“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.”

“So when you left Hex Hall after Holly died, that wasn't because you were the grief-stricken fiance. You were going to The Eye.""Yeah. I told them that I thought Elodie and her coven had raised a demon, so we decided I should get close to her,see what was really going on.""And you decided to get really close to her."He laughed softly. "I can't see you, but I have a feeling you're cute when you're jealous,Mercer."Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, "It's not jealousy you're hearing, it's digust. You dated a girl you didn't even like just to get information out of her."His laughter died, and his voice sounded weary when he said, "Trust me, a lot of my brothers have done much worse."There was so much I wanted to ask him, but it's not like we could sit out here all night passing the sharing stick or whatever.Time to cut to the chase."So did The Eye tell you to get all Mata Hari on me too?”

“Both of us widened our eyes and said, "Woah."Then I immediately blushed. Oh my God, had I just looked at Archer and said, "Whoa"?But...wait a minute. Had Archer just looked at me and said "Whoa"?”

“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.”

“‎"I solemnly swear to tell Mrs. Casnoff that Elodie's ghost looked at me. And if I do not tell her, I swear to buy Jenna a pony. A vampire pony.”

“Ugh. Why did I have to have so many thoughts? Why couldn't I just be a normal girl and bask in the glow of finally knowing that the boy I wanted wanted me back?I slipped in the back door,and as I did, one of the maids gave me a quick curtsy. Ah,right. Because I wasn't a normal girl.I had hoped to get back to my room without seeing anyone else, but I met Cal on the landing. Wonderful."Hey," he said, taking in my disheveled appearance. "Why are you up so early?""Oh,I was just,you know, exercising." I jogged in place for a second before realizing that I probably looked like a mental patient."Okaaay," Cal said slowly, confirming my suspicions.”

“Mom frowned, and I wanted to give her a thumbs-up to let her know I was okay. All I could manage was raising my bound hands in her general direction, clocking Cal on the chin as I did so. "Sorry.""No problem. Must be weird for you, having your mom here.""Weird for me, weird for her, probably weird for you since you had to give up your swinging bachelor pad.""Mrs. Casnoff let me install my heart-shaped Jacuzzi in my new dorm room.""Cal," I said with mock astonishment, "did you just make a joke?""Maybe," he replied. We'd reached the end of the pier. I looked down at the water and tried not to shudder."I'll be pretending, of course, but do you have any advice on how I'm supposed to not drown?" I asked Cal."Don't breathe in water.""Oh,thanks,that's super helpful."Cal shifted me in his arms, and I tensed. Just before he tossed me into the pond, he leaned in and whispered, "Good luck."And then I hit the water.I can't say what my first thought was as I sunk below the surface, because it was mostly a string of four-letter words. The water was way too cold for a pond in Georgia in May, and I could feel the chill sinking all the way into my bones. Plus my chest started burning almost immediately, and I sunk all the way to the bottom, landing in the slimy mud.Okay,Sophie,I thought. Don't panic.Then I glanced over to my right, and through the murky water, made out a skull grinning back at me.I panicked.”