I FELT SO BAD for Brayden the next day that I actually called him, as opposed to our usual texting and e-mailing.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "Running out like that... it's not my usual style. Not at all. I wouldn't have left if it wasn't a family emergency." Maybe that was stretching it. Maybe not.

"It's okay," he said. Without seeing his face, I couldn't tell if it really was okay. "I suppose things were winding down anyway."

I wondered what "things" he meant. Did he mean the dance itself? Or was he talking about us?

"Let me take you out to make up for it," I said. "You always do everything. I'll handle it for a change. Dinner will be on me, and I'll even pick you up."

"In the Subaru?"

I ignored the judgment in his tone. "Are you in or not?" He was in. We made the necessary arrangements, and I hung up feeling better about everything. Brayden wasn't mad. Adrian's visit hadn't ruined my fledgling relationship. Things were back to normal - at least for me.

I'd kept to myself the day after the dance, wanting to catch up on work and not stress about social matters. Monday morning started the school week again, back to business as usual. Eddie walked into East's cafeteria when I did, and we waited together in the food line.

He wanted to know about Adrian's visit to the dance, and I gave a glossed-over version of the night, simply saying that Adrian had gotten drunk and needed a ride home. I made no mention of my role in getting the queen to act on his behalf or of me being "the most beautiful creature walking this earth." I certainly didn't mention the way I'd felt when Adrian had touched me.

Eddie and I walked over to a table and found the unusual sight of Angeline trying to cheer up Jill. Normally, I would've chastised Angeline for what she'd done at the dance, but there'd been no damage done... this time. Plus, I was too distracted by Jill. It was impossible for me to see her down without immediately assuming something was wrong with Adrian. Eddie spoke before I could, noticing what I hadn't.

"No Micah?" he asked. "He was out the door before me. I figured he would've beat me over here."

"You had to ask, didn't you?" Angeline grimaced. "They had a fight." I swear, Eddie looked more upset about this than Jill. "What? He didn't say anything. What happened? You guys seemed to be having such a great time on Saturday." Jill nodded morosely but didn't look up from her uneaten food. I could just barely catch sight of tears in her eyes. "We did. So good that he actually talked to me yesterday and asked... well, he asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving with his family. They're from Pasadena.

He thought he could either get permission from the school or talk to you guys."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Eddie cautiously.

"Thanksgiving with his family is serious! It's one thing for us to hang out together here, but if we start expanding that... becoming a couple outside of school..." She sighed. "It's going to go too fast. How long would I be able to hide what I am? And even if that wasn't an issue, it's not safe anyway. The whole point of me being here is that it's a safe, controlled environment.

I can't just take off to meet strangers."

It was another step of progress to her accepting the difficulties of a "casual" relationship with Micah. I offered a neutral comment. "Sounds like you've thought a lot about this." Jill looked up sharply, almost as if she hadn't even realized I was there. "Yeah. I guess I have." She scrutinized me for a few seconds, and weirdly, her distraught expression softened.

She smiled. "You look really pretty today, Sydney. The way the light hits you... it's kind of amazing."

"Um, thanks," I said, uncertain as to what had prompted that comment. I was pretty sure there was nothing remarkable about me today. My hair and makeup were the same as ever, and I'd chosen a white shirt and plaid skirt uniform combo today. I had to make up for this weekend's color splurge.

"And the burgundy trim in your skirt really brings out the amber in your eyes," Jill continued.

"It's not as good as the bright red, but still looks great. Of course, every color looks great on you, even the dull ones."

Eddie was still focused on Micah. "How'd the fight come about?" Jill dragged her gaze from me, much to my relief. "Oh. Well. I told him I didn't know if I could do Thanksgiving. Probably if I'd just given him one reason, it would've all been fine. But I started freaking out, thinking about all the problems, and just went off on a ramble, saying we might go back to South Dakota or maybe family would come here or maybe you wouldn't let me... or, well, a bunch of other things. I guess it was pretty obvious I was kind of making it all up, and then he outright asked me if I didn't want to be with him anymore. Then I said I did but that it was complicated. He asked what I meant, but of course I couldn't explain it all, and from there..." She threw up her hands. "It all just kind of exploded from there." I'd never thought much about Thanksgiving or meeting one's family as a rite of passage in dating. Brayden's family lived in southern California too... would I be expected to meet them someday?

"Micah's not the type to hold a grudge," said Eddie. "He's also pretty reasonable. Just tell him the truth."

"What, that I'm one of the last in a line of vampire royalty and my sister's throne is dependent on me staying in hiding and surviving?" Jill asked incredulously.

Amusement flickered in Eddie's eyes, though I could tell he was trying to stay serious for her sake. "That's one way, I suppose. But no... I meant, just give him the simplified version.

You don't want to get too serious. You like him but just want to watch how fast things are going.

It's not unreasonable, you know. You're fifteen and have been 'dating' for barely a month."

She pondered his words. "You don't think he'd be mad?"

"Not if he really cares about you," said Eddie vehemently. "If he really cares, he'll understand and respect your wishes - and be happy at just any chance of spending time with you." I wondered if Eddie was referring to Micah or himself, but that was a thought best kept quiet. Jill's face lit up.

"Thanks," she told Eddie. "I hadn't thought of it that way. You're so right. If he can't accept my feelings, then there's no point to anything." She glanced over at a wall clock and jumped to her feet. "I think I'm going to go try to find him now before class." Like that, she was gone.

Good work, Eddie, I thought. You may have just helped get the girl of your dreams back together with her boyfriend. When Eddie caught my eye, the look on his face told me he was thinking the exact same thing.

Angeline watched Jill dart out of the cafeteria, her blue eyes narrowed in thought. "Even if they make up, I don't think it'll last. With their situation... it can't work."

"I thought you were all about vampire and human relationships," I said.

"Oh, sure. Back home, no problem. Even out in your world, no problem. But Jill's a special case. She's got to stay out of sight and stay safe if she's going to help her family. Dating him won't do that, and she knows it - no matter how much she wishes it weren't true. She'll do the right thing in the end. This is duty. It's bigger than personal wants. Jill gets that." Angeline then declared she needed to get back to her room to catch up on homework. Eddie and I were left staring.

He shook his head in amazement. "I don't think I've ever seen Angeline so..."

"... subdued?" I suggested.

"I was thinking... coherent."

I laughed. "Come on, she's coherent plenty of times."

"You know what I mean," he argued. "What she just said? It was totally true. It was... wise.

She understands Jill and this situation."

"I think she understands more than we give her credit for," I said, recalling how much better-behaved she'd been since the assembly - breaking into dances aside. "It's just taken her time to adjust, which makes sense, considering what a change this is. If you'd seen where she's from, you'd understand."

"I may have misjudged her," Eddie admitted. He seemed astonished by his own words.

Part of me had expected to get chastised by Trey today for having skipped out on Brayden at the dance. Instead, I found Trey missing again from our morning classes. I almost worried but then reminded myself that his cousin was still in town, possibly muddling Trey in "family stuff." Trey was competent. Whatever was going on, he could handle it. Then why all the bruises? I wondered.

When I reached Ms. Terwilliger's independent study, she was waiting expectantly for me, which I took as a bad sign. Usually, she was already hard at work at her own desk and just gave me a nod of acknowledgment when I took out my books. Today, she was standing in front of her desk, arms crossed, watching the door.

"Miss Melbourne. I trust you had an enjoyable weekend? You were certainly the belle of the ball at the Halloween dance."

"You saw me?" I asked. For a moment, I expected her to say she'd been watching the whole dance through a crystal ball or something.

"Well, certainly. I was there as a chaperone. My post was near the DJ, so I'm not surprised you didn't see me. That, and I hardly stood out the way you did. I must say, that was an exquisite neo-Greco reproduction you were wearing."

"Thanks." I was getting compliments left and right today, but hers were much less creepy than Jill's.

"Now then," said Ms. Terwilliger, all business again. "I thought it might be useful for us to discuss some of the spells you've been researching for my project. Notating them is one thing. Understanding them is another."

My stomach sank. I'd grown comfortable in my avoidance of her and the repetitive, almost mindless nature of annotating and translating spells. So long as we didn't have to actually delve into them, I felt reassured that I wasn't doing anything real with magic. I dreaded whatever she had in mind, but there was little I could make in the way of protest, so long as this was all couched in the terms of my study and didn't involve harm to myself or others.

"Would you be kind enough to close the door?" she asked. I did, and my feeling of unease increased. "Now. I wanted to examine that book I gave you further - the one on protective spells."

"I don't have it with me, ma'am," I said, relieved. "But if you want, I'll go get it from my dorm room and bring it back." If I timed the shuttle bus right - by which I meant, wrong - I could probably use up a huge part of our hour in the round-trip.

"That's all right. I obtained that copy for your personal use." She lifted a book from her desk. "I have my own. Let's take a look, shall we?"

I couldn't hide my dismay. We sat in adjacent student desks, and she began by simply going over the table of contents with me. The book was divided into three sections: Defense, Planned Attacks, and Instant Attacks. Each of those subsections was divided into levels of difficulty.

"Defense includes a lot of protective charms and evasion spells," she told me. "Why do you think those come first in the book?"

"Because the best way to win a fight is to avoid one," I said immediately. "Makes the rest superfluous."

She looked startled that I had come up with that. "Yes... precisely."

"That's what Wolfe said," I explained. "He's the instructor in a self-defense class I'm taking."

"Well, he's quite right. Most of the spells in this section do exactly that. This one..." She flipped a few pages into the book. "This one's very basic but extremely useful. It's a concealment spell. Many physical components - which you'd expect from a beginner spell - but well worth it. You create an amulet and keep a separate ingredient - crumbled gypsum - on hand.

When you're ready to activate it, add the gypsum, and the amulet comes to life. It makes it nearly impossible for someone to see you. You can leave a room or area in safety, undetected, before the magic wears off."

The wording wasn't lost on me, and in spite of my inner resistance, I couldn't help but ask:

"'Nearly impossible?'"

"It won't work if they actually know you're there," she explained. "You can't just cast it and become invisible - though there are more advanced spells for that. But if someone isn't actively expecting to see you... well, they won't."

She showed me others, many of which were basic and amulet based, requiring a similar means of activation. One that she dubbed intermediate had kind of a reverse activation process.

The caster wore an amulet that protected her when she cast the rest of the spell - one that made all people within a certain radius go temporarily blind. Only the caster retained sight. Listening, I still squirmed at the thought of using magic to directly affect someone else.

Concealing yourself was one thing. But blinding someone? Making them dizzy? Forcing them to sleep? It crossed that line, using wrong and unnatural means to do things humans had no business doing.

And yet... deep inside, some part of me could see the usefulness. The attack had made me reconsider all sorts of things. As much as it pained me to admit it, I could even see how giving blood to Sonya might not be so bad. Might. I wasn't ready to do it yet by any means.

I listened patiently as she went through the pages, all the while wondering what her game was here. Finally, when we had five minutes left of class, she told me, "For next Monday, I'd like you to re-create one of these, just as you did with the fire amulet and write a paper on it."

"Ms. Terwilliger - " I began.

"Yes, yes," she said, closing the book and standing up. "I'm well aware of your arguments and objections, how humans aren't meant to wield such power and all of that nonsense. I respect your right to feel that way. No one's making you use any of this. I just want you to continue getting a feel for the construction."

"I can't," I said adamantly. "I won't."

"It's no different than dissecting a frog in biology," she argued. "Hands-on work to understand the material."

"I guess..." I relented, glumly. "Which one do you want me to do, ma'am?"

"Whichever you like."

Something about that bothered me even more. "I'd rather you choose."

"Don't be silly," she said. "You have freedom in your larger term paper and freedom in this.

I don't care what you do, so long as the assignment's complete. Go with what interests you." And that was the problem. In having me choose, she was making me get invested in the magic. It was easy for me to claim no part in it and point out that everything I did for her was under duress. Even if this assignment was technically dictated by her, that one small choice she'd given me forced me to become proactive.

So, I put the decision off - which was almost unheard of for me when it came to homework.

Some part of me thought that maybe if I ignored the assignment, it would go away or she'd change her mind. Besides, I had a week. No point in stressing about it yet.

Although I knew we had no obligation to Lia for giving us the costumes, I still felt the appropriate thing to do was return them to her - just so there was no doubt of my intentions.

Once Ms. Terwilliger released me, I packed up my and Jill's costumes into their garment bags and headed into downtown. Jill was sad to let hers go but conceded that it was the right thing to do.

Lia, however, felt otherwise.

"What am I going to do with these?" she asked when I showed up at her shop. Large rhinestone hoop earrings made her dazzling to look at. "They were custom made for you."

"I'm sure you can alter them. And I'm sure they're not far off from your sample sizes anyway." I held the hangers out, and she obstinately crossed her arms. "Look, they were great.

We really appreciate what you did. But we can't keep them."

"You will keep them," she stated.

"If you don't take them, I'll just leave them on your counter," I warned.

"And I'll have them shipped back to your dorm."

I groaned. "Why is this so important to you? Why can't you take no for an answer? There are plenty of pretty girls in Palm Springs. You don't need Jill."

"That's exactly it," said Lia. "Plenty of pretty girls that all blend into each other. Jill is special.

She's a natural and doesn't even know it. She could be great someday."

"Someday," I repeated. "But not right now."

Lia attempted another approach. "The campaign is for scarves and hats. I can't do masks again, but I can put her in sunglasses - especially if we shoot outside. Tell me if you'd agree to this plan - "

"Lia, please. Don't bother."

"Just listen," she urged. "We'll go do a photo shoot. Afterward, you can go through all the pictures and throw out any that don't meet your weird religious criteria."

"No exceptions," I insisted. "And I'm leaving the dresses." I set them on a counter and headed out, ignoring Lia's protests about all the amazing things she could do for Jill. Maybe someday, I thought. Someday when all of Jill's problems are gone. Something told me that day was far away, however.

Although my loyalty to Spencer's was steadfast, a small French cafe caught my attention as I walked back to my car. Or rather, the scent of their coffee caught my attention. I had no obligations at school and stopped into the cafe for a cup. I had a book for English class on me and decided to do some reading at one of the cafe's small tables. Half of that time was spent texting back and forth with Brayden. He'd wanted to know what I was reading, and we were swapping our favorite Tennessee Williams quotes.

I'd barely been there for ten minutes when shadows fell over me, blocking the late afternoon sun. Two guys stood there, neither of whom I knew. They were a little older than me, one blond haired and blue eyed while the other was dark haired and deeply tanned. Their expressions weren't hostile, but they weren't friendly either. Both were well built, like those who trained regularly. And then, after a double-take, I realized I did recognize one of them. The dark-haired guy was the one who'd approached Sonya and me a while ago, claiming to know her from Kentucky.

Immediately, all the panic I'd been trying to suppress this last week came back to me, that sense of being trapped and helpless. It was only the realization that I was in a public place, surrounded by people, which allowed me to regard these two with astonishing calm.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We need to talk to you, Alchemist," said the blond guy.

I didn't twitch a muscle in my face. "I think you've got me mixed up with someone else."

"No one else around here has a lily tattoo," said the other guy. He'd said his name was Jeff, but I wondered if he'd told the truth. "It'd be great if you could take a walk with us." My tattoo was covered up today, but something told me these guys had been following me for a while and didn't need to see the lily to know it was there.

"Absolutely not," I said. I didn't even need Wolfe's reminders to know that was a terrible idea. I was staying here in the safety of the crowd. "If you want to talk, you'd best take a seat.

Otherwise, go away."

I looked back down at my book, like I didn't have a care in the world. Meanwhile, my heart was pounding, and it took every ounce of control I had to keep my hands from shaking. A few moments later, I heard the sounds of metal scraping on concrete, and the two guys sat down opposite me. I looked back up at their impassive faces.

"You've got to go inside if you want coffee," I remarked. "They don't have service out here."

"We're not here to talk about the coffee," said Jeff. "We're here to talk about vampires."

"Why? Are you filming a movie or something?" I asked.

"We know you hang out with them," said Blond Hair. "Including that Strigoi, Sonya Karp." Part of my tattoo's magic was to prevent Alchemists from revealing information about the vampire world to outsiders. We literally couldn't do it. The magic would kick in and prevent it if we tried. Since these guys seemed to already know about vampires, the tattoo wasn't going to censor my words. Instead, I chose to censor myself of my own free will. Something told me ignorance was the best tactic here.

"Vampires aren't real," I said. "Look, if this is some kind of a joke - "

"We know what you do," continued Blond Hair. "You don't like them any more than we do.

So why are you helping them? How could your group have gotten so muddled and lost sight of our original vision? Centuries ago, we were one united group, determined to see all vampires wiped from the face of the earth in the name of the light. Your brethren betrayed that goal."

I had another protest ready, and then I noticed a glint of gold in Jeff's ear. He was wearing a tiny earring, a small golden sphere with a dark dot in the middle. I couldn't help myself.

"Your earring," I said. "It's the sun symbol - the symbol for gold." And, I realized, it was exactly the same symbol that had been on the hilt of the sword we'd retrieved from the alley.

He touched his earring and nodded. "We haven't forgotten the mission - or our original purpose. We serve the light. Not the darkness that hides vampires." I still refused to acknowledge anything they said about vampires. "You're the ones who attacked my friend and me in the alley last week." Neither one denied it.

"Your 'friend' is a creature of darkness," said Blond Hair. "I don't know how she's managed this current enchantment - making herself look like one of the other vampires - but you can't be fooled. She's evil. She'll kill you and countless others."

"You guys are crazy," I said. "None of this makes any sense."

"Just tell us where her main lair is," said Jeff. "We know it's not that apartment on the other side of downtown. We've been watching it and she hasn't returned since our last attempt to destroy her. If you won't actively help us, that information will be all we need to rid the world of her evil."

We've been watching it. Adrian's apartment. Chills ran through me. How long had they been spying on his place? And to what extent? Had they simply sat outside in a car, stakeout style? Did they have high tech surveillance equipment? Wolfe had warned against being stalked in parking lots, not in homes. The small comfort I had here was that they obviously didn't know about Clarence's. Their surveillance couldn't have been that thorough if no one had followed her yet. But had they followed me? Did they know where I went to school?

And with their own words, they were confirming the terrible reality I'd hardly dared speculate about. It was a reality that meant there were forces moving unseen beneath the Alchemists'

seemingly all-knowing vision, forces working against our goals.

Vampire hunters were real.

With that realization came a hundred more terrifying questions. What did this mean for the Moroi? Was Jill in danger?

Was Adrian?

"The only thing I'm going to do is call the police," I said. "I don't know who you guys are or why you're obsessed with my friend, but neither of us have done anything to you. You're even crazier than I first thought if you think I'm going to tell you where she is so that you can stalk her."

Then, by the sheerest luck, I saw a patrolling police officer walking down the street. The two guys at my table followed my gaze and undoubtedly could guess my thoughts. It would be very easy to call her over. We'd filed no report about the alley attack, but accusing these guys of a recent assault would certainly detain them. In sync, they both rose.

"You're making a terrible mistake," Jeff said. "We could have had this problem eradicated ages ago if our groups worked together. First the Strigoi, then the Moroi. Your misguided descent into their corruption has nearly ruined everything. Fortunately, we still walk the true path." The fact that he'd just named the two groups was particularly alarming. These guys were scary, certainly, but less so if they were just talking about vampires in shadowy, vague terms.

Using "Moroi" and "Strigoi" indicated extensive knowledge.

Blond Hair tossed down a small, homemade pamphlet. "Read this, and maybe you'll see the light. We'll be in touch."

"I wouldn't if I were you," I said. "Mess with me again, and I'll do a lot more than just have a pleasant chat." My words came out more fiercely than I'd expected. Maybe Dimitri and Wolfe were rubbing off on me.

Jeff laughed as the two of them began walking away. "Too bad you got so bogged down in books," he said. "You've got the spirit of a hunter."