Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins Read Free Book Online

been accused of the attacks on Chaston and Anna. And, of course, Elodie might still be alive.
    “I’ll send her a letter tomorrow. Oh! Or, duh, I can call her. Lara gave me a cell phone.”
    Jenna perked up. “Really? What kind? Can we download music and—” She broke off and shook herself. “No. Do not try to distract me with shiny, sexy technology, Sophie Mercer. Promise,” she said, squeezing my arm.
    I held up my hand and did what I thought was the Girl Scout salute. Or it could have been that Star Trek thing. “I solemnly swear to tell Mrs. Casnoff that Elodie’s ghost looked at me. And if I do not tell her, I swear to buy Jenna a pony. A vampire pony.”
    Jenna tried not to crack a smile, but no one can resist a vampire pony.
    I felt about a million times better as we both started to laugh. Jenna was right. There were people I could trust now, people who deserved to know what was going on with me. My heart suddenly seemed lighter, and I decided that, Demon Central or not, Thorne Abbey was as good a place as any to turn over a new leaf, and clean the slate, and all those other clichés about starting over.
    I was done with secrets.
    “I hate that you had a bad dream, but I’m glad you’re awake,” Jenna said when we were done giggling. “I wanted to talk to you.”
    “About what?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, maybe about how your dad brought us to Council Headquarters?” Her expression softened as she added, “I could tell something freaked you out.”
    “Was it that obvious?”
    “No, but as a vampire, I’m able to detect subtle shifts in emotional energy.”
    I just stared at her until she rolled her eyes and said, “Okay, you got really pale and looked like you were gonna hurl. I thought you might faint there for a second.” Then her face brightened and she sat up straighter. “Oh my God, you so should have fainted, and then Cal could have caught you, and, like, carried you up the stairs.” She punctuated that last bit with a little squeal and clutched my arm.
    “I liked you so much more when you were sulky and angsty, Jenna.”
    She just kept grinning and wriggling around the bed like a four-year-old until I laughed. Shoving off my covers, I begrudgingly said, “Okay, I admit that the image of Cal carrying me up that fancy staircase is…nice.”
    Jenna gave a happy sigh. “It is, isn’t it? And I don’t even like dudes.”
    I snorted at that as I leaned down to fish under the bed for my sneakers. I knew I should probably tell Jenna about the betrothal, but I wasn’t really ready to talk about it with anyone else until I worked out how I felt.
    “It wasn’t just the Council thing,” I called up to Jenna. “Did you see those kids at the back of the welcoming committee?”
    “Yeah, the black-haired girl, and the guy who looks like Archer.”
    I sat up too fast, hitting my head on the bed frame. “What?” I said, rubbing my scalp.
    “That guy. He looked a lot like Archer. In fact, I thought that might be part of the reason you looked all vomitish.”
    Sitting back on my haunches, I tried to remember the guy without the haze of “Oh, dear God, that’s another demon” clouding my vision. “Yeah,” I said finally. “I guess he did look like him. Similar hair. Tall. Kind of smirky.” My stomach twisted a little, and I wished Jenna hadn’t brought up Archer. “Anyway,” I said, sliding my shoes back on, “that’s not what freaked me out. He’s a demon. Both of them are.”
    Jenna’s mouth dropped open. “No way. But thought you and your dad were the only ones in the whole world.”
    “So did I. Hence my puking face.”
    “What do you think they’re doing here?”
    “No idea.”
    We were quiet for a minute before Jenna said, “Well, they’re probably lame demons anyway. I’m sure you and your dad are much better at demoning.”
    I grinned at her. “Jenna, how are you so awesome?”
    She smiled back. “Yet another one of my special vampire powers.” She pushed herself