Page 3 (1/2)

When her parents finally stood up to take their plates into the kitchen, and Callie started to pack, Luce went into the bathroom and shut the door

She was alone for the first ties She sat down on the vanity stool and looked in the mirror

She was herself, but different Sure, Lucinda Price looked back at her But also

There were Layla in the fullness of her lips, Lulu in the thick waves of her hair, Lu Xin in the intensity of her hazel eyes, Lucia in the twinkle in her eyes She was not alone Maybe she never would be alone again There, in theback at her and wondering, What is to become of us?

What about our history, and our love?

She took a shower and put on clean jeans, her black riding boots, and a long white sweater She sat down on Callie’s suitcase while her friend struggled to zip it up

The silence between them was brutal

"You’re oing through so isn’t you I’m sorry I don’t kno to be more specific, but I’ve missed you So much" Callie’s shoulders tensed "You used to tell ested both girls knew that wasn’t possible anymore

A car door slah the open blinds Luce watched Daniel h it had been less than an hour since he had dropped her off, Luce felt her heart pick up and her cheeks flush at the sight of hi, his red scarf trailing behind him in the wind Even Callie stared

Luce’s parents gathered in the foyer with the time--Dad first, then Mom, then Callie, who squeezed her hard and whispered quickly, "What I saw last night--you, stepping into thatthat shadoas beautiful I just want you to know that"

Luce felt her eyes burn again She squeezed Callie back and whispered, "Thank you"

Then she walked down the path and into Daniel’s ar with them

"There you are, you lovebirds you, doin’ that thing that lovebirds do," Arriane sang, bobbing her head out froed on a wooden library chair, juggling a few Hacky Sacks She wore overalls, cotails

Luce was not overjoyed to be back at the Sword & Cross Library It had been renovated since the fire that had destroyed it, but it still sly had burned there The faculty had explained away the fire as a freak accident, but someone had been killed--Todd, a quiet student who Luce had barely known until the night he died--and Luce knew there was so beneath the surface of the story She blamed herself It reminded her too much of Trevor, a boy she’d once had a crush on, who had died in another inexplicable fire

Now, as she and Daniel rounded the corner of a bookshelf to the library’s study area, Luce saw that Arriane was not alone All of they angel with the hot-pink hair--even Miles and Shelby, aved excitedly and looked decidedly different froels, but also different from mortal teens

Miles and Shelby were--were they holding hands?

But when she looked again, their hands disappeared under the table they were all sitting at Miles tugged his baseball cap lower Shelby cleared her throat and hunched over a book

"Your book," Luce said to Daniel as soon as she spotted the thick spine with the brown crulue near the bottom The faded cover read The Watchers: Myth in Medieval Europe by Daniel Grigori

Her hand reached autoray cover She closed her eyes, because it reht as a student at Sword & Cross, and because the photograph pasted inside the front cover of the book was the first thing that had convinced her that what Daniel told her about their history raph taken froh it shouldn’t have been possible, there was no doubt about it: The young woraph was her

"Where did you find it?" Luce asked

Her voiceaway, because Shelby said, "What is so , anyway?"

"It’s precious Our only key now," Gabbe said "Sophia tried to burn it once"

"Sophia?" Luce’s hand shot to her heart "Miss Sophia tried--the fire in the library? That was her?" The others nodded "She killed Todd," Luce said numbly

So it hadn’t been Luce’s fault Another life to lay at Sophia’s feet It didn’t make Luce feel any better

"And she alht you showed it to her," Roland said "We were all shocked, especially when you lived to talk about it"

"We talked about Daniel kissing"And the fact that I survived it Was that what surprised Miss Sophia?"

"Part of it," Roland said "But there’s plenty more in that book that Sophia wouldn’t have wanted you to know about"

"NotLuce a s time, no see