CHAPTER 12

The next morning, I found myself at what had to be the weirdest breakfast ever. I looked around the room and tried to take in everyone who was there: Me, Mom, Dad, all three Brannicks, and Cal. Oh, and Torin, since “breakfast” involved all of us eating Pop-Tarts in the War Room. Elodie’s words from the night before circled my brain. Did we honestly think we stood a chance at defeating the Casnoffs?

“You have to know something,” Aislinn was saying to Torin now.

“I do,” he shot back. “I told you, those women are on their thrice-damned island.”

“Which. Is. Where?” Aislinn asked for what had to be the fourth time.

“In. The. Bloody. Sea,” Torin replied. He threw up his hands, his lace cuffs falling back as he did. “I don’t know why you can’t find it. It’s exactly where it always was.”

“As I’ve told you, Aislinn, it’s my belief that they’ve cloaked Graymalkin somehow,” Dad said. He was leaning heavily against one of the folding chairs. Cal stood on one side of him, Mom on the other. My eyes met Cal’s, and last night flashed in my mind. My fingers twining in his shirt, my mouth against his.

I suddenly gave my full attention to Torin. “So the Casnoffs are at Hex Hall,” I said. “Probably with however many demons they’ve managed to create. What are they doing there? Throwing a hellacious slumber party?” When no one said anything, I added, “Get it? Hellacious? Because they’re all…Forget it.”

“I got it,” Izzy said softly, and I threw her a grateful smile.

“I cannot tell what they’re planning,” Torin said. “Only that they’re there.” He frowned at all of us. “I don’t know everything, you know. Only that this girl”—he pointed at me—“is the key to stopping them from using an army of demons to wipe humans off the face of the earth.”

Or leading the charge. The thought popped into my mind, making my stomach twist itself into knots. Torin winked at me, and I wondered if thought-reading was another of his powers. Or maybe it was just my expression.

Shoving aside the image of me at the front of a demon army, I said, “The Eye doesn’t know what they’re up to, either.”

Suddenly, every one in the room was staring at me as what I’d just said registered. “I, uh, saw Archer last night,” I said, like I’d just bumped into him at Starbucks. “He used this communicating stone thingie to…drop by, and, um, say hello.”

“And you just now decided to mention this?” Dad asked.

“When I got here, you guys were already yelling at Torin,” I fired back. “I didn’t exactly have a chance to get a word in. Besides, Archer didn’t know anything, really. Or at least nothing more than we do. I didn’t think it was a big deal. He was only here for like, five minutes.”

“In your room?” Mom asked, eyebrows up.

“He was non-corporeal!” I cried. “And all…ghostly. Everything was totally G-rated, swear.”

“One of L’Occhio di Dio is your boyfriend?” Finley asked incredulously.

Dad cleared his throat. “In any case,” he said, saving me from answering Finley, “that’s good information to have. It means that we’re all on the same page as far as the Casnoffs are concerned.”

“Right,” I said. “Which is that no one knows what to do next. I’m not really seeing that as a good thing, Dad.”

“So what can we do?” Finley asked. “Just sit here and wait for the Casnoffs to make their move?”

“We could go to Lough Bealach,” Aislinn answered.

“Is that a place, or are you choking?” I asked, earning me a glare in return.

Dad made a strangled sound that might have been a laugh. He covered it with a cough and said, “Lough Bealach is a lake in Ireland. It was once a very sacred place to the Brannick family, if I’m correct.”

“The most sacred place,” Aislinn answered. “It was once the Brannicks’ responsibility to guard it.”

“What’s there that needs guarding?”

“Supposedly, an opening to the underworld,” Mom answered.

“If we’re going to fight demons, it might be handy to have a lot of demonglass, seeing as how it’s the only thing that can kill a demon,” Aislinn said. “And the underworld is the only place we could get it.”

“Like literally going to hell?” I asked.

Everyone ignored me. “We couldn’t get in,” Finley said. “There’s not one of us here who could survive a trip into the underworld. You’d need dark, powerful magic to do that. If Sophie still had her powers, maybe it would be feasible, but without them…” She shook her head.

And then Dad said, “Sophie does have her powers.”

“Well, yeah,” I agreed. “I didn’t go through the Removal. But they’re stuck in here.” I tapped my chest. “Whatever that word the Council said at my sentencing, it sealed my magic away.”

Dad reached out and took my hand. “Do you remember when we studied the grimoire at Thorne Abbey? There was a spell in that book that I made you put your hand on.”

I did remember. I hadn’t been able to tell what kind of spell it was, but when I’d touched it, I’d felt a sold thump right in the middle of my sternum.

Which, I now realized, was the place where I always felt my powers swirling around.

“It was a protection spell,” Dad said. “Ensuring that your powers could never be fully taken away from you. No matter what kind of binding spell is put on you, all you have to do is touch that particular spell, and your magic will be restored.”

I squeezed his hand so tightly it must’ve hurt him. “Oh my God,” I breathed. My magic back. No more feeling helpless. No more needing Elodie’s ghost to do magic. A chance at actually stopping the Casnoffs. Hope and excitement surged through me.

And then, as if a cold bucket of water had been thrown in my face, I remembered what Torin had said last night. Me, leading the Casnoffs’ demon army. I’d have to have my powers to do that, wouldn’t I? But no. No, he was lying about that. There was no way I’d ever, ever team up with the Casnoffs for something so awful.

I remembered something else. “I have to touch that spell. That spell that’s in the grimoire. And the grimoire is where, exactly?”

Abashed, Dad looked down and admitted, “Undoubtedly with the Casnoffs.”

I deflated. “Who are on an island that we can’t find. I swear to God, this whole thing is like the world’s most twisted riddle.”

“Maybe there’s another way,” Finley suggested. “Don’t you guys know any witches or warlocks who could restore Sophie’s powers?”

“Perhaps,” Dad said, but I’d known him long enough to know that when Dad said, “perhaps,” it usually meant, “no freaking way.”

“Couldn’t someone just say the spell?” I asked. I knew I was grasping at straws, but if there was any chance for me to use my powers again, I was going to take it.

Dad shook his head. “No. That particular spell was woven to the paper with blood magic. It has to be touched. The words themselves don’t have the same power.”

“I may not have dark magic, but my powers are pretty strong,” Cal offered. “If we did go to Ireland, is there any chance I could get in?”

Considering that, Dad ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s possible, I suppose. But the potential risk—”

“We need to do something,” Cal said quietly. “I’d rather take our chances at Lough Bealach than wait around here.”

“The boy is right,” Torin said, even though he and Cal were probably close to the same age (well, plus or minus five hundred years, I guess). “And the sooner, the better. We’re in stasis now, but something is coming. I sense a—”

“Great disturbance in the Force?” I interrupted before I could stop myself.

Torin frowned. “I suspect you’re mocking me, but I don’t understand the reference. In any case, dark powers are stirring. The more prepared you are, the better.”

“Then, let’s go,” I said.

“Perhaps we should explore some other options before swanning off to Ireland,” Dad said, pushing his glasses up. “After all, Sophie, you’ve been through quite the ordeal.”

“I’ll nap on the plane. Look, we are dealing with the possibility of an army of demons. I don’t know about you guys, but those words are right up there with ‘root canal’ and ‘school on Saturdays’ in terms of things that terrify me. We’re already three weeks behind. We don’t have time to just sit here and explore options or read more books or listen to more half-assed prophecies from this jerk,” I said, pointing at Torin. He made a gesture that I think was the old-timey version of flipping me off.

“So, yeah,” I continued. “Maybe this is a totally stupid idea. But if there’s even a chance one of us can get into the underworld, then we have to take it.”

“Okay, I do like you,” Finley said, flashing me a grin. She looked at my dad. “She’s right. If we can’t figure out a way to stop these Casnoff chicks, then we at least need to defend ourselves against them. And the only way to do that is to go to Lough Bealach and get a whole bunch of demonglass.”

Sighing, Dad sank into one of the chairs next to the table. “It’s a fool’s errand,” he said.

“Do you have any other ideas?” Aislinn asked.

Dad tipped his head back, like an answer might suddenly appear on the ceiling. Then he looked back at me. “This is honestly what you want to do?”

“Maybe Cal will be able to get in. Maybe not. Either way, we’re not going to get anything accomplished sitting out here in the boondocks. No offense,” I added to Aislinn, who waved it off.

Dad held my gaze for a long time before finally giving a weary nod and saying, “You’re right. But how will we get there? The Itineris is too dangerous for you and could be deadly to humans,” he said, gesturing to Mom.

“I’ll deal with the airline again,” Cal said.

To Finley’s and Aislinn’s questioning looks, Dad clarified, “Cal was able to conjure up tickets and falsify paperwork for us to get out of England. It’s not the most glamorous use of magic, but it is certainly useful.”

“Fair enough,” Aislinn said. “In that case, girls, go grab your things. And Finley, go ahead and gas up the truck. We’ve got a long drive to the nearest airport.”

As I looked around the room at all these people—my family—excitement thrummed through me. Yes, this might go down in history as the stupidest thing I’d ever done, but it felt so good to have a plan that I didn’t care if it was a bad one. And looking at everyone’s faces, I think they were all feeling the same thing. Well, except for Torin, who was just staring at all of us with a bored expression.

I followed Finley and Izzy out of the room and up the stairs. I was nearly at the landing when a light suddenly burned my eyes. At first I thought it was just the glare from the window at the top of the stairs, and I moved my hand to shade my face. That’s when I realized that the light was coming from my hand. I watched as a bright golden glow encased my arm, then spread down to cover my torso. Izzy turned around, and I saw her mouth drop open. She reached for my sleeve, but as we watched, her fingers passed through me and my arm vanished.

The golden tendrils moved faster now, winding their way around my body like snakes. I watched as my legs became translucent and then disappeared altogether.

It all happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to panic. All I could do was look down at Mom, who was running up the stairs toward me and shouting my name.

“Mom!” I felt my lips move, but no sound came out. Someone else was running into the hallway, and I thought it might be Dad. But then the glow covered my eyes, blinding me. There was the weirdest sensation of being bent and pulled, like someone was trying to fold my body in on itself, and I was moving so fast that every bone in my body rattled. It was like being yanked through a tornado.

And then, just as abruptly, everything stopped.

I was standing up, which seemed like a miracle, considering how badly I was trembling. My breath sawed in and out of my lungs painfully hard, and I studied my feet and tried to remember how to breathe without sounding like a hyperventilating walrus. Eventually, the wheezes became more like gasps, but there was still something wrong with my eyes. I’d been wearing dingy white sneakers, but now, my feet looked black. And was I wearing knee socks?

I blinked again. At the Brannicks’, I had on jeans. Now from my knees up, I saw a swirl of blue, black, and green plaid.

And then I looked up, and suddenly, I wasn’t gasping anymore. I wasn’t even breathing.

The house was even more decrepit, and the ferns that bracketed the front door were dead. What had once been a “sag” in the front porch was now more like a crater, and even though it was August, there were no leaves on any of the oak trees that had once shaded the place.

I didn’t know how, or why, but there was no denying it.

I was back at Hex Hall.