'c.r.a.p! They're inside,' Sienna whispered.

'But did it print?' Adam asked.

'Not yet.'

'Sienna-' Jason began.

But the line went dead.

Sixteen.

JASON STARED AT the cell phone as if he could will it to bring back Sienna.

Adam reached over, picked up the phone, and hit END. 'I'll get her back,' he said, starting to re-dial.

'No!' Jason s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone away from him. 'If she's hiding in her father's study and the phone rings, it could give her away. We don't want her to get caught.'

'Right. Sorry. Let's just hope she hasn't been caught already,' Adam said darkly.

'I don't think there's anything we can do now except wait to hear from her.' Jason ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. He hated not knowing whether Sienna had managed to get away with it or not.

'Out with it,' Adam said.

'Huh?'

'Why do you care so much about the transformer whoosie-whatsit?'

'Transformation sickness.'

'Yeah, that. Are you planning something I should know about? Like, oh, transforming into a vampire?' Adam demanded.

'My Aunt Bianca caught me with Sienna the other day,' Jason explained. 'She gave me a choice: become a vampire, or she tells Sienna's parents about us.'

'And Sienna gets sent away,' Adam said thoughtfully. 'Got it. But you're not actually considering transforming, are you?'

'Wouldn't you?'

Adam thought about it. 'Would I want to become a vampire and have looks, money, power, and long life? Seems like a no-brainer.'

'But?' Jason prompted.

'But if I were a vampire, then I wouldn't be . . . human,' Adam said. 'I'm not sure that's a good thing. Plus, there's the having-to-drink-blood issue.'

'You see my problem,' Jason said, shaking his head. 'I keep going over and over it in my mind, but I can't decide.'

'And then there's some kind of sickness?' Adam asked.

'Transformation sickness is what happens to some humans when they transform into vampires,' Jason explained. 'Basically there are three possibilities: you're totally fine, you die instantly, or you slowly go insane.'

Adam whistled. 'Seems like pretty bad odds. Two of those possibilities bite. Hard. No pun intended.'

'That's probably why their scientists suggested developing a test for it. The vampires aren't thrilled when one of them dies or goes crazy, either.'

'So that's what the test is about,' Adam said thoughtfully. 'If you could find out in advance that you would be OK not, you know, dead or crazy at least you'd know what you were getting into.'

'Exactly,' Jason agreed.

'Then your course of action is clear,' Adam declared. 'If that test exists, you have to take it!'

The next morning, Jason got to school so early that he was the first car into the parking lot. He'd left Dani to fend for herself he was so eager to find out if Sienna was OK that he didn't have the patience to wait for his sister.

Adam pulled in on his Vespa half a minute later. 'Is she here yet?' he asked.

'Nope.' Jason peered at the line of cars waiting to get into the school. He shaded his eyes against the sunshine. 'There she is!' he cried, relieved. Sienna's Spider was almost hidden between Van d.y.k.e's huge Hummer and Erin Henry's Escalade. Jason's heartbeat slowed and he relaxed a little. He'd been afraid he would show up at school only to find out that Sienna had already been packed off to France.

He and Adam jogged over to her as she parked. 'What happened?' Jason called.

Sienna rolled her eyes. 'I felt like Sydney on Alias,' she joked. 'Doing computer espionage . . .'

'Lookin' hot,' Adam joked along, leering. Sienna gave him a light vampire light shove and he almost fell over.

'Anyway, I got what we needed. It finished printing about two seconds before my father walked through the door,' Sienna told them.

'Well?' Jason asked.

'He funded the research,' Sienna said. 'They were supposed to have a prototype of the test ready by Christmas.'

'So it will definitely be ready by now,' Adam said. 'What are we going to do about it?'

'We?' Sienna asked.

'Yeah. I'm in.' Adam frowned. 'What, you think I'm only good for the go-between mushy romance stuff?'

'I want to take the test,' Jason told Sienna. 'I want to know if I can become a vampire.'

'Even if you can, that doesn't mean you should,' Sienna said quietly.

'But at least I'll have all the facts.'

Sienna nodded. 'So what do we do?'

'We need recon,' Adam said. 'Can you get into the lab?'

'Sure,' Sienna said. 'I'll just say I'm there to visit my father.'

'But you can't go when he's there,' Jason pointed out. 'Otherwise he'll find out what you're doing.'

'So I'll wait for a day when I know he's not going in to the Center,' Sienna agreed.

'Cool. Then you just have to sweet-talk one of the scientists into showing you the new test,' Adam said. 'They'll probably be psyched to demonstrate it, anyway, and then you'll know how it works.'

'And we can do it on me,' Jason said.

Sienna smiled. 'It's a plan!'

When Jason got home that afternoon, Dani was already in the kitchen eating Hagen-Dazs straight from the carton.

'Hey,' he greeted her. 'I haven't seen you all day. Did you catch a ride home with Ryan?'

'No.' Dani's lower lip began to tremble and she swatted at a tear in her eye.

'Are you crying?' he asked, concerned.

'No,' she said again. She stuck a spoonful of Dulce de Leche in her mouth.

'Yes you are,' Jason told her. 'Is it Ryan?'

'No.'

'Can you say anything but no?' Jason teased gently.

She dropped the ice-cream carton onto the counter and turned to face him. 'It's not Ryan, it's his parents. They suck.'

Ah, the vampire parents make their appearance, Jason thought. I knew it was only a matter of time. 'They told Ryan he couldn't date a non-vampire,' he said aloud.

'Yeah,' Dani sniffled. 'It's so unfair! I'm not going to spill their secret.'

'I know. But they don't like humanvampire relationships,' Jason told her.

Dani narrowed her eyes at him. 'Wait a minute,' she said. 'Is that why you and Sienna-' Her cell rang, singing out the theme from Grey's Anatomy. Dani grabbed it and hit TALK. 'Ryan? Oh, hey, Belle. It's true. He told me at lunch today.'

She covered the phone with her hand and glanced at Jason. 'Can you put the ice cream away for me?'

He nodded. Belle has an even bigger project to keep her mind off Dom, now, he thought as his sister headed out to the pool, detailing her conversation with Ryan. A broken-hearted Dani.

Jason grabbed the ice cream and stuck it back in the freezer. He knew it was hypocritical of him, but he was relieved that Dani and Ryan had to break up. Sure, he was thinking of becoming a vampire himself, but somehow he still didn't like to think of Dani getting involved with one.

Thank G.o.d I made Bianca promise not to talk to Dani about the possibility of transforming, he thought. He knew his sister was impulsive enough to do it without thinking it through, if it meant she could stay with Ryan.

Jason headed upstairs, feeling like a jerk. He wasn't sure why he had such a double standard for Danielle dating a vampire. Once we figure out how to do the test, I'll talk to Dani about the transformation situation, he thought. I just need to get all the information first.

By the time Friday came, Jason was exhausted. The weeks he'd had to sit out of swim practice while the crossbow wound had healed had taken it out of him, and he'd been training hard lately, trying to get back to optimum speed. But he knew that wasn't why he was so tired. It was the waiting that was getting to him. Waiting for Sienna to find time to get to the DeVere Center. Waiting to find a few stolen moments with her when they could actually talk. Waiting to find out if he could become a vampire, if he could change his life forever without dying or going insane.

He came home from school and dropped facedown onto his bed. 'Thank G.o.d it's the weekend,' he muttered to himself. He was definitely sleeping late tomorrow.

The phone rang. When Jason picked it up, he was shocked to hear Sienna's voice on the other end of the line. 'What are you doing?' he cried. 'You said we couldn't use the phone!'

'I couldn't help it, I just had to talk to you,' she said in a rush. 'I'm on a pay phone, so I think it will be OK.'

'All right, but hurry,' Jason said nervously.

'I went to the lab it was no problem,' Sienna said. 'The guy showed me the whole thing, how to do the test and everything. It's really simple. It tests DNA, so we need a strand of your hair or a mouth swab or something.'

'OK,' Jason said. 'That's easy enough.'

'Yeah, but here's the thing,' Sienna said. 'We need the equipment at the lab to do the test. We need to physically be there.'

Jason thought fast. 'They're closed for the weekend now, right? Is everybody out of the building?'

'Everybody leaves by eight or eight-thirty,' Sienna replied. 'Why?'

'We'll go at eleven. That should give us enough of a buffer all the workers will be gone by then.'

'Eleven o'clock tonight?' Sienna sounded surprised.

'Sienna, if I have to wait for one more day to take this test, I'm going to explode,' Jason said.

'OK,' Sienna began.

'And besides,' Jason rushed on, 'it's my life we're talking about. It's my future. I have to know what the possibilities are. Otherwise I'm just thinking about it over and over with no way to make a decision. It's driving me crazy.'

'Then we'll do it tonight,' she agreed. 'But Jason, you know there are guards, right? There's a whole security system.'

'I know,' Jason said. 'We'll just have to break in!'

Seventeen.

JASON GRABBED HIS keys from the dresser, jogged downstairs, and headed out the door. He had to see Adam. His friend's father was the Chief of Police, which meant that Adam had read practically every police report ever filed. Who better to plan a break-in with?

When he got outside, Jason saw Bianca just getting out of her car. 'Hi, Aunt Bianca,' he called, pulling open the door of the Bug.

'Jason, wait.' Bianca strode over to him. 'You haven't given me an answer yet. Are you going to undergo the transformation?'