Celeste rolled her eyes. "s.h.i.t, here we go."

Rico roared and charged at Alec, spikes first. In a blur, Alec sidestepped the maneuver and delivered a hard, downward kick to the back of Rico's knee. There was the sharp, popping sound of snapped tendons as Rico tumbled to the ground.

The taller Fallen-Javed, as Alec recalled-held up his hands and rubbed them together deliberately. As he slowly drew them apart, the air in between crackled with visible arcs of electricity. Instantly, he leapt at Alec, his hands pulsing with energy.

Just before Javed made contact, Alec spun and telekinetically flung Javed's hands back against his own chest. Javed cried out and dropped to the ground, jerking spasmodically as the current pa.s.sed through him.

Celeste sighed to herself. "Testosterone." She glared at Alec, pointing back at the gym. "You know, you've got far worse problems in there than dealing with us."

Alec frowned, uncertain what she was getting at.

Celeste let out a smug laugh. "And you don't even see it coming." She glanced down at her two cohorts. "Get up, boys, let's get moving."

The two guys groaned and stumbled to their feet, then limped after Celeste to their yellow Humvee. In a squeal of tires, it sped out of the lot and up the hill.

Alec heaved a sigh of relief, but Celeste's last statement hovered in his mind. He knew Celeste had unique powers for sniffing out the paranormal. What was she hinting at? Did she know about the were-cougar that Helena had warned him about? Or was something worse in store?

He scanned the parking lot and the bushes on the dark surrounding hillside, looking for any sign of movement, anything out of the ordinary. He'd only be able to see the creature's aura if he caught it in the act of changing forms. Then it occurred to him-the guy might still be in human form, and possibly lurking inside. Not wanting to take any chances, Alec hurried back toward the gym.

A member of the Homecoming Committee handed the DJ a sealed envelope. He ripped it open. "Ho-kay, first up is Homecoming Princess."

The tension of the moment briefly distracted Claire from her worries about Alec and the trio outside. She hadn't really acknowledged it to herself until this very moment, but deep down, she secretly did hope to win this, even though she was still sure it would never happen. She held her breath in antic.i.p.ation, waiting, wondering, as she glanced at Erica-but Erica was avoiding her gaze.

"Everyone put your hands together for the young darling who stole your hearts and will wear this year's junior crown: Gabrielle Miller!"

A burst of applause followed. Claire's heart sank. Gabrielle rushed up to the stage, squealing obnoxiously as she accepted her crown. Claire politely joined in the clapping. Neil beside her let out a frustrated sigh. "It should've been you."

Brian also looked crestfallen and shot Claire a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry," Erica said just loud enough so Claire could hear. "I knew, and I couldn't tell anyone. And it was killing me. Claire, she beat you by only twelve votes."

That made Claire feel somewhat better. "Thanks," she whispered back, reminding herself once again that none of this really mattered. Alec was outside. Had he and the Fallen gotten into a fight? Was he okay? How could she make a successful getaway?

The announcement for prince came next. "And the lucky prince who gets to dance with this lovely lady is... Neil Mitchum." Uproarious applause followed.

Claire threw her arms around Neil. "I knew it'd be you," she said with a smile.

Neil returned her hug, then turned toward the podium, beaming but conflicted. "I'll be back, Brennan. Don't go anywhere. I'm still your date."

Alec dashed into the gym's trophy-lined entryway. The music had stopped, and he could hear thundering applause from within. As he made a beeline for the gym doorway, Mr. Patterson suddenly appeared, blocking his path.

"Mr. MacKenzie." Patterson's mouth crinkled in an uncharacteristically warm smile. His left hand was in his coat pocket. "Did the gate-crashers depart?"

"They did."

"Good. I heard that you dropped out of school. I hope that's not true. It's nice to see you again." He reached out his right hand for a handshake.

Alec paused to shake the teacher's hand. His attention was focused on the activity inside the gym, searching the crowd for any sign of his dreadlocked quarry. In his peripheral vision, he saw a blur of movement by the side of his throat. He felt a sharp sting in his neck, and a burning sensation as if he'd just been injected with something.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Alec's eyes darted up to Patterson's in shock and confusion as he stepped backward. He saw the teacher replace a syringe in his pocket. Immediately, Alec's vision began to swim, and he felt his knees buckle.

Mr. Patterson reached forward and grasped Alec beneath the armpits, pulling him close to his chest. There was an unnatural glint in his eyes as his lips curled into a wolfish sneer.

"Mr. MacKenzie, have you been drinking?" Patterson said under his breath, in a voice that suddenly sounded different, deeper, and all too familiar. "Let's take you someplace where you can sleep it off."

Alec's eyes widened helplessly as he stared at the man holding him up. "Vincent?" he gasped as his body grew limp.

Claire barely paid attention as the DJ crowned the winners for king and queen. Alec is here, her mind drummed over and over like a heartbeat. She had to find him, make sure he was okay. It might be her last chance to ever see or talk to him.

As Neil led Gabrielle onto the dance floor for the Royal Court dance, his eyes darted apologetically toward Claire. She sent him an encouraging smile. Now, she thought as she turned for the doors.

"Would you like to dance?" came Brian's voice from beside her. There was sympathy in his eyes. She had no time for this, and no need to be pitied.

"Thanks, Bri, but you should dance with your date. I'm going to get some air."

"Wait, you're not going outside, are you?" Erica cried urgently. "If you are, we have to come with you."

"No, please, I want to be alone for a few minutes."

"Are you nuts?" Brian exclaimed. "Helena said you shouldn't go anywhere alone tonight!"

Claire paused. In the excitement of seeing Alec, she'd almost forgotten Helena's warning. But if Alec was outside, she wouldn't be alone, right? Maybe the Fallen would be gone by now, and Alec would be looking for her.

"I have to find Alec," Claire insisted. "I'll just wait for him in the entryway. I promise." With a rea.s.suring smile, she turned and made her way through the crowd.

The room slowly came into focus. Alec blinked. Where the h.e.l.l was he? What had happened? His mind was foggy and sluggish, his body felt heavy, and he was unable to move.

His nose was a.s.saulted by a damp, musty smell. The floor beneath him was cold and hard. Alec recognized the white tile and realized he was slumped in the showers of the boys' locker room. Glancing down, he saw that his hands and feet had been tied with wire.

"I trusted you to stay away," growled Vincent's voice from the body of Mr. Patterson. "I told myself that a deal, once made, was something you had enough integrity to honor. A mistake, I a.s.sure you, that will not be repeated." He was standing in full view a few feet away, over one of the benches between the rows of gym lockers, examining the contents of Alec's guitar case. "Came prepared for a fight, I see," he added, turning and holding up the broadsword that Alec had stowed within. Patterson's image flickered and changed into Vincent, who towered tall and dark above him. "Too bad you didn't come prepared for me."

Alec tried to formulate a reply, but his lips wouldn't move. He fought against the wave of sleepiness that threatened to engulf him. Vincent was posing as Patterson? Alec silently cursed himself for not noticing it when he first saw him. This must be what Celeste had picked up on. He wondered where the real Patterson was-if he was even still alive.

"Don't waste your energy trying to speak." Vincent chuckled. He slipped Alec's sword back into the case and removed a large, silver-colored, semiautomatic pistol. Confirming that the clip was loaded, Vincent slapped it back in, checked to be sure the safety was on, and tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants beneath his jacket. "I gave you quite a hefty dose of tranquilizers, enough to knock out an elephant. In your case, it will merely take you down a few notches for several hours. Make you more ... human. Which is fitting, I suppose, since you're acting more and more like one lately. Headstrong. Foolhardy. Throwing away everything for a girl you think you love."

Alec concentrated every ounce of his mental energy on his wrists, trying to command them to pull apart-an action that ordinarily would have been simple for him-but the wire that bound them only cut painfully into his flesh and held them tight.

"Stop struggling. You're just going to hurt yourself." Vincent closed the guitar case and leaned it against a bank of lockers, then glanced at his watch. "The drug should wear off around six a.m., just before the janitorial staff arrives."

Alec strained again to speak, but all that came out was a whisper. "You're ... insane."

"No, you are. You refuse to deal with this Halfblood in the appropriate manner. I've been following this case for sixteen years, trying to do things by the book, but the rules don't work anymore. I try to convince the girl's father to be reasonable, then he tries to kill me-and vanishes. Every time I get a solid lead on him or his wife, it goes nowhere. When his sp.a.w.n finally shows up on the grid, it's impossible to pin down. So I had to get"-Vincent lifted an eyebrow-"creative."

Alec stared at him. "The ... scaffolding?"

Vincent shrugged. "Who else? I was desperate for an opportunity to force that boy to use his supposed speed talent, and when I overheard your gaggle was meeting him downstairs, I jumped at the opportunity. But instead of him swooping in and saving his friends, you did."

"Lucky thing... I was there," Alec managed.

"Hardly-if you hadn't interfered, the real Halfblood would've been contained weeks ago, and I wouldn't have had to pose as this idiotic teacher for the evening. Well, I won't let you screw things up this time. The world's equilibrium must be maintained, and you're so blinded by this disease of human emotion that you have lost sight of it." In a blink, the illusion was restored, and he was Patterson again.

"You've been ... planning to kill her ... all along, haven't you?" Alec gasped.

"Of course," Mr. Patterson scoffed, as he turned and left the room.

thirty-five.

Claire grabbed her bag and shawl, then hurried across the noisy gym toward the exit, hoping against hope that Alec would be waiting there. But when she emerged into the comparatively quiet entryway, it wasn't Alec she found, but Mr. Patterson.

He was rushing in her direction with a concerned look on his face, as if coming from outside.

"Miss Brennan, thank G.o.d! There's been a fight. Mr. MacKenzie was hurt. He asked that I find you right away."

Claire's pulse surged in dismay. "Alec's been hurt? What happened?"

"I don't know. By the time I got there, those three gate-crashers had fled." Mr. Patterson urged her to follow him out the door.

Without a second thought, Claire complied, hurrying outside with him and across the narrow street. "Where is he? Did you call 9-1-1?"

"They're on their way. He's just up the hill."

Claire hesitated. The hill. The very place where she'd seen a were-cougar attack her in the vision that had been burned into her brain. The very place Helena had warned her to avoid. But Alec needed her help. And she wasn't alone; she was with Mr. Patterson.

"Are you coming?" Mr. Patterson asked, looking back at her.

Claire nodded, catching up to him as they dashed up the central stairway toward the Upper Campus.

The grogginess threatened to consume him. Stay awake, Alec commanded himself. Using every ounce of willpower he possessed, he crawled, snakelike, across the tiled shower floor toward a bank of gym lockers. He was thankful that the locker he'd chosen for PE was on the bottom row. Propping himself up on one elbow, he raised his bound hands up to his combination lock and shakily turned the dial. His movements were slow, as if he were trapped underwater.

To his frustration, his hands slipped and he crashed to the floor, hitting his chin painfully on the concrete. b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Alec thought. How could Vincent betray him like this? His own G.o.dfather. Alec had trusted him all his life. It sickened him to think of how blind and stupid he'd been-taking Vincent's word and leaving Claire so vulnerable.

He forced himself to try again with the lock. This time, he succeeded. Awkwardly, he pulled open the thin metal door. His eyes fell on the black lockbox that lay inside-identical to the one in his regular locker. He dragged it out onto the floor beside him.

Through his brain fog, Alec tried to remember the combination. The lock refused to open telekinetically-his powers weren't strong enough. s.h.i.te, he thought, staring at the digital keypad in frustration, remembering how different it was to do things the human way.

Dropping onto his side, Alec struggled to input the series of digits with trembling fingers. His control was so off that he kept missing the b.u.t.tons or pressing the wrong ones, and had to cancel and start over three times. Finally he got it right, the lock engaged, and the box opened.

Hurry the h.e.l.l up, he told himself.

Inside lay his neatly organized array of emergency medical supplies. He grabbed a large, capped, liquid-filled syringe. Alec fell back weakly to the floor, struggling to remove the plastic wrapping. It was hard enough to do anything with his hands in such a weakened state, but even harder with them bound together like a trussed pig.

At last, he peeled off the cellophane wrapping, removed the cap with his teeth, and-with both thumbs on the plunger-stabbed the ma.s.sive needle through his clothing, directly into his heart.

A rush of adrenaline shot like a rocket through his bloodstream. He sat up with a gasp and-with a single burst of restored strength-snapped the wires around his wrists and ankles.

Move, he thought, leaping to his feet. G.o.d only knew where Vincent was, and whether or not he'd already taken Claire.

"He's right up there." Mr. Patterson pointed toward the landing where the four stairwells met halfway up the hillside. The area was dimly lit by small lamps embedded in the low wall separating the walkway from the greenery.

To Claire's horror, she saw a figure lying on the ground, clutching his head. It was Alec, and his hands were covered in blood.

"Alec!" She rushed up and knelt at his side. His eyes were closed and he was unresponsive. Fear gripped Claire's heart. "What should I do?" she cried, glancing back at Mr. Patterson.

"He must be unconscious. Don't leave his side. I'll go down to wait for the paramedics." With a rea.s.suring nod, he added, "I wouldn't worry. I'm sure everything will be all right."

Patterson disappeared down the hillside, leaving Claire alone with Alec on the landing. Blood seeped from a wound at Alec's hairline. Claire placed her gloved hand over the gash, trying to stanch the bleeding. "Alec," she said softly, "I'm here. Talk to me."

Still, there was no response. Claire gazed down at him, overwhelmed by emotions. Love. Grat.i.tude. Fear. Confusion. Why had he followed the trio all the way up here when they should have been parked in the lot below? Why wasn't he moving? Was he dying? His injuries didn't look that bad. But then she remembered Helena-also a Grigori with a head trauma-lying in a coma.

Her heart pounding with anxiety, Claire pulled back her gloved hand to see if she had stemmed the flow of blood. She hadn't. Strangely, however, when she looked down at her b.l.o.o.d.y glove, the bright red stain flickered before her eyes and then vanished, leaving the blue satin unblemished.

What the h.e.l.l? Claire thought.

She heard a sudden rustling behind her. Turning in alarm, she glanced back into the dimly lit shrubbery and scattered palm trees that covered the hillside. There was nothing there. She turned back to Alec, and gasped in shock. He was gone. Gone. Completely vanished. Leaving not a drop of blood in his wake.

How was that possible? For a moment, Claire doubted her own sanity. Alec had been lying there, half-dead, just a second ago. How could he have disappeared like that? It didn't make sense.

She rose quickly, her mind whirling with confusion. "Alec?" Her voice was choked with panic. As she stared hard into the darkness, bewildered, something clicked in her brain. The vision.

She was living it, right here, right now, at this very moment-alone on the hillside, calling out for Alec, wearing the blue dress. How had she ever allowed this to happen? Was it possible that she'd been lured here? Then she remembered Vincent's power. Had Alec ever really been here at all? Had it all been an illusion? Could it be that Mr. Patterson was-?

Suddenly, she heard a thunderous growl directly behind her. She started to run toward the stairs, glancing back in horror to glimpse a tawny beast leaping from the bushes and hurling itself at her with claws and fangs outstretched.

The were-cougar!

Claire screamed in terror, stumbling in her heels, as it loped at her with deadly speed and pounced. Just as the creature's fangs and talons were about to sink into her neck and shoulders, another roar a.s.sailed her ears. Instantly, the beast was shoved aside in a blur of movement, as someone or something tackled it with great force.

Claire turned and froze. It was Alec.

Paralyzed with horror, she watched Alec battle the wildcat.

She'd never seen him fight before. At first, she was terrified for his life. But he moved with such incredible speed, strength, and agility, it nearly took her breath away. He hurled the cougar to the ground. The creature rolled and sprang at Alec again. As Alec writhed in the beast's grip, he seemed to antic.i.p.ate his opponent's every maneuver, delivering the perfect counterattack, wearing the beast down. Claire gasped, too frightened and awestruck to move. A corner of her mind thought, No matter how smart and sensitive Alec was-no matter how much he wanted to live a normal, quiet life-this was what he was born to do-or at least trained to do. And he'd been trained well.

Anxiety hammered in Claire's chest as the battle raged on. Alec reached into his boot and withdrew a knife with a bright silver blade. For some moments, he continued to struggle against the huge creature's incredible strength. At last, he plunged the weapon into the animal's belly. The cougar roared in pain and flipped to its feet, backing off with a ferocious snarl.

But suddenly, to Claire's astonishment, it was no longer a cougar. It wasn't a man either. It was something halfway in between-half fur and half flesh, standing on two legs, with a mane of blond dreadlocks, human hands and feet, and a cougar's ears, eyes, teeth, and claws. With a low growl, the creature reached down and pulled Alec's knife from his stomach. The sight made Claire sick, but Alec appeared unfazed.

Alec leapt up, breathing hard, his suit shredded, bleeding from gashes in several places. In an instant, the man-cougar lunged at him again, the knife in one hand, claws bared on the other. Alec deftly dodged the wild swings and delivered a sharp kick to the creature's wounded belly. "Sword!" he cried.

Sword? Claire's eyes fell on Alec's guitar case, which lay on the stairs a few yards away. Could that be where he kept his weapons? She rushed to the case and opened it. To her surprise, a selection of swords and guns lay within. Before she could do anything, a long, thin, curved blade like the ones she'd seen in samurai movies rose out of the case and flew through the air into Alec's waiting hand.

The animal leapt toward Alec yet again. Alec quickly sidestepped the beast, extending his free hand with fingers splayed. The were-cougar froze in midair, flailing, caught in Alec's telekinetic grip. In its struggle, the animal seemed to summon all its strength, and before Claire's terrified eyes, it twisted and transformed back into a full-fledged wildcat. Alec's arm wavered now. The thing seemed about to break free.