But me? I was kind of over that.
Even as Jenna hissed for me to come back, I walked to the front of the room and stood directly in front of Lara Casnoff, the woman who had tried to kill me. The woman who'd tried to kill Archer, and Jenna, and had put my dad through a ritual that had nearly killed him.
"You're going to turn them all into demons?" I demanded. "Did you forget the part where your last demon went rogue and started killing people?"
She didn't answer my question. "You certainly are a resilient little thing, Sophie."
"And you're evil and super condescending."
"Is this the part where you tell me that you're going to stop me? That I won't get away with it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because if it is, let me give you some advice: grow up."
With that, she handed the spell back to the Vandy, who replaced it in the bag.
I watched the two of them walk out of the ball room, Mrs. Casnoff trailing behind, as Archer and Jenna came to stand next to me.
"Well, we know the plan now," Jenna said. "Any counter plans?"
"Stop the Casnoffs from raising a demon army, save everybody, and get the heck off this island. Then maybe we'll have a party or something.
You know, to celebrate how awesome we are."
"Sounds solid enough," Archer said, bumping my shoulder with his. "Any idea how exactly we're supposed to do any of that?" The greenish lights in the ball room winked out, and I sighed. "None."
CHAPTER 17
The next morning, I was blasted out of bed by Hex Hall 's version of an alarm clock-this sonorous howling sound that was half bell, half growl. The room was still dark, and when I glanced out the window, all I could see was that damn fog.
Jenna was already at the closet, pulling out a uniform. Last night, we'd discovered the dresser was filled with white T-shirts and blue pajama pants. They were all the same size, but when you put them on, the clothes shifted and slid until they fit. The uniforms were apparently the same, because as Jenna slipped into the skirt, the hem brushed her shins, only to slither back up her body until the skirt fell just below her knees.
"I don't know if that's convenient or creepy," she said, inspecting her legs.
Shoving off the covers, I got out of bed and went to get my own uniform. "Let's go with creepy, shal we?" Jenna pulled on her blazer, and I noticed she was chewing her lower lip, obviously thinking something over.
"You know, that's a dangerous habit for a vampire," I told her, nodding at her mouth.
"Huh? Oh, right," she said. "Sorry, I was just...Soph, if their big plot is to make everyone a demon, why bring you here? Or me, for that matter?
Lara wanted me killed just a few months ago. What changed her mind?"
The same thought had kept me up last night. Over and over, I'd replayed Torin's words: me, at the head of the Casnoffs' demon force, using my powers for them. Was that why I was here?
But all I said to Jenna was, "They're evil and twisted. Who knows why they do anything?" I could tell that answer didn't satisfy her, so I added, "But that's what we're going to find out, right? Operation Nancy Drew Goes To Hex Hall starts today!"
Jenna opened her mouth to say something, but then there was a sudden flash of light in the middle of the room. She shrieked, and I threw my hand up to shade my eyes as the glowing ball morphed into a familiar shape-the greenhouse where we used to have Defense classes. The three-dimensional image rotated slowly as Lara's voice filled the room. "At this time, all students are to report to the greenhouse." Scowling, I waved my arm through the spell. It swirled like smoke before dissolving. "Freaking drama queen," I muttered. "How hard would it have been to announce that last night? Or to just do the voice thing?"
Jenna was still staring at the spot where the spell had been. "What do you think they're going to do to us there?"
"I-"
Before I got any further than that, I saw another flash of light, and the next thing I knew, I heard myself saying, "Look, they're not going to kill you, so maybe you should chil out for a sec."
Jenna shook her head slightly, like I'd just slapped her. "What?"
Tell her you're me! Or I'm you. Whatever! I demanded.
I didn't actually expect Elodie to respond. It wasn't like she usually listened to my mental commands. But this time, thankfully, she did.
"It's Elodie," she told Jenna. She breezed through the explanation of just why she could use me as her personal puppet so quickly that Jenna could only blink in response.
"If Sophie hadn't used my magic in her body," Elodie summed up, "she would've been dead like, ten times by now." Okay, it was only twice, I grumbled inside.
Elodie ignored me. "And no," she said, raising my hand to cut off Jenna's next question. "I can't possess anyone else. Trust me, I've been trying to get inside Lara Casnoff ever since we got here. Which...sounds really wrong." I felt my shoulders shrug. "Anyway, you looked like you were about to eat your own lip, and that's totally gross, so I figured I oughta swoop in and put your mind at ease. Last night, when I was trying my hardest to possess anyone who's not this freak, I overheard the Casnoffs talking.
Apparently, turning a vampire into a demon seems like an awesome idea, so that's why you're here. No staking on the agenda." Using Elodie as a spy hadn't even occurred to me. Oh my God, this is perfect! I shouted. Well, mentally shouted. Of course! They can't see you unless you want them to; you can go anywhere in the school, and-