“If I cried any more tonight, I'd probably turn into a dried-out husk.”

“Dad just stared at me like I'd started speaking Greek. Of course, Dad probably spoke Greek, so maybe it was more like I was talking Martian.”

“Ugh. A club for Prodigium? That conjured up images of way more velvet and dry ice and angst than I was up for.”

“Mrs. Casnoff made me write a statement to the Council a few weeks after it happened. Everything's in there.""I read that. And neither I,nor the rest of the Council, believe it contains the entire truth."I made a sound that I'd like to say was a cry of indignant, but it was actually closer to a bleat. Probably because Dad was right: that stupid statement didn't even begin to touch the whole truth."Your entanglement with Archer Cross-""We were never entangled," I spluttered.”

“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.”

“By now I had drawn up as much magic as I could possibly hold, but I was afraid to start sending big bolts of it into the fray. The last thing I wanted was to hit Archer, who, I was beginning to realize, had definitely held back in Defense. I'd never seen anyone move like he did, his movements fast and sure. Too bad they weren't doing any good.Finally,one of the ghouls got a grasp on his hair, and he winced as the thing jerked his head back. I think I might have cried out, but it was hard to hear anything between my heartbeat and the whirring of magic in my veins."Could we start with the necromancing now?" Archer shouted at me.”

“Is there any way to check and see if Nick and Daisy were ever at Hecate? They must have had different names or you'd remember them."I don't know why I was holding out hope that Dad would be all, "Why, yes, let me check the Hecate Enrollment Roster 9000 computer database." Those lists were probably written on pieces of parchment with quill feathers.”