FOR A MOMENT, I THOUGHT it had to be a coincidence. After all, what was so special about a peridot star? For all I knew, Alicia might have been born in August and was just sporting her birthstone among that mess of necklaces she always wore. And yet, if there was one thing I believed more than ever, it was Sonya's adage that there were no coincidences in the world of the supernatural.

I sank to the floor and tried to reason my way through things. If the charm Alicia had worn was like this one, then it meant she too was a strong magic user trying to mask her abilities. Did she know about Veronica? Was Alicia trying to protect herself? If so, then it seemed like she wouldn't have been so casual about Veronica staying at the inn. So, that meant either Alicia didn't know about Veronica's true nature - again, a suspicious coincidence - or that Alicia was covering for Veronica.

Could Alicia be in league with Veronica?

That seemed the likeliest answer to me. Although Veronica apparently sought out young, powerful magic users, it was totally possible that she'd seen the advantage of having one as an assistant. And, as we'd observed, Veronica had plenty of other victims to choose from. Alicia could therefore help and cover up Veronica's nefarious plans - like when a curious couple came asking questions.

I groaned. Alicia had been playing us from the beginning. From the instant we'd stepped through her door with stories about our anniversary and "friend" Veronica, she'd known we were lying. She'd known we weren't actually friends with Veronica, and she might have been strong enough to fight Adrian's compulsion a little. She'd gone along with everything - even being so helpful as to call me when Veronica had shown up again. I had no idea now what was true, if Veronica had ever left in the first place or returned from being gone. I did, however, have a sinking suspicion that my car wasn't the only one she'd incapacitated.

I could understand if she'd used the cross to find me, but how had she initially located the Mustang? I racked my brain for any identifying information. Adrian's spirit magic should have muddled our appearances, covering up any connection to us. Then I knew. Alicia had walked us out and admired the Mustang. A clever person - someone who was already on high alert because of our visit - could've made note of the license plate and used it to track down where Adrian lived.

But why slash the tires? To delay us, I realized. That was the night Lynne had been attacked. And we had arrived too late to warn her.

The more I began to sift through the events of the last few weeks, the more I began to think we had been very, very careless. We'd thought we were being so cautious about concealing ourselves from Veronica. No one, not even Ms. Terwilliger, had considered that she might have an accomplice we also had to watch out for. And the dreams . . . those had started the day Adrian and I had been on the velvet bed. The day my garnet had slipped and had possibly been enough for Alicia to sense a magic user in the inn.

Which brought me back to the present. Ms. Terwilliger. I had to tell her what I'd found. I called for a third time. Still no answer. Although I often had images of Ms. Terwilliger conducting late-night rituals, it was entirely reasonable that she'd be in bed right now. Was this the kind of thing that could wait until morning?

No, I decided on the spot. No, it wasn't. We were dealing with dangerous, violent magic users - and my car had just been attacked. Something might be happening as I stood there, trying to decide. I would have to wake her up . . . provided I could get to her.

It took only a moment to make my next decision. I called Adrian.

He answered on the first ring but sounded wary, which I couldn't blame him for after what I'd done earlier. "Hello?"

I prayed he was the noble guy I thought he was. "Adrian, I know things are bad between us, and maybe I have no right to ask, but I need a favor. It's about Veronica."

There was no hesitation. "What do you need?"

"Can you come over to Amberwood? I need you to help me break curfew and escape my dorm."

There were a few moments of silence. "Sage, I've been waiting two months to hear you say those words. You want me to bring a ladder?"

The plan was already unfolding in my head. The security guards that patrolled at night would have eyes on the student parking lot, but the back property would be relatively unguarded.

"I'll get myself out of the building. If you come up the main road that leads to Amberwood and then go past the driveway you'll see a little service road that runs up a hill and goes behind my dorm. Park there near the utility shed, and I'll meet you as soon as I get out."

When he spoke again, his earlier levity was gone. "I'd really like to believe this is some awesome midnight adventure, but it's not, is it? Something's gone really wrong."

"Very wrong," I agreed. "I'll explain in the car."

I quickly changed into clean jeans and a T-shirt, adding a light suede jacket against the evening chill. To be safe, I also decided to pack my bag with a few supplies and bring it along. If all went well, I'd simply be warning Ms. Terwilliger tonight. But with the way things had been going lately, I couldn't presume anything would be simple. Bringing the suitcase this time would be unwieldy, so I had to make a few quick decisions about chemicals and magical components. I tossed some in the bag and stuffed others in my jeans and coat pockets.

Once I was ready, I headed down to Julia and Kristin's room. They were dressed for bed but not asleep yet. When Julia saw me with my coat and bag, her eyes went wide.

"Sweet," she said.

"I know you've gotten out before," I said. "How'd you do it?"

Julia's many dates often occurred outside of sanctioned school hours, and both she and Kristin had bragged about Julia's exploits in the past. I'd hoped perhaps Julia knew about a secret tunnel out of the school and that I wouldn't have to attempt some crazy feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I had to do. She and Kristin walked me to their window and pointed at a large tree growing outside it.

"This room has a view and easy access," said Kristin proudly.

I eyed the gnarled tree warily. "That's easy?"

"Half the dorm's used it," she said. "So can you."

"We should be charging people," mused Julia. She flashed me a smile. "Don't worry. We'll give you a freebie tonight. Just start on that big limb there, swing over there, and then use those branches for handholds."

I found it amazing that someone who'd claimed badminton in PE was too "dangerous" would have no qualms about scaling a tree from her third-floor room. Of course, Marcus's apartment had been on the fourth floor, and that fire escape had been a million times more unsafe than this tree. Thoughts of Alicia and Ms. Terwilliger snapped me back to the importance of my mission, and I gave Julia and Kristin a decisive nod.

"Let's do this," I said.

Julia cheered and opened the window for me. Kristin watched just as eagerly. "Please tell me you're running off to meet some breathtakingly handsome guy," she said.

I paused, just as I was about to climb out. "Yes, actually. But not in the way you're thinking."

Once I made it to the limb Julia had indicated, I discovered she was right. It was pretty simple - so simple, in fact, that I was surprised no school official had noticed this easy access escape route and chopped it down. Well, so much the better for those of us with late-night errands. I made it to the ground and waved goodbye to my watching friends.

The dorm's back property had some lights on it, exactly for the reason of deterring wayward students like me. It was also along the patrol route of one of the security guards but wasn't a spot he stayed regularly stationed at. He wasn't in sight, so I crossed my fingers that he was busy with another part of his beat. There were enough shadows on the lawn that I was able to stay within them the whole way - until I reached the back fence. It was lit up pretty well, and really, the only assets I had were that I was a fast climber and that the guard hadn't surfaced yet. Falling back on that hope that the universe owed me some favors - especially after tricking me about Alicia - I gulped and scrambled over. No one shouted at me when I landed on the other side, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd made it out. Getting back in would be harder, but that was a problem for later, hopefully one Ms. Terwilliger could help out with.

I found Adrian waiting for me in the Mustang, exactly where I'd indicated. He gave me a sidelong glance as he drove us away. "No black catsuit?"

"It's in the laundry."

He smiled. "Of course it is. Now, where are we going, and what's going on?"

"We're going to Ms. Terwilliger's," I said. "And what's going on is that we've been walking around in front of the enemy this entire time without even realizing it."

I watched Adrian as I related my revelations and saw his face go from disbelieving to dismayed the more I spoke. "Her aura was too perfect," he said once I finished. "Perfectly neutral, perfectly average. No one's is like that. I brushed it off, though. Figured maybe it was just a weird human one."

"Can someone influence how their aura looks?" I asked.

"Not to that extent," he said. "I don't know enough about these charms you guys use, but I'm guessing it was one of those that skewed the way her colors looked."

I slumped into the seat, still angry at not having figured this out sooner. "On the bright side, she doesn't know we're on to her and Veronica. That could give us an advantage."

When we reached Ms. Terwilliger's house, we found all the lights on, which was a surprise. I'd assumed she was in bed, though this certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd missed a phone call. Only, when we reached the house and knocked on the door, there was no answer. Adrian and I exchanged looks.

"Maybe she had to leave abruptly," he said. The tone of his voice conveyed what his words didn't. What if Ms. Terwilliger had already found out what we had and had taken off to fight Alicia and Veronica? I had no idea how powerful Alicia was, but the odds didn't seem promising.

When no answer came from my second knock, I nearly kicked the door in frustration. "Now what?"

Adrian turned the doorknob, and the door opened right up. "How about we wait for her?" he suggested.

I grimaced. "I don't know if I'm comfortable breaking into her place."

"She left the door unlocked. She's practically inviting us in." He pushed the door open farther and looked at me expectantly.

I didn't want to go back to Amberwood without speaking to her tonight, nor did I want to sit on her doorstep. Hoping she wouldn't mind us making ourselves at home, I gave a nod of resignation and followed Adrian inside. Her house was the same as ever, cluttered and redolent with the scent of incense. Suddenly, I came to a standstill.

"Wait. Something's different." It took me a moment to figure it out, and when I did, I couldn't believe I hadn't realized it immediately. "The cats are gone."

"Holy shit," said Adrian. "You're right."

At least one of them always came to greet visitors, and others were usually visible on furniture, under tables, or simply occupying the middle of the floor. But now, there were no cats in sight.

I stared around in disbelief. "What in the world could - "

An earsplitting shriek made me jump. I looked down toward my hip and found the dragon sticking his head out of my satchel and trying to claw his way up my side. Belatedly, I realized I'd forgotten to cover the aquarium. He'd apparently slipped inside the bag back in my room. The sound he was making now was similar to his hunger cry - except even more annoying. Then, impossibly, he nipped my leg. I bent over and tried to pull him off me.

"I don't have any pie! What are you trying to - ahh!"

Something zoomed over my head and smashed into the wall behind me with a loud splat. A couple wet drops of something landed on my cheek and began to burn. It was a wonder I didn't hear a sizzling sound.

"Sydney!" Adrian cried.

I turned toward where he was looking and saw Alicia standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. Her palm was raised toward us, a shimmery and gooey substance cupped in it. Presumably it was the same substance that currently seared my skin. I almost wiped it away but feared I'd simply be spreading it to my fingers. I winced and tried to ignore it.

"Sydney" said Alicia pleasantly. "Or should I say Taylor? I figured I'd be seeing you two again. Just not so soon. I guess your car trouble didn't delay you tonight."

"We know everything," I told her, keeping on an eye on that goo. "We know you're working for Veronica."

The smug look on her face momentarily shifted, overcome by surprise. "Working for her? I got rid of her ages ago."

"Got rid of. . . ." For a few seconds, I was at a loss. Then the rest of the puzzle pieces fell together. "You're the one who's been absorbing those girls. And that witch in San Diego. And . . . Veronica Terwilliger."

I'd been able to track Veronica back to the inn with the scrying spell. When Ms. Terwilliger had attempted a different locating spell, she'd come up blank. She'd assumed it was because Veronica had some sort of shielding. But the truth, I was suddenly certain, was that Veronica was already comatose. There was no active mind for Ms. Terwilliger to reach because Alicia had consumed Veronica.

Ms. Terwilliger . . .

"You're here for her," I said. "Ms. Terwilliger. Not me."

"The untrained do make easy targets," conceded Alicia. "But they don't have the same power as full-fledged witches, who can be just as easy to absorb if you break them down first. I don't need the youth like Veronica did, just the power. Once she showed me how the spell works, I was able to catch her in a weak moment. That other college girl tided me over until I wore down Alana Kale." Where had I heard that name? Alana . . . she was Ms. Terwilliger's comatose coven sister. "And finally I can take out the big hit: Jaclyn Terwilliger. I actually wasn't sure if I'd be able to break her, but it turns out she's done an awesome job of wearing herself out these last few weeks, all in the service of protecting her sweet little apprentice."

"I'm not her . . ." I couldn't finish. I'd been about to say I wasn't her apprentice, and yet . . . wasn't I? I wasn't just dabbling in magic anymore. I had joined the ranks. And now, I had to protect my mentor, just as she'd protected me. If it wasn't too late.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"She's around," said Alicia, clearly delighting in having the upper hand here. "I wish you hadn't found out about all this. You would've made a good hit, once you'd learned a little bit more. You're just a small spark to Jaclyn's flame right now. She's the big score tonight."

"Tell us where she is," ordered Adrian, a powerful note in his voice that I recognized.

Alicia's gaze flicked from me to him. "Oh, please," she scoffed. "Stop wasting my time with your vampire compulsion. I realized what was going on after that first visit, when I kept having trouble remembering your faces." From her jumble of necklaces, she showed us a jade circle. "I acquired this afterward. Makes me impervious to your 'charms.'"

Something that resisted vampire magic? That would be a useful item to have in my bag of tricks. I'd have to look into it . . . provided I survived tonight.

I saw Alicia tense to throw again, and I managed to jump out of the way, pulling Adrian with me toward the living room. More of that goo splattered behind us with a hiss. I produced a dried thistle blossom and crumpled it toward Alicia, shouting a Greek incantation that would blind her. She made a small wave with her left hand and sneered at me.

"Really?" she asked. "That remedial blindness spell? Maybe you aren't a prodigy after all."

Adrian suddenly flipped open a small panel in the wall beside us. I hadn't even noticed it, largely because I'd been too distracted about having my face melted off. I saw a flurry of motion from his hand, and suddenly, we were plunged into darkness.

"Now this is remedial blindness," he muttered.

Alicia swore. I froze, immobilized by the blackness around me. As much as I appreciated any attempts to slow Alicia down, I was kind of at a loss myself.

I felt Adrian's hand grab hold of mine, and without a word, he tugged me farther into the living room. I followed quickly, relying on his superior vampire eyesight to guide us. I could already hear Alicia chanting and was sure some light-giving spell was coming soon. Either that or something that would magically fix a fuse box.

"Careful," Adrian murmured. "Stairs."

Sure enough, I felt my foot hit a wooden step. He and I hurried down as quietly and as quickly as we could, descending into a basement. My eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and I wondered if I'd just entered some secret dungeon. Yet as he wound us through stacks of boxes, I realized the basement was just used for ordinary storage. There was a lot of junk down here. After seeing Ms. Terwilliger's already messy house, I wondered what more she could possibly own.

Adrian finally stopped when we were in a far corner behind some oblong boxes stacked nearly as high as me. He pulled me to him, keeping me in his arms so that he could speak softly in my ear. My head lay against his chest, and I could hear his rapid heartbeat, a mirror for my own.

"That was a good idea," I said in as low a voice as I could manage. "But now we're trapped down here. It would've been better if we could go outside."

"I know," he whispered back. "But she was too close to the door, and I didn't have time to mess with a window."

Above us, I could hear the floor creaking as Alicia walked through the house. "It's just a matter of time," I said.

"I was hoping it'd give you a chance to think of something to get us out of here. Can't you use that fireball? You were pretty good at it."

"Not inside. Especially not in a basement. I'd burn this place down around us. And we don't know where Ms. Terwilliger is yet." I racked my brain. The house was small enough that there weren't that many places Alicia could have stashed Ms. Terwilliger. And I had to assume she was stashed somewhere, if she hadn't come to our aid already. Alicia's language made it sound like she hadn't sucked away Ms. Terwilliger's power yet, so hopefully she was just incapacitated.

"You must be able to do something," said Adrian, tightening his hold on me. "You're brilliant, and you've been reading all those spell books."

It was true. I'd consumed tons of material these last couple of months - material I wasn't even supposed to have learned - but somehow, in this one terrified moment, my mind couldn't focus on any of it. "I've forgotten everything."

"No, you haven't." His voice in the darkness was calm and reassuring. He smoothed back my hair and pressed one of those half kisses to my forehead. "Just relax and focus. Sooner or later, she'll be coming down those stairs after us. We need to take her out or at least slow her down so that we can escape."

His reasonable words centered me and allowed the gears of logic that ran my life to take over again. A little light was coming through from the basement's small, high windows, allowing my eyes to finally adjust and make out some of the dark shapes in the basement. I could still hear Alicia moving around upstairs, so I crept away from Adrian and walked over to the staircase. With a few graceful hand arcs, I chanted a spell over the steps and then hurried back to my corner with Adrian, slipping back under the shelter of his arm.

"Okay," I said. "I think I've got a minor delay ready."

"What is it?" he asked.

Just then, we heard the door at the top of the stairs open. Light spilled down, though we still remained in the shadows. "You're out of options," I heard Alicia say. "No place left to - ahh!"

There was a loud thump-thump-thump-thump as she went sliding down the stairs and hit the bottom with a crack.

"Invisible ice on the stairs," I told Adrian.

"I know I'm not supposed to say this," he said. "But I think I love you more than ever."

I took his hand and tried not to think about how happy his words made me, even in this life-or-death situation. "Come on."

We left our hiding spot and found Alicia sprawled ungracefully on the floor, trying to get to her feet. A silver orb of light hovered in the air near her, bobbing along faithfully with her movements. Seeing us, she snarled and waved her hands to cast at us. I'd anticipated this and had an amulet ready. I swung it on its silken cord and said a few quick words as we passed her. A brief, shimmering shield flared between us and her, just barely absorbing the small glowing darts she hurled our way. The shield was similar to the one Ms. Terwilliger had used at the park but had to be summoned on the spot and didn't last long.

I didn't know what Alicia planned on doing next, but obviously, something bad was coming. I cast a preemptive spell I'd never used before, one of the ones that Ms. Terwilliger had told me not to bother with. It took a lot of energy and was powerful if used correctly, yet was deceptively simple and elegant in its effects. I merely blasted Alicia across the room with a wave of power just as she was about to stand. She flew backward, into a stack of Christmas items. A box of ornaments fell down, shattering near her on the hard floor.

Casting the spell left me dizzy, but I managed to keep moving. I summoned a fireball when we reached the stairs but held it in my hand, keeping it low as though I were going to roll a Skee-Ball - though my intent was simply to carry it. I prayed it would melt the ice, and after my first few steps, I knew I was right. "Careful," I warned Adrian. "They're wet."

We made it to the top, but Alicia had already scrambled after us. From the bottom of the stairs, she used the same spell on me that I'd used on her, throwing a wave of invisible energy at Adrian and me that knocked us to the floor. I'd been holding on to the fireball, despite Ms. Terwilliger's warnings about how doing so would drain my own power. When Alicia knocked me down, the fireball flew from my hand and landed on Ms. Terwilliger's couch. Considering it looked as though it was covered in some cheap fabric from the 1970s, I wasn't entirely surprised that it lit up so fast.

On the bright side, the fire solved our darkness problem. On the downside, it meant the house was likely going to burn down around us after all. The callistana, who hadn't been fast enough to keep up with us when we'd gone downstairs, came scurrying over to my side. I had only half a heartbeat to make a decision.

"Go look in the rest of the house for Ms. Terwilliger," I told Adrian. "I'll stop Alicia."

The growing fire created weird shadows on his face, highlighting his anguish at this. "Sydney."

"This is one of those times you have to trust me without question," I said. "Hurry! Find her and get her out."

I saw a thousand emotions flash through his eyes before he obeyed and ran off toward the other wing of the house. The fire was spreading rapidly throughout the living room, in a way that had to be magical. The increasing smoke gave me an idea, and I cast a spell that enhanced it, creating a hazy wall at the entrance to the basement stairs. It allowed the dragon and me to make a short retreat before Alicia appeared, parting the smoke as cleanly as though she were opening curtains.

"That," she declared. "Hurt."

I cast a spell that should've encased her in spiderwebs, but they fell away before they even reached her. It was infuriating. I'd memorized so much, but these "remedial" spells weren't working. I understood now why Ms. Terwilliger's main strategy had been for me to lie low and hide my ability. How would I have ever been able to take on Veronica? True, Alicia had taken her out, but only after probably weakening her as she had Ms. Terwilliger. I even understood now why Ms. Terwilliger had told me to get a gun - which, I realized now, I'd left in the car.

The ice spell had worked because Alicia hadn't seen it coming. The only other spell that had worked on her was the blast of power, an advanced one that had still left me weak. It was going to take another one of those, I realized. I had no idea if I had the ability to do a second one, but trying was the only chance I had of -

I screamed as what felt like a thousand volts of electricity shot through me. Alicia's hand movement had been so subtle, and she hadn't even spoken. I fell down again, writhing in pain as Alicia strode toward me, her face triumphant. The dragon bravely put himself between the two of us, and she simply kicked him aside. I heard him yelp as he skittered across the floor.

"Maybe I should absorb you," said Alicia. The shocks abated, and I could only sit there and gasp for breath. "You could be my fifth. I can come back for Jaclyn in a few years. You've turned out to be a lot more powerful than I thought - and annoyingly resourceful. You even made a good effort tonight."

"Who says I'm done?" I managed to say.

I cast the first of the advanced spells that came to mind. Maybe it was inspired by the broken Christmas ornaments, but suddenly, I had broken shards on the brain. The spell required no words or physical components and only the slightest of hand movements. The rest was taken from me - a draining of energy and power that hurt almost as much as the electrifying spell Alicia had just used.

But oh, the results were breathtaking.

On Ms. Terwilliger's coffee table (which was now on fire) sat a set of five perpetual motion balls. I used a transmutation spell on them, forcing them out of their spherical shape and breaking them apart into thin, sharp razor blades. They broke free of their strings and came at my command. That was the easy part.

The hard part was, as Ms. Terwilliger had told me, actually attacking someone. And not just making them slip and fall. That wasn't so bad. But an actual physical attack, one you knew would cause direct and terrible damage, was an entirely different issue. It didn't matter how terrible Alicia was, that she'd tried to kill me and wanted to victimize Ms. Terwilliger and countless others. Alicia was still a living person, and it was not in my nature to show violence or try to take another's life.

It was, however, in my nature to save my own life and those of my loved ones.

I braced myself and ordered the razors forward. They slammed into her face. She screamed and frantically tried to pull them out but in doing so lost her balance and went back down the stairs. I heard her shriek as she fell into the basement. Although I couldn't see her, her magical lantern orb merrily followed her all the way down.

My triumph was short-lived. I was more than dizzy. I was on the verge of passing out. The heat and light from the fire were overwhelming, yet my vision was going dark from the exhaustion of casting a spell I was in no way ready for. I suddenly just wanted to curl up there on the floor and close my eyes where it was comfortable and warm. . . .

"Sydney!"

Adrian's voice jolted me out of my haze, and I managed to peer up at him through heavy eyelids. He slipped an arm around me to help me up. When my legs didn't work, he simply scooped me up altogether and carried me. The dragon, who'd suffered no permanent damage from the kick, clung to my shirt and scurried into the bag that was still draped over my shoulder.

"Where . . . Ms. Terwilliger. . . ."

"Not here," Adrian said, heading swiftly toward the front door. The fire was spreading over the walls and ceiling now. Although it hadn't quite made it to the front of the house yet, our way was still thick with smoke and ash. We both were coughing, and tears ran out of my eyes. Adrian reached the door and turn the knob, yelping at how hot it was. Then he managed to kick the door open with his foot, and we were free, out into the clean night air.

Neighbors had gathered outside, and I could hear sirens in the distance. Some of the spectators watched us curiously, but most were transfixed by the inferno that was Ms. Terwilliger's bungalow. Adrian carried me over to his car and gently set me down so that I could lean against it, though he still kept an arm around me. We both stared in awe at the fire.

"I really did look, Sydney," he said. "I couldn't find Jackie in the house. Maybe she escaped." I prayed he was right. Otherwise, we had just abandoned my history teacher to a fiery death. "What happened to Alicia?"

"Last I saw, she was in the basement." A sickening feeling twisted in my stomach. "I don't know if she'll get out. Adrian, what have I just done?"

"You defended yourself. And me. And hopefully Jackie." His arm tightened around me. "Alicia was evil. Look what she did to those other witches - what she wanted to do to you guys."

"I never saw it coming," I said bleakly. "I thought I was so smart. And each time I talked to her, I dismissed her as some dumb, scattered girl. Meanwhile, she was laughing and countering my moves every step of the way. It's humbling. I don't meet many people like that."

"The Moriarty to your Holmes?" he suggested.

"Adrian," I said. It was all I needed to say.

He suddenly did a double take, noticing my attire for the first time tonight now that the jacket had come open. "You're wearing your AYE shirt?"

"Yeah, I never wage magical battles without - "

A small mewling noise suddenly caught my attention. I searched around until I spotted two green eyes peering at me from under a bush across the street. I managed to straighten up and found that my legs, though weak, could support my weight again. I took a few halting steps toward the bush, and Adrian immediately ran to my side.

"What are you doing? You need help," he said.

I pointed. "We have to follow that cat."

"Sydney - "

"Help me," I pleaded.

He couldn't resist. Supporting me with his arm again, he helped me walk across the street toward the cat. It ran ahead between two bushes, then glanced back at us.

"It wants us to follow," I told him.

So we did, cutting through houses and streets until when we were about four blocks from the bungalow, the cat dashed off into a park. Whatever energy I'd had when I started after the cat was long gone. I was panting and dizzy again and fighting hard to resist asking Adrian to carry me. Something in the center of the park caught my attention and gave me one last burst of adrenaline to run forward.

There, lying on the grass, was Ms. Terwilliger.

She was awake, thankfully, but looked nearly as exhausted as I felt. Tears and smudges suggested she'd been through quite an ordeal. She had managed to escape Alicia, but not without a fight. That was why we hadn't been able to find her in the house. Seeing me, she blinked in surprise.

"You're okay," she said. "And you found me."

"The cats led us," I said, pointing. All thirteen of them were sitting around in the park, surrounding their owner - making sure she was okay.

She glanced around at them and managed a weary smile. "See? I told you cats are useful."

"Callistanas aren't so bad either," I said, looking down at my satchel. "That 'pain in the ass' screeching saved me from a face full of acid."

Adrian put his hand to his heart in mock horror. "Sage, did you just swear?"

Glancing over, Ms. Terwilliger noticed him for the first time. "And you're here too? I'm so sorry you had to get dragged into this mess. I know you didn't ask for any of this trouble."

"It doesn't matter," said Adrian, smiling. He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Some things are worth the trouble."

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