Archer’s necklace thing may have spared us the crushing headache and loss of breath, but it didn’t make the landing any more graceful. We were tossed into a thick copse of trees as we came out of the blackness, and I immediately tripped over a huge exposed root, scraping my elbow on a branch as I went down.
Unfortunately, since the necklace was looped around both our necks, that meant Archer fell too. On top of me.
In another lifetime, that might have been kind of pleasant. And yeah, he still smelled nice, and as I grabbed his shoulders to push him away, I remembered that he was a lot stronger than his thin frame would suggest.
But none of that mattered. I didn’t get to notice those things about him anymore.
The ground I was lying on was muddy, and I had a feeling I’d be pulling leaves and twigs out of my hair for all eternity. “Get off of me!” I mumbled against his collarbone, shoving at him. He rolled over onto his back, his sword clanging against a rock or exposed root, but thanks to the necklace, that just pulled me half on top of him.
“And here I thought you were playing hard to get,” he whispered. Moonlight glinted in his eyes, and he sounded a little out of breath. I told myself it was just from the fall.
I thwacked his chest with the palm of my hand, then ducked my head underneath the necklace. Once I was free, I scooted away from him. “Let me guess,” I hissed, nodding at the chain. “Something else you stole from Hex Hall.”
He pushed himself to his feet. “Guilty.”
“Where the heck was I while you were playing Grand Theft Cellar?”
“I only took a few things, and most of those I grabbed during those last few weeks when you weren’t talking to me.”
I remembered that time now, right after the All Hallow’s Eve Ball. Thanks to the weirdness of that night, Archer and I had spent a lot of cellar duties avoiding each other. No wonder he’d been able to stuff all sorts of magical things into his pockets.
“Is that why you defended me in Vandy’s class?
Were you hoping to get cellar duty just so you could lift stuff?”
Dusting debris off his shirt, Archer shook his head. “Believe it or not, Mercer, I’m not quite that calculating. I stood up to Vandy because I felt like it. Getting to snag stuff out of the cellar ended up being a bonus.” He turned his back on me and started walking away. “Now come on. It’s a long walk.”
“Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?” I asked as we made our way out of the grove.
“Because I’m not sure you’d believe me. Easier to show you.”
I’d never been on this part of Graymalkin before, and I was struck by how different it looked from the land surrounding Hecate. There was no thick, emerald grass underfoot, or majestic oak trees. The only plants were scrubby pine trees and unidentifiable bushes, and the ground was a mix of damp sand and rocks. From the smell, I knew we were close to the ocean, and sure enough, as we climbed a rise, the water suddenly spread out before us, lapping gently against the shore. The moon was nearly full, making a wide band of silver light on the black water.
“Where are we? Like, in relation to the school.”
“We’re on the other side of the island,” Archer replied.
“It looks so different.”
Archer glanced over his shoulder. “That’s because there’s a spell on the school grounds. Jessica Prentiss did it when she built the house. Apparently she was homesick, because she made it look like her family’s place in Louisiana, right down to the landscaping.” He paused. “Seriously, Mercer, didn’t you pay attention in any of our classes?”
“Sorry, I was a little distracted, what with all the people dying.”
He stopped suddenly. “To be fair,” he said, his voice light, but his shoulders tense, “only one person died. Elodie.”
We were both frozen now, standing several feet apart on the little hill overlooking the sea. “So you do know about that.”
He nodded. “Yeah. We, uh, got a report about everything a few months ago.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he turned so he was facing the sea. “I didn’t…all of that was never real. Her and me. At least not on my part. And there were days when I thought if I had to spend one more second listening to her talk about beauty spells or shoes, I was going to go insane. Still, when I read the report…” He dropped his head and made a sound that would have been a laugh if it hadn’t been so sad. “It was like being punched in the gut, you know?”
Even though he still had his back to me, I nodded. “Yeah.”
“It’s just hard to believe that someone like her could be gone.”
I remembered Elodie’s ghostly eyes looking into mine, the nod of her head, and thought about telling him that Elodie was maybe a little less gone than we all thought.
Then he shook his head and headed farther down the path and onto the beach. I followed him, gritting my teeth as sand filled my shoes. “So why were you with her?”
“She was my assignment.”
“From The Eye?”
“No, from the Boy Scouts. That Witch Dating badge just kept eluding me.”
“Well, you must have at least three Total Douchebag badges by now, so that has to count for something. What about Holly? Was that fake, too?” I was panting slightly, thanks to trying to keep up with him. Stupid short legs.
He had his hands in his pockets, and his head was slightly down, like he was walking against the wind. “You know, these were all things I was willing to tell you several weeks ago. Too bad you decided to stand me up.”
I had caught up to him by now, and I snagged his elbow, doing my best to ignore the little thrill that went through me even at that innocent touch. “How is that you can go from decent human being to complete jackass in zero-point-two seconds? Do they teach you that in The Eye?”
He stopped, and his eyes glided over my lips. “Actually, I’m just trying to see if I can make you mad enough to kiss me again.”