Morning couldn’t come soon enough. Without guard duty, Demetrius had been left to pace the floor of his room waiting for the first rays of sunlight to enter the sky. He had to get back to school, had to see her…how she was doing…what—if anything—she remembered. Until then, his mind wouldn’t allow him to rest.The moment he stepped into the hall, he began a subtle scan of the students, hoping to see her and the state the Monday morning had found her in.It was her voice that he heard first. It rang out from the other side of the hallway, boisterous, uninhibited laughter with the power to disrupt the beats of his heart. Demetrius followed it, seamlessly moving through the sea of students like oil passing through water. He found her leaned against her locker with eyes that still danced from the laughter moments earlier.“Mom went nuts!” Megan said, using exaggerated gestures as she told her story. “I’m standing there with the letter and Ms. Pierson’s on the phone. Mom doesn’t know who t

In the absence of screaming children and blinding sunlight, the playground took on an eerie sombreness. The solemnity of the swings softly creaking as they swung in the light breeze could be heard as he stepped through the gates. His sister was at his heels with her tail high and her ears alert. She was there for unrequested backup but had no intention of being otherwise involved.The boy sat on a bench by the monkey bars, allowing Cassidy into his lap without protest when she invited herself up.Minutes later, Jamie entered through the iron gate.“Over here,” he said.The girl crossed the lawn quickly, wanting to avoid the sprinklers that were set to their busy work. She sank next to him on the bench and reached a hand out to pet his sister but stopped suddenly, seeming uncertain about the action as her eyes grew distant. Demetrius watched her force the thought from her mind before fully committing to the act of giving the white cat scratches by her cheek—the way Cassidy liked it. Hi

Demetrius waited through the week, expecting a visit from Carlton to inform him about whatever would be taking place in another week. He never came. The man focused on teaching while at school and all but ignored the boy around the guard tower on the nights he was there. It was hard to take it for anything other than wilful avoidance. He was freezing him out, forcefully creating the distance he demanded. Each time Demetrius walked through the guard tower, he got the distinct feeling that he was the only one in the dark about what would apparently be a massive undertaking of an operation. It was his greatest irritant. No one would’ve known there was anything to be looked into without his careful research. None of them would’ve been any wiser to the vampire, unregistered and living in plain sight with at least one questionable child. It was his chance discovery that set things in motion and now they sought to separate him from his work. Were it no

“Cassidy!” Demetrius moved toward his sister, but a pair of guardians stepped up to block his path. “Get out of my way.”“You’re wasting precious time. Have you ever seen a clandestyne dissolve? Nasty business, I suspect. Alexiel’s become partial to punishments that deter the wider public with the greatest efficacy and the alchemy unit’s come up with a new solution. Don’t make her the first; she’ll scream, and I’ll make you watch.”Demetrius growled, heat rising through his body in the all too familiar way it did before a hunt, before everything went blank, before a more feral side took hold. His eyes flickered to red, the boy only barely managing to suppress it. His body began to shake, each cell joining the open rebellion against his self-control. His canines descended in tandem with his tail, his ears popping out a moment later. The boy fought to retain his composure but the terror in his sister

The lights in the observation deck went off, leaving them to bask in the light from the theatre below. A small team of alchemists walked in, led by a mage Demetrius had seen only once before when he’d accompanied Xavier to the Central Bureau. They each wore a grave expression, treating the matter as something sacred.Jamie struggled up until the moment a central line was put into her arm, and a pale lavender solution injected; she barely blinked after.A second liquid was injected through the line, a sickly grey that resembled cement. The four turned to look up into the observation deck, awaiting a signal that was given a moment later by Yarrow. Each nodded confirmation then the mage walked to the raised platform. The alchemists stood by the door.The mage raised a hand toward Jamie. Swirls of brilliant light escaped his palm, pouring into the girl. This went on for a time before the man lowered his hand and looked to the tower.“Try again,&rd