the lapel of Nick’s doublet. From their pink cheeks and bright eyes, I guessed those weren’t the first drinks they’d had tonight. “It’s my party, and I’ll sulk if I want to,” I replied, heaving myself off the window seat.
“This party does kind of suck,” Daisy said, reaching up to straighten the silver laurel wreath on her dark hair.
“You could always open a present, see if that makes you feel better,” Nick said, nodding toward the gift table. A couple of the boxes were moving. One spun in slow circles above the rest, while another skittered about like a spider, the trailing ends of white satin ribbon acting as legs.
I gulped. “Um…you know what, I’m good. Have either of you seen Jenna?”
A look passed between them, but before they could say anything, that same waiter headed our way again. Ugh. What was that guy’s deal? Had someone paid him to get the head of the Council’s daughter drunk or something?
Looping my arms through Nick’s and Daisy’s, I pulled them away from the window and out of the waiter’s path. “What are you two fighting about, anyway?” Daisy asked.
I was about to tell her the whole story about Lysander’s shop when a blond witch in a bright red dress stopped us. “Hello,” she said, her voice breathless. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to wish you happy birthday, Sophia.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
I thought she’d move on, but she just kept standing there, smiling at me. Well, at all three of us, actually. “It’s just such an honor to meet you,” she enthused. “All of you. I hear…” she glanced around, and when she turned back to us, her cheeks were flushed. “I hear demons can make something appear out of nothing. Is that true?”
I blinked at her.What the heck? “Yeah,” I replied. “But so can witches. It’s just a matter of—”
Before I could finish, Nick bowed, and with a flourish of his hand, produced a huge bouquet of white roses. “It is indeed true,” he said, handing the flowers to the witch. “Of course, that’s only a little of what demons are capable of.”
The witch nearly squealed. “That’s amazing!”
There was a dangerous glint in Nick’s eyes. “Oh, that’s nothing.” He leaned forward and whispered, “If I wanted to, I could bring this whole ballroom down before you had time to blink those pretty brown eyes. Or pull the fabric of time so that—”
“Okay, that’s all really awesome, Nick,” I said, tugging both him and Daisy away from the witch. “But I think I see my dad, so we should go. Bye! Thanks for coming!”
Once we were out of earshot, I turned to Nick. “What was that all about?”
He took another swig of his drink. “That was me giving them what they want. They want us to be these scary, powerful things that can kill The Eye for them. That’s why they made us, right?”
I briefly pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, which only had the effect of smudging the glittery gunk on my lashes.
Daisy patted Nick’s arm, her laurel crown listing heavily to the right. “Sweetie, can we ease off on the killing talk? It’s a birthday party.” She punctuated that sentence with a little hiccup, and suddenly I was very tired of both of them. I wanted to talk to Jenna. Or Cal. Someone normal—well, as normal as my friends got—and preferably sober.
“Maybe I will go get a present after all,” I told them. I had taken maybe four steps when that waiter made another beeline for me. “Drink, miss?” he asked, holding out the tray.
“Look, dude,” I said, stumbling a little as I stepped on one of my draping sleeves, “I don’t know if you’re trying to suck up or what, but—”
I glanced up into his masked face, and our eyes met.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
chapter 26
Even though I couldn’t see it, I had a feeling Archer was raising an eyebrow at me. “Who are you supposed to be?” he asked in a low voice.
I took deep breaths and tried to keep my face as impassive as possible. If anyone glanced over here, they had to think I was just talking to a waiter, not facing down an Eye in their midst. “Hecate,” I said, plucking one of the glasses off his tray. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged, managing somehow to look elegant even in his waiter’s uniform. “Who doesn’t love a party? Plus, I thought there might be a chance you’d wear that blue dress again.”
My fingers tightened so hard on the crystal goblet that I’m surprised I didn’t snap the stem. “You are a crazy person,” I said, struggling to keep my voice calm. “Or an idiot. Or a crazy idiot person. Why aren’t you at least glamoured or something?”
“No one here has ever seen me in person,” he replied, making a show of rearranging the glasses on his tray, “so the mask is good enough. If I’d used a glamour, I just would’ve drawn attention to myself. Of course, I wouldn’t have had to go to all this trouble if you’d just met me three weeks ago.”
It could have been the dim lights or the mask, but I thought I saw real anger flash in his eyes for just a second.
“I couldn’t,” I said, smiling like he’d just said something funny. My heart was leaping around in my chest, and it was all I could do to keep my powers under control. “You should leave. Now.”
Now there was no mistaking it: he was definitely pissed. “Do you have any idea what I risked to come here tonight?” he hissed. “Not only from your people, but mine?”
I glanced around, but no one seemed to be watching me. That would probably change once I started yelling at a waiter. I gave Archer what I hoped was a significant look, but thanks to all the sparkle, I wasn’t sure he got it.
I walked away to the corner of the room and ducked behind a truly insane amount of potted plants. The light back there was dim and green, and everything smelled rich and loamy.
Archer parted the palm frond a few seconds later and leaned against the glass wall, his arms folded over his chest. “Why didn’t you meet me?” he asked without preamble.
“I don’t know, maybe because you’re a demon hunter and I’m a demon, so us hanging out seems like a bad idea?” When he didn’t reply, I sighed and said, “Look, basically, everyone in my life has told me to stay away from you. So that’s what I’m doing.”
It was weird talking to him while he was wearing that mask. I could see his eyes, but I couldn’t read him at all. “Trust me,” he said. “If there weren’t something major going down right now, I’d never see you again. Happily.”
Pain sliced through my heart, as bright and sharp as the dagger Archer undoubtedly had hidden somewhere on his body. I hoped I didn’t let it show. “What do you mean, ‘something major’?”
But he shook his head. “I don’t have time to get into it, but it’s about your little demon buddies back there. Can you meet me tomorrow night at the mill?”
My brain raced. If Archer really knew something about Nick and Daisy, maybe Dad and I could get a better grip on what was going on here. Or was I just telling myself that so I could spend time with Archer and not feel guilty about it?
“I can’t tomorrow.” Dad and I hadn’t had any time to research stuff about the grimoire, thanks to all the birthday madness, but we’d set aside all next week to work on it. That should have been all I said. That could have ended it, and I could’ve walked away. Instead, I heard myself say, “But my dad leaves for a business trip in nine days. It would be easier for me to get away then.”
He nodded. “Good. Nine days, then. Three a.m.”
“Fine. But if you pull a knife on me again—”
To my surprise, he laughed. “You keep bringing that up. First of all, I didn’t pull the knife onyou, I pulled it out so I could jimmy the lock on that window. Secondly, I was trapped in a cellar with a pissed-off demon. Of the two of us, who do you think was the most freaked out?”
I rolled my eyes, no easy feat, seeing as how my eyelids were weighed down with a thousand pounds of
