"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.
"Girls!" she yelled, standing up and slamming both of her hands on the desk. "The time for bickering about dresses and boys is over. Two of your sisters were severely injured, and another is dead."
"But . . . you've fixed it," Elodie said softly. "You kicked out the vampires."
Mrs. Casnoff sat down in her chair and rubbed a hand over her.
"We can't be sure that Jenna or Byron was responsible. Both claim their innocence, and last night neither showed signs of having recently fed."
I thought of the picture in the book about L'Occhio di Dio, the one with the witch drained of blood, and Alice saying that The Eye saw me, even here.
"Mrs. Casnoff," I ventured, "do you think . . . Do you think it's possible that L'Occhio di Dio has gotten into the school?"
"Why would you even think that?" Elodie asked, but Mrs. Casnoff held up her hand.
"It's just that I saw this picture of a witch they had killed, and she had two holes in her neck and hardly any blood, just like Holly and Chaston and
Anna. I mean, maybe it's possible--"
Mrs. Casnoff interrupted. "I've also seen that illustration, Sophia, but there is no way L'Occhio di Dio could infiltrate Hecate. There are simply too many protection spells. And even if they could somehow get past those, what would they do? Hide out on this tiny island for months waiting until they could sneak into the school?" She shook her head. "It doesn't make sense."
"Unless they were already in the school," I said.
Mrs. Casnoff raised her eyebrows. "What, as a teacher? Or a student?
Impossible."
"But--"
Mrs. Casnoff's voice was gentle, and her eyes were sad as she said, "Sophia, I know you don't want to believe that Jenna is responsible for this.
None of us do. But I'm afraid that at this time, it's the most plausible explanation. Jenna is being transported to Council headquarters now, and she'll have a chance to plead her case. But you have to accept that she may be guilty."
My chest tightened at the thought of Jenna, scared and alone, on her way to London, where she'd probably be staked. Maybe even by my own dad.
Reaching across the desk to pat my hand, Mrs. Casnoff said, "I am sorry." She looked over at Elodie. "I'm sorry for both of you. But perhaps this will give you an opportunity to put aside your differences for now. After all, you're the only members of your coven left here." She looked back at me and gave a wry smile. "Whether you like it or not. Now, I'm excusing the two of you from classes today. Until we get the results of the Council's inquiry, I want you to keep a close eye on each other. Understood?"