And the rest of it spills out of me with hot relief, a sensation that feels even better than when I divulged the truth to Ximena. Daphne is already taking this seriously, and she knows things that I don’t—about Jude, about vampires, and about whatever the “Corrupter” is. She wants to help me, and the more I focus on that, the easier it gets to talk.

Because I’m starting to fear that I really do need help. Jude might say that the Syndicate doesn’t believe in the Corrupter, but he still came to Fulton Heights with my name in his mouth, a list of dreams I’d had, and knowledge of symptoms I was about to experience. That’s no trick or strange coincidence, and it scares the shit out of me to contemplate.

When I’m finished, Daphne has a faraway look in her eyes, one hand clutching tightly at her collar. We’ve been outside for a while now, and while my skin doesn’t itch in that “vampire approacheth” way, my toes are starting to go numb. Finally, her gaze refocuses, tension knotting her forehead. “I wish you’d told me about this before.”

“Oh, sorry, it’s just that I’m not super excited to share it with people!” I exclaim. “And it’s not like you told me you were an actual vampire-killing Jedi before, either, you know.”

“Listen to me. You can’t trust Jude Marlowe, okay? I know he’s pretty—”

“That’s not what this is about!” I protest, but inside I still feel kind of called out. It’s not like I was hoping he’d ask me to prom or something, but he isn’t in my private time thoughts for no reason. “He knew about the dreams, he said I’d have changes in my body—”

“Big deal!” Daphne throws her hands up. “You’re sixteen, your body is changing all the time!”

“I am not still going through puberty!” I shout way too loudly for a public place. Getting a grip, I continue, “Who is he, anyway? Why do you know so much about him?”

“I’ve been studying the Syndicate and its operatives since forever, and I can probably tell you things about them that they’ve even forgotten about themselves.” Her tone is grave, one mitten curling into a fist. “Jude’s father was a British merchant, and his mother was from Algiers. They settled in London in the late sixteenth century, and Jude was born around the year 1590.