“Sorry. I can’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“Probably because she’s awake. Did you learn anything by watching?”

“A little. Probably would’ve been more useful if you’d actually made the connection.” Again, Lissa had that petulant tone.

“She could be anywhere in the world, you know, on any schedule.” His words were smothered by a yawn. “Maybe we can try at different times of the day. I’ve been getting her… actually, close to this time. Or sometimes I catch her really early in the day.”

“She could be close by then,” said Lissa.

“Or on a human daylight schedule in some other part of the world.”

Her enthusiasm dropped. “Right. That too.”

“How come you guys never look like you’re working?”

Christian strolled into the room, looking amused at Lissa sitting on the floor and Adrian sprawling on the couch. Standing behind Christian was someone I hadn’t thought I’d see anytime soon. Adrian, who could detect women a mile away, also immediately noticed the newcomer.

“Where’d you get the jailbait?” he asked.

Christian shot Adrian a warning look. “This is Jill.” Jill Mastrano allowed herself to be nudged forward, her light green eyes impossibly wide as she looked around. “Jill, this is Lissa and Adrian.”

Jill was one of the last people I’d expected to see here. I’d met her a little over a month ago. She was in ninth grade, which meant she’d be here on the upper campus in the fall. She had the same super-slim build that most Moroi had, but it was paired with height that was impressive even by vampiric standards. It made her look rail-thin. Her hair fell in light brown curls to the middle of her back and would be beautiful-when she learned how to style it properly. For now, it was kind of messy, and her overall impression-while cute-was kind of awkward.

“H-hi,” she said, looking from face to face. As far as she was concerned, these were Moroi gold star celebrities. She’d nearly passed out when she first met me and Dimitri, thanks to our reputations. From her expression, she was in a similar state now.

“Jill wants to learn how to use her power for good instead of evil,” said Christian with an exaggerated wink. That was his coy way of saying Jill wanted to learn how to fight with her magic. She’d expressed the interest to me, and I’d told her to find Christian. I was glad she’d had the courage to take me up on my advice. Christian was a campus celebrity too, albeit an infamous one.

“Another recruit?” asked Lissa, shaking her head. “Think you’ll keep this one around?”

Jill gave Christian a startled look. “What’s that mean?”

“After the attack, lots of people said they wanted to learn to fight with magic,” Christian explained. “So they found me, and we worked together… once or twice. Then everyone faded away once it got hard, and they realized they had to keep practicing.”

“It doesn’t help that you’re a mean teacher,” pointed out Lissa.

“And so now you’ve got to recruit among children,” said Adrian solemnly.

“Hey,” said Jill indignantly. “I’m fourteen.” Immediately, she flushed at having spoken so boldly to him. He found it amusing, as he did so many other things.

“My mistake,” he said. “What’s your element?”

“Water.”

“Fire and water, huh?” Adrian reached into his pocket and pulled out a one-hundred-dollar bill. He snapped it out straight. “Sweetheart, I’ll make you a deal. If you can make a bucket of water appear and dump over Christian’s head, I’ll give you this.”

“I’ll add in ten,” laughed Lissa.

Jill looked stunned, but I suspected it was because Adrian had called her “sweetheart.” I took Adrian for granted so often that it was easy to forget he really was a hot guy. Christian pushed Jill toward the door.

“Ignore them. They’re just jealous because spirit users can’t go charging into battle like we can.” He knelt down to Lissa’s height on the floor and gave her a quick kiss. “We were practicing in the lounge upstairs, but I’ve got to walk her back now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to,” said Jill. “I can get back there fine. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

Adrian stood up. “You aren’t. If anyone’s going to step up and be the knight in shining armor here, it might as well be me. I’ll take you back and leave the lovebirds to their lovebirding.” He gave Jill a grand bow. “Shall we?”

“Adrian-” said Lissa, a sharp note in her voice.

“Oh, come on,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve got to head back anyway-you guys are of no use once curfew comes. And honestly, give me some credit here. Even I have boundaries.”

He gave Lissa a meaningful look, one that told her she was an idiot for thinking he was going to hit on Jill. Lissa held his gaze for a few moments and realized he was right. Adrian was a scoundrel at times and had never made his interest in me a secret, but walking Jill home wasn’t part of some grand seduction. He really was just being nice.

“All right,” said Lissa. “I’ll see you later. Nice meeting you, Jill.”

“You too,” said Jill. She dared a smile at Christian. “Thanks again.”

“You better show up for our next practice,” he warned.

Adrian and Jill started to step out the door, just as Avery stepped through it.

“Hey, Adrian.” Avery gave Jill a once-over. “Who’s your jailbait?”

“Will you guys stop calling me that?” exclaimed Jill.

Adrian pointed at Avery chastisingly. “Hush. I’ll deal with you later, Lazar.”

“I certainly hope so,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

Jill and Adrian left, and Avery sat down next to Lissa. She seemed animated enough to be drunk, but Lissa smelled no liquor on her. Lissa was rapidly learning that some part of Avery was always just vivacious and carefree, regardless of intoxication.

“Did you really just invite Adrian to your room later?” asked Lissa. She spoke teasingly but had been secretly wondering if something was going on between them. And yeah, that made two of us who wondered.

Avery shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Sometimes we hang out once you guys are all tucked into bed. You aren’t going to get jealous, are you?”

“No,” laughed Lissa. “Just curious. Adrian’s a good guy.”

“Oh?” asked Christian. “Define ‘good.’”

Avery held up her hand and began ticking items off with each finger. “He’s devastatingly handsome, funny, rich, related to the queen…”

“You got your wedding colors picked out?” asked Lissa, still laughing.

“Not yet,” said Avery. “I’m still testing the waters. I figured he’d be an easy notch on the Avery Lazar belt, but he’s kind of hard to read.”

“I really don’t want to be hearing this,” Christian said.

“Sometimes he acts like a love ’em and leave ’em type. Other times, he mopes like some heartbroken romantic.” Lissa exchanged a knowing glance with Christian that Avery didn’t catch while talking. “Anyway, I’m not here to talk about him. I’m here to talk about you and me busting out of here.” Avery threw her arm around Lissa, who nearly fell over.

“Out of where? The dorm?”

“No. This school. We’re going off on a wild weekend to the

Royal Court

.”

“What, this weekend?” Lissa felt like she was three steps behind, and I didn’t blame her. “Why?”

“Because it’s Easter. And her royal majesty thought it would be ‘lovely’ if you could join her for the holiday.” Avery’s tone was grand and high-pitched. “And, since I’ve been hanging out with you, Dad’s decided I’m on good behavior now.”

“Poor oblivious bastard,” murmured Christian.

“So he said I can go with you.” Avery glanced at Christian. “You can too, I guess. The queen said Lissa could bring a guest-in addition to me, of course.”

Lissa looked into Avery’s radiant face and didn’t share her enthusiasm. “I hate going to Court. Tatiana just goes on and on, giving what she thinks is useful advice for me. It’s always boring and miserable now.” Lissa didn’t add that she’d once found Court fun-when I’d gone with her.