"Tess Corday is here," Cassandra replied thoughtfully, as if she was trying out my name to see if it fit. "She says there's been a murder, and we're connected to it somehow. Although"-her eyes returned to me-"I'm still not quite certain how that could be."

Mia was about thirteen or so, wearing a baggy black sweater, ripped blue jeans, and brown Converse sneakers. The high-tops were back in again, unfortunately. She had thin black hair, glasses, and that awkward kind of prettiness that some girls can manage without expensive clothes and makeup.

And I recognized her.

I didn't know her, but I'd seen her around Elder-it's a small town, and whenever I was trying to get away from my parents' neurotic wonderland, I tended to go for long walks around the neighborhood. I remembered seeing her a couple times, maybe a few months ago-just walking around, aimlessly, like me. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time. She'd always dimly reminded me of someone, but I could never figure it out. Now, I could feel the answer burning like a rune before my eyes. Burning.

Eve.

She looked just like Eve. And Eve had been thirteen, too-back then-when it happened-when- "A murder?" Mia's voice brought me out of the memory. "Shit."

"Language, Mia."

The girl managed to look embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Mia," I said, "we found a body last night, in an alley between Granville and Nelson Street . Do you ever go to that area of town?"

She stared at me. "Hey, I know you. Or I've seen you around-didn't you buy something at the Rosemblatts' yard sale a few months ago?"

I had, in fact-a vintage hip flask, which I was desperately wishing for right about now. I just smiled. "Yeah, that was probably me. I think I've seen you around, too-go for a lot of walks?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, especially by the duck park-"

"This is all very scintillating," Cassandra cut in, "but could you just answer Miss Corday's questions so that we can get back to having dinner?"

Mia gave her a strange look, then nodded. "Right-um-Granville. No, I'd never go walking down there at night- it's a total crack-den."

"Well, your aunt mentioned that she commutes to work- maybe you come into the city with her sometimes to do some shopping?"

"Mia does come with me often," Cassandra supplied, "but if you knew her at all, you wouldn't look for her in a shopping mall. She's usually at the library."

"It's true," Mia said. "I'm like the empress of dorks."

I pulled out the vampire's picture from my pocket. "Have you ever seen him?"

Mia squinted at the photo. I saw a brief flash of something in her eyes, possibly recognition. Then she shook her head. "Never. He's kind of cute, though."

Bullshit. It didn't take a mage to tell that she was lying, and I'm sure that Derrick's empathy was practically bristling from the deception.

"If I understand correctly," Cassandra said, "he's also kind of dead."

"Ew." Mia made a face. "I mean, um-that sucks. For him. But what does it have to do with us?"

"I'm wondering the same thing." Cassandra stared at me. "Perhaps Miss Corday has a few more pertinent questions for us. Otherwise, supper is getting cold, and I don't have the patience to make guesses about our role in this murder- which, I should remind you, took place last night, a hundred kilometers away, probably while we were asleep."

There was something about her eyes. They were cold and a bit threatening. But there was something else as well. I looked closely at Cassandra, and although the prim smile never left her face, her eyes seemed to change. They flashed violet, just for a moment, and then returned to their normal shade of blue. I felt my cheeks flush suddenly and looked away.

"Tess?" Derrick put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's nothing. Just"-I looked at Cassandra again-"felt like someone walked over my grave for a second."

I knew then. Sweat trickled along my arms, and I could feel that sickening sensation in the pit of my stomach. I shivered, like someone stepping into an air-conditioned room. My hands clenched in my pockets.

Cassandra was a demon.

I didn't know what kind of demon she was, or what she might be capable of. But I did know that she was powerful enough to conceal her nature from me until now-and that was something to be scared of.

Cassandra understood my recognition. Her lip curled, but she said nothing. All of this happened within the space of three seconds. Okay-now, the goal was to get out of here as fast as we could, and call Selena. I wasn't about to engage a mysterious demon on her own front lawn.

"Could we possibly have a look around your house?" I asked. It sounded lame-even to me. "We don't have a warrant, but it would help our investigation if we could at least eliminate any connection you might have to the decedent."

"You're not entering this house without a court order," Cassandra replied. "Not to be rude about it, but I have to insist."

"Oh, come on, Aunt Cassie." Mia gave her a long-suffering look. "They're only doing their jobs. I'm sure they won't mess up the place."

"No," she repeated. "If it's important, I'm sure they'll return-with the proper documents in hand."

"Right." I tried to keep my voice polite, even though a dozen questions were screaming in my brain. Who are you? Why is there a power-mark on your door? Why is a demon living in the suburbs with an adopted niece?

"Another time, then," I said.

"Yes. I look forward to it." Cassandra smiled.

"Okay, well"-Mia looked at me, then at Cassandra- "thanks for your concern, I guess. It was nice meeting you."

"Let me give you my card." I handed her the card with the MCD extension on the back, as well as our e-mail. The square of paper was enspelled, too: they couldn't destroy or misplace it. Like a boomerang, it would always reappear. Cassandra might be able to break the spell, but not without a lot of effort, and I was willing to bet that she had more important things on her mind. Like blood sacrifices, or destroying the world, or whatever else demons thought about.

"If you think of anything," I said, still smiling, "or if you need to talk, please call the crime lab and ask for either Derrick or myself."

Cassandra reached for the card, but I made sure to put it in Mia's hand. She would be more impressionable to the trace of materia.

"Thanks." She slipped it into her pocket.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, too, Cassandra," I said. I couldn't help it. I was always inching too close to the flame.

"And you, Tess." Her expression was indecipherable. "We part well, and may the ways remain open for you."

I blinked. That was a traditional salutation: what a demon said to a mage when they were parting on good terms and no blood had been shed. The gesture of an ally. Mia seemed confused by the archaism as well, but she said nothing.

"Travel the ways in peace," I replied, keeping my voice level.

Cassandra smiled, and closed the door.

Derrick was silent until we got back into the car. Then he stared at me, and I could see that he was white as a sheet. "What's going on, Tess? She's a demon, the girl's lying like a rug, and nobody's talking. And I felt something between the two of you. She was challenging you, wasn't she?"

I nodded. "Her turf, her rules-we were bound to lose. Like she said, we'll have to come back with a warrant-"

"And how are we going to get that? We don't have a scrap of physical evidence connecting either of them to the crime scene."

"We'll just have to check their records. If the tiniest blemish shows up, we can use it as leverage to get a court order. I can name half a dozen judges who would write paper for us, just because they like pissing off demons."

"This town is full of demophobes."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like we don't have good reason to be afraid of them."

He looked at me pointedly. "Them?"

I bit down on my reply.

"Well, what if they're clean?" Derrick pressed. "What if we can't find anything that will justify a search? The CORE isn't a mercenary organization, Tess. We have to work through the proper legal channels, even if some of those channels happen to lead to other dimensions. We still have to do this properly."

I leaned back in the seat as he started up the car. "It won't be a problem."

"You're so sure?"

I shrugged. "Everyone's got something to hide."

6.

The flames were everywhere, licking across my skin, my hair, like snakes crawling all over my body. The magic kept them from burning me, but I could still feel the heat, and the smoke was making me dizzy.

"Eve! Where are you? Eve!"

I crawled on my hands and knees through the remains of the living room, where fire streamed along the mutilated couch, pooling in spots on the floor. It curled across the ceiling, spreading out tongues like hungry animals, searching for anything combustible, anything that could be destroyed. Including me. I poured everything that I had into the shield, and kept screaming.

"Eve! Where are you?"

The kitchen was ablaze-the linoleum curled and melted under my knees, and almost nothing was recognizable. This was the heart of hell. This was what it felt like to burn eternally, to suffer for all of your sins and mistakes. All of the people you couldn't save, or the souls that you just didn't care about until it was too late.

Still, it didn't matter. I was thirteen. I was strong, flush with power-nothing but a raw skein full of glowing possibilities. I could do anything. I could save my friend-and she'd never have to know. I'd never have to tell her how I managed to crawl inside the house, how I kept us both from dying. She'd never know, but she'd always be grateful, and then-finally-I'd have a friend who wouldn't leave. Someone who didn't think I was strange.

Eve was the first real friend I'd ever had, and I wasn't going to lose her.

"I'm here!" I screamed. "Eve, I'm here, just say something! Say something, so that I know where you are, and I'll come get you!"

I crawled up the stairs, holding a wet cloth to my mouth, silently feeding energy into the fire shield. Her room was the first door on the landing. The door was open.

"Eve?" I crawled into the room. "Are you here? Are you-"

I woke up curled on the break-room couch, my back aching from being tied into a pretzel. I was alone, but some kind soul had thrown a blanket over me-probably Derrick. God, I hadn't fallen asleep here since- Pushing the dream away-as well as its uncomfortable association with Mia-I smoothed the wrinkles out of my shirt. I may have dozed off, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let anyone know.

That's your problem, a familiar voice said. You never let anyone know-never let anyone in. You're like a locked tower. Problem is, Tess, eventually they're just going to slap a condemned sign on you, and you'll be a vacant building.

Meredith Silver-my old teacher. Even now, I could see her waist-length hair that, ironically, had come to match her surname-like a sheet of silver cascading down her back, so curious and wonderful that I used to always stare at it. Her warm blue eyes. Her small hands-small, but strong. I'd seen her snap a quarterstaff in half with just the power of her own will and a quick, graceful gesture of those hands.

Meredith-God, had it really been two years already? It didn't seem like it. Most days, I thought she was still here.

Maybe I just wished it.

Brushing the thought away, I headed for the computer lab. As expected, I found Rebecca, our resident computer genius, sitting at the photo manipulation PC; she was frowning as she chewed on a piece of vibrant blue hair. Rebecca was barely eighteen, but if she ever called in sick, the entire crime lab would probably implode and cease to exist. Although we had other computer mavens who dealt with various hardware and software maintenance, Rebecca was the one whom everyone called. She would calmly say things like, "Oh, the problem with this hard drive is that 347 has a null boot sector," in her sweet British accent, then watch as the other lab techs shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey, Becka," I said. "Any luck with that photo that we recovered from the vampire's body?"

She looked up, nearly choking on the lock of hair in her mouth. Then she smiled sheepishly. "Tess. You startled me."

"I can see that."

She chuckled. "We need to put a bell around your neck or something."

"I promise to wear squeaky shoes next time."

Rebecca gestured to the screen, and I saw a digitized version of the photograph. The young vampire looked so happy. He'd obviously loved this woman, whoever she was, and it was strange to think that a vampire would be capable of such a free, easy kind of affection. He was standing there, grinning like an idiot in love, wearing a pale gray sweater and casually leaning against her-the woman whose smile, I realized now, was not so much cold as long-suffering.

The kind of smile you have when your partner is a lot more enthusiastic-or a lot younger-than you are. She may have been bored with him. Was she capable of killing him?

The details around the couple were fuzzy. I saw what looked like a window, but the drapes were drawn-no luck determining a location. It was probably just his apartment anyway.

Most vampires had a place to crash during the day. I could also see a picture in the background.

"Can you zoom in on that portrait in the upper-left quadrant?" I asked.

Rebecca touched the screen with a light-pen, drawing a border around the area, then hit a button. A new window popped up with a 10X magnification of the area in question. I still couldn't tell what the picture was of, since the shadows were partially obscuring it. But it was definitely in a glass frame, which had reflected the flash in a blur of fuzzy white light.

"Could this photograph have been taken with a timer?"

Becka shook her head. "The angle's wrong, and you can tell by the way that they're posing."

"So there's someone else in the room-the shutterbug."

Rebecca nodded. "You want me to keep enhancing that area around the framed picture-see if I can get a reflection? It may very well have been captured in the glass, and in that case, we can separate the images."

"You can definitely try."

"Or-wait a minute." Rebecca traced the area around the woman's face with the light-pen, and another 10X magnification appeared in a separate window. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue-incredibly striking. I could see why the vamp had been smitten.

"You know what they say about the eyes being the window to the soul?" Rebecca smiled at me.

"I'm getting it." I nodded, feeling a small rush of excitement. "Vampires have curved corneas-just like a cat's, they glow in certain lights."

"And they provide an excellent mirror surface for an image, " Rebecca supplied. "As reflective as glass."

"If that woman is a vampire as well, do you think you can extract a reflection from her eyes? Something that'll tell us who, or what, she's looking at?"