"Contained?"
Dad looked at me, his eyes sad. "She's gone, Sophie. The Daisy part of her, at least. Once the magic takes over...there's no reversing it."
Daisy groaned, her eyelids fluttering, as if there were some tiny sliver of her left in there that had heard and understood. "Someone has to tel Nick,"I murmured.
Dad sighed and loosened his tie. "Of course. Jenna."I glanced up, surprised, to see Jenna standing a few feet behind Lara. She must have heard al the commotion. Her face was pale, her eyes wide as she hurried across the hal way and grabbed my hands. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah,"I said, but seeing her made tears spring to my eyes. I wasn't sure if it was from guilt or from seeing the fear on her face.
"If you wouldn't mind, go find Nick and have him meet me in the conservatory,"Dad said to her. She looked up, surprised, but said she would, then headed off toward the back hal way.
Crouching down again, Dad brushed Daisy's black hair from her forehead. He murmured something I couldn't understand, and she stil ed, seeming to fal deeper asleep. "I'l see that she's taken care of,"he said. "And Lara, after I meet with Nick, I want to talk to you. Is that understood?"
She gave a tiny bow, but her mouth was tight with anger. "Of course."
Once she was gone, I gave in to my wobbly knees and sat down on the steps. Roderick and Kristopher showed up a few minutes later. They picked up Daisy with surprising gentleness, and carried her off to one of those mysterious cel s in the bowels of Thorne Abbey. The thought of Daisy, even a demoned-out murderous Daisy, locked away, sent a fresh wave of sadness rol ing over me.
I rested my head on folded arms and tried to process what had just happened. "Dad,"I said at last, "Daisy was going after me."
I expected him to do his usual thing of "Oh, Sophie, but that is impossible because of this big word, and that big word, and also this abstract concept."But for once, he didn't. He just sat down next to me and said, "Go on."
"She cal ed my name right before she attacked. And al that with the dagger. You were the bigger threat. I was too wiped out from teleporting to fight her off. But she only went for you when you got in front of me."
Dad took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I told you my trip was unsuccessful. That was true with regards to the Brannicks, but not for the entire trip. The warlock I visited in Lincolnshire, Andrew Crowley, had some very useful information. Do you remember the section on control ing demons in Demonologies? I believe it's in chapter five."
"Um...no."
Irritation flashed over his face. "Honestly, Sophie, I gave you that book for a reason."
Chapter 18
"And I'm real y sorry, but it's long and boring, and can we just skip to the part where you tel me what it says?"
"There are legends of witches and warlocks summoning demons in ancient times and manipulating their powers."
"Like what Elodie's coven was trying to do with Alice."
Dad shook his head. "No, that was trying to summon a demon and hold it. That's different. Had their ritual worked, they would have been able to use Alice, to some extent, but they wouldn't have control ed her. She stil would have had free wil ."He studied me, and then said, very careful y, "But according to Mr. Crowley's research, in order to truly control a demon, you have to be its maker-the witch or warlock who performed the possession ritual."
"Lara. That word, or sound, or whatever it was. It stopped Daisy dead in her tracks."
Dad released a shaky breath. "Yes."
Everything started clicking into place, but that only made me feel worse. "So it is her. She's the one who made Nick and Daisy."My thoughts kept rol ing, like a particularly awful snowbal . "She knows I was on Graymalkin, Dad. I don't know how, but she does. And she sicced Daisy on me because of it. She only cal ed her off because Daisy was about to hurt you."Sweet, friendly Lara. Bizarro World Mrs. Casnoff, Jenna and I had cal ed her. And she had just tried to kil me.
"So what now?"I asked him. "Do you go magical y arrest her?"
"I can't."
That was just about the last answer I'd been expecting, and I stared at Dad in shock. "Dad, she just tried to kil me. Not to mention she's raising demons and using them as weapons."
"You don't understand,"Dad said, weary. "Lara, Anastasia, and I are bound by blood oaths. If I throw them both in a dungeon with no proof, it could look like a political power play."
"But you have proof. The place on Graymalkin. Trust me, Dad, anyone would be able to tel there was hard-core stuff going down there."
"It wouldn't be enough. And Anastasia does have complete control over everything that happens at Hecate. She could easily come up with a plausible excuse."
Frustrated, I shook my head. "But Daisy and Nick-"
"Daisy in completely insensible now, and Nick has no memory of anything that happened before he became a demon. They're of no help in this."
I shot to my feet, then immediately regretted it. Too much magic and too much stress had made me dizzy. Stil , I leaned against the railing and said,
"So you're not going to do anything?"
Dad stood up, too. "Sophie, I told you once that being head of the Council required a great deal of sacrifice. That woman has lied to me, destroyed a young woman for her own purposes, and just attempted to murder my daughter."Magic was rol ing off him so strongly that I felt like I should probably sit down again. "Believe me,"he continued, "I want nothing more than to smite her out of existence. But I can't. Not until I have concrete evidence."
Smiting sounded good to me, but, as much as I hated it, I knew he was right. "Man, politics suck,"I muttered.