"I've never seen anyone's eyes cross like that before," Beatrice said.

I held back a giggle - I didn't want to encourage them - and slipped away. Across the hall, I knocked on my brother's door.

"Come in."

"Hey, Gavin. How's it going?" I sat on the bed at his side.

A click of the mouse pad on his laptop and the music paused. "Cydney, I can't get that time back. Ever."

"I know. You're a saint." I chuckled. "I promise never to make you shop with me."

"Good. Hey, are you still refusing to go to the ball?"

I hesitated. Should I tell him? He'd worry about me. If I left him in the dark though, he'd think I was just being stubborn. Or being weird. "I'm still afraid, Gav. I could never forgive myself if anything happened."

"Yeah, we get that. We see it in your eyes every day. But, Cyd, when are you going to let it go? You can't undo what happened. If you let it control you, you'll always be afraid. Like, forever."

"I know. But I have no clue how to make it stop." I rose from the side of his bed, then ruffled his hair. "I'll let you convalesce from your traumatic mall experience. Goodnight."

Outside his room, I stopped to listen for Aunt Mina, and I mentally located her. Backtracking and pa.s.sing Beatrice's room, I tapped on the open doorway of my aunt's room.

Aunt Mina was sitting on her bed examining her own dress - a slinky black number. She gave me a tight smile and averted her eyes. "Hi, Cyd."

Oh, G.o.d. My own aunt could barely look at me anymore. She didn't want me there. How awful it must be to take care of someone else's kids out of obligation and duty.

"Did you change your mind? We can go shopping tomorrow, just you and me." She tapped her chin. "Although it might be amusing to kidnap Gavin and make him go with us. That's great leverage. We could threaten him with it if he doesn't do his ch.o.r.es."

I relaxed a little and chuckled, relieved that she felt comfortable enough to joke with me. "As appealing as that sounds, my little brother is already scarred for life." I pointed to the black dress on her lap. "Pretty. Looks like your mall trip was a success."

She rose and laid the gown on her bed, then turned to me. "You should've come with us. I understand why you're reluctant, so there's no pressure. If you change your mind though, I can rearrange my schedule."

"Thank you, but I won't be needing a new dress any time soon." I stepped closer and ran my hand over the fabric of her dress, picturing her in it. "You guys will be the belles of the ball."

"It's not too late for you." Aunt Mina smiled, but there was something else behind her eyes.

Did she really want me to go with them or was she just being polite? I stood there staring at the dress, my eyes stinging. I missed my mom. But whether Aunt Mina wanted me here or not, she was still my family and I needed to protect them.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to lock myself in the bas.e.m.e.nt anymore."

"Okay." Aunt Mina's brows furrowed.

Was she relenting, because she knew she couldn't force me? Or did okay mean that she agreed with me?

"I was thinking I should go to the woods and morph and stuff. Get it out of my system now before coming back tonight. Then maybe I won't... you know, make so much noise as a wolf later."

"Okay," she echoed.

Aunt Mina wasn't making it easy with her one-word answers.

I'd planned to move my things to one of the guest bedrooms, but I couldn't bear the thought of alienating Aunt Mina any more than I already had. Besides, if that vampire intended to hurt me, he would've already done so. He wanted something. If his plan was to persuade me to go to the ball, as he'd said earlier, then killing me would only ensure I couldn't go. Instinct told me I was safe - at least until the day of the ball, when he didn't get what he wanted.

Tonight, I'd sleep in the bas.e.m.e.nt with the door locked. Just like Aunt Mina wanted.

Wednesday, I sat in Mr. Williams' cla.s.s, struggling to pay attention - he made it so hard when he droned on for what seemed like hours. It didn't help that I couldn't stop thinking about my disastrous non-talk with Aunt Mina the night before.

My renewed disinterest in Mr. Williams and his lecture must have shown. After the bell rang, he caught my eye and glared at me until I stopped in front of his desk. He pointed to a chair in the first row and I sat. About sixty seconds later, he flicked his thumb toward the exit and growled, "Get out."

I wondered if he made me stay, just so I'd have to rush frantically to my next cla.s.s.

Beatrice sat with her friends during lunch and ignored us, as usual. Winnie and I continued not to care.

"Thanks for eating with me, Winnie," I said, glancing at the table of teens she'd just waved to. "Maybe tomorrow we can sit with your friends."

"Whenever you're ready." Winnie smiled.

"Guess who just asked me to the ball," Beatrice asked from behind me.

I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings and jolted at her voice. What if next time it was the vampire dude who took me by surprise? I needed to stop being so self-absorbed.

"Who?" Winnie asked.

Beatrice scooted in next to me. "Timmy."

She didn't usually sit with us. What was the occasion? "Wolf Boy? But if you go with him, won't you lose your chance with the prince?"

Beatrice gave a derisive sniff. "As if the prince would even look at me with you there."

"For the hundredth time, I'm not going." After seeing their gowns last night, I wanted to go. Almost desperately. But intensified anxiety increased the risk that I'd lose control and morph. I couldn't go. Nope. Not an option.

A shiver skated up my spine and my eyes were drawn to the entrance. The white-blond vampire stood in the doorway. And he'd heard me.

What business could he have at the high school? Since he worked for the royal family, getting into the building wouldn't be too difficult. Was he there for me? By the way his eyes fixed on mine, I'd say yes. But what was the big deal with whether or not a person like me went to the ball? And would he actually try to hurt me if I pulled a no-show? I couldn't imagine anyone making that big of a deal over a glorified party.

I had no intention of changing my plans to accommodate this vampire, no matter how much he scared me. I returned my attention to the food on my tray and when I peeked up a couple minutes later, he was gone.

Thursday after school, Aunt Mina took the four of us out for ice cream before driving us home. I never refused Rocky Road.

As we parked and exited the Audi, I sensed the vampire again. What the h.e.l.l? Had he seen into the future and known we'd be there? Or had he followed us?

I was about to find out.

But I wanted to get my family inside before they spotted the vampire at the curb across the street. "I'll meet you guys in a minute," I called out.

Aunt Mina smiled, then ushered the others into the ice cream shop. The door closed and the annoyingly persistent vamp approached me. I spun to face him.

"What now?"

"You haven't bought a dress." His eyes crinkled at the corners. How could he seem just as scary when he was smiling?

I made a conscious effort to slow my breathing. He didn't need to know the effect he had on me. That would only give him more power. "Is this some kind of a joke? What could the king or prince possibly want from me? They won't even notice I'm missing."

"Oh, they'll know." He leaned against the stone wall and crossed one foot over the other. "Trust me."

I shifted my weight and sucked in air. This guy was tenacious. How long could I put him off before he retaliated? "What will you do when I don't show up?"

"That's not going to happen, because you are going," he hissed.

I folded my arms over my chest to steady my trembling limbs. "No, I'm not."

"Aren't you even curious about the prince? He's not much older than you. The king is trying to find him a wife. That wife could be you." His lips curved up. "You'd be a princess and live in a castle."

I wrinkled my nose. "I hate to break it to you, but I have zero interest in marrying a prince." I shifted my weight again and sucked in air. "Never. Going. To. Happen."

His smile remained, but his eyes darkened. "Well, you see, that's a problem for me, because I've promised the king that every girl will be there. That includes you."

"That's not my problem." I twirled around toward the ice cream parlor door, praying he would go away. "I have to go inside or my aunt will come looking for me."

"What are you afraid of?" he asked, just before I reached for the door handle.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. "Everything," I whispered, then went inside.

Chapter Nine.

Remy As I stood in my father's conference room, my hands trembled and fury raged through my veins.

I read the latest note one more time.

The abomination must be eliminated. If the situation isn't remedied by the evening of the Prince's ball, we will see to the matter ourselves.

I glared at the wrinkled paper, then flicked it with my middle finger. "They don't even know me. What's wrong with these people?"

"I've never been able to get inside twisted minds. Crazy people are hard to figure out, because they don't follow rules or normal logic." With a gloved hand, Dunston took the paper. "I'll make sure this gets to the lab."

"They've determined with absolute certainty that the DNA found on this new note was human?" My dad paced the conference room before stopping to gaze out the wide window into the gardens.

"Positive." Dunston looked pensive a moment.

My dad twisted around to eye Dunston. "But he could be a sorcerer."

"I've already ordered more extensive tests." Dunston scratched his chin, "Unfortunately, that will take time we don't have, since human's DNA is so similar."

"We'll prepare for sorcerers, just in case," my father said, returning his gaze to beyond the window. "What else do we know?"

"Caucasian male." Dunston eyed the paper again, then sniffed it. "There's a powder on this. Not enough for me to tell what it is exactly."

"Powder? Perhaps he used gloves, like what you're wearing," my dad suggested.

"Powder is on the inside of gloves though, right?" I asked. "He'd only get that powder on the paper if he took the gloves off. In that case, he'd also leave fingerprints, since he's no longer wearing the gloves."

The king whirled around. "Enough guessing and grasping at straws," he bellowed. "I want hard facts. Check with the lab and see if they've identified the powder yet. Have them check for prints again."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Dunston bowed and left.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Remy?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

"I'd like to go to college."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I wasn't sure before, because I had no idea what I wanted to do. Other than one girl, I've never felt really pa.s.sionate about anything before. But after being a part of your meetings... okay, I'll be the first to admit that some of what you guys do is mind-numbing. But some of it isn't."

"You've decided you want to go to college, because only part of our meeting was mind-numbing? That's quite an endors.e.m.e.nt." He leaned against the window sill, then closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, but that's not my point." I flicked a thumb at the piece of paper. "These death threats make me wonder what would happen if we lost our country to them. What would happen to all our people? This is the one place on the entire planet where humans and supernaturals can coexist with equal rights. I want to make things even better. I want to study business and economics, so I can help. We could implement government incentives, so our people can easily improve security and safety in their stores and homes. I don't know. Lots of ideas are racing around in my head."

I looked up to see my father gaping at me. "What?"

His jaw went slack again, then he sucked in air like he was going to speak. Instead, he just stared.

"What?" I echoed, taking a step toward him.

"I'm speechless. My only thought is how proud I am to be your father."

I exhaled in relief. "Thank you. But it's the other way around. Before, I never understood the gravity of what you do or how willing you are to sacrifice everything for the good of the people. I only hope to be half as good a king as you are." Except that I'd never force anyone into an unwanted marriage. Royalty should have the same privileges and the right to pursue happiness, like everyone else.

He grinned and slapped me on the back. "You'll be an excellent king one day. Now, let's go make preparations for your future wife."

I blinked. "After all that, you're still serious about a wedding?"

"Yes." He slapped me on the back again, but harder this time, propelling me forward. Then he shoved me through the doorway. "You need a haircut and we need to make sure any last minute alterations have been done to your tux."

I groaned, knowing he was only doing what he thought was right. I just had to find a way around it.