“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.”

“Archer! Let us fetch a spot of tea, old boy!”

“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.”

“Jenna and Archer shared a look. “-Why would we need to ‘stay in touch’?” Jenna asked. “-Well, because…Look, I can’t ask you guys to stay at Hex Hall for a whole other year. Jenna, you have Vix, and Archer, you have…Actually, what DO you have?” “-You,” he said firmly. “And a whole bunch of holy knights who want to kill me.”

“Jenna had tried to cheer me up that morning, saying, "At least you have it with a hot guy.""Archer isn't hot anymore," I'd fired back. "He tried to kill me, and his girlfriend is Satan."But I have to admit that as we stood beside each other on the cellar steps and listened to the Vandy ramble on about what we were supposed to do down there, I couldn't help but sneak sideways glances at him and notice that, homicidal tendencies and evil girlfriends aside, he was still hot. As usual,his tie was loose and his shirt-sleeves were rolled up. He was watching the Vandy with this bored, vaguely amused look, arms crossed over his chest.That pose did most excellent things for his chest and arms.How unfair was it that Elodie of all people got that as a boyfriend? I mean, where is the justice when-""Miss Mercer!" the Vandy barked, and I jumped high enough to nearly lose my balance.I clutched the banister next to me, and Archer caught my other elbow.Then he winked, and I immediately turned my attention back to the Vandy like she was the most fascinating person I'd ever seen."Do you need me to repeat anything, Miss Mercer?" she sneered."N-no. I got it," I stammered.She stared at me for a minute. I think she was trying to come up with a witty put-down.But the Vandy,like most mean people, was dumb, so in the end, she just sort of growled and pushed between me and Archer to stalk up the stairs."One hour!" she called over her shoulder.The ancient door didn't so much as creak as scream in pain as she pushed it closed.”

“Archer isn't hot anymore.... He tried to kill me, and his girlfriend is Satan.”

“Thanks to all the moving around Mom and I had done, I hadn't had a birthday party since I was eight years old. That had been at Chuck E. Cheese. Something told me the Council had something more elaborate in mind."They don't need to do that," I said, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Especially with all that's going on right now."Nick flashed me a wolfish grin. "That's Prodigium for you. Very 'fiddle while Rome burns.”