“We’re calling an emergency meeting of the Council for first thing in the morning. Sophie, Cal, the two of you are to go to your rooms and stay there until someone comes for you. Kristopher, secure Mr. Cross in one of the cells downstairs.”
My gaze locked with Archer’s as Kristopher began dragging him away. “It’s okay,” he mouthed, but it wasn’t. It never would be.
After he was gone, I walked over to Dad. He still wouldn’t look at me, and was holding himself with that same rigidness Cal had shown in the mill. “Dad, I know ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t even begin to cut it.”
Breathing in deeply through his nose, Dad said, “Until your testimony is over, I can’t speak to you. Please report to your chamber until tomorrow morning.”
My eyes flooded with tears. “Dad—”
“Go!” he shouted, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out loud.
He walked away without even glancing at me.
“Come on,” Cal said. “There’s nothing you can do right now.”
“Did you tell them?” I demanded. “Is that why they came to the mill?”
All of Cal’s earlier fury seemed to have completely drained out of him. “No,” he said. “I have no idea why they showed up when they did. Unless it has something to do with those tests they’ve been running on me. Maybe they traced my magic. Who knows?”
He turned to go, and even though I wanted nothing more than to run after Dad, I followed Cal away from the foyer and up the back stairs to our rooms. Our footsteps were muffled by the thick carpet, and the dim light from the sconces made our shadows waver on the walls. I felt the eyes of all the portraits lining the staircase, like they were judging me. All those nameless Prodigium, hunted through the centuries by Eyes, and Brannicks, and God knows what else.
I did it for a good reason, I wanted to tell the painted faces. And Archer isn’t one of them, not really. Somehow, I didn’t think the portraits would believe me.
“What do you think they’ll do to us?” I asked Cal, my stomach icy with fear.
“It won’t be as bad as you think,” he replied, but he didn’t sound wholly convinced. “You’re James’s daughter, and you’re important to them. They aren’t going to throw you to the wolves over something like this.”
I wondered if being thrown to the wolves was a literal punishment in this case. I really didn’t want to know.
“They may stretch your sentence at Hecate by an extra year or so, but I think that would be the worst of it,” Cal continued. “With me—”
“You were just helpingme,” I said as we turned down our hall. “Tell them that, okay? Tell them that you were, like, honoring our betrothal vow or something. They’ll go easy on you, I bet.”
We stopped outside his door and he studied me. As usual, I had no idea what was going on in his mind. “Maybe,” was all he said. Then, after another long pause, “I know you think they’re going to kill him, but they might not. Archer Cross is just as valuable to The Eye as you are to the Council. He’d make a good hostage, and they know it.”
I forced my face not to crumple. If I cried any more tonight, I’d probably turn into a dried-out husk. “So what now? We just go to our rooms and sleep and try to pretend like everything is going to be all right?” Another thought occurred to me. “Or pretend that Nick isn’t out there right now, completely crazyand superpowerful? Because there’s no way I can do that.”
“Yes there is.” He reached out, startling me, and pressed his palm to my cheek.
Almost immediately, a sense of well-being flooded through me, a blissful numbness that started at the top of my head and spread all the way to my toes. “Seriously, best powers ever,” I mumbled drowsily.
“Go to bed, Sophie,” he said, dropping his hand as if my skin had burned him. “Tomorrow will be a long day.”
But today wasn’t over yet. As I turned to go, I saw Jenna standing outside my door, her face a mask of hurt and anger.
“I was downstairs getting some blood,” she said, her lips barely moving. “I…saw them come in with you. And Archer.”
Cal’s spell, which had seemed so helpful only a few moments before, was a nightmare now. My brain felt too soft and sleepy to come up with any explanation, and when I tried, I couldn’t get the right words out. “He was helping me.”
She made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a sob. “Helping you? Sophie, he’s one—”
“Of them,” I finished, suddenly irritated. “I know. You’re not the first person to say it tonight. But Jenna, please.” I reached out for her, curling my fingers around her wrist. “Cal is mad at me, my Dad probably hates me…I can’t have you hate me, too.”
Two tears dripped from her eyes, splashing on the back of my hand. Her bloodstone shimmered slightly in the light from the sconces, and after a long, long moment, she covered my hand with hers. “Okay,” she said, sniffling. “But tomorrow, you’re going to tell me everything.”
“Everything,” I echoed, feeling my own eyes sting. And when she finally wrapped her arms around me and hugged me, it was all I could do not to sob all over her. “You are a way better friend than I deserve,” I mumbled against her shoulder.
She hugged me tighter. “I know.”
I laughed through my tears, and just a little bit of the weight on my heart lifted.
Early the next morning, I heard a knock at the door, and jerked awake in an instant. Cal’s spell had totally faded by that point, and all the anxiety and despair came flooding back. In less than twenty-four hours, my whole life had been turned upside down. Nick and Daisy had demoned out, Archer was a prisoner of the Council, and the fragile relationship I’d built with Dad had been blown completely to smithereens. It didn’t seem fair that so much bad could happen in so short a time.
Or maybe I was just using up all the horrible now. Maybe the next eighty years would be full of nothing but Yahtzee and collecting various cats. That might be nice.
The knock sounded again, and I realized it wasn’t my door, but Cal’s down the hall. I sunk back to my pillow. Would I be next, or would they take Archer first?
Or maybe they’d already taken Archer.
I shook that thought away and got cleaned up and dressed. My clothes from last night still lay on the floor in a stiff heap, and I shuddered as I tossed them into the little brass trash can under the bathroom sink. It wasn’t the first time I’d had blood on my clothes, but I dearly hoped it would be the last.
When they came for me, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, wearing the black sheath dress Lara had gotten for me at Lysander’s. I opened the door to find Kristopher.
“Sophie, they’re ready for you,” he said.
I nodded, my heart fluttering in my chest, and my mouth completely dry.
He led me down the stairs, but instead of turning right toward Council headquarters, we went left, into yet another section of Thorne Abbey that was completely foreign to me. This hall was darker, with none of the marble and gilt that seemed to cover the rest of the house. Here, there was just wood paneling and thick iron cages over the lightbulbs. Finally, we stopped at a heavy, scarred door.
The room wasn’t like any other space at Thorne. It was relatively small, for one thing, and dim. There were no windows, and the only light came from a thick metal chandelier ringed with candles. Everything smelled dank and slightly mildewed, and there were dark stains on the worn wooden floor. I didn’t want to think about where they’d come from.
Up front, a long wooden table ran nearly the length of the room, with five high-backed wooden chairs. The chairs were filled with Council members. I saw Lara first, and then, surprised, I realized Mrs. Casnoff was sitting next to her.
I was so shocked to see her back at Thorne, it took me a second to realize that Dad was not sitting at the table. Lara looked up and saw me, and gestured for me to come forward. In front of the table was a low bench, made of the same dark wood as the rest of the room. It was like being locked inside a huge oaken cask.
Archer was sitting on the bench, his elbows resting on his knees. His wrists were still tied together with Kristopher’s cord, and his clothes torn and stiff with blood. But when I sat next to him, he raised his head and tried to smile at me. It was more of a grimace, though. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I knew that would just
