Rachel Hawkins

“You mean I’m the first guy your parents have rescued from an enchanted island via use of a magic mirror? I feel special.”

“As I moved past him and into the house, I resolved to talk to Cal like a mature grown-up person. Eventually. For now, I gave him a little wave and ran away to my room.”

“What are they all doing there? Throwing a hellacious slumber party?” when no one said anything, I added, “Get it? Hellacious? Because they’re all…Forget it.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.”He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Curiouser and curiouser.”Startled, I glanced at him. “I say that sometimes.”Even with his face tight with worry, Dad managed to look a little amused. “It’s from Alice in Wonderland. Appropriate, don’t you think?”

“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 Hello Kitty Goes Goth.”

“Right," Jenna said. She was sitting on a desk next to me. She spent most of the class reading those mangas she liked so much.”

“A smile played around the corners of his mouth. He looked up at me. "Bad dog.”

“I may be a loser, but hey, at least I'm a loser who can do magic, right?”

“He raised an eyebrow, which made me totally jealous. I've never been able to do that. I always just end up raising both of them and looking surprised or scared instead of sardonic.”

“Oh my God. Regret cake? Whatever was about to happen must be truly evil.”

“Archer Cross, resident bad boy and total heartthrob. Warlock. Every girl here is at least, like, half in love with him. Crushing on Archer Cross might as well be a class.”

“I stared at them. Had that been their sales pitch? Look!We're really scary! Come be scary too!”

“Dark witches do the bigger things," Chaston offered. "And our powers are a hell of a lot stronger. We can make barrier spells, and if we're really good, control the weather. We're also necromancers if--" "Whoa!" I held up my hand. "Necromancers? Like, power over dead things?”

“I bet she woke up with her hair looking like something out of a Pantene commercial while little bluebirds circled around her head, and raccoons brought her breakfast or something.”

“I suppressed a shudder at the image. Blood is so very gross to me. If Igive myself a paper cut, I nearly hyperventilate.”

“Between the two desks was one of those old Chinese screens, but even this bore Jenna's stamp, as the wood had been painted--you guessed it: pink.”

“Archer hizo un intento de bajar, pero yo lo detuve.- Yo voy primero. Si bajo detrás de ti, seguro que te quedarás mirándome las bragas.”

“- De acuerdo, chicos, ¿os sentís protegidos?- Yo sí-dijo Archer-. También me siento como si alguien se hubiese propasado conmigo, pero eso no tiene nada que ver.”

“Dad rubbed his forehead. "No Sophie, its alright. That's what I hoped you would do." "You hoped I'd commit mirrorcide?”

“Jenna slipped in wearing an outfit that I can only describe as Hello Kitty Goes Goth.”

“Of course I'd feel butterflies when a guy who looked like that said something so swoon-worthy.”

“I don't drink.""Oh My God, a straight-edged demon! I freaking love it!”

“Había sido besada unas pocas veces con anterioridad, pero nada como esto. Me sentíelectrificada desde la parte superior de mi cabeza hasta la punta de los pies, y en algúnlugar en el fondo de mi mente escuché a Alice diciendo que el amor tenía un poder propio.Ella tenía razón: esto era mágico.”

“I can tell you what the eye wanted with Sophie...we heard she was particularly skilled qt Chutes and Ladders, and since The Eye holds a Chutes and Ladders tournament every summer”

“You know, 'help me, Sophie Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope”

“There was a sensible part of me somewhere that clutched its pearls and hissed that I better not give up my V-card in a CELLAR, but when Archer's hands slid under my shirt and onto the skin of my back, I started thinking that a cellar was as good a place as any.”

“I opened my eyes to stare at a bright blue tulle monstrosity with a skirt that would hit me at mid thigh. I'd look like the really slutty bride of Cookie Monster.”

“Dedication: For John, who said, "You know what this book needs? More fire. And maybe some swords." This ONE time, honey, you were right. (Rachel Hawkins)”

“And parents who love you, and who are probably making out back at that car," Archer said ...”

“Weird it showed it me that when I've had so many other awful things happen directly to me," I said beginning to tick them off my fingers. "Elodie getting killed, having to kill Alice, escaping a burning building with the help of a ghost..." And then because both my parents looked so deflated I added, "Oh, and this really heinous pageboy haircut in the sixth grade.”

“Cal, Archer, Jenna and I managed to achieve something truly impressive: the *four-way* glance.”

“Cal," he said by way of explanation. "I owe that guy, like, a mountain of burgers. It's getting embarrassing.”

“... Unlike some people, I don't have the urge to go sticking my fingers in it.”

“What the heck is that?" I asked, pointing to a dark stain in the nearest corner."Okay, number one question you *don't* want to hear in a creepy cellar," Archer said ...”

“Sophie's here, but Elodie's possessing her right now.""In that case, I'll wait out here," he said.”

“You have this weird look on your face," he said. "Like you're doing really complicated math in your head.”

“Elodie made a gesture that was pretty easy to interpret.”

“Suddenly, both Archer's and Jenna's hands clamped down on my wrists.”

“We could argue in front of our lockers all dramatically," I said. "That's something I saw a lot at human high schools."He squeezed me in a quick hug. "Yes! Now that sounds like a good time. And then I could come to your house in the middle of the night and play music really loudly under your window until you took me back."I chuckled. "You watch too many movies. Ooh, we could be lab partners!""Isn't that kind of what we were in Defense?""Yeah, but in normal high school, there would be more science, less kicking each other in the face.""Nice.”

“I wish we could go to the movies."I stared at him. "We're in a creepy dungeon. There's a chance I might die in the next few hours. You are going to die in the next few hours. And if you had one wish, it would be to catch a movie?”

“They stared each other down, and while the dorky eleven-year-old in my soul kind of hoped that two hot boys might fight over me, the rational, seventeen-year-old knew that Archer need to get out of here, fast.”

“Oh, come on, Sophie. Don't you get it? He's L'Occhio di Dio's ultimate weapon. They used him as a spy at Hecate for years, so what makes you think that's stopped now? This is probably just his new assignment, getting close to you so he can use you for information about the Council.""Actually, I was just going to use her for her body, but that's a good idea, too.”

“This may sound weird, but the first thing I thought as I watched that ten-feet-tall bronze lady plummet toward my face was, "Well, at least it can't kill me.”

“Where the heck was I while you were playing Grand Theft Cellar?”

“Dad was at his desk when I opened the door, doing what all British people do when they're freaked out: drinking tea.”

“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.”

“Cal stepped forward, hopefully to come to my rescue. "I could toss her off the pier, Ms. Vanderlyden."Or not.”

“I wondered if they had rehearsed this weird three-way-talking thing they had going on. I imagined them sitting in a circle in their dorm room, brushing their hair and saying, "Okay, so I'll say we feel bad, and then you'll say that your hot boyfriend thinks she's pathetic.”

“I’m so happy to see you that I wouldn’t care if you’re secretly a ninja sent from the future to destroy kittens and rainbows.”

“People are so rarely villains in their own minds.”