"Contained?"

Dad looked at me, his eyes sad. "She's gone, Sophie. The Daisy part of her, at least. Once the magic takes over...there's no reversing it."

Daisy groaned, her eyelids fluttering, as if there were some tiny sliver of her left in there that had heard and understood. "Someone has to tel Nick,"I murmured.

Dad sighed and loosened his tie. "Of course. Jenna."I glanced up, surprised, to see Jenna standing a few feet behind Lara. She must have heard al the commotion. Her face was pale, her eyes wide as she hurried across the hal way and grabbed my hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah,"I said, but seeing her made tears spring to my eyes. I wasn't sure if it was from guilt or from seeing the fear on her face.

"If you wouldn't mind, go find Nick and have him meet me in the conservatory,"Dad said to her. She looked up, surprised, but said she would, then headed off toward the back hal way.

Crouching down again, Dad brushed Daisy's black hair from her forehead. He murmured something I couldn't understand, and she stil ed, seeming to fal deeper asleep. "I'l see that she's taken care of,"he said. "And Lara, after I meet with Nick, I want to talk to you. Is that understood?"

She gave a tiny bow, but her mouth was tight with anger. "Of course."

Once she was gone, I gave in to my wobbly knees and sat down on the steps. Roderick and Kristopher showed up a few minutes later. They picked up Daisy with surprising gentleness, and carried her off to one of those mysterious cel s in the bowels of Thorne Abbey. The thought of Daisy, even a demoned-out murderous Daisy, locked away, sent a fresh wave of sadness rol ing over me.

I rested my head on folded arms and tried to process what had just happened. "Dad,"I said at last, "Daisy was going after me."

I expected him to do his usual thing of "Oh, Sophie, but that is impossible because of this big word, and that big word, and also this abstract concept."But for once, he didn't. He just sat down next to me and said, "Go on."

"She cal ed my name right before she attacked. And al that with the dagger. You were the bigger threat. I was too wiped out from teleporting to fight her off. But she only went for you when you got in front of me."

Dad took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I told you my trip was unsuccessful. That was true with regards to the Brannicks, but not for the entire trip. The warlock I visited in Lincolnshire, Andrew Crowley, had some very useful information. Do you remember the section on control ing demons in Demonologies? I believe it's in chapter five."

"Um...no."

Irritation flashed over his face. "Honestly, Sophie, I gave you that book for a reason."

Chapter 18

"And I'm real y sorry, but it's long and boring, and can we just skip to the part where you tel me what it says?"

"There are legends of witches and warlocks summoning demons in ancient times and manipulating their powers."

"Like what Elodie's coven was trying to do with Alice."

Dad shook his head. "No, that was trying to summon a demon and hold it. That's different. Had their ritual worked, they would have been able to use Alice, to some extent, but they wouldn't have control ed her. She stil would have had free wil ."He studied me, and then said, very careful y, "But according to Mr. Crowley's research, in order to truly control a demon, you have to be its maker-the witch or warlock who performed the possession ritual."

"Lara. That word, or sound, or whatever it was. It stopped Daisy dead in her tracks."

Dad released a shaky breath. "Yes."

Everything started clicking into place, but that only made me feel worse. "So it is her. She's the one who made Nick and Daisy."My thoughts kept rol ing, like a particularly awful snowbal . "She knows I was on Graymalkin, Dad. I don't know how, but she does. And she sicced Daisy on me because of it. She only cal ed her off because Daisy was about to hurt you."Sweet, friendly Lara. Bizarro World Mrs. Casnoff, Jenna and I had cal ed her. And she had just tried to kil me.

"So what now?"I asked him. "Do you go magical y arrest her?"

"I can't."

That was just about the last answer I'd been expecting, and I stared at Dad in shock. "Dad, she just tried to kil me. Not to mention she's raising demons and using them as weapons."

"You don't understand,"Dad said, weary. "Lara, Anastasia, and I are bound by blood oaths. If I throw them both in a dungeon with no proof, it could look like a political power play."

"But you have proof. The place on Graymalkin. Trust me, Dad, anyone would be able to tel there was hard-core stuff going down there."

"It wouldn't be enough. And Anastasia does have complete control over everything that happens at Hecate. She could easily come up with a plausible excuse."

Frustrated, I shook my head. "But Daisy and Nick-"

"Daisy in completely insensible now, and Nick has no memory of anything that happened before he became a demon. They're of no help in this."

I shot to my feet, then immediately regretted it. Too much magic and too much stress had made me dizzy. Stil , I leaned against the railing and said,

"So you're not going to do anything?"

Dad stood up, too. "Sophie, I told you once that being head of the Council required a great deal of sacrifice. That woman has lied to me, destroyed a young woman for her own purposes, and just attempted to murder my daughter."Magic was rol ing off him so strongly that I felt like I should probably sit down again. "Believe me,"he continued, "I want nothing more than to smite her out of existence. But I can't. Not until I have concrete evidence."

Smiting sounded good to me, but, as much as I hated it, I knew he was right. "Man, politics suck,"I muttered.

Dad took my hand. "Sophie, I swear, we wil get to the bottom of this. And when we do, Lara and Anastasia and anyone else who had part in this madness wil be punished."

"Thanks, Dad."

I wanted to wait for Nick to show up, mostly to lend Dad some moral support, but he told me to go on up to my room. "You look like you're about to fal over,"he said, walking me across the hal to the back staircase. "I could get Cal-"

"No,"I said quickly. "I just need some alone time."

Dad nodded. "Al right. Go get some rest."

Those were the easiest directions I'd ever been given. But as I turned to go, Dad added, "And I am cal ing your mother now."

There was no use in arguing with him. I knew a determined face when I saw one. He would cal Mom, and she'd fly out here ASAP and drag me back to...wel , I didn't know where. It wasn't like I could go back to Hex Hal .

Those thoughts were way too tired-making, so I dragged myself upstairs and then took the longest, most scalding shower known to man. I knew it would take a lot more than hot water to wash away al the dread and sadness that threatened to overcome me, but it stil helped. And I was meeting Archer in just a little bit, so I definitely wanted to clean up for that.

I was feeling a little better when I opened the shower door, but that immediately vanished when I saw Elodie standing in my bathroom. She looked a little more solid this time and a lot more freaked out. Her lips were moving fast and furiously, and I couldn't make out a thing she was trying to say. "I know,"I muttered as I wrapped a robe around myself. "I probably need to hit the gym more often or something, but honestly, if you're going to haunt me, we need to establish some boundaries."

She threw up her hands and floated up higher, her face a mix of anger and anxiety. Something told me that whatever she was trying to say was more important than the ten pounds I could stand to lose.

A sharp rap at my bedroom door made me jump, and even Elodie's head swung toward the noise. "Stay right here,"I said, pointing a finger at her.

She responded by flipping me off. Lovely.

It was Lara at the door, her face every bit as worried as Elodie's. "Have you seen Nick?"

My skin prickled. "No, why?"

She twisted one of her rings. "We stil can't find him. And after everything that's happened with Daisy, you can see why that's very troubling."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Elodie hovering outside the bathroom door, waving her ghostly arms for al she was worth.

"I'l keep an eye out for him,"I said before shutting the door-gently-in Lara's face.

"What?"I whispered, turning back to Elodie. She floated back into the bathroom, gesturing for me to fol ow.

But when I got in there, she was gone. "Oh, great,"I said out loud. "Even in death, you're a pain in my-"

But then writing began to appear on the steamy mirror. It was slow and painstaking, but final y, one word appeared.

ARCHER.

Two more words appeared, and dread curled in my stomach, heavy as a brick.

MILL. NICK.

"Oh, God,"I murmured.

GO.

As I ran out the front door in my bathrobe, it occurred to me that someone would surely ask me where I was going. Panic surged through me even as magic coiled up from my feet.

The teleportation spel . I'd never been able to move more than ten feet, and the mil was at least half a mile away. Stil , I had to try.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, drawing my powers deep inside myself, trying to calm down. It probably only took five seconds, but it felt like hours until I felt the frigid wind wrap itself around me, felt my blood slow in my veins.

I was almost afraid to open my eyes when the cold subsided, but when I did, I found myself standing right in front of the corn mil . Any relief I might have felt over the spel working faded the instant I stepped inside. I could feel the residual charge of magic in the air. Dark magic.

"Archer?"I cal ed out, my heart pounding so loudly I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hear anything else.

But then, from the back of the mil , I heard a faint and wheezing, "Mercer."

A sob burst from my throat as I ran to the alcove. Archer was lying on his back, his hands on his chest. In the moonlight he looked like he'd been splashed al over with ink.

But the substance covering his chest and spreading out in a large pool underneath him wasn't ink or black paint, or any of the other things my desperate mind tried to tel me it could be. There was a faint metal ic smel that reminded me of when Jenna would feed in our room.

I dropped to my knees beside him, touching his cheek. It was felt cool and clammy under my hand. "This is...what I get...for coming early,"he gasped out, trying to smile at me.

"Please don't joke and bleed at the same time,"I said as I gently lifted his hands from his chest. It was too dark to see the extent of his injuries, which was probably a good thing. Stil , his shirt was shiny and slick with blood, and his breathing was shal ow.

"It was this guy,"he murmured. "Came...out of nowhere. Think he had...claws."

Oh, God. That explained the gashes, but the thought of Nick, every bit as savage as Daisy had been, slicing into Archer made bile rise up in my throat.

I breathed in through my nose until the feeling passed. "You're going to be okay,"I said, but my voice was wavering and I was shaking. "It's probably not even that bad, and you're just being a big drama queen as usual."My magic was crashing around inside me like a choppy sea, and I was too upset to focus on anything. Stil , I tried. I stroked his forehead and tried to channel my powers through him, tried to close al the gaping wounds on his chest and stomach.