TRISTAN

Savannah came to school after all. It took everything I had to block my ticked off thoughts from her. Obviously she was ignoring the danger of the situation, and anything I tried to tell her at this point would only make her more stubborn about it. So I sat back in my seat and tried not to think at all, even as a slow burn rolled in my stomach. I just had to pray that the protective charms I'd put up earlier would work like I hoped.

The charms got their first test at the end of English lit. Just before the bell, both Savannah's and my arms broke out in goosebumps as pinpricks of pain briefly exploded across my skin. Someone was using power on campus.

Drawing in a sharp breath through her nose, Savannah looked at me in question.

Not me this time, I silently told her.

A second, brief but intense explosion of pain jabbed across my neck and arms. What the heck was going on out there?

Her gaze flicked to the small windows on the far wall, which were too high up to give a view of anything but the sky. Her eyebrows pinched together into a worried scowl as she quickly gathered her things.

When the dismissal bell rang, as usual, Savannah was the first one out of her desk. I took my time stuffing papers into my notebook, hanging back on purpose with the plan to follow her at a distance and make sure no one's vamp wards were hurting her in the main hall.

She didn't make it that far.

The Brat Twins were waiting for her in the alcove shared by the two neighboring English rooms. They used the alcove like a choke point, letting everyone but her past.

"You," Vanessa hissed as soon as she saw Savannah. Vanessa raised her hands in the air, palm out. They were covered in what looked like red paint. "You did this!"

"Make her take it off," Hope whined behind her sister while furiously rubbing one red palm against the other.

A quick peek into their thoughts revealed the twins had been up to a new twist on their usual nastiness. During second period, they'd met up with Dylan in the front parking lot and tried to throw magic-laced paint on Sav's new car. That was probably the two uses of power Sav and I had just sensed. But somehow their spell had backfired and the paint had ended up on the twins' own hands instead.

I ignored the part where Vanessa believed Savannah had put a repelling spell on her car. Obviously that was pure Clann paranoia. What I couldn't figure out was why the twins weren't at least smart enough to cancel their own spell so the paint would wash off.

"What's the matter?" Savannah murmured. "Did you get paint on yourselves?" One corner of her mouth twitched.

"You b-" Choking, Vanessa took a step forward, drawing back a hand as if to slap Savannah.

More pinpricks of pain erupted over my skin.

The twins were using power? Here, on Savannah and in front of everyone? They must have lost their minds.

"Hey!" I lunged out of my desk, ignoring the paperwork sliding onto the floor along with my books.

Savannah glanced over her shoulder at me. The pain stopped.

"Later, girls," she said to the twins. Then she took off down the main hall.

"What do you two think you're doing?" I demanded, wishing the twins were guys instead of girls so I could take them outside and throw them up against a brick wall.

"It wasn't us!" Vanessa stuttered, her eyes wider than I'd ever seen them. Both girls were pale beneath their spray on tans. "I swear it, Tristan. It was her! She's learned how to use power."

I didn't bother to reply to that.

Stepping around them, I searched the hall. There. Savannah was leaning against a wall of lockers fifty yards away.

I recognized a too-familiar head of shaggy blond hair inches away from her. A shift of bodies in the crowded hall let me see that Dylan was actually holding Savannah trapped against the lockers, his hands braced at either side of her head.

On each wrist, he wore a leather cuff. Vamp wards. That's where the most recent needles of pain had come from. He was trying to either knock her out or kill her, but the charms I'd put up before second period were blocking his wards.

"It's Dylan," I told the twins cowering behind me while keeping my eyes locked on him. "He's the one you're sensing."

Grinding my teeth, I moved down the hall at a near jog, elbowing people out of my way and trying to decide where to hit Dylan first. Thank God for my vamp ward blocks. If not for them, Savannah would be on the floor unconscious or possibly even dead right now. Dylan's wards were only inches from her cheeks.

He frowned at those cuffs now, obviously wondering why the wards weren't affecting Savannah.

A second later, his back slammed to the lockers where Savannah had just been. Except it wasn't because of me. I'd planned to play by the Clann rules, skip the magic and just punch him, but I was still yards away.

More pain stabbed into life over my skin.

Somehow their positions had become reversed, and it was Savannah who held Dylan prisoner now, though she didn't touch him in any way, her hands at her sides palm out, fingers spread.

As if she really were using power to pin him there.

No way. Not possible. Except...the proof was right there for me to both see and feel. Somehow, Savannah had learned to use power. And judging by how Dylan struggled yet couldn't get free, she was way past the beginner level. She must have been developing her skills for months. But how? And who would have been crazy enough to teach her?

Leaning toward Dylan, Savannah tilted her head back and to the side in a way that reminded me of a curious lioness playing with its prey. She smiled and licked her lips, holding his gaze with her own.

"Dylan, Dylan, Dylan," she said. "You tried to fry my brand-new car, didn't you? You already took out my truck. What are you trying to do, force me to fly around like a bat instead?" She grinned at him, ignoring me though she must have felt me approach just like I could always sense when she was near.

I stopped two feet short of them, the needles of pain on my skin screaming for attention now. God, she was a strong witch, almost half as strong as Emily already. I resisted the urge to rub my skin, focusing on her instead.

For the first time, she didn't look like my Savannah. She didn't look like she belonged to anyone at all. She had become a creature completely alien to our planet, her eyes gone a silver so light it was one shade short of white, her impossibly smooth and poreless skin a sharp and unnatural contrast to the bloodred of her hair.

She was vamping out.

Her gaze dropped to his neck, her lips moving as she murmured something to him too low for me to hear, and Dylan's eyes widened.

In his shock and fear, Dylan's mental guard dropped, letting me hear his every thought.

Oh God, she's going to do it, he thought. She's going to kill me right here in front of everyone. Look at her! She doesn't even care if anyone sees.

I glanced around, worried we were drawing an audience. Thankfully no one cared what Dylan seemed to be doing with his latest prize against the lockers. They were all too busy trying to get to class or lunch before the tardy bell rang.

"Maybe I should give you what you want after all." She eased in closer to him, peering into his eyes. "That's what you want, isn't it? For me to lose control and bite you? The thing is, I can't figure out if your daddy put you up to it, or if this one's all your idea."

Feeling her breath on his cheek, Dylan moaned, his knees bending.

"Ah, ah, ah, we're not done talking yet," Savannah said, and the pain stabbed harder at my skin as she ramped up the power to hold him upright. "Now what was I saying? Oh yeah, we were discussing how much you want me to bite you right now."

Yes, do it, Dylan thought, and I rocked back on my heels. Sink your teeth into me!

Whoa. He really wanted her to lose control.

"But you didn't answer my question," she said. "Do you want me to bite you because it'll help your dad become Clann leader, so he'll stop using magic to punish you? Or is it because you've got a thing for vamps?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, freak," Dylan pushed out through gritted teeth.

But he couldn't stop his mind from revealing the truth.

Both. I want to know how it feels, and it'll make Dad stop.

And then I saw his memories, thousands of them, flashing through his mind, his body twisting with pain as his father hit him with power over and over, using magic instead of his fists because the power didn't leave marks.

My gut twisted. Oh man. "Dylan, why didn't you say something?"

Realizing for the first time that I was there, Dylan's gaze darted sideways since Savannah wouldn't let his head turn.

"Tristan! She's using power, man!"

The tardy bell rang, emptying the hall around us. I looked behind me. Even the Brat Twins had scattered, probably in fear that Savannah would go after them once she was done with Dylan. It was just the three of us now. Time to twist this mess into something else so the Clann spy wouldn't go running off to gather up a lynch mob for Savannah.

In the sudden silence, I risked stepping closer to Sav and resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Dylan, you're imagining things. Savannah would never risk starting a war, especially right now when things are already tense between everybody. She knows the rules. She would never learn to use power."

"She's doing it right now!" he insisted, his face contorting with pain.

"He wants me to bite him, Tristan," she murmured. "Is it really breaking the rules if he begs for it?"

I squeezed her shoulder. Don't, Sav. I know you can hear me. Now please trust me. You've scared the crap out of him. It's enough for today. Any more use of power and the adult descendants are going to come running, if they aren't already.

She frowned at me, hesitating but at least listening to me.

Can you trust me to take over and get us out of this? I silently asked her.

One corner of her mouth tightened as if in disappointment. But she sighed and gave the tiniest nod.

As she pulled back her magic, I ramped up my own, using my power now to hold Dylan in place.

"Dylan, don't be an idiot," I said out loud. "I'm the only one using power here. And before you even think about going to the elders to complain, you'd better remember who started this. They told everyone to leave her alone. How do you think they're gonna react if they find out you're messing with a vamp and trying to destroy the peace treaty?"

He opened his mouth to argue.

I leaned in closer, getting in his face. "More importantly, I told you to leave her alone. What did you expect me to do when you refused? You should be grateful this is all I'm doing to you."

She's not the one...? he wondered, squinting as he looked from Savannah to me again. It's a trick! It's all a setup to mess with my mind. She was just pretending she was the one using power on me. And her car...Tristan put a protective spell on it, didn't he? She probably went whining to him about her truck last week, and he just couldn't resist riding in to the rescue again.

"Let me go." He glared at me now, the terror in his voice turning to fury as he fell for the lie.

"Are you going to stop messing with her and learn to play nice?" I said.

He hesitated, considering.

I ratcheted my energy level up yet another notch, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead and upper lip. Savannah twitched under my hand.

Sorry, I told her. Hang in there just a little longer.

"Fine," Dylan mumbled.

"What's that?" I pretended I couldn't hear him.

"I said okay, I'll leave her alone." He looked away as sweat rolled down past his eyes.

I leaned back. Then on second thought, I reached down and ripped one of the cuffs off his wrist. While he watched, I flash burned the ward until it was reduced to a tiny indoor snowstorm of ashes falling to the polished vinyl floor.

"One ward's enough," I told him. "Two's an attack. Next time I see you wearing more than one ward, I'll burn it while it's still on you."

I stepped back, and Dylan slunk off down the hall toward the cafeteria. I didn't move until he was through the exit doors and out of sight.

Savannah sighed loudly and leaned against the lockers. Then she started to slide down toward the floor.

"Whoa, I've got you, Rocky." I wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her up.

She gave me a weak grin. "Thanks. No one ever warned me how exhausting this stuff is."

"It takes energy to use energy." I slung her closest arm over my shoulders so she could hang on. "You need to refuel. Do you have some bl-"

"I've got an emergency stash. But if I use it, I have to go home. There are...complications. I could draw energy, though. Just help me get outside?"

"Or you could kiss-"

"Don't start, Tristan." She tried to pull away.

"Okay, okay. I was just joking." Sort of.

We headed out the front doors, turning left past the entrance toward a small courtyard where we sat on a blue metal bench, Savannah at the end closest to the grass. She kicked off her shoes and angled her legs so she could rest her bare feet on the grass, then closed her eyes and sighed.

Needles arced over my skin, but I ignored them, too caught up in watching the play of emotions on her face.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, glanced down at the goose bumps on my hands, and smiled. "Guess it's my turn to apologize and tell you it'll be over in just another minute?"

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt that bad. It's just...weird." At her raised eyebrow, I added, "I mean, that you're doing it."

I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on my knees. "For a beginner you're sure progressing fast. Is someone helping you or...?"

"Not really."

I frowned. "Working without a teacher is dangerous, Sav."

She laughed. "No kidding. I passed out the first time I tried to draw energy. I kept grounding by accident."

I froze. "This summer?"

She nodded. "The day you texted me, actually."

So that's what I felt. "Did you sleep it off?"

"No. Nanna showed up and told me what to do."

She had talked with her dead grandma. Which meant she must have been really far gone. Fear mixed with fury, pushing me to my feet. I stood in front of her so I could see her face clearly.

"Are you crazy? You almost died, didn't you?"

"I had to do something. Dylan was threatening to hurt Anne. What would you have done?"

"You should have come to me for help."

She sighed. "I'm tired of always having to ask someone else for help. It was time for me to grow up, take care of my own problems for a change."

She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked away.

How could she be half vamp and supposedly dangerous to me and any other descendant, yet seem so fragile?

My gut knotted. I wanted to hold her, tell her she wasn't alone, that I was right here for her. But she didn't want to hear any of that.

We stayed there for a moment, the heated air between us quickly cooling and turning awkward.

"What you did today was reckless," I said.

Shoving her feet back into her shoes, she stood up and headed for the entrance doors. "You just can't help but try to boss me around, can you?"

I followed her back into the main hall. "I'm serious, Sav. Now that descendants have died, things are going to get even more tense. If you scare Dylan too much, there's no telling what you might set off."

"No kidding." Her cheeks turned pink.

Remembering Dylan's twisted thoughts about her today, it was my turn to look away now. I couldn't believe he was that messed up.

"Did you know about...his dad? That he's using magic to abuse him?"

I shook my head. "I swear, he never told me." I wished he had, though. The Clann could have stepped in, either forced Mr. Williams to stop or maybe even taken Dylan away from all of that.

"I feel sorry for him. His dad's the reason he keeps going after us. The Williamses want to make you break the rules bad enough to force your dad into a decision between protecting you or upholding the Clann rules. They figure he'd choose you over the Clann, and then they could push for a change in leadership."

I shook my head. "What his dad is doing is wrong. But don't make excuses for Dylan. He still makes his own decisions. He doesn't have to play into his dad's political games."

At the main hall's exit, I pushed the heavy metal door open, holding it for her so she could go through first.

Scowling, she ducked under my arm and outside. "Oh, so he should just refuse to obey his parents and take the constant punishment instead?"

"No, of course not. He needs to either stand up to his dad or else leave home."

"What if he can't? What if his dad's too strong and he doesn't have anywhere to go? You know, not everyone has gobs of money and power at their disposal." She walked faster, arms crossed, headed for the catwalk.

Easily keeping pace with her, I ignored the jab about money. "Dylan's a descendant. He has the entire Clann to turn to for help. All he has to do is ask."

Not to mention he could have talked to me about it instead of stabbing me in the back.

She shook her head in silent disagreement.

"What, you think the Clann wouldn't help him? Come on, Sav, they're flawed but they're not that bad."

She shrugged and turned onto the ramp leading down to the cafeteria's sidewalk. "They didn't seem to have a problem kidnapping and torturing my grandma."

"That was a mistake. My parents were desperate and freaking out and weren't thinking straight. Otherwise my dad never would have allowed that to happen."

Pressing her lips together, she walked down the ramp in silence.

Though I had no intention of eating lunch today and having to deal with the ticked off hordes of Charmers and descendants, I followed Savannah to the sidewalk, wanting this conversation with her to last as long as possible even if it wasn't the happiest of discussions. If fighting with her was all I could get, I would take it.

As we circled the cafeteria's brick exterior to the nearest entrance, I couldn't resist saying, "Speaking of mistakes, do you want to talk about how you nearly vamped out and bit Dylan?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was just messing with him. I never would have bitten him. I don't do that."

"Ever?"

"Never."

"You've never bitten anyone."

"No!"

We stopped at the doors. "And yet I never see you eat anything in there." I jerked a thumb at the cafeteria.

"My dad gets me donated blood once a week. I just go to lunch every other day to see my friends since we don't have any classes together this year."

"Donated blood? I guess that's not so bad." Maybe being a vamp was a lot easier nowadays than her dad had made it out to be. They might even have their own blood bank system by now, complete with delivery boys. Ordering blood was probably as simple as calling out for a pizza.

She snorted. "It's still bad, Tristan. Living off of other peoples' blood comes with a lot of complications."

"Yeah? Like what, deciding which blood type tastes best?"

"No, more like the fact that every time I feed, I take in that person's memories. Good, bad, crazy, boring, all of it hits me like a flood, and I can't control it for hours. It's definitely nothing I would ever wish on anybody. Even Dylan."

"Or me?"

"Especially not you," she whispered.

"Shouldn't you let me make that decision?"

Her chin lifted. "No. Because even if by some miracle the turning process actually worked for you, you couldn't possibly understand the consequences of that choice until after it's too late. No matter how much you might regret it later, you can't undo this."

"I would never regret getting to spend forever with you."

Swallowing hard, she looked away. After a minute of silence, she finally made eye contact again only to change the subject. "I heard about you and Bethany. Sorry it didn't work out."

"I thought you didn't want me to lead her on anymore."

"I wanted you to be happy with her. And honest with her if you couldn't be."

I gave in to the urge to study her face, rememorizing every curve, the wispy curls at the edges of her forehead, the new pearl-like gleam to her skin. "You were right. I was leading her on, though I swear I didn't know it. And when I finally did, I told her the truth."

One corner of her mouth deepened. "From the Charmers' reaction, I take it that didn't go over well with her."

"Yeah, not so much." I gave her a sheepish smile, appreciating the sympathy even if I didn't deserve it.

She opened the door, and I grabbed the edge of it to hold it for her, taking one last chance to be close to her.

"Hey, Sav?"

She stopped, turned back, looked up at me and was close enough to kiss.

"Be careful, okay?" My hand ached to touch her cheek. "Dylan and the twins are going to be suspicious now, no matter what I tell them. They might try to push you again just to prove to the adults that you're breaking the rules. Don't let them make you lose control again. You're stronger than that, stronger than them."

She searched my eyes, a faint smile curving her lips. "Thanks, Tristan."

Still wearing that trace of a smile, she entered the cafeteria, letting the doors drop closed between us.

Taking a deep breath, I reached for another charmed stick of gum in my pocket.