Nick and Daisy shot me unreadable looks as they fol owed Lara and Lysander.
"You okay?"Jenna said once we were alone.
I shook my head, but answered, "Yeah. Just a little freaked out about the party."
Which technical y wasn't a lie. It seemed profoundly stupid to gather a whole bunch of very important Prodigium plus four demons in one place when things were so scary. But Dad had explained that it was a point of pride with the remaining Council members. "We can't let The Eye think they've cowed us,"Dad had said. Then he'd given me a little smile. "Besides, this wil be the first birthday party of yours I've ever been to."
I couldn't resist that. Stil , I was uneasy about the whole thing.
Jenna stood up, coming to stand beside me. She had decided to go as Mina Harker from Dracula, and she was wearing her own Lysander design, a pseudo-Victorian concoction of black lace and pink silk. It even had a cool little top hat and veil.
There were no changing rooms at Lysander's, probably because faeries tend to be real y into their bodies and showing them off, so something like
"modesty"is kind of a foreign concept to them. Luckily, Jenna and I had lived in close quarters for nearly a year, so it wasn't a big deal.
"You looked real y beautiful in it, though,"Jenna offered as I attempted to unsnarl the crown from my hair.
"Please. I look like an Evanescence album cover. You look fabulous."Jenna tipped her top hat at me, which made me smile. "I just hope no pictures of me looking like this ever get back to Hex Hal ,"I continued, turning toward the mirror. Maybe if I could actual y see where the crown was snagged..."Can you imagine? Dressed as Hecate? And wearing this thing?"I gave another tug. "Al my new social cachet would be gone like that."
I glanced at Jenna in the mirror, but she had her back to me. Weird. I thought that would've gotten me at least a chuckle.
"Sucks to think that we'l be back at Hex in, what, four weeks? Gonna be quite an adjustment after being"-I pul ed hard, but my hair refused to let go-"a pretty, pretty princess al summer."I was joking, but even as I said it, my stomach sank. Thorne definitely had its own issues, but at least I could do magic here.
Jenna turned and met my eyes in the mirror. "I'm not going back to Hecate, Sophie."
My fingers stopped tugging, and the tiara dangled limply near my left ear. "What?"I whirled around to face her.
"I'm not going back,"she said, her voice firmer now.
"But...you have to,"I said stupidly.
For the first time in a long time, Jenna's face flushed with anger. "No, I don't. I don't have to do anything the Council tel s me to. They're not-"
"The boss of you?"I finished, even as I cringed at how snotty that sounded. But Jenna couldn't leave Hecate. I was already dreading going back; how could I possibly do it without her?
"I don't belong there,"Jenna said, pul ing off her pink lace gloves. "Vix thinks it's time we were with our own kind, and so do I."
A very nasty comment sprung to the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. In two days I would be seventeen, and I couldn't act like a toddler with hurt feelings. I touched the tiara and used my magic to make my hair uncurl itself from the platinum band. "But last year you said you didn't even want to be a vampire. That you wanted a normal life with algebra and prom, and al that."
"Last year changed both of us a lot, Soph,"she said, not unkindly.
"Yeah."It was al I could think of to say. We got changed with our backs to each other, and neither of us said anything until we were back in our regular clothes, the costumes up on silk hangers.
"I don't get why you're so upset,"Jenna said, taking me by the shoulders and turning me to face her. "This is something I have to do. I thought you'd get that, especial y after everything with the Removal."
I stepped back, and her arms fel limply between us. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Wel , if you had gone through the Removal, I'd have been left on my own at Hex Hal , and that never seemed to bother you."
"Right, but I was going to do that so I wouldn't kill anybody,"I said, trying not to get angry but failing miserably. "It wasn't like I was ditching you at Hecate to frolic with some guy."
Her eyes flashed, and I thought I saw a hint of fang. "Oh, real y? So you're tel ing me Archer had nothing to do with why you wanted to get your powers removed, and ditch me at Hecate?"
I gaped at her, even as magic swirled up in me. "What?"
Jenna rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, her voice thick when she said, "Like it never crossed your mind that you could be with him if you weren't a demon."
It had. Or at least I think it had. Al the reasons I'd wanted to go through the Removal were too twisty and complex to sort out. But stil , it hadn't been the main reason, and how could she...Something clicked.
"That's why you were al 'Sophie and Cal, rah, rah, rah!'isn't it? You thought if I found some new guy, I wouldn't want to go through the Removal."
She didn't have to answer. The blush that spread up her neck and her lowered gaze were enough.
"I watched Alice murder Elodie, Jenna. I thought I was a monster. That's why I wanted the Removal, not so I could be with Archer."My powers were racing around me now, curling inside me. A nearby mannequin rattled, and both mine and Jenna's hair was fluttering slightly. "The Removal could have kil ed me,"I continued. "And you'd have to be a total moron to die for a crush."
Jenna recoiled like I'd slapped her, and I suddenly realized what I'd said. "Oh, Jenna,"I said, taking a stumbling step toward her. "I didn't mean-"
"No,"she snapped, backing up from me. "I get it. You're Demon Queen of the World, and I'm an idiot who let a monster kil me."
"That's not what I said."
"You didn't have to."
It seemed impossible to believe that just a few minutes ago we were laughing and joking about my dumb costume. "Jenna,"I said, but she just shook her head and walked away.
My seventeenth birthday party was held in the conservatory, that giant glass room fil ed with plants. The ferns had been decorated with tiny purple ribbons and white lights. A group of faeries were set up in the corner, playing some kind of elaborate clockwork instruments, but the music that came out of them was thin and wavering, and weirdly melancholy for a birthday party. Not that you could hear it that wel , anyway. A storm had sprung up earlier in the evening, and raindrops were splattering loudly on the glass roof. I had staked out a spot on a window seat, and from there I watched the rain trickle down the glass like tears.
I thought about my last birthday party and decided that despite the ice sculptures, and the champagne fountain, and the giant cake shaped like Thorne Abbey, I preferred Skee-Bal and a guy in giant rat suit.
Chapter 14
Of course, that could have had something to do with the fact that my dress weighed roughly fifty pounds, my crown was giving me a headache, and my best friend was currently not speaking to me.
I scanned the room, but I didn't see Jenna. She'd kept her distance ever since that day in the dress shop. Maybe it was easier this way. If Jenna was bound and determined to get her vamp on, it might hurt less if we weren't friends anymore. Stil , tel ing myself that did nothing to lessen the ache in my chest.
There were maybe a hundred Prodigium in the room, al of them in fancy, glittering costumes, and they were al smiling at me, and coming up to wish me a happy birthday. They'd al brought gifts, too: a marble-top table near the door was rapidly piling up with brightly wrapped packages. Stil , there was this heavy feeling in the air, like everyone was trying too hard to have a good time. Laughs were too loud, and smiles looked forced.
Maybe they were afraid Dad and I would vaporize them if they didn't act like this was the best party ever.
I would have laid my forehead against the cool glass wal , but I didn't real y want to see my reflection that closely. Lysander had brought the dress earlier that afternoon, and insisted on doing my makeup, too. Consequently, it looked like a glitter bomb had exploded on my face. Even my bare shoulders were dusted with sparkling blue powder.
There were dozens of waiters moving through the room, bearing trays of glasses that were fil ed with a glowing purple concoction. I wasn't sure if the waiters were Thorne's regular servants, or if they'd been special y hired for this party. They were dressed in simple white shirts and black pants, the upper halves of their faces covered with silver masks. One had already come up to me three separate times, and each time I took a drink, only to pour it in the nearest potted plant as soon as the waiter walked away.
"Why so glum, birthday girl?"
I turned to see Nick and Daisy, each holding an empty crystal-and-silver goblet. There was a purple stain on 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'l 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 pul ed 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 tel her the whole story about Lysander's shop when a blond witch in a bright red dress stopped us. "Hel o,"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. Wel , at al three of us, actual y. "It's just such an honor to meet you,"she enthused. "Al 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 bal room down before you had time to blink those pretty brown eyes. Or pul the fabric of time so that-"
"Okay, that's al real y 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!