Jonathan grinned. “Just one of me,” he said.

She stared back at him, still too overwhelmed to make sense of anything.

“No, there aren’t any others,” he said, more seriously. “I’m the only person they didn’t mention.”

“What, don’t they like you?”

He shrugged. “I’m not in the club, you know? I mean, Rex is okay, I guess, and Dess is actually pretty cool.” He paused, obviously not wanting to get started on Melissa. “But they take the whole thing way too seriously.”

“Too seriously?”

“Yeah. They act like they’re on a mission from the Midnighters World Council or something.”

“There’s a Midnighters World Council?” Jessica asked.

He laughed. “No, but I bet Rex wishes there was. He thinks this whole midnight thing has some deep and mysterious meaning.”

Jessica blinked. It had never occurred to her to doubt that there were deep and mysterious forces at work. It all seemed pretty deep and mysterious to her.

“So what do you think, Jonathan?”

“I think we’re lucky to have a whole world to ourselves. To play in, explore, do whatever we want. Why mess it up with some big purpose?”

Jessica nodded. Since the darkling had attacked her, the secret hour had become a crisis, a deadly challenge. But that first, beautiful dream had been something else entirely. Something…easy.

“For Rex,” Jonathan continued, “the blue time is like some big textbook, and he’s always studying for the final exam. For me, it’s recess.”

She gave him a sour look. “There are some pretty big bullies on the playground.”

He shrugged. “I’m faster than the bullies. Always have been.”

Jessica wondered how that could be true. But Jonathan seemed perfectly at ease. He dangled his foot outside the window, never checking over his shoulder, unafraid.

“You guys all seem to enjoy the secret hour,” she said sadly. “You all think it’s exciting, for one reason or another. For me, it’s just been a nightmare. This thing—these things—tried to kill me last night.”

“That’s what Dess told me.”

“She told you about me?”

“Yeah, back when Rex first spotted you. And this morning she gave me your address. What, did you think I used superpowers to find you?”

“The phone book, actually.”

He smiled. “You’re not in information yet. I checked. But Melissa got the psychic 411 on you last night, so Dess called me.”

“Dess gave you my address, but she didn’t tell me about you?”

“She would have, but not in front of Rex. He and I have this…personality conflict. Namely, I think he should get a new one. But Dess prefers to stay out of it.”

“Oh.” Jessica leaned back against the wall. “This gets more complicated every minute.”