Then there was the soft snick of a match being lit, and a small pool of light illuminated the figure.
Elodie.
She was wearing purple silk pajamas, a black candle cradled in her hands. Two other candles blazed to life, and I saw Chaston and Anna, also pajama-clad, standing behind Elodie.
"Sophia Mercer," Elodie intoned, "we have come to induct you into our sisterhood. Say the five words to begin the ritual."
I blinked at her. "Are you freaking kidding me?"
Anna gave an exasperated sigh. "No, the five words are 'I accept your offer, sisters.'"
I brushed my hair out of my face and said, "I told you earlier, I'm not sure if I want to join your coven. I'm not saying any words to begin any ritual."
"Saying the five words doesn't mean you automatically join," Chaston said, stepping forward. "It just means that the ritual of acceptance can start.
You can back out any time."
"Oh, just go with them," Jenna said. I could see her in the candlelight, sitting up in her bed, her dark eyes wary. "They're not going to leave you alone until you hear them out."
Elodie's mouth tightened, but she didn't say anything.
"Fine," I said, pushing off my covers and standing up. "I . . . I accept your offer, sisters."
The three of them led me to Elodie and Anna's room.
"How did you two get to room together?" I whispered. "I thought the big thing at Hecate was learning to live with other Prodigium."
Elodie was searching her desk for something and gave no sign of hearing me, so Chaston said, "Witches sometimes have to pair up since there are always way more of us than faeries or shifters."
"Why is that?" I asked.
Anna answered me as she lit some more candles, bathing the room in a soft glow. "Faeries and shifters don't attempt to travel in the human world as much as witches do. Less chance of them getting sent to this place."
Elodie had found a piece of chalk in her desk and was busy drawing a large pentagram on the hardwood floor. Once she was done, she drew a circle around it.
"Normally we'd do this ritual outside, preferably in a ring of trees," she said, sitting at the head of the pentagram. Chaston and Anna sat on either side of her, so I took my place at the other end. "But we're not allowed in the woods. Mrs. Casnoff is, like, insanely strict about that."
The four of us sat around the pentagram holding hands. I wondered if we were about to sing "Kumbaya."
"Sophie, what was the first magic you put out into the universe?"
Elodie asked.
"What?"
"The first spell you ever cast," Chaston said, leaning forward, her blond hair spilling over her shoulders. "It's a sacred thing for a witch, that first spell. When I was twelve, I created a storm that lasted three days. And
Anna froze time for . . . how long?"
"Ten hours," Anna answered.
I looked across the circle at Elodie. The light from the candles flickered in her eyes.
"What about you?" I asked her. "I turned day to night."
"Oh."
"What was yours, Sophie?" Chaston asked eagerly.
I thought about lying. I could say I turned someone to stone, or something. But then again, maybe if they knew what a crappy witch I was, they'd back off from this coven business.
"I turned my hair purple."
I was met with three identical stares.
"Purple?" Anna asked.
"It wasn't on purpose or anything," I said. "I was trying to permanently straighten it, but I guess I did something wrong because instead it turned purple. Only for three weeks, though. So . . . yeah, that was the first magic I ever did."
They were silent. Anna and Chaston exchanged looks across the circle.
"Maybe I should go," I said.
"No!" Chaston said, squeezing my hand.
"Yeah, don't go," Anna added. "So your first magic was . . . well, kind of stupid. You've done bigger spells than that since then, right?" She nodded at me encouragingly.
"What spell got you in here?" Elodie asked. She was sitting perfectly still, her eyes glittering. "Surely that was something."
I met her gaze across the circle. "I did a love spell."
Anna and Chaston heaved identical sighs and dropped my hands.
"A love spell?" Elodie sneered.
"What about you?" I looked around the circle at the three of them.
"What did you do to get sent to Hecate?"
Anna spoke first. "I turned a boy in my English class into a rat."
Chaston shrugged. "I told you. I made it storm for three days."
Elodie glanced down at the floor for a second. I wasn't sure, but I thought she took a deep breath. When she raised her head, she looked calm.
Relaxed, even. "I made a girl vanish."