This is not happening.
That was the only thought in my mind as Archer set me on my feet and released my waist.
This was some kind of mistake. There was some other guy running around England who just happened to know Defense and called me Mercer. Because there was no way that tonight, of all nights, could also be the night I came face-to-face with—
I turned around.
The light was dim in this section of the alley, but it was definitely Archer Cross standing there. He looked a lot rougher than he had the last time I’d seen him. There was dark stubble covering the lower half of his face, and his hair was longer. More than that, though, he looked older. Tired. And still, seeing him again was like being punched in the chest.
There were so many emotions rushing through me that it took me a while to identify them: fear, definitely. Shock.
But underneath those, there was something else, a feeling I wasn’t sure I wanted to give a name to.
It felt a little bit like joy.
But I stamped that right the heck down. The shock was wearing off, and I remembered that the last time I’d been alone with Archer, he’d pulled a knife on me. I wasn’t going to stand around and see what he had this time.
I gathered up my last reserves of strength to do some kind of magic. I may not have been able to manage a transportation spell, but a quick lightning bolt would probably be pretty effective. I could feel the magic start to creep up from the soles of my feet, but it was weak. I’d be lucky to throw a couple of sparks at him.
But before I could even do that, he grabbed my arms and pulled me farther into the shadows, spinning me so my back was pressed against the wall.
I brought my knee up. It was less of a defense skill and more of a girl instinct, but it didn’t matter. He dodged that too. Then he stood in front of me, his hands clamped around my wrists as I tried to get away.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “But I can’t say the same for the others.”
I stopped struggling as I remembered just how many members of L’Occhio had been in Shelley’s. Just then, I heard a young-sounding voice yell out, “Cross!”
Archer glanced over his shoulder and angled his body so I was hidden from view. “It’s not her,” he called back. “Just a human girl, wrong place, wrong time.”
The guy rattled off a string of words in a language I guessed was Italian. At least it sounded like it. I couldn’t understand what he said, obviously, but whatever it was, it made Archer mutter a very recognizable word under his breath before replying in the same language, the words sounding strange in his familiar voice. I heard the slapping sound of footsteps running off into the distance.
Archer dropped my wrists and braced his arms on the damp brick wall behind me, but I held my body stiff, afraid that if I relaxed even an inch, we’d inadvertently touch.
He sighed. “That makes, what? The second time I’ve saved your life? Third, if you count that thing in Defense with the Vandy. Speaking of which, you’re still thrusting your elbow too high on Skill Nine.”
I swallowed twice before I was able to answer. “I’ll work on that.”
I waited for him to move away. I needed him to move away, because I’d already started shaking. But he stayed right where he was, so close that I could see the violet shadows under his eyes, and how gaunt his cheeks were. I tried my hardest to keep my gaze at a spot somewhere over his right shoulder. I had pictured meeting Archer again so many times, and there were a million things I wanted to ask him, like why he had saved my life tonight, how long had he been working for The Eye.
If he’d only pretended to like me.
Instead, I just said, “So did The Eye come here tonight looking for me?”
“Actually, we came because we heard it was free corn dog night. Imagine our disappointment.”
I jerked my head to look at him. That was a mistake. We were already so close that turning to face him meant our noses were about an inch apart. So I craned my neck away and addressed my words to the street. “The last time we saw each other, you pulled a knife on me. So if you could spare me the banter, that’d be great.” Of course, the last time we saw each other, we’d also shared a kiss so hot it nearly set my hair on fire, but I wasn’t about to bring that up.
Still, I wondered if he was thinking it, too, because I was pretty sure I felt his gaze on my mouth for just a second before he said, “Fine. Yes, we’re here looking for you. What are you doing here anyway?”
I blinked at him. “Me? The Council wants to kill you on sight,” I hissed. “And where are you hiding out? In their freaking backyard.”
“I’m not hiding out. London is where I was assigned. And you didn’t answer my question.”
This time, I figured out how to tilt my head back enough so I could avoid any face touchage as I looked at him. It still meant we were close enough for me to see my reflection in his eyes. I ignored the sharp drop in my stomach and said, “I’m here with my dad.”
He quirked an eyebrow, and for just a moment looked a lot more like the Archer I remembered. “Demon family reunion?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him about the Removal, but before I could say anything, the guy from earlier shouted some more Italian from somewhere in the distance. Archer closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath before calling out a response. Then he reached into his pocket.
I didn’t think it was possible, but I tensed up even more.
“Relax,” he murmured as he pulled out a dull gold coin. “That was Raphael. In addition to being one of the youngest Eyes, he’s also the one of the stupidest. He asked what was taking so long, and I told him I was wiping your mind before I sent you on your way.”
“You can do that?”
He flashed a brief grin. “No, but he doesn’t know that. That’s why he’s staying so far back. Scared of catching Prodigium germs.” He said it lightly, but there was bitterness behind the words. For roughly the thousandth time, I wondered how on earth a warlock had become a member of L’Occhio di Dio, and I wished I had time to ask him.
He pressed the coin into my hand. “Are you staying in London?”
“No, Thorne Abbey. It’s—”
“I’ll find you,” he said, closing my fingers over the coin. “Just keep that on you.”
“No,” I said, grabbing at the sleeve of his jacket. “Archer, the Council is at Thorne. Not to mention my dad, who put an execution order out on you.”
“There’s a lot we need to talk about, Mercer,” he said, glancing back toward the other end of the alley. “I’ll risk it.”
I shook my head again, but he was already moving away from me. “Keep out of the light and get out of here,” he murmured. “And Mercer, from now on, stay out of Prodigium clubs, okay? These people aren’t your friends.”
“What do you mean?” I made one more grab for his sleeve, but he ran back toward Shelley’s. I could see Raphael now, and Archer was right: he was young.
Really young, actually. I guessed around fourteen. I kept myself close to the wall as Archer clapped his arm around Raphael’s shoulder, saying something in a light, jovial voice. Raphael shook his head and kept looking in my direction. Then a burst of blue light exploded from the back exit, and both he and Archer turned toward it, giving me a chance to run out of the alley.
My head was still spinning, and my knees were shaking by the time I turned left out of the passageway. I braced my hand on the slimy brick and tried really hard not to throw up. I had no idea where the road would be. I only hoped that Daisy or Nick had left some sort of demon bread crumbs for me to follow.
But when I got to the end of the street, I saw that all three of them were waiting for me in front of a squat, concrete building. Daisy and Nick were smoking again, and Jenna was pacing back and forth, her fangs still out, her eyes still red.
When she saw me, her whole face lit up, making her look less like a vampire and more like a kid on Christmas morning. I staggered up to the three of them, and Jenna threw her arms around me. “I was so sure they caught you,” she said, her voice thick.
I hugged her back, a lump in my throat. I’d sworn there would be no more secrets in my life, but there was no way I could tell Jenna about seeing Archer. Jenna was my best friend, but there were some things even she couldn’t understand.
“It’s these stupid boots,” I told her with a shaky laugh. “They’re not exactly the best running shoes.”
Jenna pulled back and cupped my cheeks. Her eyes weren’t red anymore, but they were wide and bright with tears. “I am so sorry, Sophie,” she said. “If I’d had any idea that this place would be so dangerous for you…”
“Yeah,” Daisy said, coming to stand beside Jenna. “Seriously, Sophie, nothing like that has ever happened to us at Shelley’s, I swear. We never would’ve taken you there if we’d known.”
Even Nick came forward, frowning with worry. “James would kill us if he found out. We’re supposed to be helping you adjust to being a demon and instead we nearly handed you over to L’Occhio di Dio.”
All three of them looked so genuinely sorry, so guilty, and I felt sick all over again.
“It’s fine,” I said, waving my hand as though demon hunters raiding clubs to kill me were something that happened all the time. “I’m fine. Now let’s get out of here.”
Daisy had said that the second road trip wouldn’t be as rough as the first one, but she was either wrong or a liar. The second one seemed far worse, probably because I was so drained. Still, we made it back to the corn mill, and even though it felt like a dwarf with a chisel had taken up permanent residence in my frontal lobe, I managed to stagger all the way back to the house. Luckily, everyone appeared to have gone to bed, because the front hall was dark and silent as we let ourselves in. After more whispered apologies, Daisy and Nick headed for their rooms on the second floor, while Jenna and I went up to our hall.
At her door, Jenna stopped. “Soph, I really am—”
“Jenna, if you say sorry one more time, I’m going to punch you in your tiny pink head.”
She gave a little smile. “Okay, okay. Still, the next time I suggest going to Prodigium nightclub, please smack me.”
“Will do,” I said.
I practically had to drag myself to my room. I put on a nightshirt and brushed my teeth in a daze, my mind replaying those minutes in the alley with Archer on a continuous loop. Six months ago, he’d pulled a knife on me in the cellar at Hecate. Tonight, he’d protected me from the other members of L’Occhio di Dio. Why?
My jeans were crumpled up on the floor, and before I got into bed, I reached into the front pocket. The gold coin he’d given me was still warm. It was old, the likeness stamped in the metal so faded that I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a man or a woman.
Keep it on you, he’d said. I’ll find you.
I should’ve thrown it out. I should’ve found whichever one of the hundreds of bedrooms in this place was my dad’s and told him what happened. I should’ve done anything but what I did, which was to close my fist over it and slide it under my pillow.