Chapter 6
"Cal and I aren't...we don't...there's not any, um, love,"I final y said. "We're friends."
Lara frowned, confused. "Oh. I'm sorry."She turned to Cal, eyebrows raised. "I just assumed that was the reason you turned down the position with the Council."
Cal shook his head, and I think he was about to say something, but I beat him to it. "What position with the Council?"
"It was nothing,"he said.
Lara gave a delicate snort before saying to me, "After his term at Hecate ended, Mr. Cal ahan was offered a position as the Council's chief bodyguard. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you initial y accept the assignment?"she asked Cal.
It was the closest I'd ever seen Cal to angry. Of course, on him, that meant that his brow furrowed a little. "I did, but-"he started to say.
"But then you heard Sophie was coming to Hecate, and you decided to stay,"Lara finished, and her lips twisted in the triumphant smile I'd seen on Mrs. Casnoff's face dozens of times. I stood there, frozen in place, as she turned back to me and said, "Mr. Cal ahan gave up a chance to travel the world with the Council so that he could be little more than a janitor on Graymalkin Island. For you."
After that, I didn't hear much more of what Lara said. I know she mentioned something about a meeting and being late, and then suddenly she was gone, leaving me and Cal alone.
Cal turned his attention back to his plate, so I crossed the room to the buffet. There were dozens of silver trays steaming with eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, and a whole bunch of other foods I wasn't sure I could name. My heart was jumping around nervously, but I tried not to let it show as I fil ed my plate.
Then it occurred to me that I had no idea where to sit. The table could easily fit over a hundred people, so I didn't want to sit right next to him, obviously. But it would also look weird if I picked one of the seats far down the table. I final y just sat across from him, and for a while, Cal and I sat in silence, munching on our respective breakfasts. The sound of our forks scraping across the plates echoed in the cavernous room.
Cal shifted in his chair, and I thought he was about to leave without saying anything. Then, quietly, he said, "I didn't stay just for you."
I kept my eyes down. "Right. Of course you didn't. Duh."
His foot nudged mine under the table, and I final y looked up at him. He was leaning forward, his face intense. "I mean it. I like Graymalkin. I like being close to the ocean and working outside. Working for the Council would've meant..."He sighed, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. "Offices and planes. And wearing a tie. It wasn't for me."
"Cal, it's fine,"I insisted, even as my cheeks burned. "I didn't actual y think you were hanging out at Hex Hal because of your burning love for me. But that's what I'm tel ing al the girls back at school,"I said, stabbing a forkful of eggs. "I'm thinking 'heartbreaker'might be a nice addition to my
'avenging witch'reputation."
He looked like he was going to say something else, so I hurried on, even though it meant talking around a mouthful of food. "So, what do you think of Thorne Abbey?"
Cal blinked at the subject change, but then said, "This place freaks me out."
"Me too,"I said. "Which is weird, seeing as how Hex Hal is technical y a mil ion times creepier."
Cal shrugged. "Yeah, but it's home."
"For you, maybe. Have you really never left since you were thirteen?"
"Never. Not even to go to the mainland."
I shook my head and broke off a piece of my toast, slathering it with orange marmalade. "That's insane. Why?"
He put down his fork, his eyes on a spot somewhere over my shoulder. "I don't know. As soon as I set foot on that island, I never wanted to leave it.
Like I said, it's home. Haven't you ever felt that way about a place?"
I thought about al the houses Mom and I had lived in over the years. Some of them had been nice, but none of them had ever felt permanent. I'd always known better than to get too attached to a place. Al the word "home"conjured up for me was Mom and the vague impression of suitcases.
"No. One of the benefits of being a nomad. You never feel homesick."
Cal studied me in that quiet, intense way of his before saying, "How did it go with your dad last night?"
I sighed. "Not great. Apparently I should be way more psyched about being a demon. And of course he's dead set against my going through the Removal."
"Huh,"was his only reply, but Cal could put a world of meaning behind one syl able.
"Let me guess. You're joining the legions of people who think it's a bad idea for me to go through the Removal."
To my surprise, I saw that angry look cross Cal's face again. "You say it like everyone is against the idea just to be jerks. But Mrs. Casnoff, your parents, me...can you blame any of us for not wanting you to die?"
Something shifted in the air, and suddenly I felt like I was on very shaky ground. "Can you blame me for not wanting to be a demon? Alice kil ed people, Cal. So did her daughter, Lucy. She kil ed her own husband."
He didn't react to that, so I added-with way too much venom even for me-"Bet you didn't know that when you agreed to be 'betrothed'to me, huh?
Husband-eviscerating apparently runs in my family."
Stil no reaction, and I felt shame curl in my bel y. "Of course, you also didn't know you were getting a demon bride,"I added in a softer tone. Very few people knew what my dad real y was. I'd always assumed Cal had found out the same night I did.
That's why I was real y surprised when he raised his head and said, "I knew."
"What?"
"I knew what you were then, Sophie. Your dad told me before the betrothal. And he told me about your grandmother, and what happened to your grandfather."
I shook my head. "Then, why?"
Cal took his time before answering. "For one thing, I like your dad. He's done good things for Prodigium. And it-"He broke off with a long exhale.
"It felt like some kind of honor, you know? Being asked to be the head of the Council's son-in-law. Plus, your dad, he, uh, told me a lot about you."
My voice was barely above a whisper. "What did he say?"