Archer and Elodie were sitting up front and to the left of me. Elodie looked pale, and there were still tears streaking down her face. Archer had his arm around her, his lips moving in the hair at her temple. Then, like he knew I was watching them, he turned and looked at me. I dropped my eyes, my hands fisted in my skirt.
After Anna and Jenna, I'd nearly forgotten about me and Archer, but now our encounter from last night came flying back at me, slamming into my heart.
Thankfully, Mrs. Casnoff stood up and raised her hands for silence, so I could turn my eyes to her and not Archer.
"Students," she began, "as I'm sure you know, there was another attack last night. Miss Gilroy is going to be all right, but as this is the third attack in less than a year, we obviously have had to take some drastic measures. As I'm sure you've all noticed, Lord Byron is not here. Nor is Miss Talbot. Until the Council can get to the bottom of these attacks, vampires are no longer welcome at Hecate."
My heart sank as everyone around me burst into applause. I thought of Jenna, how happy she'd been last night in her pink dress, and felt tears prick my eyes. Where had they taken her?
Mrs. Casnoff said a few more things, mostly about being careful and aware of our surroundings, and that we couldn't drop our guard until we knew for sure what had happened, but I barely heard her. It was true that Jenna had been back up in our room when Anna was attacked, but I'd seen Jenna after she came back from a feeding at the infirmary. She was always worn out and almost drugged. Last night, when Casnoff came to get her, she'd just looked scared.
I didn't realize that the assembly was over until a shapeshifter boy stepped on my toes, getting out of his seat.
Numb, I stood, only to hear Mrs. Casnoff say, "Sophie, Elodie, please wait a moment."
I turned back. Elodie looked as confused as I felt.
"If the two of you would kindly go to my office."
Archer gave Elodie's arm a quick squeeze before leaving. His eyes met mine as he passed me. He gave me a smile, and I tried to smile back.
Whatever had happened between me and Archer last night had been a freak incident, one I knew would just be easier to pretend had never happened. He was clearly with Elodie, and I couldn't blame him. Not only was she gorgeous, but now all her friends were gone. What kind of jerk would break up with a girl the day after her best friend had had nearly all her blood drained?
Not that it was a situation that came up often, I guess.
Elodie and I walked to Mrs. Casnoff's office, our shoulders brushing in the narrow hallways.
"I'm really sorry," I started, but Elodie cut me off with a glacial stare.
"What, that your best buddy nearly killed another one of my friends, or that you tried to kill me with my own dress?"
I was too tired to even give my crappy lying skills a shot. "The spell wasn't supposed to hurt you. It was just going to turn your dress a different color when you put it on."
Elodie was silent, and when I glanced over at her, I saw that she was watching me with an appraising look. "That was some pretty powerful magic," she said. "And while I don't appreciate nearly being strangled by clothes, it might be a cool spell to learn."
"I'll teach it to you if you'll teach me the curse you put on my dummy," I offered.
Before she could reply, Mrs. Casnoff ushered us into her cramped office. "Come along, ladies."
Once Elodie and I were seated in the tiny chairs, Mrs. Casnoff moved behind her desk. "I'm sure you both know why I wanted to speak with you."
She sighed as she sat down. If it had been anyone else, I would've said she flopped into the chair, but Mrs. Casnoff was way too formal to flop. It was more like a graceful collapse.
"I'm sure it's occurred to you that all these attacks have been exclusively on members of your coven, girls."
Confused, I said, "Oh, I'm not a member of their coven."
Now Mrs. Casnoff looked puzzled. She glanced over at Elodie, who I now noticed was looking anywhere but at either of us.
"You joined Sophia to your coven without her knowledge?" Mrs.
Casnoff asked.
"What?" I yelped. "How is that even possible?"
Elodie blew out a long breath that ruffled her bangs. "Look, we didn't have a choice," she said, still looking down at her lap. It was weird to see Elodie so subdued. Normally she would have rolled her eyes a bunch of times and said something dripping with contempt.
But now she looked downright guilty.
"We needed her," Elodie said to Mrs. Casnoff, her tone pleading. "She wouldn't join with us willingly, so we did the joining ritual without her."
Mrs. Casnoff was glaring at Elodie. "And what did you use in place of her blood?"
"I snuck into her room and took some hair from her brush," Elodie muttered. "But we didn't think it had even worked. There was just this big black puff of smoke when we threw her hair in the fire. That's not supposed to happen."
"Oh my God!" I exploded. "You can't just do something like that! I can't believe I felt bad about putting that stupid bone in your dress."
Mrs. Casnoff's glare swung back to me. "You did what?" she asked in a voice so frosty, I was sure I was about to be flash-frozen like a wooly mammoth.
Elodie saw her chance. "That's right! She's the one who nearly killed me last night by putting a charmed bone in my dress!"
"Only because you put a curse on my dress," I fired back.
"Only because you're trying to steal my boyfriend!"
That was apparently the last straw for Mrs. Casnoff.