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Ree stood behind hi to do, and she wondered if his sense of smell had been affected by his transfored direction and headed upstairs, still sniffing the air, she figured it must have He ht behind hiht to his rooer obvious as he looked around Once he moved and Ree could see into the room, she understood why he looked so upset His roo around

"What happened in here?" She picked up soround and went to the laundry hamper that had been turned upside down "Should we call the cops?" With that thought she stopped picking things up, worried she ht contaminate the evidence

"I don’t think the cops can help with this, Ree"

"What? That’s what they do! But ould someone break in to tear up just your room? You don’t have any enemies" She stopped and turned to look at hirioing around the rooin with, so I’ What would they have been looking for?" Ree didn’t answer, because she had no idea

Instead she helped hianizing the stuff on the desk She picked up his cork board and hung it back on the wall She noticed the calendar was circled for the concert, and there was so out fro she slipped it out and looked It was the receipt for the concert tickets He had spent two hundred dollars on those tickets But he had said his friend had bought the ticket and couldn’t go Why would he do that? She stood there pondering the receipt and didn’t notice when Paden walked up behind her

"What are you looking at?" he peered over her shoulder She took the receipt down and turned around so they were facing each other, which left very little space between theht you said your friend bought the other ticket?"

He gulped and looked from her to the receipt "I knew you would like the band, but that you couldn’t afford to go"

"Paden! These tickets were allared at him "And you lied to me!" She stepped a little closer to him and waved the receipt in his face She didn’t think he had ever lied to her before

He grabbed the hand holding the receipt and ht that this was the first tiave a little thud when his fingers didn’t let go

"Don’t be mad, Ree I had money left over fro nice for you"

"Why?" Her voice was a little shaky, and she sed to try and wet her suddenly dry throat

HeShe unconsciously leaned forward in response, her heart beating in her ears Could he hear that? She almost didn’t care His eyes dipped down to her mouth and he finally responded

"Because I really care about you, Ree" His head leaned down and she closed her eyes He was going to kiss her, and her sto all sorts of flips and rolls The receipt in the hand he was holding fell to the floor, and their fingers entwined Her hand felt s so hard it al, and here he was touching her in a way she had only drea Paden juuilty, and he wouldn’t et that" Without another word, he practically sprinted out of the roo me" Ree sat down on his bed and muttered profanities under her breath What had that been about? He was going to kiss her She hadn’t i a person did when they were going to kiss you And he really cared for her? What did that evenor cat You care for your Great Aunt Gertrude She groaned in frustration Maybe she had ns Maybe she had freaked hi into hih his?

When she heard voices co up trash to put back in the can Bryce and Juliette ith Paden They both stopped and Jules sniffed the room the way Paden had

"It almost smells familiar," Juliette said She s

"I know I just can’t put er on it" Paden said

Bryce cocked an eyebrow at Ree He sat down on the bed and whispered, "It’s a little weird that they keep walking around sniffing things Think I’ll do that eventually?"

Ree s on the furniture"

"Hey, dorks! Our hearing is really good now, too" Jules glared at them over her shoulder She walked over to the closet and threw open the door All of his clothes were on the ground, and soe into the back wall

Better luck next tied out when he saw thefor the intruder Apparently, whoever had written the ered in his parents’ rooms and his father’s office After Paden cal, they all went downstairs He left a note for the e the locks on the house and to take the rest of the week off He didn’t want anyone at the house in case the Dark Ones caed the locks because he lost his keys at the concert and to call hiot back in town Then Paden called Weylin to warn hireed to meet him at the antique shop in an hour

Over slices of the cake Ree’s mother sent, Bryce told them about the lecture he had received from his parents Turns out it was only because he hadn’t answered his parents’ phone calls He had told the with Paden and Weylin for a ht

"Even at eighteen, you aren’t really an adult in their eyes" He sighed and ate a chip "I mean, they act like I have a curfew"

"Oh, hush They just love you," Jules said Her story had been the strangest Apparently her father had torn into her for being out all night with her boyfriend She had glossed over the facts, but Ree knew her father didn’t like her dating a boy that wasn’t Japanese Just when her father was about to ground her, though, her mother, who never intervened, ca In Japanese she told oddess had chosen me to do her work and he should be proud ofTold me to do what I must, but to be careful" She looked immensely happy with herself "Can you believe that? Maybe this i isn’t so bad!"

"So, what? You think your mom knows all about this stuff? I mean, it’s on her side of the faht?" Ree asked

"I guess she knows so And it makes sense Our family has always believed that, somewhere down the line, ere related to Amaterasu" She blushed a little "I know that sounds odd to people froht up Most of the farandfather was a big believer Always said he kneas a fact I guess it’s possible he had seen so at one ti around them someti to say to that Ree had noticed odd things as she was growing up, but now she knew it had to do with her being the Alastriana She figured it was possible other people had gifts or noticed things If the Dark Ones were feeding off of humans, it was possible someone escaped to tell the tale