I was stil kind of flustered when I practical y ran into Lara Casnoff in the main hal way. She was wearing another dark suit and was somehow holding on to a sheaf of papers, a cel phone, and a steaming mug of coffee that smel ed so good my mouth started watering. "Oh, Sophie, you're awake,"she said with a bright smile. "Here"-she handed me the coffee-"I was just bringing this up to you."
"Oh, wow, that's real y nice of you,"I replied, mental y adding Lara to my list of People Who Are Awesome. At Hex Hal , we were practical y blasted out of bed in the morning by an alarm that was somewhere between a foghorn and the baying of hel hounds. People bringing you coffee in bed was a way nicer way to wake up.
"Also, your father wanted me to tel you that he's been cal ed away on business today, but he should be back later this evening."
"Oh. Um...okay, thanks."
"He hated to miss your first day,"she said, frowning slightly.
I couldn't hold back a sarcastic laugh. "Wel , Dad's missed a lot of my first days, so I'm pretty used to it."
I think Lara was going to rush in to defend Dad, but before she could, I asked, "So in which of the nine thousand kitchens could I maybe find some cereal? I skipped dinner last night."
Immediately, Lara was al business again. "Oh, of course. Breakfast is being served in the east dining room."
She gave me directions that included three right turns, another flight of stairs, and a "conservatory,"whatever that was. When I stared at her blankly, she waved her hand and said, "I'l just show you myself."
"Thanks,"I said, trailing behind her. "Maybe by the end of the summer I'l actual y get the layout of this place down."
Lara laughed. "I've been coming to Thorne Abbey for decades, and I stil get turned around."
"Wow,"I said as we proceeded down a long hal way lined with pictures. I did a double take as I passed them. There were portraits of werewolves in eighteenth-century costumes, their silvery fur poking out from underneath knee breeches, and one image showed a family of witches from what looked like the 1600s-lots of lacy ruffs around their necks-al of them levitating underneath a tree, silvery sparks of magic dancing around them.
Then what Lara had said sunk in. "Decades? So you've known my dad since you were kids?"
She nodded. "Indeed. Your grandmother gifted Thorne Abbey to the Council before...before she passed away. Anastasia and I spent many summers here with our father."She paused and gave me a fleeting smile. "Something we have in common, Sophie. My father was also head of the Council."
"Wait, what?"
"Alexei Casnoff. You've never heard of him?"
Al I could do was shake my head, so Lara continued. "Casnoffs ruled the Council for nearly two hundred years. However, my father made the decision very early on to pass his title to your father, due to his powers."
I took that in. "But the title is hereditary. So if your dad hadn't done that, you would have been the head?"
She gave an elegant shrug, like it was a subject that didn't even warrant discussion. "Anastasia, actual y. She's the eldest. But we both agreed with Father's decision, and Anastasia felt she could be of the most use at Hecate anyway."She smiled at me and squeezed my arm a little. "Neither of us have ever regretted it. James has done an excel ent job as the head, and I'm sure you'l do just as wel ."
I tried to smile back at her, but I think it came across more as a grimace.
"So...if you and Mrs. Casnoff are sisters, and your dad was a Casnoff, why is she a Mrs.?"I asked. "Makes it sound like she married into the family."
"Anastasia was married,"Lara said, gesturing for me to walk down another corridor. "But we've always kept the name Casnoff. Her husband even took it."
I want to know more about that, but by then we'd reached the dining room. I fol owed Lara inside.
I wondered if there were any rooms in al of Thorne Abbey that wouldn't leave me gawking in wonder at the doorway. The east dining room was probably three times the size of the dining hal at Hecate. Like every other room I'd seen at Thorne, there didn't seem to be a square inch of wal that wasn't covered in paintings or gilt. Even the chairs were upholstered in gold brocade.
A long table that could have seated whole armies dominated the room, so I guessed this is where most meals at Thorne were served. But Cal was the only person there now. He glanced up as we came in and gave a tiny nod. "Morning."
Lara practical y beamed at him. "Mr. Cal ahan! So nice to see you this morning. How are you enjoying Thorne Abbey?"
Cal took a long sip of orange juice before replying. "It's great."
I don't think it was possible for Cal to sound less enthusiastic, but either Lara didn't pick up on it, or she didn't care, because she sounded awful y perky as she said, "Wel , I'm sure the two of you are welcoming the chance to spend some time together."
Cal and I both stared at her. I tried to wil her to stop talking, but apparently that power wasn't in my repertoire. Lara flashed us a conspiratorial grin.
"Nothing makes me happier than seeing an arrangement that's a real love match."
Al the awkwardness that had vanished between me and Cal yesterday seemed to swoop back into the room with an audible whoosh.
I dared a quick look in his direction, but Cal, as usual, was doing his whole Stoic Man thing. His expression didn't even waver. But then I noticed his hand tightening around his glass.
Chapter 6
"Cal and I aren't...we don't...there's not any, um, love,"I final y said. "We're friends."
Lara frowned, confused. "Oh. I'm sorry."She turned to Cal, eyebrows raised. "I just assumed that was the reason you turned down the position with the Council."
Cal shook his head, and I think he was about to say something, but I beat him to it. "What position with the Council?"
"It was nothing,"he said.
Lara gave a delicate snort before saying to me, "After his term at Hecate ended, Mr. Cal ahan was offered a position as the Council's chief bodyguard. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you initial y accept the assignment?"she asked Cal.
It was the closest I'd ever seen Cal to angry. Of course, on him, that meant that his brow furrowed a little. "I did, but-"he started to say.
"But then you heard Sophie was coming to Hecate, and you decided to stay,"Lara finished, and her lips twisted in the triumphant smile I'd seen on Mrs. Casnoff's face dozens of times. I stood there, frozen in place, as she turned back to me and said, "Mr. Cal ahan gave up a chance to travel the world with the Council so that he could be little more than a janitor on Graymalkin Island. For you."
After that, I didn't hear much more of what Lara said. I know she mentioned something about a meeting and being late, and then suddenly she was gone, leaving me and Cal alone.
Cal turned his attention back to his plate, so I crossed the room to the buffet. There were dozens of silver trays steaming with eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, and a whole bunch of other foods I wasn't sure I could name. My heart was jumping around nervously, but I tried not to let it show as I fil ed my plate.
Then it occurred to me that I had no idea where to sit. The table could easily fit over a hundred people, so I didn't want to sit right next to him, obviously. But it would also look weird if I picked one of the seats far down the table. I final y just sat across from him, and for a while, Cal and I sat in silence, munching on our respective breakfasts. The sound of our forks scraping across the plates echoed in the cavernous room.
Cal shifted in his chair, and I thought he was about to leave without saying anything. Then, quietly, he said, "I didn't stay just for you."
I kept my eyes down. "Right. Of course you didn't. Duh."
His foot nudged mine under the table, and I final y looked up at him. He was leaning forward, his face intense. "I mean it. I like Graymalkin. I like being close to the ocean and working outside. Working for the Council would've meant..."He sighed, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. "Offices and planes. And wearing a tie. It wasn't for me."
"Cal, it's fine,"I insisted, even as my cheeks burned. "I didn't actual y think you were hanging out at Hex Hal because of your burning love for me. But that's what I'm tel ing al the girls back at school,"I said, stabbing a forkful of eggs. "I'm thinking 'heartbreaker'might be a nice addition to my
'avenging witch'reputation."
He looked like he was going to say something else, so I hurried on, even though it meant talking around a mouthful of food. "So, what do you think of Thorne Abbey?"
Cal blinked at the subject change, but then said, "This place freaks me out."
"Me too,"I said. "Which is weird, seeing as how Hex Hal is technical y a mil ion times creepier."
Cal shrugged. "Yeah, but it's home."
"For you, maybe. Have you really never left since you were thirteen?"
"Never. Not even to go to the mainland."
I shook my head and broke off a piece of my toast, slathering it with orange marmalade. "That's insane. Why?"
He put down his fork, his eyes on a spot somewhere over my shoulder. "I don't know. As soon as I set foot on that island, I never wanted to leave it.
Like I said, it's home. Haven't you ever felt that way about a place?"
I thought about al the houses Mom and I had lived in over the years. Some of them had been nice, but none of them had ever felt permanent. I'd always known better than to get too attached to a place. Al the word "home"conjured up for me was Mom and the vague impression of suitcases.
"No. One of the benefits of being a nomad. You never feel homesick."
Cal studied me in that quiet, intense way of his before saying, "How did it go with your dad last night?"
I sighed. "Not great. Apparently I should be way more psyched about being a demon. And of course he's dead set against my going through the Removal."
"Huh,"was his only reply, but Cal could put a world of meaning behind one syl able.
"Let me guess. You're joining the legions of people who think it's a bad idea for me to go through the Removal."
To my surprise, I saw that angry look cross Cal's face again. "You say it like everyone is against the idea just to be jerks. But Mrs. Casnoff, your parents, me...can you blame any of us for not wanting you to die?"
Something shifted in the air, and suddenly I felt like I was on very shaky ground. "Can you blame me for not wanting to be a demon? Alice kil ed people, Cal. So did her daughter, Lucy. She kil ed her own husband."
He didn't react to that, so I added-with way too much venom even for me-"Bet you didn't know that when you agreed to be 'betrothed'to me, huh?
Husband-eviscerating apparently runs in my family."
Stil no reaction, and I felt shame curl in my bel y. "Of course, you also didn't know you were getting a demon bride,"I added in a softer tone. Very few people knew what my dad real y was. I'd always assumed Cal had found out the same night I did.
That's why I was real y surprised when he raised his head and said, "I knew."
"What?"
"I knew what you were then, Sophie. Your dad told me before the betrothal. And he told me about your grandmother, and what happened to your grandfather."