"So, were you covered in golden light and sucked through some kind of vortex to get here, too?" I asked Archer, trying to keep my mind on the task at hand and not the way his fingers were softly stroking my palm.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, golden light, then it was like someone was using my body to do origami. And then, bam, back at Hex Hall. Any idea what's going on?"
It was Jenna who answered. "None. Do you see anybody you remember?"
"I ran into Evan, the warlock I used to room with, while I was looking for you. He, uh, wasn't too happy to see me." Archer winced a little as he raised a hand to his cheekbone. It looked a little swol en, and a bruise was already forming. "Oh, right," I said. I'd nearly forgotten the various rumors about Archer after he left the school. "People think you killed Elodie. And tried to kill me, so maybe we should stop with the hand-holding."
I wasn't sure if Archer was confused or pissed or some combination of the two, but he dropped my hand, and said, "Why do-" But whatever he was going to say was cut off as the front door of Hecate Hall slowly creaked open. All heads swiveled toward it, and I swore I could hear footsteps coming from inside. I held my breath and wished I hadn't told Archer to let go of me.
Mrs. Casnoff stepped out into the dim light, wearing the same suit she'd worn the day I'd met her. That was the only thing that was the same.
She looked a good ten years older than she had the last time I'd seen her, and her hands, as she spread them wide in welcome, were shaking.
Her royal blue skirt and jacket seemed to hang on her bony frame, and there was some kind of dark stain on her silk blouse.
But most disturbing of all, her dark blond hair, that hair that she always teased, threatened, or enchanted into ridiculously ornate updos, was now completely white and streaming down her back. It fluttered around her head like spiderwebs.
"Students of Hecate Hall," she said, her voice wavering like an old lady's. "Welcome to a new semester."
CHAPTER 14
"Oh my God," Jenna murmured, just as I said, "Holy hell weasel," under my breath. I won't repeat what Archer said.
Someone in the crowd-I think it was Taylor-shouted, "But the school is closed. Everyone was saying..." Her voice trailed off, and one of the faeries piped up, her voice high and clear. "You have no right to bring us here. The Fae are no longer in all iance with the rest of Prodigium. On behalf of the Seelie court, I demand you send us home." Ah. That was Nausicaa. She was the only one of the faeries that talked like she was rehearsing a play.
Next to me, Jenna leaned in closer and said, "The Fae broke their all iance? Did you know that?" I shook my head just as Mrs. Casnoff pinned Nausicaa with a glare. No matter how feeble she seemed, she could still throw one heck of a dirty look. "All iances and treaties have no meaning here at Hecate Hall. Once you've been a student here, your all egiance is to the school. Always." She gave a smile that was more like a grimace. "It was in the code of conduct you signed when you were sentenced here." I remembered that, a thick pamphlet I'd barely read before scrawling my name on the dotted line. I suddenly wished I had of power of time travel so that I could go smack Sophie From A Year Ago around, and tell her to read things first.
"Now, I'm sure there are many questions," Mrs. Casnoff continued in what had to be the understatement of the year. "But for now, report to your rooms. All will be explained at tonight's assembly."
"This is crap!" someone shouted. I rose up on tiptoes and saw a tall boy with reddish hair.
"Evan," Archer murmured.
The crowd sort of scooted away from the boy as he and Mrs. Casnoff faced each other down.
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Butler?" Mrs. Casnoff asked, and this time, she sounded a lot more like her old self and less like a frail old lady.
"The Eye and the Brannicks have been killing us off, and the school freaking disappeared. And now, what, we're all just supposed to start a new school year?"
No one was whispering now. In fact, everything had gone unnaturally quiet, I realized. The wind had died, and there were no birds, no distant sound of the ocean. It was like the island was holding its breath.
"Enough," Mrs. Casnoff said. "As I said, the assembly this evening will answer all -"
"No!" Evan shouted, his voice echoing in the still air. "I'm not setting foot in that place until you tell us what the hell is going on. How did you get us here? Why is he here?" Evan jerked his thumb at Archer, and several people glanced in our direction. Archer was wearing a bored expression, but the bruise on his cheek was darker against his suddenly paler skin.
"Mr. Butler," Mrs. Casnoff snapped, drawing herself up taller. "Stop it. Now." Evan snorted. "Screw this." The girl next to Evan, a witch whose name I thought was Michaela, put a hand on his arm and said something to him, but he shook her off. "There's no way I'm spending another year in some rotting mansion, hidden away from the whole damn world. Not when a war is coming." With that, he shoved his way through the crowd, his feet kicking up a cloud of dust down the gravel driveway.
"Evan." Mrs. Casnoff's voice rang out, and this time, there was more in it than anger or irritation. It almost sounded like a warning.
But Evan didn't even turn around.
"What the heck is he gonna do, swim to the mainland?" I muttered under my breath.
By now, Evan had reached the thick wall of fog circling the house. He hesitated, and I saw his shoulders go up and his hands clenched into fists at his side, like he was trying to psych himself up. He raised a hand, and I saw a couple of sparks shoot from his fingertips. They died almost immediately with a faint popping sound, like a wet firecracker.
Next to me, Archer wiggled his own fingers, and the same thing happened to his magic. "No powers allowed, apparently," he murmured.