"Because you aren't good enough to learn it? Or because you think you're too good for witch magic?"

"Yeah, clearly, either I suck or I'm a chauvinistic-" He stopped, and took a deep breath. "Our powers, like with most supernaturals, hit at p.u.b.erty. I'm still learning sorcerer magic, so it doesn't make sense to try something harder yet."

"I would."

"Yes, I'm sure you would. But I want to master my own magic first and that takes practice."

"Not for me."

"Because the experiment went wrong. That's why you were in Lyle House."

"What's so wrong about not needing to practice and learn spells? If the point of the experiment was to improve supernaturals, then it sounds like it worked just fine. At least for me."

He seemed to be biting his tongue. Hard. After a moment, he said, carefully, "Well, they thought it was a problem. Probably because it makes your magic harder to control. Chloe says- "

"Chloe's been talking about me?"

"She said you have outbursts of magic. That could be dangerous." When I opened my mouth, he lifted a hand to stop me. "I'm not trying to argue with you, Tori. I'm just saying you need to be careful."

"No. You guys can be careful. I'll be powerful."

"You do that," he muttered and got up to recheck the schedule.

When the next bus came, Simon got on with me. He hadn't said he would. He just did. He showed the driver our tickets and told him some sob story about us getting off to stretch our legs and being left stranded. The driver let us on for free. I was grudgingly impressed. Still, I'm sure I could have gotten the same result myself, by threatening to report the company for leaving underage kids stranded in the first place.

We didn't sit together. Not my choice. There were plenty of double seats available. Simon plunked down next to an old man. Taking the hint, I retreated to the rear of the bus and claimed a double seat for myself.

There's nothing to say about the bus ride, except that I wished I had something to do. A book to read. A laptop to play with. And by "play" I don't mean games. My future career is in software design. I'm not keen on the programming part, but I need some knowledge of it for my college application package.

College. Future career. Some might say I was naive to believe my life could continue as I imagined it would. I was living on the street. I couldn't go home to my parents, keepers of my college fund. Couldn't go back to high school to finish that. I will, though. How? I try not to think about that part. If I can't go home, where will I go? I don't know. Can't think about it now. Just concentrate on getting through each day. The future will come, and when it does, I'll be ready. I always am.

The walk to Andrew's was sheer h.e.l.l. In summary, I'll just note, for future reference, that Simon shouldn't be allowed to give directions to the restrooms, much less anyplace more complicated.

Three hours after we left the bus terminal, we arrived at Andrew's place. Any other time, I'd have been gaping at the surrounding fields and woods, wondering why in h.e.l.l anyone chose to live there, and praying I wouldn't have to stay long. Right now, though, the isolation looked safe and quiet and welcoming.

As we walked up the long lane, I had visions of collapsing on the nearest couch while Simon explained the situation to Andrew. When he rang the bell, I was craning to see through the front window, looking for that sofa.

Simon rang it a few times.

"Maybe it's not working," I said.

I rapped on the door . . . and it opened.

"No, that was not a spell," I said before Simon could comment. "It wasn't closed properly."

I pushed it open farther and started to go in.

"Hey!" Simon said. "Manners?"

He nudged me aside and leaned in. "Andrew?" Then louder. "Andrew?"

"Now can we go in?"

"No, he might be out back."

I sighed and plunked myself on the porch to wait while Simon checked. He came back saying there was no sign of Andrew and-finally-let us go inside.

Six.

Simon searched every room, getting more anxious by the second, until he reached the kitchen. There, he stared into a half-full cup of cold coffee for almost a minute.

"Yes, your dad's friend is a slob," I said, waving at the cup and other breakfast dishes.

"He's not."

"I'm not insulting-"

"And I wasn't being defensive. Andrew is a neat freak. He wouldn't leave the place like this. Towel dropped in the bathroom. Mail all over the floor. Dishes on the table. Something happened."

"Um, yeah. He got busy. It happens. I like things tidy, too, but come exam time . . ."

I was talking to myself. Simon had disappeared into the next room. When I caught up with him, he showed me a set of keys and a wallet.

"He didn't just leave. It's like what happened with my dad. He was there. And then he wasn't. Disappeared."

"A spell or something?"

"Magic doesn't work like that."

"Excuse me."

"I didn't mean-"

"So this is how your dad vanished?" I walked to the fridge, opened it and grabbed a Diet c.o.ke.

"You shouldn't just take-" He began as I popped open the can.

I lifted my brows.

"I guess we can't exactly ask first," he said. "Go ahead. We'll take food and drink."

"Take it where?"

"Outside," he said, opening a cupboard. "We can't wait in here."

"I really don't think Andrew would mind."

"No, and neither would whoever took him, if they're after us. Get what you need. I'll leave a note for Derek and Chloe."

We retreated to the pool house. It was lovely. Dark and dank and cold. Stunk of chlorine and mildew. We set up lawn chairs. Then we sat and ate. When Simon was finished, he stood.

"I think we should take a look around," he said. "In case we're being watched."

"Seriously? You really like this running-for-your-life stuff, don't you?"

"No, Tori, believe it or not, I'd really rather be safe at home right now. I'd rather know my brother is safe. I'd rather know Chloe is safe. I'd rather know my dad is safe."

"But not me."

He exhaled and slumped into the lawn chair.

"What?" I said. "Do you think I didn't notice you left me off that list?"

"I left Rach.e.l.le off, too. I hope she's okay, though. Same as I hope you'll be okay."

"Great. So the girl who's been watching your back for two days gets as much sympathy as the one who betrayed you."

"Watching my back? Like you watched Chloe's with those g.a.n.g.b.a.n.gers?"

"That was a mistake. I was running and I thought she was right behind me."

"Did you check?"

"What?"

"Did you check?" he repeated. "One glance over your shoulder to make sure she was still there?"

I didn't answer.

He shook his head. "I'm not accusing you of letting that girl grab Chloe so you could get away. I'm not accusing you of seeing her in trouble and deciding to do nothing about it. I know you didn't look back. You never thought of it."

"I was scared, okay? You want me to admit that? Fine."

"Chloe would have looked back for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she would. Because Chloe is good and perfect."

"No, because she thinks of others. I would have looked back, too, if you were behind me. Even Derek would have. Why? Because we're a team now. We need to have each other's backs. No matter what."

"No matter what you think of the other person, you mean."

He groaned and dropped his face into his hands.

"Oh, please. Don't go all drama queen. I know you don't like me."

He lifted his head. "No, I don't. When I first met you at Lyle House, I liked you well enough. But I let you know I wasn't interested in you as a girlfriend. I tried to do it nicely. It was nothing personal-I had too much else on my mind to think about girls-and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. But you wouldn't stop. Then Chloe came along and I paid attention to her because I thought she needed a friend, and you went nuts. You locked her in a bas.e.m.e.nt crawls.p.a.ce. Tied up and gagged."

"I'd have gone back for her."

"So that makes it okay? The only thing that made it even slightlyokay was thinking you were mentally ill. Only you weren't."

"I was on meds."

He sighed and shook his head.

"What? I was. And I was stressed out."

"So it's not your fault. No reason to take responsibility. Sure as h.e.l.l no reason to apologize. You've treated us like s.h.i.t, Tori. Me, Chloe, Derek. You've made it clear that you think we're all losers and you're only here because you have no choice. And you seem to think we should be okay with that. We should start to treat you better. You haven't stuck a knife in our backs, so obviously you've changed and we're jerks for not seeing that."

When I said nothing, he pushed to his feet. "I'm going to scout outside. Are you coming?"

I didn't answer.

He stood there a minute, sighed again, said, "Suit yourself," and left.

After Simon was gone, I lay on the inflatable raft and closed my eyes. It didn't take long for me to start dozing. Not really sleeping, just slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Tori?"

A hand shook my shoulder. I leapt up, but no one was there. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. I'd been dreaming.

I closed my eyes and drifted into the dream again. A hand touched my shoulder, shaking me. I was back on the bus. It was dark and warm and I just wanted to sleep, but Chloe kept shaking my shoulder.

"Tori?" she whispered. "We're at a truck stop. It's Derek. He . . . he's not feeling good. It could be the Change again. He needs to get off the bus. I'm going with him."

"Mmmph."

"Are you awake? Did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Derek Changing. You going."

She said something else, but I was already drifting back to sleep. Then she was gone.

I bolted upright in the pool house. Chloe had told me they were getting off the bus. d.a.m.n it! I'd screwed up. I'd really- No, wait. I hadn't remembered this before, so that suggested it never really happened, that I'd just dreamed it now.

Of course. That was it. d.a.m.n Simon. He'd made me feel guilty and now I was dreaming that I'd let them down.

Unless I'd forgotten because I'd been half-asleep when it happened.

But Simon wouldn't believe that. He'd think I'd lied because I'd wanted to push on to Andrew's house, where I could get a soft bed and hot showers.