“Your grandmother went to church,” a soft voice said from behind me.I turned and saw one of the maids dusting a side table. “Thanks.”Nana and I always went to church together. I hated that I’d missed. Especially since it probably seemed like I’d blown her off. Again. I hoped she wasn’t upset.I trudged to my room. Avoiding the mirrors, I sat at my desk and thumbed through the journal. I expected to start by rereading what had already been decoded. Instead, I found that every word was once again hidden from my understanding. But...how could that be?Frowning, I went through every page slowly, line by line, studying every symbol, every number. Nope. No miraculous unveiling.Must simplify the to-do list: Learn how to kill the zombie inside me without the journal. Actually kill her.Where to start? My sister? Maybe she’d learned something else about my situation. “Emma. If you can swing another visit, I’d love to see you.”I had to wait longer than usual, but she did, eventually, arrive

Finally eternity came to an end and eleven-thirty arrived. I loaded myself with weapons and sneaked through the secret passages Mr. Ankh had built throughout the house. He’d wanted his daughter to have an escape route if ever it proved necessary—not that she would know what chased her.Reeve. I frowned. My nose wrinkled after I inhaled. I smelled her perfume. She must have used the passage, and quite recently.Huh. The passage led to a hatch just beyond the front yard, seconds from the road. Still. I’d have to be careful. Mr. Ankh had cameras everywhere and—as I eased my out, I caught movement several yards away.Gaze zooming in, I palmed a blade. Was that...Reeve? Had to be. Dark hair swished as a slender girl matching Reeve’s height and build walked north. She’d sneaked out.Dang you, Reeve! No matter how badly I wanted answers, no matter how dangerous I currently was, I couldn’t let her wander the streets without backup.As I followed her through the shadows, I dialed Bronx.“What?

I still wasn’t sure what his motives were, but at the moment I had nowhere else to turn. “Possibly.”“Possibly?”I sat down. “That’s all I’m willing to say.” For now.He sat down beside me. “Okay, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what you’re dealing with.”“Will you actually help me, though?”His shoulders wilted, and he said, “I guess I deserved that.”Yeah, but I didn’t have to be so crabby about it, did I? “Do you know someone by the name of Dr. Bendari?”“No. Why?”Crap. So...maybe Dr. Bendari wasn’t with Anima, after all. Maybe Justin was lying. Or maybe Justin just hadn’t met him. “Forget it.”“Ali. Please. Talk to me.”How many times was I going to hear those words?The bell rang, saving me from having to reply. “Later,” I said. Maybe.Lunchtime arrived. I’d successfully managed to avoid Justin after first and second period. Trina and Mackenzie, too. But not Cole.He cornered me in the girls’ bathroom.I was washing my hands as he stepped inside. A classmate of mine was in

He nod was stiff. “Yeah, just not as much as I’d hoped. His name is Ethan Hamilton, he’s twenty-one and a business major at Birmingham Southern. He has a fifteen-year-old sister who was diagnosed with leukemia last year.”How sad. “What are you going to do about him?”Violence gleamed in his eyes. “Besides have a little chat with him?”I knew that look. The chat would involve fists rather than words. “Are you sure you want to do that? He sounds like a pretty decent guy, and Blood Lines around his house isn’t that uncommon. And I kind of understood Reeve’s point today, about not being able to do the back-and-forth with you anymore. It might be time to let her go.”He peered at me for a long while before saying, “Do you really think you’re in a good enough place to be throwing out advice? No, don’t bother with a response. We both know the answer. So why don’t I live my life, and you live yours?” With that, he stomped away.Great. I doubted I could have messed that up more.A chirp from

Cole tumbled to the ground as if he’d been hit by a Mack truck. He quickly jumped to his feet, now watching me warily. His cheek was split, but because he was in spirit form, the wound wasn’t bleeding. His body would be, though. Back at the barn, I bet crimson streaked his face.“What’s going on with you?” he demanded.Feed from him.The words whispered through my mind, and I didn’t care who had spoken them. Hunger gnawed at me, relentless. Yes, I would feed from him, would feast on his spirit. Scowling, I stalked forward. The red flames moved to my shoulders. I swung out my arm, but Cole ducked. He could have launched a counterattack, could have kicked my feet out from under me. Instead, he straightened, his hands fisting.“Don’t do this,” he said.Not my will. Do it, I would. I circled him, our gazes locked together.FEED!“Go ahead, finish your story,” I commanded, doing what he hadn’t done and kicking out my leg. His ankles knocked together, and he tumbled to the ground a second t