“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.”

“He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a flurry of sparks through me. "Good-bye, Sophie." -Cal”

“But as I stood across from Archer, I couldn't forget that I was completely, stupidly in love with the one person I could never have.The laughter died on my lips, and I dashed at my eyes with the back of my hand. "I need to get back," I said."Right," he replied. He was still holding his sword in his right hand, and he twirled the hilt, the point sratching the wooden floor. "So this is it. We're done.""Yeah," I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat. "And I have to say, the world's first and last Eye-demon reconnaissance mission went pretty well." It was a struggle to meet his eyes, but I managed it. "Thank you."He shrugged, his dark gaze full of something I couldn't quite read. "We were a good team.""We were." In more ways than one, I thought. Which is why this sucked so bad.I stepped back. "Anyway, I should go. See ya,Cross." Then I laughed, only it sounded suspiciously like another sob. "Except I won't, will I So I guess I should say goodbye." I felt like I was about to shatter into a million tiny shards, like the mirrors I'd broken with Dad. "okay, well, best of luck with the whole Eye thing, then. Try not to kill anyone I know." I turned away, but he reached out and caught my wrist.I could feel my pulse hammering under his fingers. "Mercer, that day in the cellar..." He searched my face, and I could sense him struggling for what he wanted to say. Then finally, "I didn't kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to." His eyes dropped to my lips,and it was like the whole world had shrunk to just me and him and the shaft of light between us. "I still want to," he said hoarsely. He tugged my wrist and pulled me into his arms.My brain registered the sound of his sword clattering to he ground as his other hand came up to grab the back of my neck, but once his lips were on mine, everything else faded away. I clutched at his shoulders, raising up on my tiptoes, and kissed him with everything I had in me. As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, so I didn't know if the pounding heartbeat I felt was mine or his.How stupid,I thought dreamily, to have ever thought I could give this up. Not just the kissing, although, as Archer's hands cupped my face, I had to admit that part was pretty awesome. But all of it: joking with him and working beside him. Being with a guy who was my friend and could still make me feel like this.”

“Except for the giant sword in his hand."Is that really necessary?" I asked when I walked in, noting that his dagger was also hanging off his belt.His head jerked up, and I thought he might have been relieved to see me. But then he turned back to the Itineris, crouching down to pull something out of a black duffel bag at his feet. "Never hurts to be prepared," he said."It just seems like overkill when you already have a dagger and I have supernatural magic at my disposal.""'Superpowerful?'" He stood up, a gold chain dangling from his fingers. "let me remind you of two words, Mercer: Bad. Dog."I rolled my eyes. "That was nearly a year ago. I'm way better now.""Yeah,well,I'm not taking any chances," he said. For the first time, I noticed there was some sort of holster thing on his back. He slid the sword into it so the hilt rose over his shoulders. "Besides," he added, "I thought you might not come. After what happened the other night..." he paused, studying my face. "Are you all right?""I will be when people stop asking me that.""You know I had nothing to do with that, right?""Yeah," I replied. "And if you did have something to do with it, I will vaporize you where you stand."The corner of his mouth quirked. "Good to know."He closed the distance between us, coming to stand entirely too close to me. "What are you doing?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound as breathless as I felt.He lifted his hands, and with surprising gentleness, placed the chain around both our necks. Looking down at it, I saw that the links were actually tiny figures holding hands. I'd seen it somewhere before."This is the necklace one of the angels is wearing in the window at Hex Hall.""It is indeed."Reaching down to take my hands, he explained, "It's also a very powerful protection charm, which we're going to need."I swallowed as we laced our fingers and stepped closer to the Itineris. "Why?""Because we're going a very long way."I involuntarily squeezed his fingers with mine. The last time I'd traveled through the Itineris, I'd only gone a few hundred miles, and that had made my head nearly explode. "Where are we going?" I asked."Graymalkin Island," he answered. And then he yanked me into the doorway.”

“Oh,Mercer," he murmured against my temple once we'd come up for air, "we are so screwed."I pressed my face against his neck, breathing him in. "I know.""So what do we do?"Reluctantly, I tried to move away. It was hard to think when he was so close to me. "If we were good people, we'd never see each other again."His arms locked around my waist, pulling me back. "Okay,well, that's not happening. Plan B?"I smiled up at him, feeling ridiculously giddy for someone on the verge of ruining her life. "I don't have one.You?"He shook his head. "Nothing.But...look. I've spent basically my whole life pretending to be someone I'm not, faking some feelings, hiding others." Reaching down, he clasped my hand and lifted it so that our joined hands were trapped between our chests. "This thing with us is the only real thing I've had in a long time.You're the only real thing." He raised our hands and kissed my knuckles. "And I'm done pretending I don't want you."I had read a lot about swooning in the romance novels Mom had tried to hide from me,but I'd never felt in danger of doing it until now. Which was why a snarky comment was definitely called for."Wow,Cross.I think you missed your calling.Screw demon hunting: you should clearly be writing Hallmark cards."His face broke into that crooked grin that was maybe my favorite sight in the whole world. "Shut up," he muttered before lowering his head and kissing me again."Why is it," I said against his lips several moments later, "that we're always kissing in gross, dirty places like cellars and abandoned mills?"He laughed, pressing kisses to my jaw, then my neck. "Next time it'll be a castle, I promise.This is England, after all. Can't be too hard to find one.”

“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.”

“That present sucked," I muttered.Dad slipped an arm around my shoulder and helped me sit up. As he did, his sleeve fell back to reveal several slivers of demonglass embedded in his forearm."I'm fine," he said before I could ask. "Cal can get them out later. Are you all right?"My shoulder was still on fire, but there was no pain anywhere else, and other than the shock of being blown backward and stabbed, I was peachy. "I think so. What was that, like a magic pipe bomb?"The present lay in tatters on the floor, its ribbon coiling and snapping like a snake. Cal stomped on the ribbon, and it went still. "Seems like it," he said grimly."And it was ensorcelled to seek you out," Dad added. He looked so worried and angry that I decided not to give him a hard time for using a word like ensorcelled.”