Rachel Hawkins

“Okay,so Mom had been freaked out by Dad being a warlock.Fair enough.But why couldn't she at least have let me talk to the guy? It would have been nice to get a little heads up about the Vandy. You know,just a friendly "Oh,and by the way, your gym teacher hates me a lot, and so, by extension, hates you! Best o' luck!”

“I usually make it a point not to cry in front of people, especially hot boys that I'd been totally crushing on before they'd tried to choke me.But for some reason, hearing that there was yet another thing I didn't know just sent me right on over the edge.Archer,to his credit, didn't look exactly horrified by my sobbing, and he even reached out like he might grab hold of my shoulders.Or possibly smack me.But before he could either comfort me or commit further acts of violence upon my person,I spun away from him and made my drama queen moment complete by running away.It wasn't pretty.”

“I'd never been able to actually feel my blood pressure rising before, but it certainly was now. It felt kind of the way magic used to feel, only with more homicidal rage thrown in.”

“I'm sorry, but are you pissed at me? Me? I'm the one who had your knee practically crushing my spine, buddy, so let's check the attitude.”

“On the upside,my crush on Archer was totally gone. Over. Once a boy has slammed his kneecap into your rib cage, I think any romantic feelings should naturally go the way of the ghost.”

“I wish I could say that I suddenly discovered my inner warrior princess and expertly leaped at Archer, weapon hoisted high, teeth bared.That would have been cool.Instead I raised the stake to about shoulder height and took two, maybe three shuffling steps forward.”

“Put simply,she freaked me the hell out.”

“She sounded so bright and businesslike that I wondered if I had hallucinated the part where she basically told us we were all going to die.”

“I had an incredibly nasty retort ready that involved his mother and the U.S. Navy.”

“In all my old school pictures I was always the one standing alone in the back with my hair in my face.”

“There were only six adults in the oldest picture,and all of them looked really serious,like they'd probably kicked kittens for fun.”

“For a second I thought about saying, "Yes, please, let's catch the next ferry out of this freak show.”

“What with the pointing and the blue suit, she brought to mind a flight attendant. I expected her to tell me that in the event of an emergency, my brand-new Hecate blazer could be used as a flotation device.”

“She gave a brittle smile. "The curriculum can be challenging, but I have no doubt that Sophie will do very well."Never had encouragement sounded so much like a threat.”

“Wow," I heard Mom say, and I turned to her with a smile."Good luck explaining to God that you used to spank one of his heavenly beings."Mom gave a startled laugh. "Sophie!""What? You did.I hope you like hot weather, Mom, that's all I'm saying.”

“She was around fifty, with dark blond hair that had been twisted, teased, and probably threatened into a complicated updo.”

“Hey,you might be able to take away my magical powers, but the power of sarcasm was still at my disposal.”

“Being trapped thus is incredibly frustrating for me, andoccasionally I take it out on others. Again, I apologize. Now,if you’d like, I can help you with what you’re seeking.”Knowing I’d probably regret it, I crossed the room andyanked the canvas off the mirror. As before, he was sittingon the table, smirking at me.“Jackass, jackass on the wall, where’s the info on HexHall?”

“Holy hell weasel!”

“Awesome," I murmured, sliding my sunglasses on top of my head. Thanks to the humidity, my hair felt like it had tripled in size. I could feel it trying to devour my sunglasses like some sort of carnivorous jungle plant. "I always wondered what it would be like to live in somebody's mouth.”

“It's okay,baby!" he shouted after her. "I don't need eyes to see you! I see you with the eyes of my heart, Felicia! My HEART!"Great. Not only was my spell too strong, it was also lame.”

“Superpowerful?’”He stood up, a gold chain dangling from his fingers. “Let me remind you of two words, Mercer: Bad. Dog.”

“Brannicks and magic and hell, oh my,” ~ Sophie”

“You know, this isn’t how I imagined meeting Sophie’s first real boyfriend.” “Mom.” Archer gave me a little squeeze. “You mean I’m the first guy your parents have rescued from an enchanted island via use of a magic mirror? I feel so special.” ~ Grace, Sophie, Archer”

“Cross.” His head popped up a few shelves over. “What?” “Check out the magic crap.” He shot me a look. “Oh, is that what we’re supposed to be doing? Because I’ve just been drawing hearts and our initials in the dirt.” Sophie + Archer”

“I'm not creepy. At least not on purpose.”

“There was a light knock at the door. Cal let go of my arm and we jumped about six feel apart as Lara eased the door open. If Mrs. Casnoff had caught Cal in my bedroom back at Hecate--with the door closed, and me still in my pajamas--I had a feeling there would have been steely glares, pursed lips, and words like "wildly inappropriate".”

“Cal shrugged. "That's one word for it. I'm not all that thrilled with it either."I pushed the covers off and got out of bed, making sure my nightshirt didn't ride up. "Cal, I already have to deal with an angry dad today. Please don't pull some macho "bethrothed" thing on top of it, okay?"He caught my wrirst. "I'm not. And it's not you I'm pissed at. It's them. They shouldn't have taken you there."His hand was warm on my skin.”

“I sat up so fast I practically broke the sound barrier, but it was Cal standing in my doorway, not Archer. I heaved a huge sigh, one of relief, and not even a little bit of disappointment.Of course, once I'd wrapped my mind around the fact that it was Cal and not Archer standing in my bedroom, it dawned on me that Cal was standing in my bedroom.”

“I knew.""What?""I knew what you were then, Sophie. Your dad told me before the betrothal. And you told me about your grandmother, and what happened to your grandfather."I shook my head. "Then, why?"Cal took his time before answering.”

“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?”

“Oh my God, you so should have fainted, and then Cal could have caught you and, like, carried you up the staircase.”

“I left out the part about Cal I being betrothed. Jenna was already practically wearing a Team Cal T-shirt. I didn't want to give her any more ammunition.”

“You'll be fine," he said. "And if you're not up in a few minutes, I'll save you.”

“Because there's no way I can do that.""Yes, there is." He reached out, startling me, and pressed his palm to my cheek.Almost immediately, a sense of well-being flooded through me, a blissful numbness that started at the top of my head and spread all the way down to my toes. "Seriously, best powers ever," I mumbled drowsily."Go to bed, Sophie," he said, dropping his hand as if my skin had burned him.”

“Cal's glance fell on our joined hands, and he turned away.”

“You could've just let me bleed to death and saved yourself a lot of hassel."Cal scowled at him. "I did it for her.”

“I knew you could be naive, but I never thought you were stupid. He's an Eye, Sophie. They kill our kind. What part of that don't you understand?"All I could do was blink at him."And this one is worse than any of the others," he continued, "because he's technically one of us. He's a traitor to his own race, and you just keep letting him in and pushing...everyone else away." He looked up at me, what I saw in his eyes made me flunch. Cal was so good at hiding his emotions that I'd never realized...God, how could I have been such an idiot?”

“Great. We can pick out our colors.""What?""For the wedding. I'm thinking melon and mint. Supposed to be really hot next spring."Cal laughed out loud, the first time I'd ever heard him do that. "It's a plan. See ya, Sophie.”

“Then he paused, and I could tell that whatever he was going to say was really important. There was even a chance he might use more than five words to say it. "Or maybe your magic isn't destructive after all. The rain of Doritos, the bed things, this...Maybe it's just that you create too big, you know?"When I could find my voice, I said, "Cal, that might be the nicest thing anyone's said to me since we got here."He twirled one of the naked roots between his finger and didn't meet my eyes. "It's true." The he glanced up and gazve one of those half smiles I was really starting to like.”

“Cal's fingers tightened on mine, and my heart thumped in response. The library felt very quiet and very still around us. "You'll feel it.”

“Cal curled his fingers around mine and raised my left hand to the brownish flower. There was a callus on his thumb that should have been irritating against my skin.”

“Then, like I wasn't thrown enough, Cal leaned down and picked up a potted African violet on the low table next to the sofa and brought it over to me. For a second, I wondered if this was his socially awkward way of trying to give me flowers.”

“I'm not sure how I feel about you 'handling my life energy,' Cal."He grinned, and I was taken aback by how different it made him look. Cal spent so much time being stoic and solemn that it was easy to forget he even had teeth. "I'll buy you dinner first next time, I promise."Okay, the grin was one thing, but that had definitely been flirting.”

“The sparks faded, but Cal didn't take his hand off mine.”

“We were sitting so close that our hips touched. He smelled nice, like freshly cut grass and sunshine. I wondered if he'd been outside already this morning, or if that's just the way Cal always smelled.”

“It felt like some kind of honor, you know? Being asked to be the head of the Council's son-in-law. Plus, you dad, he, uh, told me a lot about you."My voice was barely above a whisper. "What did he say?""That you were smart, and strong. Funny. That you had trouble using your powers, but you were always trying to use them to help people." He shrugged. "I thought we'd be a good match."The vast dining room suddenly felt very small, like it consisted only of this table and me and Cal.”

“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. Callahan 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.”

“He gently pried my hand off his arm. "I have to," he said softly. He went to turn away, and then stopped, like maybe he was reconsidering. But instead of agreeing to come back to the Itineris with me, he reached out, cupped my face, and brought his lips to mine.I was so shocked that I literally froze in place, one hand hovering in the air next to Cal's shoulder. The kiss was brief--just a little too long to be considered chaste--but when he pulled away, all I could do was stare at him, my mouth slightly agape. He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a tiny flurry of sparks through me. "Goodbye, Sophie.”

“I was just about to get up when Dad rushed into the kitchen. He was in pajamas, which was totally bizarre. Dad never came down to breakfast until he was completely dressed. Of course, his pajamas even had a little pocket and handkerchief, so maybe he felt dressed.”