"So, wait, we could go in that opening and tel it anywhere we wanted to go?"Jenna asked.
"Anywhere,"Nick answered with a shrug. "But like Daisy said, the farther you go, the harder it is. So while I could get in there and say I wanted to go to, like, Madagascar, the trip would probably kil me."
Next to me, Jenna shuddered. "I can't imagine being in that thing for any longer than we were."
"Itineris travel can be especial y tough on vamps,"Nick replied.
Then maybe you should have told her that before you dragged us on this little outing, jackass, I thought irritably.
Suddenly I wished Cal were here, and not just because he could have cured my headache in about two seconds.
"They can only be created by very powerful witches,"Daisy continued while I tried to keep my skul from exploding. She flicked open her lighter, her face briefly il uminated in the glow. "Or demons, obviously."
"So who made the one at Thorne?"Jenna asked.
Nick answered her. "We don't know."He grinned. "But since it's so kickass, I'm gonna say it was a demon."
I wondered if Alice had made it, but before I could ask any more questions, Daisy broke in. "Okay, as fascinating as this conversation is, we only have a few hours, and I'd like to spend them in Shel ey's, not in an al ey. Can we go inside now, please?"I did my best not to gape at her, but seriously. What had happened to the introverted, delicate girl from this morning?
We trailed out of the al ey and around to the front of the building. From the outside it looked like a regular, if kind of seedy, nightclub. There was a smal awning over the entrance that read shel ey's in white cursive, and people had scratched their initials and insults on the black door.
I looked around for a scary monster bouncer, but there was no one. There wasn't even one of those cool panels that slides open so you can whisper a password. Then I realized the door was wavering slightly.
Daisy saw me studying it, and smiled. "It's glamoured,"she said. "Only Prodigium can find it. To humans, it just looks like a particularly drunk and fragrant homeless guy leaning against the wal ."
Wel , that was lovely. But she was right. If I squinted just right, I could make out a ghostly figure slumping where the door was.
Then Daisy stepped in front of me, and the door was just a door again. Daisy knocked and it swung open almost immediately. I was assaulted by the smel of smoke and a nearly deafening wave of techno. The light pouring from the entrance was blue and pulsed slightly.
I'd only gone to a club once, back in ninth grade. That had been when Mom and I were living in Chicago, and I'd had a brief flirtation with rebel iousness. I'd gone to some gross black hole of a room with a girl named Cindy Lewis, who'd worn way too much eyeliner and smoked clove cigarettes. My main memories of that night included music that was so loud I was sure I'd done some permanent damage to my eardrums, and some guy who smel ed like a brewery grabbing my leg and attempting to slobber al over my face. So yeah, clubs were not exactly my favorite places.
But then, Shel ey's was nothing like that smoky pit in Chicago.
Okay, so there was smoke. And real y, real y loud music. But other than that, the two places could not have been more different. For one thing, the interior of Shel ey's was huge, much bigger than it had appeared from the outside. There were two levels, the bottom one made up almost entirely of a glossy black dance floor. It was crowded with bodies, and the magic coming off of them was so strong that my skin crawled. I saw lots of Prodigium our age, but there were just as many older people here too. In fact, there was an ancient bearded guy in the corner who looked like he'd probably pal ed around with Mary Shel ey. I saw a werewolf dancing with what I assumed was a witch, his claws making smal tears at the waist of her dress. Above the crowd, several faeries floated in the air, their wings beating in time with music, their shiny, pale hair reflecting the colored lights.
In the very middle of the dance floor, a guy wearing a purple velvet smoking jacket was dancing, surrounded by several witches. He looked familiar, and when he turned around, I realized it was Lord Byron.
Yeah, the Lord Byron. He'd been our English teacher at Hecate before al the attacks started. Since he was a vampire, people had been suspicious of him. Even after he was cleared, he stil hadn't wanted to come back to Hex Hal . Not like I could blame him.
I thought about going over to say hi, but then he spotted us. I'm not sure, but I think he flipped us off before limping away.
Neither Jenna nor I had been exactly stel ar students.
Nick jerked his head toward the back. "Let's go grab a seat."
We moved away from the dance floor, to where it was dimmer and less crowded. The music also seemed a good deal softer, so my brain no longer felt like it was leaking out of my ears. Daisy led us to a booth in the back and flopped down on a velvet banquette. Nick sat next to her, leaving Jenna and I to scoot into the seat opposite them.
Daisy pul ed out yet another cigarette, this time offering the pack around. Nick took one, but I shook my head when he held the box out to me. "No thanks. Don't smoke."
"Fair enough,"Nick replied.
A tal woman with auburn hair came up to the table. She was wearing a bright purple dress that was so short, I thought it might have started its life as a shirt. She would've been pretty if her face hadn't looked like she'd just taken a big swig of sour milk. "You two again,"she said.
Daisy rol ed her eyes, but Nick looked total y unruffled. "Ah, Linda, my sweet. I was hoping you'd be our waitress tonight. I've missed that sunny smile of yours."
Linda folded her arms across her chest. "Bite me, freak."
Nick grinned, and for just a second, he looked so much like Archer that I clenched my teeth.
"Who's to say I won't, Linda?"Nick asked, raising his eyebrows. Daisy elbowed him in the side. Linda just glared until Nick waved his hands. "Truce, truce,"he said. "Al right then, Daisy and I wil have our usual."
I wondered what that might be. Evil Juice? Some kind of demonic energy drink?
Linda's surly gaze flicked to Jenna, who uncharacteristical y blushed.
"They have any kind of blood you could want on tap,"Daisy offered.
I real y didn't want to think about what that meant.
Jenna gave a nervous smile. "Then a, uh, glass or whatever of O-negative."