CHAPTER 33

Someone was shaking me. “Sophie,” a voice said in my ear. “Wake up.”

Disoriented, I rolled over, strands of hair stuck to my damp cheeks. I’d been crying. Again. I sat up, and for a moment, it was easy to believe the past few weeks had never happened. I was back in my bedroom at the Brannick compound, the early morning sun spilling in the narrow window. Maybe I’d never left here, I thought woozily. Maybe I’d dreamed it all.

But no. Jenna was sitting on the edge of my bed, looking worried, and Archer hovered in the doorway. And somewhere downstairs were my mom and dad, the Brannicks, Nick and Daisy…

But no Cal.

“Same dream?” Archer asked, and I nodded, scrubbing at my face with both hands. Ever since the night we’d used the Itineris to escape from Hex Hall, the whole island shaking like it was about to collapse into the ocean, I’d been having nightmares.

Dad said that was to be expected, given all I’d gone through. But it had been a month. Were they ever going to stop?

“Was I screaming again?” I asked as I tossed off the covers.

“Just crying,” Jenna said, her face sympathetic. “A lot.”

I tried to recall the dream, but it was already slipping away. Cal had been there again, in the pit, dirt raining down on him. And Mrs. Casnoff, her dead eyes blank. I shuddered.

Jenna went to take my hand, but I stood up and gave her my best “Everything Is Fine, No, Really, It Is” smile. “It was just a dream,” I told her. Archer opened his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand. “Just a dream,” I repeated. “Now, is everyone else already downstairs? Because I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

I wasn’t, actually. The thought of food made my stomach churn, and I’d already lost so much weight that I’d had to use magic to shrink my clothes. I moved past Archer, and as I did, he laid a hand between my shoulder blades. “It’s going to be okay, Mercer,” he said in my ear, and for just a little bit, I let myself lean against him, soaking in his warmth, his presence. Then I straightened and said, “Come on, let’s get downstairs. Nick and Daisy always eat all the bacon.”

Sure enough, by the time we reached the kitchen, there were only two slices left. Nick and Daisy sat at the Formica table, their plates nearly empty, while Aislinn scrambled eggs on the stove behind them. I stood in the doorway, taking that image in: a Brannick, cooking breakfast for two demons. Who could have imagined that?

Nick saw me and grinned. Well, tried to. Like me—heck, like all of us—he still had that haunted look in his eyes that made friendly expressions seem sad. “’Morning, Sophia. I saved you a slice of bacon. You too, Jenna,” he said, glancing over my shoulder. His eyes flicked to my other side. “Sorry, cuz, you’re out of luck.”

Archer gave a little snort of amusement, but there was still something wary in the set of his shoulders as he moved into the kitchen. He also took the chair farthest away from Nick when he sat down. I wasn’t sure Archer and Nick could ever have anything approaching a normal relationship, but that was probably to be expected. After all, Nick’s parents had murdered Archer’s, and Nick had tried to kill Archer not once, but twice.

That would definitely make for awkward family reunions in the future.

It also didn’t help that the people who Archer considered family were now determined to kill him, too.

“Soph?” Aislinn said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Eggs?”

“Um…no, thanks, I’ll grab something later.”

Nearly everyone in the kitchen frowned at that, so to appease them, I grabbed the slice of bacon and broke it in half. Sitting down across from Daisy, I started to chew and said, “Anything today?”

It was the same question one of us had asked every morning since we left Hex Hall. The first few days, there had been answers. “Yes, the island is still there. Yes, we found Nick and Daisy and can bring them here. Yes, The Eye has put a price on Archer’s head that could buy a small island.”

That last bit Archer had taken pretty hard. Apparently, his little squad of Eyes had gone back to tell their boss lady that Archer had used some kind of magical artifact to put a compulsion spell on them. That was the only reason they’d fought for Prodigium.

“Is that true?” I’d asked Archer. His eyes had slid away from mine, and he’d given an exaggerated shrug.

I took that as a yes.

But after that, there hadn’t been anything. No news of how the rest of the Prodigium world was taking what had happened at Hex Hall. Nothing about what had happened to the other kids we’d freed from being demons.

So yet again this morning, Aislinn sighed and said, “No. Nothing.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Daisy said, buttering her toast. “Maybe they’ve all just…gone away.”

Now that she wasn’t a demon anymore, Daisy wasn’t any kind of Prodigium. She had just been a regular kid the Casnoffs had turned into a demon. I understood her desire to leave all things magical behind.

Daisy leaned over and rested her head on Nick’s shoulder. Well, maybe not all magical things. I was glad Nick had Daisy. After everything he’d been through, he needed her. Still, I had to admit there was a haunted-ness in Nick’s eyes that made me wonder if, free of the Casnoffs or not, he could ever really be okay.

Outside I could hear the distant clink of metal on metal that meant Finley and Izzy were already up and training, and I thought about going to join them. Not to wield a sword or anything, but maybe to let them block some of my spells. It would be good practice for them, and it would give me something to do other than sit in my room and replay that last night at Hex Hall over and over again.

I was just about to get up when Dad rushed into the kitchen. He was in pajamas, which was totally bizarre. Dad never came down to breakfast until he was completely dressed. Of course, his pajamas even had a little pocket and handkerchief, so maybe he felt dressed.

He had a sheet of paper in his hands and was staring at it, his eyes wide.

“James,” Aislinn acknowledged. “You’re up kind of late this morning. Is Grace sleeping in, too?”

Dad glanced up, and I could swear he blushed. “Hmm? Oh. Yes. Well. In any case. Um…to the point at hand.”

“Leave Dad alone,” I told Aislinn. “His Britishness is short-circuiting.” Instead of being grossed out, I was weirdly happy at the thought of my parents being all…whatever (okay, I was a little grossed out). In fact, their apparent reconciliation was maybe the one good thing to come out of this whole mess. Well, that and saving the world, obviously.

Dad shook his head and held out the papers. “I didn’t come down here to discuss my personal…relations. I came here because this arrived from the Council this morning.”

I sat back in my chair. “The Council? Like, the Council Council? But they don’t even exist anymore. Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe it’s the Council For What Breakfast Cereals You Should—”

“Sophia,” Dad said, stopping me with a look.

“Sorry. Freaked out.”

He gave a little smile. “I know that, darling. And to be perfectly honest, perhaps you should be.”

He handed the papers to me, and I saw it was some kind of official letter. It was addressed to Dad, but I saw my name in the first paragraph. I laid it on the table so no one would see my hands shake. “Did this come by owl?” I muttered. “Please tell me it came—”

“Sophie!” nearly everyone in the kitchen shouted. Even Archer gave an exasperated, “Come on, Mercer.”

I took a deep breath and started to read. When I got about halfway down the page, I stopped, my eyes going wide, my heart racing. I looked back at Dad. “Are they serious?”

“I believe that they are.”

I read the words again. “Holy hell weasel.”