"No, he's just adapting. Being in the car is giving him motion sickness."

Eli slipped his coffee onto the counter and I pushed in front of him, quickly sliding the money onto the counter.

"Ruby, what are you-"

I raised my hand, silencing him as the cashier gave me my change. I turned on my heel.

"Consider this my apology. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be stuck with Faith and have to resort to ridiculously dark coffee."

His frown melted into a heart-warming smile and he reached around me, pulling our things off of the counter. He handed me my chocolate and chips, keeping the coffee for himself.

We walked side by side to the door and before we reached it, Eli tugged me behind the ATM machine. My breath hitched in my throat and I almost dropped my chocolate as he pressed me hard against the machine. My eyes fluttered shut on instinct as his mouth descended upon me, molding perfectly with mine. As quickly as he kissed me, he pulled away, leaving me breathless.

"Consider that a thank you." He stepped back. "And because I like your dress."

Oh so casually, he drew the cup to his lips and walked off with his free hand stuffed into his pocket. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. How the h.e.l.l was I meant to survive a second with the council if Eli's walking around all daring and reckless? An elite guard could have walked in and seen us. I felt my brows pull together. I don't think Eli cared if we were caught.

I pushed off the machine and a movement in the top corner of my eye caught my attention. My gaze settled on a security mirror and the cashier was watching me. He seemed flushed-almost embarra.s.sed-when I peered around the machine to look at him. I pursed my lips together, awkwardly biting back a smile before ducking out of the service station. As I rounded the car, Hunter stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"Find what you were after?"

I arched a brow and shook my chips and chocolate in front of his face. "I guess so."

"And Eli?" Hunter's eyes flared with a gleam I couldn't decipher and I frowned, confused."Either, cheese and onion potato chips arouse you or Eli-"

"Okay, Hunter," I snapped, lowering my voice. "So we kissed. Big deal, I'm only human. I can't stop my feelings when these things happen."

I pushed past him and climbed into the car. Mila was asleep against her door and I quietly dropped into the middle seat next to her, careful not to wake her with the sound of my chip packet. Hunter climbed in after me, and when the door was closed, Lyric drove off.

Hunter leaned in close to my ear and I tried hard to ignore him as I ate my chocolate.

"Sorry," he said in a low tone and then fell back against his seat.

I sighed. Things were already getting difficult and complicated and we hadn't even arrived at the council's city yet.

I tried not to make a scene when we arrived at the small strip of concrete and I tried not to make a scene when I saw the small jet plane, but when I stepped out of the car, I couldn't handle it anymore. My palms were slick with nervous sweat and I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead. I really hoped the sick feeling in my stomach would go away, but it only grew worse as the luggage was taken from the car. I drew my fingers to my mouth, chewing my nails nervously and surveyed the small plane. It had a long, slim body, a wide wingspan, and two small jets that I was certain wouldn't help the plane go anywhere. I had no skill in being able to predict the future, but I was confident I was going to die today.

"Jesus, all that apprehension is making me sick..." Hunter groaned, strolling up beside me.

"Sorry," I replied, dropping my fingers from my mouth. "I've never been in the air before."

"You'll be fine after a while. It's no different to being in a car or a bus."

I leaned against the car, watching everyone load into the plane. "...except I'm fifty thousand feet up in the air, maybe even higher."

He laughed, nudging me with his elbow. "Yeah, something like that."

"Ruby! Hunter!" Xavier called from the bottom steps of the plane. "Let's go!"

Hunter flicked his head toward the plane, sending wild strands of black hair everywhere. "C'mon."

"Wait." I grabbed his arm. "Surely there's another way to get to the council. We can drive or catch a boat?"

"The council lent us their plane. If there was another way, I'm sure they would have given us options." Hunter laced his fingers through mine and slowly began inching me closer to the plane. "C'mon, or Mr. Aleksandrov is going to get even more p.i.s.sed off than he already is."

I took no notice of the sweat that formed in between our hands or what we looked like to other people-especially Eli. My only focus was on the huge, white machine in front of me. When we made it to the steps, I stopped abruptly, taking a big, deep breath.

Hunter let go of my hand and I stepped onto the first step, ignoring the way my hands and my knees trembled.

"Only five more to go..." he said and I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck and the sudden pressure of his hand on my hip.

He was very close-too close-and I was too distracted with calming myself to even care. I took another step and then another.

"Last one." Hunter informed me as I reached the top.

Then, I stepped into the plane. When I was inside, I froze, unsure of what to do next. It wasn't until I felt smooth waves of calm sweep over me that I was able to move again.

Hunter's thumb ran over the top of my hand and he smiled down at me as he stepped past. "You did it."

I smiled back, suddenly at ease with being on a plane. The hard part was over and now Mr. Aleksandrov was keeping it that way. Hunter strolled down the slim aisle and dropped into an empty seat in front of Mila. Xavier and Lyric were chatting over a magazine in the very back corner and Mr. Aleksandrov had his eyes closed. He was so still, I'd have thought him dead. Right up the front, in a cozy two-seater. sat Faith and Eli. His green irises looked up at me through dark lashes and I dropped my gaze to the floor. I wanted to sit with him-to talk to him-instead I sauntered up the aisle to the vacant seat beside Mila. I felt guilty that I let Hunter hold my hand and stand so close to me, but it wasn't like that. It wasn't even for comfort, I just needed a.s.surance. I needed help.

Hunter peered through the gap in the chair at me and gave me a tight, sympathetic smile. Exhaling, I fell back into my seat, raking my teeth over my bottom lip. How the h.e.l.l was I going to manage this? Hunter could feel my emotions. He knows when I need help and rea.s.surance. Eli can't feel my emotions...and I can't talk to him-not with Faith around, anyway.

"You okay?" Mila asked, handing me a big packet of Malteasers.

I glanced down at the tiny chocolate b.a.l.l.s and I just had to have one. I took the packet off her and kicked off my shoes. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"I saw you outside..." she lowers her voice to a whisper. "With Hunter."

I groaned. "Can we talk about something else?"

That was something I did not want to get into right this second. She shrugged. "Like what?"

I popped a Malteaser into my mouth and the creamy chocolate melted onto my tongue, leaving a delicious ball of hard malt behind. "I don't know..."

"How about girl stuff-normal girl stuff. You've lived with humans and went to a normal school. What do they talk about?"

I shrugged. "Boys, mostly, and music..."

"That's it?"

"No, they also talk about parties, the mall, movies-you know, all of the stuff we can't be involved in at Sage."

Mila brought her jean-clad knees up to her chest. "Do you find it strange that we've been friends for so long, but have never really had a normal conversation about boys or music?"

"In our world there are more important things, Mila. We're not as simple as everyone else."

"Well, we're on a plane for the next few hours...let's have a normal conversation. Let's pretend we aren't part of some weird secret society. Let's be normal girls with normal problems."

I smiled, popping another Malteaser into my mouth. "And what are your problems?"

"Gabriel...mostly."

I frowned. "Gabriel?"

I hadn't heard that name for a while. The last time I saw him he was blaming me for Hunter's 'death'.

"Yeah...I did something bad, Ruby."

"Like what?"

A pink flush illumined her features and she looked away from me.

"Like what?" I repeated, emphasizing each word even though I knew exactly where this conversation was heading.

Her eyes flicked onto Mr. Aleksandrov and then she leaned in extremely close.

"s.e.x," she whispered.

The bag of Malteasers slipped from my hands and I shot forward. I swiped at it in an attempt to catch it before it hit the ground, only I made it worse. As my fingers grasped the bag it tipped, sending little b.a.l.l.s of chocolate shooting down the aisle. The packet landed on the floor and I quickly grabbed it. With an almost empty packet, I straightened myself in my seat and looked up. Various sets of eyes were on me as people craned their necks around their seats. I smiled awkwardly. "Sorry...they slipped."

"That's cool," Faith said, rising from her seat beside Eli and placing her hands on her hips. "Trash the council's plane. I'm sure they won't mind."

I laughed once and Eli peered around his seat at me, caution clear in his eyes. Feeling rather defiant, I tipped the remaining Malteasers into my hand, scrunched the red plastic and let it fall to the floor. Faith's brown eyes narrowed and I smiled at her before turning back to Mila.

I couldn't believe she had s.e.x with Gabriel. I leaned in close to make sure no one else heard me.

"You had s.e.x with Gabriel? When?"

She glanced down at her hands as she entwined them nervously. "A while ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"You've been so busy and you always seem so tired. I didn't want to bother you..."

I sighed, leaning back into my chair. I had been a little preoccupied over the past few weeks and I take full blame for that.

"Was it your first time?" I asked, curious to hear her answer.

She choked on a giggle, like I asked a stupid question. "No."

"No?" I gasped, my mouth falling open. "When was your first time?"

"When I was fifteen."

My hand shot up to cover my mouth. Fifteen? Jeez, did I know Mila at all? She seemed so innocent and naive with her long blonde hair and big blue eyes. s.e.x wasn't even on the agenda for me until I fell in love with Eli. s.e.x without love? I don't think I could ever commit to that.

"What about you?" she asked me. "How old were you when you did 'it' for the first time?"

I shook my head. "I'm not telling you that."

"Ruby, come on. We're meant to be sharing things-we're meant to be normal, now spill the goss."

I sighed. "Nineteen."

"But you're-oh. Oh!"

A strange embarra.s.sed smirk contorted my lips and my eyes watered as a scorching flash of heat tore across my face. Mila's hand shot up to cover her mouth and she laughed into the palm of her hand.

"You didn't!" She dropped her hand and lowered her voice to the quietest whisper I'd ever heard. "With Eli?"

"Mila, stop," I demand, my chest hiccupping with a nervous giggle.

"When? Where? How was it?"

"We are not having this conversation right now." I cringed, angling my head so my long, black hair worked as a curtain between us. I know I asked her those questions first, but having them thrown back at me was embarra.s.sing. Mila couldn't contain her excited giggle, drawing attention to us. I slumped a little into my seat, focusing on my chocolates.

"Fine, you win for now, but the moment we're alone you have to tell me everything."

I rolled my eyes. There was no way I was going to tell Mila everything. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Mila was my best friend, but I couldn't risk anyone finding out the extremely intimate details of our relationship.

Mila made herself comfortable again, pulling out a magazine from beside her chair. Every now and then she'd peek sideways at me and smile widely. I tried my hardest to ignore her, but eventually it got too much and I moved down a row, dropping into a seat next to Hunter. He was asleep and stretched out in his chair, resting his head against the window. I pulled my legs up, tucking them comfortably underneath me and closed my eyes. Maybe I could get in a few minutes' sleep before we reach the council.

"If we both fall asleep would that mean we've slept together?"

My eyes shot open and I turned my head toward Hunter. He was looking at me and his lips curled into a c.o.c.ky smile. Then he reached over, plucked a chocolate from my hand, and ate it.

"I was kidding, relax." He chuckled, sitting upright in his chair.

"Are you nervous?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"About seeing the council?"

I nodded.

"Yeah...who knows what they're going to do to us."

I frowned. "You think they'll do something to us?"

He shrugged. "Do you think they're flying us all the way to their 'secret' city only to talk? Nah, I get the feeling you, Eli, and I aren't walking out of there."

"They're going to kill us?"

He shrugged again. "We're detrimental to their way of life. Before you came along, life was simple. Go to school, learn who we are, and how to use our powers. After that, you either work the lame jobs they have for us, help the guardians against the vampires, or live a normal life in protected human communities until we die. Now, vampires are breaking into schools, targeting specific people, and your blood can cure vampirism. Not to mention you're messing with a law the higher power made a very, very long time ago."

I frowned. "And what law is that?"