my place in the world again. I was waiting for an adult to coach me on what to do up against the

Real World.

I sat there thinking about it for a little while, and Christophe just stood there. Waiting. He didn’t

poke or prod or anything; he was just letting me figure it out. I appreciated that.

But I would’ve appreciated it more if he was Graves.

“No,” I finally decided. “But I’m not believing you’re sticking around.”

“Do I at least I have a chance to prove it?” Still looking out the window. But his shoulders were still

drawn up. Still expecting a punch.

I wondered about that. What must it be like to be him? To have everyone be afraid of you because

of things you couldn’t change—where you were born, what you were made to do?

It was like the djamphir sneering at the wulfen. It wasn’t pretty and I hated it. And at least Graves

had some sort of bond with the werwulfen to get by—he’d made friends almost right away.

Christophe’s own kind were scared of him.

The least I could do was give him a chance. Especially since he’d always done what he said he

would.

“I guess so.” It didn’t sound welcoming at all. Or happy. But it was all I had.

He slumped. “Good enough. Will you eat breakfast, then?”

“I suppose.” But thinking about how I met him brought up what I really wanted to do. “I want to

see Ash. And I want to look for Graves.” Even though he’s probably two states away by now. I

could have been even farther away, by now.

And yet. Come and find me. Did Graves really think I would?

Christophe nodded. “I expected as much. Will you tell me what happened yesterday?”

Weren’t you there? But then I realized what he was talking about.

Anna. Which brought up another thing. “What’s going to happen to you? What kind of Trial are we

talking about?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He dismissed it with a wave of one hand, turning finally to look at me.

The sunlight dimmed behind a cloud. “Everything is well in hand.”

No way. Jeez. “Anna really hates you.” Like she hates me. What did I ever do to her? Jesus.

“Fickle woman,” he muttered. “Look, Dru, this is temporary. Let me handle it, and then we can get

down to the real business.”

Oh, so you’re going to “handle” it? A faraway, cool relief filled my numb chest. It’s about damn

time someone handled something. I can’t do it all by myself. “Which is?”

“Training you. Making sure Sergej can’t get to you before you bloom, and after.”

Well, I was all over that. But still, it wasn’t comforting. “What’s the point? He’s just going to keep

trying to kill me.”