I knew in the back of my mind that there was a huge difference in the way Moroi and Strigoi interacted with humans. Still, I couldn’t formulate any arguments while in front of Liam. He had me too dumbstruck—and afraid. It was easy to believe every word the Alchemists said. This was what we were fighting against. This was the nightmare we couldn’t allow to happen.

I didn’t know what to say, but Zeke didn’t seem to expect much.

“Come on. Let’s go.” To Liam, he added, “And you’d better eat that food because you aren’t getting any more until morning. I don’t care how cold and hard it is.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed. “What do I care about human food when soon I’ll be drinking the nectar of the gods? Your blood will be warm on my lips, yours and your pretty girl’s.” He began to laugh then, a sound far more disturbing than any of Keith’s screams.

That laughter continued as Zeke led me out of the room. The door shut behind us, and I found myself standing in the hall, numbed. Zeke regarded me with concern.

“I’m sorry… I probably shouldn’t have shown you that.”

I shook my head slowly. “No… you were right. It’s good for us to see. To understand what we’re doing. I always knew… but I didn’t expect anything like that.”

I tried to shift my thoughts back to everyday things and wipe that horror from my mind. I looked down at my coffee. It was untouched and had grown lukewarm. I grimaced.

“Can I get more coffee before we go?” I needed something normal. Something human.

“Sure.”

Zeke led me back to the lounge. The pot I’d made was still hot. I dumped out my old coffee and poured some new. As I did, the door burst open, and a distraught Tom Darnell came in. He seemed surprised to see anyone here and pushed past us, sitting on the couch and burying his face in his hands. Zeke and I exchanged uncertain looks.

“Mr. Darnell,” I began. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer me right away. He kept his face covered, his body shaking with silent sobs. I was about to leave when he looked up at me, though I got the feeling he wasn’t actually seeing me. “They decided,” he said. “They decided about Keith.”

“Already?” I asked, startled. Zeke and I had only spent about five minutes with Liam.

Tom nodded morosely. “They’re sending him back… back to Re-education.”

I couldn’t believe it. “But I… but I told them! I told them he’s not in league with vampires. He believes what… the rest of us believe. It was his choices that were bad.”

“I know. But they said we can’t take the risk. Even if Keith seems like he doesn’t care about them—even if believes he doesn’t—the fact remains he still set up a deal with one. They’re worried that willingness to go into that kind of partnership might subconsciously influence him. Best to take care of things now. They’re… they’re probably right. This is for the best.”