“Well, you’re stirring up their…cathouse. But whatever your talent turns out to be, Jessica, it must be important. For us.”

She looked up at him. “Are you sure?”

“If they want you, we need you,” Dess said.

“But they want me dead.”

“That’s why we have to find out exactly what you are,” Rex said. “Will you help us do that?”

Jessica looked at them both, then stared glumly out the window at the blue time. Dess saw the careful rows of thumbtacks lining each window and wondered what it would be like to be trapped in your room for the secret hour, with the whole world waiting empty for you outside.

Jessica’s room had a crazed neatness to it, as if she’d been cleaning all day. As Dess had figured, her parents weren’t poor. Jessica had a real stereo and a ton of CDs. But the room hardly looked lived in at all. It felt like a lonely room.

Jessica sighed before she answered. “Sure. What do I have to do?”

Rex smiled. “We have to take you to a certain lore site during the secret hour. There are ways of reading your talent there, testing you to find out what you are.”

“Okay, except what happens when the darklings butt in?”

“They’ll try,” Dess said. “But I can set up defenses in advance, get everything ready in daylight. It’ll be totally safe by the time midnight rolls around. Safer than this room, at least.”

Jessica looked around, clearly unhappy with the idea that her room wasn’t totally secure. “So the only problem is getting there,” she said.

“We’ve got that covered too,” Rex said. “You can tell your parents that you’re spending the night with Dess. She lives out closer to the badlands. You can slip out and get there before—”

“Forget it.”

“Why?” Rex asked.

“I can’t spend the night with anyone, not for the next month, anyway. I’m grounded. Very.”

“Oh.” Rex looked as if he hadn’t expected anything so mundane to mess up his plans. “Well, if you slip out on your own, Melissa can pick you up and drive—”

“No.” Jessica said the word without hesitation. “I’ve lied to my parents enough. I’ve snuck around enough. Forget it.”

Rex opened his mouth, then closed it.

Dess was dying to talk to Jessica away from Rex. What had happened last night? She wondered if Jess’s grounding had anything to do with Jonathan.

“I mean,” Jessica continued, “I don’t mind going out in the secret hour, but I’m not leaving this house during regular time. If my parents found out, they’d be really upset. I don’t want to do that to them again.”

“Do you want to wait a whole month?” Rex argued. “If they’re as scared as they seem, the darklings might try something really serious soon.”