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Victoria nodded stiffly "You’re my soldier, you know You’re supposed to obeyout there Sorry to tell you this, babe, but he now colance at Mary Ann, Riley spun on his heel and strode away, soon disappearing into the trees

TWO

ADEN AWOKE WITH A JOLT, a shout of pain caught in his throat, wild gaze cataloging his surroundings Bedroom Desk Dresser Plain white walls Planked floor

His bedroom in the bunkhouse at the ranch, then

Alive He was alive, not burned to a crisp Thank God But…

Was he intact? He patted hi himself over Skin? Check Smooth and wars? Check Most iirl? No Thank God, thank God, thank God He expelled a sigh of relief, sagged against theelse

Sweat soaked him His hair was plastered to his head, and his boxers looked like they’d…like he’d… His cheeks flushed with heat If Shannon, his roo a wet dreaood-naturedly That’s just what friends did Still No, thanks He--

Saw the bottorooves in the wooden slats, as if he’d clawed and kicked at his friend’s bed Repeatedly He glanced at his fingernails, and sure enough They were ragged and bloody, ood shards embedded underneath the on vampire blood?

Worry about that later

"Elijah?" he asked Ti the drill

One down "Julian?" The corpse whisperer, as they called hi dead

Here

Sweet Tn, one to go "Caleb?" The body possesser

Yo

Rock on The gang was all here

Once, Aden had wanted theone He loved them, but come on A little privacy would be nice But then he’d lost Eve Her naht have been Anne in her real life, but she’d always be Eve to Aden

He missed her, his motherly time-traveler Missed her terribly Noasn’t sure he could deal with losing the others They were a part of him His best friends His constant coht uilty They deserved their freedom Wanted their freedoure out who they’d been before taking prime real estate in his head, as if they were afraid he would succeed and they, too, would have to leave and experience the unknown

Where Eve had gone, none of them knew They only knew that she’d disappeared and hadn’t returned

So what’s going on? Julian asked

What he ood kind of hot We burned, dude Burned

And most of us normally don’t share your dreams, Julian added

Well, Elijah did, but that was because Elijah was psychic and his visions were Aden’s Tonight, last night, whenever, hadn’t been a vision, though It had been real, aHe re her…sisters? Yes, her sisters But nothing else stood out The rest of what happened was blurred at the edges, as if his mind couldn’t process what it had seen If that were true, though, why did he re burned alive? Why did they all re too painful to recall?

So? Julian prompted An explanation would be nice

"Vampire blood," he reminded them He couldn’t just think his replies because they couldn’t hear his inner voice ah two other sets of eyes"

Oh, yeah And speaking of vamps, Caleb said Where’s ours?

Victoria, he meant She’s mine, Aden wanted to snap, but didn’t Caleb the Pervert couldn’t help hiet "She’s supposed to meet us here and walk to school with us" What time was it?

Before he could check the clock on his desk, his bedroo open, and Seth and Ryder strode inside

"--Shannon won’t h you couldn’t tell his race fro at him He’d streaked his black hair with red, and had blue eyes and pale skin

Ryder Jones, as behind him, arched a brow He, too, had dark hair, but his eyes were brown "You sure? You kno possessive that dude is with his stuff"

Aden grabbed the sheets and jerked theuys Knockfor?" he grulance in his direction

"Just check the desk," Seth told Ryder, and the boy shuffled forward to obey