"Mrs. Casnoff?"Oh, God, if that's where this woman had gotten her Sophie Mercer gossip, I was surprised she'd greeted me with a handshake instead of an exorcism.
"Lara and Anastasia are sisters,"Dad said.
"Okay,"I replied, trying to process that. Then something else occurred to me. "I thought Council Headquarters was in London."
A deep vertical line appeared between Lara's brows. "It is. Due to some unforeseen events we've decided to relocate for the summer."Now that I knew she was Mrs. Casnoff's sister, I could see-and hear-the resemblance. I wondered if the demon teenagers were the "unforeseen events,"or if there was more messed up stuff happening. Wouldn't have surprised me.
I turned to Dad, "You said we were going to a friend's house. Why didn't you tel me you were bringing me here?"
He met my gaze. "Because if I had, you wouldn't have come."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the demon kids break away from the group and head for the massive double doors just past the terrace. The girl shot me one last look before they slipped inside.
"Sophie, this is the Council,"Dad said, drawing my attention back to the Prodigium standing there.
"That's it?"I heard Cal say under his breath, and I had to admit, I was surprised, too. Al this time I'd imagined the Council as this huge, shadowy group of Prodigium who wore long black robes or something.
I don't know if he heard Cal, or if he could just read the looks on our faces, but Dad said, "There are normal y twelve members, but now there are just the five of us currently at Thorne."
"Where are-"Jenna started to say, but she was interrupted as one of the men stepped forward. He was older than Dad, and his white hair gleamed in the sunlight. "I'm Kristopher,"he said, his voice thick with an unidentifiable accent. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sophia."His eyes were icy blue instead of gold, but he was definitely a shifter. I could feel it.
Wondering if he turned into a husky dog, I turned to the next guy, craning my neck to look up at him. He must've been nearly seven feet tal , and his huge wings reminded me of water in oil: they were black, but they stil swirled with every color, from green to blue to pink.
"Roderick,"he said as my hand disappeared into his. The woman was Elizabeth, and with her soft gray hair and little round glasses, I thought she looked like someone's nana; but when I went to shake her hand, she yanked me to her and sniffed my hair.
Great. Another werewolf.
Dad said something about speaking with al of them later, and then, final y, we headed inside.
Jenna gasped as we moved into the foyer, and if I hadn't stil been reeling from the one-two punch of the Council on the steps, plus the demon teenagers, I probably would have too. It was one of those spaces where you felt like you could look forever and stil not see everything. Hecate could be overwhelming as wel , but it was nothing like this. The black-and-white marble floor underneath my feet was shiny enough to make me glad I hadn't worn a skirt, and I was nearly blinded by the acres of gilt that covered every surface. Like Hecate, the main entrance was dominated by a staircase, but this one was a lot bigger, and carved from white limestone. The steps were covered in a carpet as red as spil ed blood.
Overhead, the curved ceiling was covered in a mural, but I couldn't quite make out what was being depicted. From the looks of it, it was violent and tragic. Other paintings around the room showed the same kind of scene: stern-faced men pointing swords at weeping women, or men charging into battle while their horses'eyes rol ed in fear.
I shivered. Even in June, it was impossible to believe you could ever be warm in a room like this. Or maybe my goose bumps were from al the magic, as though five hundred years'worth of spel s had seeped into the stone and wood.
"They have statues,"Jenna said. "In a hallway."Sure enough, two bronze statues of veiled women guarded the massive staircase, where even more people were now lining up. They were al wearing black uniforms, and had nearly identical smiles plastered on their faces.
"What are those people doing?"Jenna whispered to me.
"I don't know,"I replied through a frozen grin, "but I'm afraid a musical number might be involved."
"This is our household staff,"Dad said, sweeping his arm toward the group. "Anything you need, they'l be happy to help you with."
"Oh,"I said weakly, feeling like my voice echoed in the cavernous room. "Great."
Beyond the crowd, at the top of the stairs, was a large marble arch. Dad nodded toward it and said, "Our temporary offices are through there, but we can see those later. I'm sure you'd like to see your rooms now."
I caught the edge of Dad's sleeve and pul ed him away from the group. "Actual y,"I whispered, "I'd like to know where those other demons came from. Are they-they're not my brother and sister, are they?"
Dad's eyes widened behind his glasses. "No,"he said. "Dear Lord, no. Daisy and Nick are...We can talk more about them at another time, but no, they're no relation to us."
"Then why are they here?"
Dad frowned and rol ed his shoulders. "Because they have nowhere else to go, and this is the safest place for them."
That made sense. "Right. Because you guys could take them out if they went al super-demon."
But Dad shook his head, puzzled. "No, Sophie, I meant it's safer for them. Nick and Daisy have already had several attempts made on their lives."
He didn't even give me time to react before raising his hand and waving Lara over. Her heels clicked on the marble as she strode toward us.
"Sophie, Lara has prepared some lovely rooms for you and your guest. Why don't you go get acclimatized? We can talk later."
It obviously wasn't a request, so I just shrugged and said, "Sure."
Lara led us across the foyer to a tal stone doorway housing yet another set of steps. As she led us up the dim passageway, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking into a tomb.
As we walked, Lara rattled off statistics that I only half listened to. They were unbelievable anyway.
Over a mil ion cubic feet of living space. More than three hundred rooms, thirty-one of which were kitchens. Ninety-eight bathrooms. Three hundred and fifty-nine windows. Two thousand four hundred and seventy-six lightbulbs.