finally, she drew a breath and announced, "pierre du bois has escaped imprisonment. petrovksy has no clue as to his whereabouts, but i've picked him up with a few of his rebels that have remained faithful. the attack against the maclachlans is going ahead. which means the attack is tomorrow evening in remnant forest."

there were a number of growls, hissing and expletives as they received confirmation of the news that had been clear the moment they had been called together. to them this would be the reason for caia's frozen anxiety, to the lykans, the reason they could smell the sweat that trickled under her shirt, to the vampyre, the reason he could detect the quickening of the pulse in her neck with his razor-sharp eyes.

they would be wrong.

suddenly the double doors to marita's suite banged open, and in hurried a worried looking magik. at the same moment a feeling of triumph mixed with fear rushed through caia when the trace she was holding on to disappeared from the center.

the magik's eyes swung wildly until they found marita, who rounded the table with a look of outrage pasted on her face.

"how dare you barge in here uninvited?" she exclaimed, glancing behind the magik to find noble pale and beseeching. "how did she get in here?"

he blanched and gestured to her. "this is blair, the warden at the containment center. she said it was an emergency."

marita whipped back towards her. "what is it?"

blair gulped, smoothing her hair back into its severe bun with shaking hands. "madam, i'm afraid it has come to my attention that the prisoner has escaped."

marita snapped back as if she had been slapped. "prisoner? you mean the girl? the midnight?"

blair nodded frantically.

"have you searched the entire center?"

"all of it madam. there is no sign of her."

marita shook her head in disgust and then closed her eyes. "caia?"

her heart sped up and she willed it to slow so that the lykans present would not hear it. "yes?"

"can you feel the girl?"

she pretended to take a moment, and then shook her head gravely. "no. she's not at the center."

"well, where is she?"

ok, cy, time to draw on your best acting skills. channel meryl streep. "i-i don't know. i-i can't feel her," she said, pretending to be panicked by the thought.

"what do you mean you can't feel her? you told me you could find anyone in the trace?"

she pushed a few tears into the corner of her eyes, brushing her hair off her face, making her hands tremble. "i'm sorry. i don't know why..."

"argh!" marita threw up her hands in exasperation. then she took a calming breath, turning back into the ice queen as she menacingly glanced at blair, her voice low and terrifying. "how on gaia's green earth did this happen?"

48 hours earlier

avoiding lucien was proving easy. avoiding everyone else?

not so much.

it was easy with lucien because he was really, kind of, completely, insanely angry at her right now, and he had a reason to be because she had promised she would stay with the pack rather than fight at the center. on the other hand, if he wasn't being such an idiot he would realize that she would never go back on her word and know that something was up. at the moment, his misunderstanding was working more in her favor than if he was questioning her motives. she needed him well and truly out of this.

this being...

her, trying to build up the courage to confront vilhelm. the idea of encouraging someone to break a midnight out of prison and out of the center was insane.

i mean maybe i've got marita all wrong. maybe it's me with my stupid trace. maybe being a half-midnight means my trace is broken. maybe i'm the delusional one and should seek a mental health professional immediately.

the truth was that she didn't want to believe that all these people she trusted were wrong and she, little ol' her, was right. what about marion and magnus?

what about albus?

what about her father?

were they wrong? did they give their lives to a lie?

goddess it was too awful to conceive.

and then she let herself feel laila's trace and her gut twisted.

could her trace really be so off that she would feel this sweetness from a girl who was evil? was there ever really just good and evil?

ethan had certainly been evil.

but was that like condemning austrians because hitler was a soulless fiend?

my head hurts.

she flopped back on her bed, gazing up at the heavy silk canopy above her, wishing she were anywhere but where she was.

"you have to make up your mind, cy. time is seriously running out," she snapped at herself. at this moment she was supposed to be at a water lecture. that's what she had told mordecai, anyway. when he realized she wasn't there he'd be after her. she was surprised, in fact, that there wasn't a gaggle of bodies outside her room, but she guessed the ordinary 'candidates' couldn't get to her floor.

muffled voices suddenly floated through her walls from the hallway and she moved quickly and quietly to press her ear against her door. sure enough, she could hear voices coming from the elevator which was at least fifteen meters around the corner and down the hall.

she recognized them. mordecai and marita.

artemis, she loved her lykan hearing.

grinning jubilantly, she pressed harder and felt her heart pick up speed at the conversation.

"i don't know what this plant of yours is going to pick up, mordecai. from all accounts she has had no one in her room."

"the lykan. lucien. surely she'll have him into the room. we should learn something from that conversation."

"and this plant? you're sure it will go undetected by her?"

"well, you could put a faerie in there if you aren't confident in me."

"one: stop being impertinent. two: you know why i can't put a faerie into her room. it's that bloody faerie of my sister's, saffron. she's too influential among the faeries here and she happens to hold caia in the deepest of respect, which is saying a lot for the sarcastic relic."

"this will work, i promise."

"and you're sure you personally can't learn anything more from her?"

"i told you, marita, i got all the info i could on her special ability. i tested that tree she blew up and still nothing of any consequence. we won't know for certain until we see it in action. but i maintain that i believe her when she says she has it under control."

"and jaeden?"

"i'm not going to get anything more out of her on that subject. hence the plant."

"do you think she's even aware of jaeden's... abilities?"

"i don't know. but we'll find out."

"you better. we need that information if we want to be successful. so far the children are not reacting in any way."

"yes, well, this bug should tell us what we need to know."

"and if it doesn't?"

"then we find another way to get the information we need. perhaps a more direct solution, such as the one i suggested earlier."

"it's too risky. i told you it's a last resort... impertinent... "

shock reverberated through caia's body as if she had just hit deep impact. she pulled back from the door, staring at it in disbelief. mordecai was working for marita, trying to unearth secrets from her. what did they want with her? with jaeden? what abilities? what children?

oh goddess, she cupped a hand over her mouth to silence her snarl of frustration. something seriously weird was going on here and her spider senses were telling her it was something bad.

enough was enough.

she straightened and glared at the doorway.

no more second guessing herself. no more doubt. she had been right all along. something wasn't right at the coven, and there were innocent people feeling the consequences, including herself and more importantly laila. she was getting the girl out today if she had to.

mordecai and marita's footsteps grew closer and she began to panic. they couldn't barge in here because that would be suspicious of them, and she had to maintain the cover that she trusted mordecai completely. she began to sing loudly, making them aware of her presence. there was silence for a moment and then a soft tap on her door.

"come in."

all alone, mordecai strolled in, a breezy smile on his face. "hey, i wondered where you had gotten too. you weren't in the lecture."

caia shrugged, holding her claws in tight so she wouldn't attack the traitor right where he stood. "i just wanted to catch a breath before i head down to see desi and ophelia."

he looked momentarily bewildered, and then he shrugged. "it's just like you, caia, to take people like travellers under your wing. "

you smug son of a bitch.

she smiled tightly.

he strolled around the room making small talk with her, and if she hadn't been looking for it specifically, she would never have noticed the ultra-subtle move he made, dropping something tiny and weightless into a vase by the fireplace.

so now her room was bugged.

his eyes creased in concern. "you're sure you're ok?"

"i'm fine. honest. just taking some time."

"well." he grinned and headed towards the door. "just checking up. come get me if you need me."

"will do."

"oh and caia... have you thought anymore about marita's offer? i think you should really consider it."

i bet you do.

"i'm definitely giving it serious thought. wouldn't be here otherwise. you know, there's just so much more to learn here."

like just how sneaky and conniving the head of the coven is.

he smiled again and left.

jeez, that magik was a great actor. she had had no idea he was a scummy little toad working for his mistress. she withheld from snorting in disgust in case the bug picked it up and instead headed for the door.