"Sounds like a plan."His voice was low, and I felt a shiver race up my spine. I think he could tel , because he kind of laughed before saying, "I'l see you later, Sophie."
Once he was gone, the room felt bigger again, and I sagged back against the buffet.
Lara stuck her head in the door. "Sophie? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Just, you know..."I waved my hand. "Adjusting."
"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'm already doing better than I had my first day at Hex Hal . No one's slobbered on me, I haven't developed an inappropriate crush, and I haven't made any enemies yet. Wel , there's Nick, but he's nothing compared 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 vampire pony. I could use the cel phone Lara had given 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.
From me, there would be stuttering 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 may not have to give Jenna a vampire pony, but now I would have to give her ten bucks.
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in front of my computer, typing out 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 acknowledging me actual y was a big deal? I wasn't sure I could handle much more weirdness. Besides, that feeling was back, and when I took a deep breath, trying to make it go away, I caught 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 rooms, we didn't come anywhere close to seeing it al . Every room was fil ed with bizarre, dusty treasures, including one bedroom that contained five complete suits of armor, and another that held nothing but taxidermied animals. I told Jenna about e-mailing Mrs. Casnoff-and paid up my ten bucks-and that seemed to make her happy.
At lunch, Lara brought us sandwiches in the conservatory-which, it turned out, was a large sunlit room that housed the biggest piano I'd ever seen, as wel as about a thousand ferns-and told us that she'd talked to Dad. He would be home later that evening, and we had his permission to go to the vil age with Nick and Daisy.
"But,"Lara added, "you're to be home by midnight, and you're only to go to the vil age. Anything farther afield is absolutely forbidden."
Yeah, that sounded like something Dad would say. "How much 'farther afield'could we go?"I asked Jenna once Lara had gone. "We're in the middle of nowhere."
I found out that night. We were supposed to meet Nick and Daisy by the back entrance (wherever that was) at eight. At 7:45, I was in the bathroom putting on some mascara when Jenna slipped in wearing an outfit that I can only describe as Hel o Kitty Goes Goth.
"Isn't that a bit much for strol ing through the vil age?"I asked, eyeing her 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 the mascara wand. "London is like three hours away. Are we going to steal a car or something?"
Jenna shook her head. "Sophie, when are you going to start remembering that we have magical powers? We're not driving, we're...wel , I don't know how we're getting there, exactly, but it'l be, you know."She waved her hands in the air. "Maaaaaagic."
"Great,"I muttered, fishing in my makeup bag for some lip gloss. My stomach lurched nervously. If Daisy expected me to perform some sort of awesome demon traveling spel ...yeah, that wasn't happening. "Why exactly are we going to London?"
Jenna grinned. "There's this club that's just for Prodigium. Daisy says it's pretty awesome."
Ugh. A club for Prodigium? That conjured up images of way more velvet and dry ice and angst than I was up for.
"I don't know,"I said. "That sounds awful y 'afield'to me."
"Yeah, but if we wanna find out more about Daisy and Nick..."
"I know. It's so obnoxious when you're right about stuff. Stil , there's no way Cal is going to be cool with this,"I said, hoping that might put an end to the whole thing.
Jenna looked confused. "Cal's not coming."
"What? Why not?"
She shrugged. "He got caught up in dealing with some sort of botanical emergency. Apparently there were a lot more sick plants here than he thought."
"Huh,"I said, turning back to the mirror.
"Why, Sophia Mercer! Is that disappointment I detect with my super-special vampire powers?"
"No, I just...I just wish he'd come to tel me himself."
"Uh-huh,"Jenna said with way too much smugness. "And you wore that low-cut shirt and those high-heeled boots for my benefit, right?"
I tossed a compact at her. "No one likes a nosy vampire, Jenna."
Nick and Daisy were waiting for us by the back door once we final y made it downstairs. Nick shot me a surly glance, but didn't say anything.
"I take it Jenna fil ed you in on our plans for this evening?"Daisy asked me in a low voice. Her gray eyes were lined with kohl and practical y glittering.
"Yeah,"I said, trying to feign some excitement. "Can't wait!"There was nothing I wanted less than to hang out with a bunch of Prodigium and two demons, one of whom was obviously unstable.
"You know if you narc on us to your dad, he'l probably kick us out,"Nick said, opening the door.
"Wow, I sure would hate that after you've been so friendly and welcoming to me,"I replied brightly.
"She's right,"Daisy admonished, pul ing on Nick's sleeve. "Be nice."