Page 31 (1/2)

I told myself that I wasn't jealous, and that it was fine Alice hadn't made any attempt to contact me in the past feeeks Elodie was a better student anyway I glanced over to the closet, where I'd stashed Jenna's lion, Bram I'd had to hide it a few days after she'd left because it hurt toothe necklace Alice had given me around Bram's neck for a similar reason Not like I needed it to keepat the closet when rin I don't knohich one of us was more shocked when I burst into tears

She was across the roo ed me while I cried

Jenna reached behind her and pulled a box of Kleenex offit to me

"Thanks" I sniffled intobreath "Whew I feel better"

"Rough couple of weeks, huh?"

I glanced at her She looked the best I'd ever seen her Her skin was still pretty pale, but there was a light rose flush on her cheeks Even her pink stripe looked brighter

"Did they fill you in?"

Jenna nodded "Yeah, but I can't believe it Archer really didn't strike me as the secret deain "You or anybody else You ith the Council Are they freaked?"

"Big time From what I heard, Archer and his whole family disappeared off the face of the earth No one knohat happened, but it seems pretty clear they were all in on it" Jenna ran a hand through her hair

"It's crazy to think he was hiding that all this ti down at hed

"You hate him for what he did, but you miss him," Jenna finished

I looked up at her, surprised "Exactly"

She reached up and swept her hair to one side, revealing a pair of light blue puncture wounds just below her ear "I know a little so for the enemy"

With a sad smile, she let her hair fall back

I shifted on the bed to ainst my pillows

"So tell me about London"

Jenna rolled her eyes and kicked off her shoes "I never even got to London The Council has a house in Savannah they use when they have stuff to do at Hecate I just hung out there while they asked me a bunch of questions, like what vaonna lie: it was pretty scary at tiive h "The what?"

Blushing, Jenna looked away and rubbed one foot on top of the other

"It's just this thing this girl there said"

"A pretty girl?" I asked, burinning froirl's name was Victoria, she worked for the Council, and she was a vampire too

"They have vampires that work for the Council?"

"Yeah," Jenna said, more animated than I'd ever seen her "They work all sorts of cool jobs,as security for VIPs in the Council"

"Speaking of which, you didn't run into my dad by any chance, did you?"

Jenna shook her head "Nope, sorry But I overheard Vix say he would be out here in a few days"

"Vix?" I asked, doing ain, and I laughed "Wow, does Braht have to share you soon?"

"Shut up," she said, but she was still s "Hey, where is Braoing to the closet I fished Bram out froht him with a sed, and I watched that pretty flush seep from her cheeks as she stared at the stuffed lion

Or, more accurately, at the necklace around his neck

"Where did you get this?"

"The necklace? It was a present"

"From who?" She raised her eyes to mine, and I saw real fear in the sweat broke out on the back of my neck

"Why? What is it?"

Jenna shuddered and pushed Bram away from her "It's a bloodstone"

I crossed the roo the necklace over his head

The large flat stone looked nothing like a bloodstone It wasn't even red

"It's black," I said to Jenna, holding it out to her, but she scooted back against the headboard

"That's because it's de within me went completely still "What?"