It sucks when your little palace o’denial comes tumbling down.

The next night, Nathan waited at the gate.

“How’s Ziggy?” he asked as soon as I was near enough to hear him.

“He’s fine. Hello to you, too.” I stamped my feet, trying to get some feeling back in them. It had snowed during the day, and the depth of the stuff almost kept me inside.

Nathan’s hands were nearly blue where his gloveless fingers gripped the iron of the gate. “Is he on the list?”

“No.” I thought relief would register on his face.

Instead, it twisted with horror. “Tell me he’s not—”

“A guest of honor. I just don’t know which one.” I looked at my feet. “I know how you were turned.”

A muscle in his shadowed jaw twitched. “He told you?”

“I saw it.” I don’t know why I felt the compulsion to tell him how, but I did. “I drank his blood…from him. And I saw it.”

Nathan was repulsed, but I knew he was scared more than he was disgusted. Maybe he was afraid I wouldn’t help him. Or that I’d throw Ziggy to the wolves.

He cleared his throat. “That’s all in the past. I just don’t want it to happen to Ziggy. Who’s the other one?”

“Dahlia.”

“Dahlia and Ziggy, and they need to pick the one with a pure soul? Oh, that’s going to be a tough call.” Nathan looked away, but not before I saw the suffering in his eyes. “Are the Fangs staying for the party?”

“They were supposed to leave a week ago. I think they’re hanging around so Cyrus will have to invite them to the party. What’s going to happen?”

“He’ll probably invite them to the party.”

I glared at him. “You know what I meant. When you and your little friends show up. What’s going to happen?”

“We’ll bust in, I’ll grab Ziggy, and they’ll kill all the vampires.”

His pointed gaze added including you.

My heart constricted painfully in my chest. Did he really hold such a grudge? I’d thought we’d built a friendship of sorts.

That was before you left.

I cleared my throat. “That sounds dangerous.”

“It will be.” Still, he offered no assurance of my safety.

“Would it be easier to just sneak him out before the party? I could go get him. We could just boost him over the fence right now.”

“That has crossed my mind,” Nathan replied bitterly. “But I’m not allowed to do anything that might compromise the integrity of the mission. Movement orders. They think Cyrus would step up security if the compound was breached this close to the event.”

“Compound? You make it sound like I’m in some weird religious cult.”

That at least brought a half smile to his mouth, but it died quickly. “I’ve been playing host to a couple of full-time Movement guys. The terminology starts to creep in after a while.”

“Is that why you haven’t been showing up?” I sounded jealous, like a spoiled child whose playmate has made friends with the neighbor kids. It just crept into my voice on its own.