Introduction to Industrial Espionage Waste Management: Polluting for Profit Hidden Treasures: Finding and Controlling the World's Natural Resources Brazilian Jujitsu Let Them Eat Cake: Exploiting America's Obesity Epidemic The Ultimate Insiders: Mandel Alumni and the SEC I fold the list and cram it into my back pocket. The movement sends pain shooting through my shoulder and down my arm. I guess I can count on failing jujitsu. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" I ask Gwendolyn. "Hasn't Mandel given you another assignment yet?"

"Nothing has changed, Flick. You're still my project, and Mr. Mandel told me to give you a message. He thinks you should keep your distance from Mr. Martin for a while. You got his son kicked out of school."

My whole body hurts when I laugh.

"Oh yeah," Gwendolyn continues, and I notice her smirk has returned. "You might not want to skip lunch today. Caleb's planning to announce the pageant results."

My first two classes are now little more than a blur. I'm sitting in Hidden Treasures, and Joi just waltzed through the door with her chipmunk savior. There's an empty seat next to me-and another in the very last row. Joi never even glances in my direction. She heads to the back while the chipmunk fills the place beside me.

"Hello, Flick," the girl says as if she's known me for years. Even high-ranking Androids wait for the Dux to speak first. And this kid is a Ghost. A few days at the academy, and she'll start fading away.

"Hi," I respond, hoping the conversation will end there.

"I'm Violet," she says.

"Yes, I know," I tell her. I know more than her name. I already know everything about her. Joi must have adopted another urchin during her stay in the Incubation Suites. All I had to do was look at Violet's hope-filled eyes and guile-free grin to realize that she's not going to make it here. And I suddenly see the problem with Jude's brilliant advice. Be who you want to be, he said. Well, the person I'd like to be would save Violet. But that would be dangerous. I could die trying-and there's only one of me to sacrifice.

Maybe my brother the elf thinks all lives are equally valuable. But they're not. My life wasn't worth his. The world got a raw deal when Jude died trying to help me. If I did the same thing for Violet, how long would she last? No more than a month at the academy. Maybe a year if she made it back to the outside. But Joi might stand a chance if she's able to escape. And her life is worth ten of mine. Which is why I always tried so hard to keep her at a distance. I didn't want another person I loved sacrificing herself for my sake. And Joi's just the sort who would do it. She'd take a bullet for anyone. Even for someone as doomed as Violet.

Violet gasps when our instructor arrives. I recognize her as well. The woman used to be a talking head on one of the business channels my father liked to watch. A dark beauty who unnerved me because she never seemed to blink. She walks up to the blackboard and writes Ms. Smith in letters about a foot high. I think she's a bit worried that someone might slip up and use her real name.

"So . . . what will be the most valuable natural resource in the second quarter of the twenty-first century?" Ms. Smith asks the class.

An Android hand shoots up. "Oil."

"Perhaps," says Ms. Smith. "But I wouldn't bet on it."

"Rare earth metals?" another Android offers.

"Possibly. Though you'd have to fight the Chinese for them. Any other answers? Let's hear from some of the new students. Violet?"

"Gold," says the girl sitting next to me.

"Always good to have around. How about you, June. What do you think?"

"Clean, fresh water." It's the first time I've heard Joi's voice in four months. It's still smooth and low, with no hint of anxiety.

Ms. Smith nods. "I happen to agree with that answer. But why did you choose it?"

"Because you can live without oil or earth metals, but no one can live without water."

"But water is free, isn't it?" Ms. Smith probes, playing devil's advocate. "What's going to make it so valuable?"

"It's free here," Joi says. "For now. While there's still enough to go around. But in other parts of the world, it's already disappearing, and the little that's left tends to be polluted. When people's children start dying of cholera and typhoid, they'll do just about anything for clean water. I've seen it happen. There are companies all over the world trying to buy up freshwater supplies. And if I had the money, I'd buy one of them. In a few years, I'd be charging top dollar for something everyone in this country has been taking for granted."

"Excellent answer," Ms. Smith says. "I know a few Mandel alumni who'd be more than happy to back such a venture."

"Then tell them to give me a call." Even though she ends with a laugh, Joi's response sounds less like a joke than a dare.

I can't resist spinning around for a look. Because there's no way in hell that the girl I knew on the Lower East Side could have ever come up with an answer like that. But unless Joi has an evil twin, that is Pitt Street's former saint twirling her braid and pretending that I don't exist.

"Brilliant, isn't she?" I turn back to find Violet watching me.

"Yes." No point in denying it.

"She said you'd be surprised," Violet adds with a giggle.

Ms. Smith's collagen-plumped lips have been moving nonstop for almost an hour, but I haven't heard a single word of her lecture. Until now, I assumed there was only one possible explanation for Joi's bizarre appearance at the Mandel Academy. I thought she'd been brought here against her will. I figured she was meant to be Mandel's final test-the one that would prove whether my mutant gene had been activated.

But now I realize that there may be another possibility. Maybe Joi got a scholarship because Mandel wants to make her one of his monsters. Maybe he's not going to give me the choice to trade my life for hers. Maybe he's found another way to force me to watch the girl I love be destroyed.

I don't think Joi would let him turn her into a predator. But I've never been very good at predicting what other people might do. The last shock I suffered came damn close to killing me. I doubt I could take another. And Mandel probably knows it.

After class, I wait outside on the balcony for Joi. She's chatting with Ms. Smith in an obvious attempt to avoid me. But it's lunchtime, and I'll spend the whole goddamned hour here if need be. Then I spot Caleb boarding one of the elevators, and I remember the pageant. I start hopping down the hall. I need to be in the cafeteria when the results are revealed.

"Ah, just in time," Caleb drones when he sees me limping toward the Wolves' table. "I was beginning to think you had something better to do."

"I knew he didn't." Gwendolyn pats the stool beside her. "That's why I saved him a spot."

"Thanks, Fang," I say. No one laughs.

The friction between us must have been obvious before, but our Beauty Pageant bets made it official. Caleb is observing us with his usual bored expression. But I know he's too smart to miss the opportunity that's unfolding in front of him. If Gwendolyn and I take each other out, Caleb stands to inherit our title-and the lifelong rewards that come with it.

"Before we get started, I have an announcement," I tell the Wolves. "It's a new semester, which means it's time to let bygones be bygones. You're all welcome back to the tower lounge. In fact, your presence there will be mandatory every evening from this point forward."

If Joi won't let me get close enough to protect her, I'll just have to keep Mandel's assassins locked up whenever I can.

"And do you concur?" Caleb asks my co-Dux.

"Whatever." Gwendolyn's eager to move on. "So who won the pageant?"

"Max," Caleb announces. No surprise there.

"And who lost?"

Caleb takes a leisurely bite of his sandwich before he answers. "Violet."

"What about June?" Gwendolyn demands.

"She came in third," Caleb says. "Seems Flick's vote canceled yours out."

"Flick doesn't really think she'll win," Gwendolyn sneers. I wonder if she's angry enough to do something stupid. "He voted for her because she used to be his girlfriend."

The Wolves all freeze as if the scene has been paused. Then Julian laughs.

"Is that right?" Caleb marvels. I can almost hear his mind whirring away.

That's when we see Joi. She's standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, surveying the room. Twelve Wolves stare back at her. I can only imagine what she must think of us. Joi takes her place in the lunch line and strikes up a conversation with one of the lowliest Androids.

"Friendly, ain't she?" Austin drawls with a mouthful of hamburger.

Leila's whole body vibrates when she snickers.

"Maybe she's campaigning for class president," Gwendolyn smirks. "I can't believe anyone actually voted for that loser to win the pageant. Who else besides her boyfriend thinks June's going to make it past ranking day?"

No one says a word.

"Did any of these morons vote for June?" Gwendolyn asks Caleb.

"Votes are confidential," Caleb says.

"No, they're not!"

"They are now," Caleb replies. "I run the pageant. I make the rules."

When Gwendolyn slaps him, he responds with a single, lizard-like blink and returns to eating his sandwich.

The Wolves' Den is packed. Gwendolyn and I are stationed at opposite ends of a long couch. There's an empty space between us, but no one dares occupy it. The bad vibes are so strong that they would probably prove fatal. Then Caleb arrives and plops himself right down.

"Well! Looks like the semester is off to an interesting start," he announces to no one in particular. But suddenly everyone is listening.

"Skip the theatrics, Caleb," Gwendolyn growls. "Just tell us what you want to say."

"Flick's girlfriend, June. Turns out, she's a human resources major."

"Ex-girlfriend," I correct him.

"Yes, I've noticed you two aren't on speaking terms. . . ."

"Get to the point, Caleb," Gwendolyn butts in.

"The point is that Mr. Mandel has put June in some very advanced classes. In fact, she and I have three together. I was surprised when I kept seeing her. I thought maybe she was being set up to fail. You know how our headmaster likes to throw a patsy into every Incubation Group."

No, Violet is the one who's been brought here to feed the Wolves. Just like Aubrey. I would have thought that much was obvious.

"Well? What's your take?" asks Gwendolyn.

"June's remarkable," Caleb says. "Quite possibly the finest human resources student aside from yours truly."

There's a bruise on Caleb's cheek where Gwendolyn slapped him at lunch. And yet he's determined to keep taunting her. Which means he's settled on a plan of action. Gwendolyn kills Joi. Flick kills Gwendolyn. Mandel kills Flick. Caleb is king. Seems like a long shot, but I guess it could work.

"Perhaps Flick could tell us a bit about his old love?" Caleb inquires.

I just grin and give him a wink. "F- off."

"I should have known you weren't the sort to kiss and tell. Does anyone here have any classes with June?" Caleb asks, addressing the other Wolves.

"I watched her spar in kickboxing," Austin offers reluctantly. "She's not bad."

"Not bad?" Caleb scoffs. "I hear she could have kicked the other girl's ass."

"But she didn't, did she?" Gwendolyn's on to him too. "I can see straight through you, Caleb. Which means I always know when you're full of shit. Someone go get that Max kid who just came up from the Suites. I think it's time for a second opinion."

A few minutes later, one of the lesser Wolves arrives with Max in tow. The kid is a born predator, but he's in the presence of superior beasts. He should be avoiding our eyes and kissing our asses. But the cocky little pup seems to think he could take on all twelve of us. Either we're not very impressive, or he's not very bright.

Gwendolyn picks up on the dolt's lack of deference. "Do you know who I am?" she asks him.

"You're the Dux," Max says. Then he gestures toward me. "So's that guy."

"You know the word, but do you know what it means?" Gwendolyn demands.

"It means you think you're in charge."

I nearly roll off the sofa I'm laughing so hard. Gwendolyn lurches forward, teeth bared, but Caleb sticks out an arm and holds her back. He's getting bolder by the minute.

"Before Gwendolyn eats you alive, we would like to know what you think of one of the students from your Incubation Group," Caleb says calmly. "June."

"I don't mess with her." That's unexpected. I hear genuine respect in Max's voice. "She's a witch."

"A witch?" I ask.

"She has special powers." I thought he was joking, but I see no trace of a grin.

"Interesting." Caleb sits back and crosses his legs. "And what form do these powers take?"

"Huh?"

"What sort of stuff does she do?" I interpret.

"You know that chick Flora?"

It takes me a moment to put a face to the name. Flora was in Joi's Incubation Group. A tall blonde with a Barbie-doll figure.

Even Caleb is struggling to make the connection. "Flora? One of the new students? What does she have to do with any of this?"

"She's hot, right?" Max responds as if we're all certain to agree. "So I thought Flora could be my girl for a while. But every time I tried to make my move, something crazy always happened."

"Like what?" Caleb asks.

"One time a bookcase fell on top of me. A couple days later, I was in the gym and one of those five-pound dumbbells slammed into the back of my head. Knocked me out cold for a few minutes. Stuff like that."