she blushes and shakes her head in an attempt to dislodge some of the debris from her snowy mane. most of it falls out, but a stubborn carrow leaf remains above her left ear. without thinking i pluck it free.

"leaf," i say, showing it to her.

"thanks," she replies, turning pink again. "i must look like a complete-"

a gun clicks behind us.

i whip around, my heart slamming against my chest. patrick stalks out of the shadows, his gun aimed at us. instinctively, i move closer to theora.

"how long have you been there?" i say.

"long enough," patrick replies as he slowly walks toward us, his blue eyes fixed on me. annora grabs lucinda and pulls her protectively toward her. "i always knew something wasn't right with you, freak. i could sense it in my gut. but catherine kept saying i was just being an overprotective brother. but here you are, helping out a bunch of howlers and these nippers, and i'm starting to think my suspicions about you were right all along."

my throat suddenly feels tight. "and what were they, exactly?"

"that in eighteen years, i've never seen you eat. that you run away at the sight of blood. that you have fake teeth where your canines should be." he slides a look between me and the darkling girls. "it all makes sense now. you're one of them."

theora shoots a confused look at me.

i nervously lick my dry lips. all these years i thought i was being so careful; i had no idea that while i was watching catherine, her brother was watching me.

"that's ridiculous," i say. "you're mistaken."

"yeah? then explain this." he pulls something out of his pocket and tosses it at my feet. it's a purple corsage; the very one i intended to give to catherine at the dance. it must've fallen out of my jacket when i attacked her! the fabric petals are covered in dried blood. fear surges through me. patrick's handsome face contorts with rage.

"you killed her," patrick snarls. "you murdered my sister and then got your grandfather to lie about it, you fragging nipper!"

he aims the gun at my head. i shut my eyes, waiting for the bullet, then-

"patrick! edmund! where are you?"

my eyes snap open at the sound of mr. langdon's voice. patrick turns his head, momentarily distracted. it's the diversion we needed. theora pushes kieran out of harm's way at the same moment i lunge for patrick. we hit the ground together, and his gun goes off, the bullet smacking into the tree that theora was in front of just seconds before.

"father! over here!" patrick shouts as we wrestle. he strikes my cheek with the butt of his rifle, knocking me off him. he scrambles to his feet and points the gun at me.

"not so fast!" theora's aiming my rifle directly at patrick. "drop it!"

he lets go and his rifle falls to the dirt. i grab it and hurriedly stand up, spinning the weapon around on him at the same time. my finger hovers over the trigger.

"do it, you freak!" patrick yells. "murder me like you did my sister."

i lower the weapon. "i didn't mean to hurt her," i whisper.

"patrick, where are you?" harriet calls out.

they're just a few meters away; we haven't got much time. i take theora's hand and the five of us-me, theora, kieran, annora and lucinda-hurry into the dense woods just as harriet, drew and mr. langdon enter the clearing.

"go after them!" i hear patrick shout.

we race through the forest, following theora, who expertly navigates the thick undergrowth. kieran and annora are at the back of the group, both of them struggling to keep up because of their injuries. i let go of theora's hand and sling one arm around kieran, holding my rifle in the other, while lucinda helps annora. the older darkling grimaces with pain as she limps on her sprained ankle.

the farther we go into the forest, the steeper the ground becomes as we start to climb up the side of mount alba. lower down the mountain, patrick and the others dart through the trees, heading toward us. drew spots me and shoots. a bullet whizzes by my head, missing me by millimeters. i shoot back, more to scare them than to hurt anyone.

"i'm going to kill you, edmund!" patrick cries out, his voices echoing through the forest. "and when i'm done with you, i'm going to pin your grandfather to the cross!"

"guys, i need to stop," kieran says. his shirt is slick with blood.

"no time." i grunt as i lift the boy over my shoulder. he weighs almost as much as me, despite being younger-lupine's aren't exactly small-and i struggle up the steep slope after the girls, my feet slipping on the uneven earth. my boot skids on some loose rock, and i almost drop kieran. his fingers dig into my back.

i risk a look over my shoulder. patrick and the others are closing the gap between us. he raises his gun and another bullet whizzes by us. this one hits its mark, landing firmly in annora's shoulder. she cries out in pain, her legs buckling underneath her, and she stumbles down the slope, dragging lucinda with her, straight toward patrick.

"luci!" kieran shouts right next to my ear.

theora spins around on her heel and races after them. she manages to grab lucinda's hand, but annora keeps tumbling down the slope, out of our reach.

"annora!" lucinda screams as theora lifts the girl over her shoulder and continues running up the mountainside. she punches theora's back. "let me go! that's my sister!"

"we can't go back; we'll be shot!" theora says.

i snatch another look behind me. annora is on the ground and drew's gun is aimed at her head. her onyx eyes are wide with fear.

"don't kill her yet," mr. langdon orders, his voice carrying on the breeze. "bring her back to amber hills; i want the whole town to watch the demon burn."

drew and harriet drag annora onto her feet while mr. langdon and patrick continue up the mountain toward us. i turn away. there's nothing we can do for her now.

it's hard to keep pace with theora as we run through the woods, and i stumble more than once on a fallen branch or tangle-weed. this is her territory, and she knows it like the back of her hand. she suddenly drops lucinda on the ground, leaps at one of the evergreen trees, and easily shimmies up it. she pulls herself onto a thick branch, then helps us up after her, and not a moment too soon, as patrick and mr. langdon arrive. farther down the slope, harriet and drew restrain annora.

"where did they go?" mr. langdon says.

"i'm certain they came this way, father," patrick says.

patrick studies the ground, searching for our tracks. he won't find anything, though-there's too much vegetation for him to spot our footprints. he lets out a frustrated yell.

"they have to be nearby!" patrick says, his face red with fury.

"let's go back to amber hills," mr. langdon says.

"no! edmund killed catherine; he can't get away with it," patrick says.

"he won't." mr. langdon tilts his head up and says in a loud, carrying voice, "we have your darkling friend and your grandfather, edmund! if you hand yourself over to the guild, they will be spared. if not, we'll execute them both. you have until noon tomorrow!"

i can't let grandfather and annora die for me! i should hand myself over now. i move, and theora shakes her head.

"they'll shoot them," she mouths, nodding toward kieran and lucinda.

i sit back.

patrick and mr. langdon leave. they join the others farther down the mountain and head back to amber hills. the instant they're gone, i turn to theora.

"i have to go back," i say.

"they'll kill you, edmund," theora says.

"but we have to save my sister!" lucinda says. "you heard what they said. if edmund doesn't hand himself over to them by noon tomorrow, they'll execute her!" lucinda makes a move to leave. "i need to tell my family what's happened. fragg, when uncle icarus finds out, he's going to be so mad. he's only stayed away from amber hills because it suits his needs, but this changes everything."

i grab her arm. "he can't find out. if he goes after annora, lots of people could get killed, including my grandfather," i say. "most of the folk in amber hills are good people. they don't deserve to die."

"edmund's right; we can't risk any more bloodshed," theora says.

lucinda scrunches up her brow. "but annora . . ."

"we'll save her, i promise," theora replies. "we'll go to amber hills tonight, when it's dark, and get edmund's grandfather and her. maybe if we return annora safely, icarus can be persuaded not to retaliate. but until then, you should both come back to my village. it's not safe out here, and kieran really needs to see a doctor."

kieran groans and clutches his side. blood seeps between his fingers.

lucinda looks at me, and i nod. it's the best plan we have. we climb down the tree. theora and lucinda gracefully leap off the bottom branch and softly land on the earth. kieran struggles down, grimacing the whole way, but it's clear he's an expert climber. my attempt is much clumsier, and i fall into the bracken.

theora grins and stretches out a hand. the instant our fingers touch, a shiver of electricity shoots up my arm and into my chest. theora inhales sharply, her cheeks flushing. did she feel that too? we hold each other's gaze for a breathless moment. i search her silvery eyes, trying to see any sign that it's not just me who's experiencing whatever the heck it is i'm feeling. it's hard to describe. it's like i've known theora my whole life, which is crazy, because we've just met! i wish i understood what was going on; i've never heard of someone's heart spontaneously activating after eighteen years of silence. how is this even possible?

we hike up the forest-coated mountain, getting as much distance between us and patrick as possible. everything around here looks the same; it would be easy to get lost if you didn't know where you were going. our progress is slowgoing because of kieran.

"you okay, dogbreath?" luci says to him.

he attempts a grin. "yeah, i'm fine. just taking it slow, so you girls can keep up."

lucinda rolls her eyes.

"so how did you two meet?" i ask them.

"i got trapped in one of kieran's deer snares," lucinda mumbles.

theora throws an amused look at me. heat rises up my neck.

i turn to lucinda. "so where has your clan set up camp?" i'd like to know where i'll be taking annora later. i'm hoping it's not too much of a hike.

she casts a suspicious look at theora, which doesn't go unnoticed by kieran.

"it's okay, frogface, you can trust her," he says. "she won't tell anyone. will you?" he aims that last part at theora. she shakes her head.

lucinda glances back at me. "in the caves, about a mile outside of amber hills."

"you're living in a cave?" i say, surprised.

she shrugs. "it's dry, it's safe and it's secluded from the sun." she peers up at the misty sunlight and winces slightly. "it's perfect, really. it's where uncle icarus lived before, well, you know . . . ," she says, referring to the misery.

"where have you been living for the past eighteen years?" i ask.

"all over the place," lucinda says. "we rarely stay in a town longer than a few months. uncle icarus causes too much trouble."

the trees suddenly thin out and we reach a vertical rock face, about a hundred feet high. on top of the plateau is the lupine village. a steep set of stone steps are carved into the side of the rock leading up to it.

"so, did you really kill that boy's sister?" theora asks as we climb the steps.

"no," i say quietly. "but i was feeding on her."

"oh," she says, then louder. "oh! so you're-"

"a twin-blood darkling," i mumble.

i expect her to gasp, to scream, but instead she just says, "i'm a hybrid too. half lupine, half human." the corner of her rosy-pink lips turns up in a smile, and my heart yanks.

"and the lupines are okay with you being a hybrid?" i ask. it's not something that would be tolerated in my town.

she nods. "sure. they've taken really good care of me since my parents died."

"what happened to them?"

"icarus murdered them during the misery," she says, glancing at lucinda. the darkling girl pretends not to have heard that, but her cheeks redden. i don't know how she can stomach being around me and lucinda, when a darkling killed her parents. she's a more forgiving person than i am. "kieran's cousin, ulrika, and her father have practically adopted me. she's my best friend," theora explains. my left hand grips around my rifle. "i spend more time at her house than my own."

"i'm so sorry for your loss," i say sincerely.

she shrugs a little, frowning. "so what happened with that boy's sister?"

"my grandfather caught me feeding on her and . . ." i briefly shut my eyes, remembering the sound of catherine's neck snapping. "he couldn't risk her telling anyone. ulrika saw the whole thing." i figure it's best to tell her the truth before ulrika does.

"you weren't hunting for deer in the forest, were you, edmund?"