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Page 4

 

  By now, all three Brannick women-all four, if you counted Mom-were staring at me. Man, what had that piney-tasting stuff been? The Brannick version of Red Bull?

  "Illl, uh, stop talking now. "

  Aislinn wasnt smiling anymore. In fact, she looked kind of horrified. Finley leaned one hip against the table and crossed her arms. "What do you mean, you dont have powers anymore?"

  I tried very, very hard not to roll my eyes. "I mean exactly what I said. I had powers, then the Council-theyre the people who make all the rules for Prodigium," I explained, only to have Finley roll her eyes, and say, "Yeah, we know that. "

  "Awesome for you," I muttered. "So they did this ritual that didnt. . . well, it wasnt as intense as the Removal. My magic isnt gone forever. " At least, I hoped it wasnt. But I didnt say that to the Brannicks.

  Aislinn and Finley glanced at each other. "But for all intents and purposes," Aislinn said, "youre human. "

  "Except for when Elodies ghost possesses me, yup. "

  I thought that would make them happy; after all, didnt they hate Prodigium? But Aislinn gripped the edge of the table with both hands and dropped her head with a long sigh. Finley laid a hand on her shoulder, and murmured, "Its okay, Mom. Well figure it out. " My own mom rubbed my back, and said quietly, "Oh, honey. Im so sorry. "

  I felt that urge to fall on the floor and start sobbing rise up, so I shrugged and said, "Hey, I went to London to get my powers taken away. It just didnt turn out the way I thought. But no tattoos, so score. "

  Aislinn pounded one of her fists on the table, and when she lifted her head, she suddenly looked every inch the Scary Prodigium Hunter.

  "We are at war. Your kind is in the process of unleashing hell on the world, and youre making jokes?" I didnt know what had brought on the sudden shift from Smiley Aislinn to Seriously Pissed-off Aislinn. I met her gaze and said, "In the past few hours, Ive been possessed, nearly had my head caved in, and found out my mom is secretly a Prodigium hunter. And before that, I lost just about everyone else I care about, and discovered that people I trusted are secretly demon-raising creeps. My life sucks pretty hard right now. So, yeah.

  Im making jokes. "

  "Youre useless to us now," Finley said.

  "Im sorry, how exactly was I use ful to you before?" I asked, even though I had a feeling I already knew.

  Sure enough, Finley met my gaze and said, "You heard Mom. Were at war. And you were supposed to be our weapon. "

  CHAPTER 5

  I stared at her. "And you guys thought I would do that, why, exactly?"

  "Torin said youd fight for-" Izzy interjected, but Aislinn held up her hand.

  "Enough, Isolde," she said. "It doesnt matter now, anyway. "

  "It matters to me," I said. "Who the heck is Torin? And what were you gonna do, use me like your very own magic bomb?" Moms arm tightened around my shoulders. I shrugged her off and walked to the table to face Aislinn.

  "Thats what they wanted to do, you know," I told her. "The Casnoffs. " My voice wavered a little as I thought about Nick and Daisy, the two demon kids Id. . . well, befriended was a strong word-Id gotten to know at Thorne Abbey. The last time Id seen Daisy, shed demoned out and tried to kill me, all thanks to Lara Casnoff. Same with Nick, who attacked Archer and nearly killed him. Because Lara had turned them into demons, Nick and Daisy were under her control.

  There was a part of me that missed them, weird and homicidal as theyd been, which was probably why my voice got louder when I added,

  "The Casnoffs and the other members of the Council want to use demons to fight you and The Eye. " Aislinn didnt seem angry anymore. Just defeated. She ran a hand through her hair. "Is that really what you think, Sophie? That theyre raising demons to keep mon-your kind safe?"

  "I. . . yeah, I guess so. I mean, they were always saying you were going to kill us all. " A weird look crossed Aislinns face, almost like she felt sorry for me. Finley gave a disgusted sound. "Right. The only reason those Casnoff chicks want to make demons is so that theyll have their own secret service. Having their very own demon army wouldnt be convenient or anything. " Thankfully one of those folding chairs was pretty close by, so I was able to sink into it.

  "I dont get it," I said, looking over my shoulder at Mom.

  Her mouth was set in a grim line. "Lets just say the Brannicks have never believed that Lara and Anastasias father, Alexei, was so interested in creating demons to protect other Prodigium. That much power? He basically had the equivalent of a magical nuclear weapon under his control. " Alexei, with the help of another witch, had turned my great-grandmother, Alice, into a demon. Shed been just a regular girl, but once Alexei Casnoff was done with her, shed become more or less a monster, the dark magic inside of her driving her insane.

  So, yeah, you could create a demon, but controlling it wasnt that easy.

  "The first night I ever spent at Hex Hall," I said to Aislinn, "Mrs. Casnoff showed us this big slide show of all the ways humans had killed Prodigium over the years. Not just Brannicks or The Eye, but regular people, too. Mrs. Casnoff basically made it seem like we Prodigium are under attack all the time. "

  "Yeah, because regular people stand a chance against monsters," Finley scoffed.

  "Do you know how many Brannicks there are, Sophie?" Aislinn asked softly. When I shook my head, she said, "Youre looking at them. " I stared at her. "What, just. . . just the three of you? And one of you is like, twelve?"

  "Im fourteen," Izzy called from the couch, but no one paid any attention.

  "Four when we had your mother," Aislinn replied.

  "Okay, but youve teamed up with The Eye," I said. A few months ago, the Prodigium Council Headquarters in London had burned down.

  Seven members of the Council had been killed, and according to Dad, it was llOcchio di Dio working with the Brannicks.

  Aislinn just laughed. "The Eye? Team up with us? Theres no way. Our family is descended from a witch, remember? The Eye wants no part of that. "

  "So, what-The Eye attacked Council headquarters by themselves?" I asked.

  "They didnt attack it at all," Finley said. "That was all your buddies, the Casnoffs. " I felt like Id just been plunged into Bizarro World, and I shook my head again, like that would somehow make my brain work faster. "But why would the Casnoffs-" And then it dawned on me. "Its just like the slide show thing. Make everyone even more freaked out about The Eye and the Brannicks, and suddenly no one cares that youre turning kids into demons. Not if demons will keep them safe from The Eye, or all of you," I said, gesturing toward Aislinn and Finley.

  Aislinn nodded. "Exactly. And now theyve laid the destruction of Thorne Abbey and the possible death of your father on The Eye, too. " My chest ached at that, and I felt Moms hand on my hair.

  "So now its like the Casnoffs have free rein to raise as many demons as they want," Finley said. "And no one will stop them. "

  "I will," I said automatically.

  "How?" Finley scoffed. "You dont have any powers. They have the most potent magical weapons ever. " Inside my chest, my magic surged and shook. "Were people," I said, and to my horror, I felt tears spring to my eyes. I really, really did not want to cry in front of Finley. "Raising a demon just means pouring really dark magic into the soul of a regular person, or Prodigium, or whatever. That person, who they are, doesnt go away. Nick and Daisy. And me and my-my dad. Were not things you can use and destroy. Were not weapons. " On that last word, I grabbed the edge of the table so hard, I broke one of my fingernails.

  Mom stepped forward, wrapping her hand around my elbow. "Enough," she said. "The point is, well find some way of stopping the Casnoffs that doesnt involve using Sophie as anything. "

  "That isnt your decision, Grace," Aislinn said.

  Mom whirled on her sister with a fierceness Id never seen in her before. "She is my daughter. "

  "And we dont always get to pick the paths our family members take, do we?" Aislinn replied, holding Moms
gaze.

  A low chuckle reverberated throughout the room, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Izzy jumped, and both Finley and Aislinn turned to glare over their shoulders. For the first time, I saw there was something hanging on the wall. I wasnt sure what exactly, because it was covered with a heavy piece of dark green canvas, but from its large, rectangular shape, I guessed it was a painting of some kind.

  "Ah, Grace and Aislinn arguing. Its like old times again," a male voice said, sounding vaguely muffled. "Could someone take this blasted thing off so that I can see?"

  Once again, my magic was thumping and bumping inside me, so I knew whatever was speaking, it wasnt human. Still, when Aislinn crossed over to the thing hanging on the wall and ripped down the canvas, I was taken aback by what I saw.

  It wasnt a painting after all; it was a mirror, reflecting the dingy, gloomy room. It was weird seeing the tableau we made. Mom stood with her hand still on my elbow, her expression wary. Aislinn was looking at the mirror with something like disgust, while Izzy had gone even paler, and Finley was scowling. As for me, I was shocked by my reflection. I was thinner than I remembered being, and my skin was dirty, tears leaving trails on my dusty cheeks. And the hair. . . you know what? Lets not even go there.

  But my looking like Little Orphan Sophie wasnt what had my powers going nuts. It was the guy.

  In the mirror, he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the round table, smirking out at all of us. Even though I knew he wasnt really there, I glanced at the center of the table anyway. The same maps and papers that were crumpled under him in the mirror were still unruffled and smooth.

  His shaggy hair was dark blond, and lace dripped from the cuffs of his shirt, brushing the papers on the table as he rested his wrists on his knees.

  He was also rocking some pretty impressive tall boots and ridiculously tight pants, so he was either way into Renaissance Faires over there in Mirror-Land, or he was very old. I was guessing the latter.

  "So this is the girl all the fuss is over," he said, studying me. His voice was low, and I think he wouldve been hot if he werent radiating this air of

  "I Am Super Evil-No, Really-And Not In The Sexy Way. " Still, I was pretty sure he was just a regular warlock. Demons gave off a stronger, darker vibe, and while this guy was definitely bad news, he wasnt that dark or that powerful.

  Aislinn whacked the frame of the mirror with her hand, causing the table the guy sat on to rock and nearly tip over. The table in the room stayed still.

  Clutching one side of the table, Mirror Boy frowned, then opened his mouth to say something. Aislinn cut him off. "You were wrong, Torin. She doesnt have powers anymore. "

  Torin shrugged. "Does she not? Well, that certainly makes things more interesting. " He smiled. Maybe some women wouldve found it charming. I just found it skeevy. That must have shown on my face, because his grin quickly collapsed, and he turned back to Aislinn with a shrug.