It was a huge, huge admission. Was it something I wanted to do? No. Absolutely not. I still had the same instinctive fears about giving my blood to Moroi, even for scientific purposes. And yet, yesterday’s events—and even the alley attack—had begun making me re-analyze my worldview. Vampires weren’t the only monsters out there. They were hardly monsters at all, especially next to these vampire hunters. How could I judge the enemy on race? I was being reminded more and more that humans were just as capable as vampires of evil—and that vampires were capable of good. It was actions that mattered, and Sonya and Dimitri’s were noble ones. They were fighting to destroy the ultimate evil of all, and as squeamish as I felt about giving my blood, I knew the right thing was to help them.

Sonya knew what a sacrifice this was for me. Her face stayed calm—no whoops of joy—and she nodded solemnly. “I have my collection kit here. I can take a sample before you leave, if you’re sure.”

So soon? Well, why not. It was best to get it over with—especially if Sonya would be leaving town soon anyway. We did it in the kitchen, which seemed slightly more sanitary than the living room. Sonya was no doctor, but whatever training she’d had, it was right in line with what I’d observed when getting physicals. Antiseptic, gloves, a new syringe. All the right procedures were followed, and after a quick poke of the needle, she had my blood sample.

“Thank you, Sydney,” she said, handing me a plastic bandage. “I know how difficult this must have been for you. Believe me, this could really help us.”

“I want to help,” I told her. “I really do.”

She smiled. “I know. And we need all the help we can get. After being one of them…” Her smile faded. “Well, I believe more than ever that their evil needs to be stopped. You might be the key.”

For one second, her words inspired me—that I might somehow play a greater role in the fight against evil and possibly even stop it. Immediately, that thought was replaced by my old panic. No. No. I wasn’t special. I didn’t want to be. I would make a good faith effort to help, but surely nothing would come of it.

I returned to fetch the others. Adrian and Jill were having some earnest conversation in the corner. Eddie and Angeline were also talking, and I overheard her say, “I’ll stay with Jill more at school, just to be safe. We can’t have her be part of some accident or mistaken identity.”

Eddie nodded and looked impressed that she’d suggested it. “Agreed.” Amazing, I thought.

I left soon with my carpool and swung by downtown to drop Adrian off. As I pulled up in front of his building, I saw something that made my jaw drop. Awe and disbelief rolled through me. In what was probably the most ungraceful parking job I’d ever done in my life, I brought Latte to an abrupt stop and was out of the car the second I pulled my keys from the ignition. The others followed moments later.