headquarters, or the dead Council members.

Apparently that was so secret even Vix didn't know about it, and she worked for the freaking Council. "Intense enough that Dad real y, real y doesn't want me to go through the Removal."I wiggled my fingers at her. "It seems demon powers might come in handy if a bunch of people decide to kil me."

"Don't say that,"Jenna said sharply.

"Sorry,"I replied, laying my hand on her arm. "I just...I'm real y freaked out."

Her expression softened and she covered my fingers with her own. "I know. The joking in the face of death thing kind of gave it away. But, Soph, please tel me this means you're for sure not doing the Removal."

I had to look away as another image of Alice crouching by Elodie, her silver claws puncturing Elodie's neck, fil ed my brain. But then I thought of Dad's face, so sad and scared. For me.

Squinting up at the top of the fountain, I took a deep breath and thought of my first night at Hecate, giggling with Jenna in our room. I flicked my hand, and immediately, the water turned bright pink. "Nah,"I said. "If I didn't have powers, how could I do cool things like that?"

I'd meant to make Jenna smile. And she did, but it was pretty wobbly, and there were tears in her eyes as she reached over and hugged me. "Yay."

"Yay,"I agreed, squeezing her back.

When we pul ed apart, Jenna scooped her hair off her neck with both hands and tilted her head back, eyes closed. "Did your dad say anything about Nick and Daisy?"

"He-"I started. Then I caught a blur out of the corner of my eye, and something landed in the fountain with a resounding splash, drenching me and Jenna in a wave of pink water.

Nick surfaced, tossing his head back and sending droplets flying. If a demon and a vampire both staring at him with identical looks of "WTF, dude?"bothered him, he didn't show it.

Instead, he gave his usual creepy grin and asked, "Did one of you lovely ladies say my name?"

"Yeah,"I said, glaring at him as I wrung water out of my braid. "We were just saying, 'Man, I wish Nick would fling himself into the fountain like a nut job and total y ruin our clothes.'So thanks for that."

"Sophie's right,"Daisy said, coming to stand next to the fountain. Apparently, wherever Nick was, she was right behind. "Tel them you're sorry."Her words might have sounded sterner if she hadn't been looking at Nick like he was something tasty to eat. God, they were weird.

Nick sloshed through the water until he was right in front of me and Jenna. "That's actual y why I came out here, my darling,"he said to Daisy.

"Sophie, I was a jerk to you yesterday."

He didn't actual y say "jerk,"but another word that was way more accurate. I just raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue.

"I'd heard al these rumors about you and that Cross guy, and I got the wrong impression. But the way you dropped those Eyes last night..."He shook his head. "I was wrong about you. And I hope we can start over as friends."

He thrust his hand out at me. I hesitated before taking it. There was something about Nick that was like being around a wild animal. He was smiling and friendly now, but it felt like at any minute he could turn snarling and scary again. It reminded me of...wel , Alice.

Stil , I put my hand in his, meaning to shake it. But as soon as we touched, I felt magic crackle over and through me, so strong that I tried to jerk my hand back. But he held tight until, final y, the crackling sensation stopped. My hand slid out of his, and I leaped up from the fountain. "What the hel was-"

Then I looked down and realized I was completely dry. Not only that, but my demure black dress had been replaced with...wel , another black dress, but this one was a lot shorter, sparklier, and also rocking a very low neckline. Even my hair was different, transformed from a soggy braid to silky brown waves.

Nick winked at me. "That's better. Now you look more like the Demon Who Would Be Queen."He heaved himself out of the water and grabbed Jenna's hand. Within seconds, she went from drowned rat to hottie, her soaked clothes replaced with-what else?-a pink sundress. Of course it showed a lot more skin than anything Jenna would have picked for herself.

"Oh, lovely, Nick,"Daisy said, rol ing her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"What?"he asked once he laid a smacking kiss on her cheek. "They look better like that."

Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed Nick's free arm. His wet white T-shirt and jeans rippled, and suddenly he was wearing a Day-Glo yel ow tank top and acid-washed jeans. "And you look better like this."

I wasn't sure if it was the ridiculous sight of Nick in those clothes, or the fact that I'd done a spel so easily-with absolutely no explosions-but I could feel my lips curving upward in a smile. As Daisy hooted with laughter, Nick narrowed his eyes at me. "Okay, now you're in for it."He waved his hand, and suddenly I was sweltering. When I glanced down, I saw that it was because I was now dressed like the Easter Bunny. But with the flick of one fuzzy paw, I'd transformed Nick's jeans and tank top into a snowsuit.

Then I was in a bikini.

So Nick was wearing a particularly poofy purple prom dress.

By the time he'd turned my clothes into a showgirl's costume, complete with a feathery headdress, and I'd put him in a scuba suit, we were both completely magic drunk and giggling.

My clothes shifted and slid until I was wearing a blue T-shirt and Capri pants. I sagged back to the edge of the fountain, the stone hot against my palms. Nick stood over me, back in his regular clothes. "Truce?"he asked, and I knew he wasn't just talking about our magic duel.

I shaded my eyes. "Yeah,"I replied. "Truce."Something about Nick stil bothered me, but as buzzed as I was feeling, it was hard to remember why.

I tipped my head back, sighing as my hair brushed the back of my arms. Magic rushed over and through me. With the water splashing pleasantly and the sun warm on my face, the threat of The Eye seemed very far away.

Someone's thigh brushed mine, and I opened my eyes to find Jenna sitting next to me. Nick and Daisy were sauntering back to the house, their arms around each other.

"You look like yourself again,"Jenna said with a soft smile.

I closed my eyes. "I feel like myself again."

We sat there for a while in companionable silence. "I remember the last time I saw you this happy,"Jenna said.

Dropping my head onto her shoulder, I said, "Yeah, the day you got to come back to Hecate was a happy occasion."

She snorted. "No, not that day. You were happy to see me, but you were also al freaked out and sad. I was thinking about the night before the Al Hal ow's Eve bal . Remember, we raided the kitchen and you turned al the mashed potatoes into ice cream sundaes?"She giggled at the memory.

"And al the beets into maraschino cherries. God, I think I gained ten pounds that night."

"I was trying to cheer you up."That had been right after Chaston had been attacked, and most of the school had blamed Jenna for it.

Jenna rested her cheek on the top of my head. "I know,"she said. "And it almost worked. But you were in such a good mood that night. Seriously, you were like, glowing."

That was because just hours before the kitchen raid, I'd been on cel ar duty with Archer. On that particular night, one of the pieces of magical junk we were supposed to catalogue was a cursed pair of gloves that had a tendency to fly around like a demented bat. We'd chased those darn things for twenty minutes before wrangling them into a jar. It had taken both of us to hold the lid on, which meant we'd been standing very close to each other, our hands overlapping. I could stil feel how warm he'd been, pressed against my side. We'd laughed through the whole thing, and I remembered how badly my cheeks ached as I'd smiled up into those dark eyes.