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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 ht I wondered as up with theht up withdeath at the hands of fluffy bunnies?

Or shoot lightning bolts at hed, and to h , and we feel really bad about the other night So you don't want to join our coven No biggie!"

"Yeah," Anna added, co 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 ht Way to be cool

"Yeah, and he told ium

Said it was kind of pathetic, actually"

I tried to s init 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, s that caught the early htly it hurt my eyes Unlike the rest of Hecate, it looked pretty cheery There were a bunch of studentslike blueberries

"And we're sorry," Anna added I wondered if they had rehearsed this weird three-way-talking thing they had going on I i 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"

"So can we start over?" Chaston asked "Friends?"

They were all sht then and there that this could not end well, but I stupidly smiled back and said, "Yeah Friends"

"Great!" Chaston and Anna squealed in unison Elodie sort of muttered it a split second afterward

"Okay," Chaston said as we approached the green-house "So as your friends, we thought we should give you a heads up about Defense"

"The Vandy teaches it, and she's awful," Elodie said

"Right, the scrunchie lady"

Siirls synchronized swihed "That stupid scrunchie"

"Jenum, I heard someone call it her portable portal to hell"

All three of thehed at that "She wishes," Anna snorted

"The Vandy was a pretty decent dark witch," Elodie explained, "but she got a little big for her britches, as they say down here She worked for the Council Tried tostory But it ended with her getting sent to the Council for the Removal"

"And," Anna added in a conspiratorial whisper, "part of her punishment was that she had to coular teacher She's supposed to be an example to others That's why she's such a bitch"

"She'll definitely pick on you because you're new," Chaston said

"But," Elodie cut in, "she's super vain So if you get in trouble, compliment her on her tattoos"

"Tattoos?" I asked Up close, the greenhouse was even bigger than I'd thought What the hell had they grown in it? Redwoods?

"She has these really pretty purple tattoos all over her arical sy," Elodie continued

"She's really proud of them Say you like them, and you're in for life with the Vandy"

We walked through the front door of the greenhouse, Chaston's ar because only about fifty people were in there Defense wasn't split up by age for so twelve-year-olds It was bright, obviously, but not hot There was cool air flowing all aroundon as the main house

In a lot of ways it was like a norhts But I couldn't help noticing that sos were most definitely not normal

Like several iron allows erected at the back of the room

Elodie immediately ran off to find Archer, who, it turns out, was not as skinny as I'd thought The boys' uniforirls', and his blue T-shirt clung to a chest that was a lot uessed I tried not to look, and I definitely tried to stah me when he lowered his lips to Elodie's for a quick kiss

A tall redhead waved atwho the heckOh, right Red hair Beth the olf I liked her lots better when she wasn't drooling on estured for me to come stand by her, but before I could, a loud nasal voice broke through the chatter

"All right, people!"

The Vandythe same uniform ere I immediately noticed the tattoos They were a deep vibrant purple that looked even brighter against her pale flabby skin

The ever-present scrunchie held back her brown hair She had sish dark eyes that scanned the crowd, and even froer look on her face Like she was hoping so

Put simply, she freaked me the hell out

"Listen up!" she barked in a thin voice Like Mrs Casnoff, she had a Southern accent, but hers sounded harsh instead of smooth and melodic "I'm sure your other teachers will tell you that your classes in Magical History or Classifications of Va of Werewolves"--I noticed a few boys, including Justin, bristle, but the Vandy continued--"are more important than this one But tellto help you when you're under attack from a human? Or a Brannick?

Or, worst of all, an Eye? You think books are going to save you when ll'Occhio di Dio couess we didn't look sufficiently ier practically pierced the clipboard in front of her as she pointed to so