Everyone, that is, except me. I didn’t kick too hard about that.

All the same, I would have liked to see who was cooking my food. I was missing my own kitchen

more and more. Industrial food is okay, especially when they spare no expense for the linen napkins

and fresh ingredients. But I wanted my mom’s cookie jar. I wanted the spatula I always used for

grilled cheese.

I wanted my life back. The kitchen implements were just a symbol.

Eating with the Council had been a whole different level of uncomfortable. Mostly because I’d been

watching the door, waiting for Anna to come in, and also because they kept looking at me like I was

some exotic creature. Good thing I wasn’t planning on doing it ever again.

I felt the eyes on me again. Was everybody looking?

A flash of red caught my attention. Kir, across the lunchroom at the entrance to the hall leading to

the teachers’ wing. He inclined his head slightly, drew back into the shadow of the hall’s entrance,

and vanished. Had he noticed that I’d seen him?

A faint taste of waxed oranges slid across the back of my tongue.

What the . . . I stared at the empty archway, my fingers still glued to the locket’s curve. The metal

cooled under my fingertips. My thumb rubbed across the spidery symbols etched on the back, their

edges suddenly scraping-sharp.

I knew he was definitely on Anna’s side. What was this, then? A message? Just to throw me off or

scare me?

It worked. My heart was pounding, and my palms were slippery.

Leon made a short annoyed sound. “Don’t stare. You think we’re the only ones watching you?”

“No.” I found my voice. “No, really, I don’t think that at all.” Chew on that. I headed for the steam

tables again, but the funny thing was, I’d lost my appetite.

Graves and Benjamin appeared as I set my tray on the table that we’d claimed my second day here.

I tried asking what the hell that was about, but neither of them answered. Instead, they both tried so

hard to amuse me I was able to just make noises and let them circle each other verbally. I shoved

my food around with my fork, and afterward I couldn’t even remember what I’d been not-eating.

Jealousy

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A couple of weeks went by, and no Anna. I stayed as close to Graves and the wulfen as I could, and

I noticed some of them—tall boys with muscled shoulders and a habit of dropping their heads and

stepping aside when I glanced at them—showing up in the halls and sticking around. Benjamin said

nothing, but I caught him and Leon exchanging glances. The blonds seemed oblivious, but their

shoulder holsters were now in plain sight instead of quasi-hidden under jackets.