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  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."

  I swallowed. "For how long?"

  "Forever."

  Now I took a deep breath. "So all three of you did spells that hurt people."

  "No," Anna replied. "We did powerful spells befitting our kind.

  Humans just . . . got in the way."

  That was all I had to hear. I stood up. "All right, well, thanks for the offer, but . . . yeah. I don't think this is gonna work out."

  Chaston reached up and grabbed my hand again. "No, don't go," she said. Her eyes were huge and shining in the candlelight.

  "Oh, let her," Elodie said in a disgusted voice. "She clearly thinks she's better than us anyway."

  "Okay, that's not what I said--"

  "But we need a fourth," Chaston broke in.

  "Not if that fourth is dead weight," Elodie retorted.

  "She's the only other dark witch here. We need her," Anna said in a low voice. "Without four, we won't be strong enough to hold it."

  "Hold what?" I asked, but at the same time, Elodie hissed, "Shut up, Anna."

  "It didn't work anyway," Chaston said glumly.

  "Seriously, are you guys talking in code or something?" I asked.

  "No," Elodie said, rising to her feet. "They're talking about things related to the coven. Things that don't concern you."

  I don't think anyone has ever looked at me with that much anger. I was kind of baffled by it. I mean, sure I'd turned down the invitation to join their coven, but it wasn't like I'd spit in their faces or anything.

  "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," I said, "but . . . um, it's not you, it's me?"

  Oh, that was original, Sophie.

  Anna and Chaston were both standing by now. Anna was scowling at me, but Chaston still looked worried.

  "You need us too, Sophie," Chaston said. "It won't be easy for you without your sisters to protect you."

  "Protect me from what?"

  "Do you honestly think people here are going to welcome you with open arms?" Elodie asked. "Between that leech you room with and your father, you're looking at total pariahdom without us."

  My stomach dropped. "What about my dad?"

  The three of them glanced at each other.

  "She doesn't know," Elodie murmured.

  "Know what?"

  Chaston opened her mouth to reply, but Elodie stopped her. "Let her figure it out on her own." She opened the door. "Good luck surviving

  Hecate, Sophie. You'll need it."

  If that wasn't a dismissal, I didn't know what was.

  I was so distracted thinking about my dad that I walked right into the middle of the circle, kicking over the candle as I did. I hissed as hot wax spilled over my bare foot. I could've sworn I heard Anna giggle.

  I limped to the door. Before I left, I turned to Elodie. She was watching me stonily.

  "I'm sorry," I said again. "I didn't realize turning down a coven was such a big deal."

  For a second I thought she wasn't going to reply. Then she dropped her voice and said, "I spent years in the human world being looked at like I was a monster. No one gets to look at me like that anymore." Her hard, green eyes narrowed. "Certainly not a loser witch like you."

  Then she slammed the door in my face.

  I stood there in the hall, very aware of the sound of my own breathing.

  Had I looked at her like she was a monster? I thought of how I'd felt when she said she'd made some poor girl disappear.

  Yeah, I'd probably looked at her like that.

  "Okay, that is IT!" someone shouted.

  A door flew open across the hall, and Taylor stomped out of her room.

  She was wearing an oversize nightshirt, and her hair was tangled around her face. Once again her mouth was full of fangs.

  "Get OUT!" she cried, pointing down the hall. Through the open door

  I could see Nausicaa and Siobhan, along with a couple of other faeries, sitting cross-legged on the floor. A green light glowed from the center of the circle, but I couldn't tell what it was.

  The group stood. "You cannot keep me from performing the rituals of my people," Nausicaa said.

  Taylor pushed her hair away from her face. "No, but I can tell Casnoff that you four were trying to communicate with the Seelie Court with that mirror thingie."

  Nausicca frowned and bent down to pick up the glowing circle of green glass. "It is not a 'mirror thingie.' It is a pool of dew collected from night-blooming flowers found on the highest hill in--"

  "WHAT. EVER," Taylor shouted. "I have to be in Classifications of

  Shapeshifters at eight, and I can't sleep with your stupid mirror thingie shining in my face."

  Siobhan leaned over, her blue hair obscuring her face, and whispered something in Nausicaa's ear.

  Nodding, Nausicaa gestured to the other faeries. "Come. We may continue this somewhere less . . . primitive."

  Taylor rolled her eyes.

  The faeries glided past me. Siobhan shot me a disdainful glance, and then they transformed into circles of light, roughly the size of tennis balls, and drifted down the hall.

  "Good freaking riddance," Taylor said under her
breath before turning to me with a bright smile. Her fangs were nearly gone now, but her eyes were still golden. "Hi again."

  "Hi," I said weakly, giving a wave.

  "So what are you doing up and about?"

  I nodded my head toward Elodie's door. "Just, you know, socializing.

  Shouldn't you be outside, running in the woods or . . . whatever?"

  Taylor looked confused. "No, that's only the weres."

  "There's a difference?"

  The friendliness vanished from her face. "Yes," she snapped. "I'm a shifter. That means I become an actual animal. Weres are somewhere between animal and person." She shuddered. "Freaks."

  "Don't listen to her," a voice growled from behind me.

  The werewolf was bigger than Justin had been, and her fur was reddish instead of gold. She was standing at the opposite end of the hallway, near the stairs.

  "Shifters are just jealous because we're so much more powerful than they are," she continued, leaning against the wall. It was a very human posture, and it made her look that much scarier.

  I gulped and shrank back against Elodie's door. Taylor didn't look scared, just annoyed. "Keep telling yourself that, Beth." To me she said, "See you tomorrow, Sophie."

  "See you."

  The werewolf stayed put at the end of the hall, her tongue lolling out and her eyes bright. I would have to pass her to get to my room.

  I struggled to keep my face impassive as I strolled toward her. My foot still stung from the wax, but I wasn't limping anymore.

  When I reached the werewolf, she startled me by thrusting out one large hand, tipped in deadly-looking claws. For a second I thought she was trying to disembowel me. But then she said, "I'm Beth," and I realized I was supposed to shake her paw.

  I did, gingerly. "Sophie."

  She smiled. It was terrifying, but that wasn't her fault.

  "Nice to meet you," she said, her voice thick.

  Okay, this wasn't so bad. I could handle this. So she had eaten someone. She didn't seem to want to--

  She plunged her snout into my hair and took a deep shuddering breath.

  A warm string of drool dripped from her open maw onto my bare shoulder.

  I forced myself to stay very calm, and after a moment, she released me.

  Giving a bashful shrug, she said, "Sorry. Werewolf thing."

  "Hey, no problem," I said, even though all I could think was, Slobber!

  Werewolf slobber! On my skin!

  "See you around!" she called after me as I hurried past her.

  "Yeah, sure thing!" I said over my shoulder.

  When I reached my room, I dashed over to my desk and pulled out a handful of tissues. "Ugh, ugh, ugh!" I moaned, scrubbing at my shoulder.

  Once I was de-drooled, I flipped on my lamp to search for some hand sanitizer.

  I remembered Jenna, and turned to look at her bed. "Oh, sor--"

  Jenna was sitting up in bed, a bag of blood pressed against her mouth.

  Her eyes were bright red.

  "Sorry," I finished weakly. "About the lamp."

  Jenna lowered the bag, a smear of blood on her chin. "Midnight snack.

  I . . . I figured you wouldn't be back for a while," she said softly. The red slowly faded from her eyes.

  "It's fine," I said, sagging into my desk chair. My stomach was turning over, but I wasn't about to let Jenna know it. I remembered Archer's words:

  You're at Hecate now.

  And man, had tonight proved that.

  "Believe it or not, it's not the weirdest thing I've seen this evening."

  She wiped her chin with the back of her hand, still not meeting my eyes.

  "So did you join their coven?"

  "Oh, heck no," I said.

  She did look at me then, obviously surprised. "Why not?"

  I rubbed my eyes. I was suddenly really tired. "It's just not my thing."

  "Probably because you're not an evil bimbo."

  "Yeah, I think my lack of evil bimbo-ness was the death knell. Then I watched a shifter fight with some faeries--Oh, by the way, what the heck is a

  Seelie?"

  "The Seelie Court? It's a group of good faeries who use white magic."

  "I would hate to see the bad guys, then," I muttered.

  Jenna nodded toward the tissues in my hand. "What's up with that?"

  "Huh? Oh, right. After the faerie fight, a werewolf smelled my hair and drooled all over me. It's been quite a night."

  "And then you came back to your room to watch a vampire chowing down," Jenna said. Her tone was light, but she was twisting her Electric

  Raspberry comforter in her hands.

  "Don't worry about it," I said. "Hey, werewolves gotta drool, vampires gotta eat. . . ."

  She laughed before picking up the blood bag and shyly asking, "Do you mind if I . . ."

  My stomach clenched again, but I made myself smile and said, "Knock yourself out."

  I flopped back on my bed. "They were pretty ticked off at me."

  Jenna stopped slurping. "Who?"

  "The coven. They said I needed their protection against social ruin because of, uh . . ."

  "Because I'm your roommate?"

  I sat up. "Yeah, that was part of it. But they also said something about my dad."

  "Huh," Jenna said thoughtfully. "Who's your dad?"

  I lay back down, pushing my pillow under my head. "Just a regular warlock, as far as I know. James Atherton."

  "Never heard of him," Jenna said. "But then I'm always out of the loop. So you think Elodie and those girls are mad at you?"

  I remembered Elodie's hard eyes. "Oh yeah," I said softly.

  Suddenly Jenna burst out laughing.

  "What?"

  She shook her head, her pink stripe falling in front of one eye. "Just thinking. Man, Sophie, it's only your first day and you've already befriended the school outcast, pissed off the most popular girls at Hecate, and developed a full-blown thing for the hottest guy. If you can manage to get detention tomorrow, you'll be like, legendary."

  CHAPTER 10

  By Jenna's definition, it took me a week and a half to become legendary. The first week went smoothly, all things considered. For one thing, the classes were ridiculously simple. They mostly seemed to be excuses for our teachers to talk us to death. Even Lord Byron, whose class

  I'd been really excited about, turned out to be a major snoozefest. When he wasn't waxing poetic on his own awesomeness, he was sulking behind his desk and telling us all to shut up--although there were a few days when he let us take long walks around the pond to "be one with nature." That was kind of fun.

  I'd hoped for classes on how to do spells, but according to Jenna, those classes were only taught at the "real" Prodigium schools, the fancy places where powerful Prodigium sent their kids. Since Hecate was technically a reformatory school, we were stuck learning about witch hunts in the sixteenth century and things like that. Lame.

  The one bright spot was that Jenna was in almost all of my classes.

  "They don't have any special vampire classes," she'd explained. "So last year they just gave me the same schedule as Holly. Guess they decided to do the same thing this year."

  The only class Jenna didn't have with me was P.E., or as they called it at Hecate, "Defense." It was on my schedule every other week, so I was halfway into my second week at Hecate before I went.

  "Why is it only every other week?" I asked Jenna that morning. "All our other classes meet every day."

  I was pulling on my truly heinous Hecate-blue P.E. uniform, which consisted of bright blue cotton pants and a slightly-too-tight-for-comfort blue T-shirt with "HH" printed in swirly white script just above my left boob.

  "Because," Jenna answered, "if you had Defense every day, or even every week, you'd be in the hospital."

  So I wasn't feeling exactly confident as I headed down to the converted greenhouse they used as a gym.

  It was maybe a quarter of a mile from the main house, but by the time
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  I'd walked thirty feet, I was soaked in sweat. I wasn't stupid: I'd known that

  Georgia was hot, and I'd lived in hot places before. But those places, like

  Arizona and Texas, didn't have this kind of heat, the kind that seemed to suck all the will to live from me. This was a wet kind of heat that made you feel like mildew must be growing on your skin.

  "Sophie!"

  I turned and saw Chaston, Anna, and Elodie walking toward me. They looked amazing in the fugly gym uniforms. Shocker.

  However, when they got closer, I saw that they too were sweating, which made me feel better. The three of them were in several of my classes, but they hadn't spoken to me since the first night. I wondered what was up with them now.

  "Hey," I said casually, as they caught up with me. "What now?

  Coming to warn me of my impending death at the hands of fluffy bunnies?

  Or shoot lightning bolts at me?"

  Chaston laughed, and to my utter surprise, looped her arm through mine. "Look, Sophie, we were talking, and we feel really bad about the other night. So you don't want to join our coven. No biggie!"

  "Yeah," Anna added, coming up on my other side. "We overreacted."

  "You think?" I said.

  "We're trying to apologize," Elodie added, walking backward in front of us. I really, really hoped she'd walk into a tree. "I was talking to Archer, and he said you were all right."

  "Really?" I asked before I could stop myself.

  Great, Sophie, I thought. Way to be cool.

  "Yeah, and he told me you didn't know anything about Prodigium.

  Said it was kind of pathetic, actually."

  I tried to smile, but there was something dark and sharp twisting in my stomach that was making it a little difficult. "Huh."

  "Yeah," Chaston said. "And then we got to thinking that we probably freaked you out."

  "You could say that." I could see the greenhouse now. It was a huge white wood-and-glass building, with windows that caught the early morning sun and sparkled so brightly it hurt my eyes. Unlike the rest of Hecate, it looked pretty cheery. There were a bunch of students milling around, looking like blueberries.

  "And we're sorry," Anna added. I wondered if they had rehearsed this weird three-way-talking thing they had going on. I imagined them sitting in a circle in their dorm room, brushing their hair and saying, "Okay, so I'll say we feel bad, and then you'll say that your hot boyfriend thinks she's pathetic."