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worked like it should. No safe place. No one to turn to. If only I could disappear, or just wake up. Even the one person I wanted to count on to guide me was unreliable. Serves you right.
    “I don’t understand how this could happen.” Julian had finally stopped pacing. He stood a few feet away, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
    “I don’t understand any of this at all!” I raked my fingers through my wet hair. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be some sort of know-it-all enforcer!”
    “I know!” He whipped around and slapped his fists against the opposite wall, then leaned against it, his head sagging between his shoulders.
    “I didn’t ask for this.” I sniffed.
    “I know,” Julian repeated, calmer. He straightened up and faced me, apparently decided on something. He squatted to my level.
    I pulled myself into a tighter ball and leaned away.
    “I’m not going to hurt you.” He was back to being friendly and reasonable. His mood swings were going to give me whiplash.
    “You said that before.”
    “And I meant it.” He held out his hand. I looked from his offered hand to his face, which I couldn’t read. But the light around him had settled to a faint golden halo, with the occasional flare of smoky grey. I had no idea why I believed him, or if it was the right thing to do, but I knew I would rather trust Julian than not. I would rather have one friend than no one at all. I didn’t have much choice. No one else would ever believe me. No one else could tell me what was going on. I took his hand.
    “We have to get you out of here.” He shucked his coat and placed it over my shoulders, then wrapped an arm around me and scanned the darkened alley in both directions.
    “Why?” I stumbled, but Julian righted me and nudged me along.
    “Because the Grigori will be looking for you now, but they kill Undead on sight.”
    “Oh.”
    Right — of course. Silly me .

Chapter Four

    J ulian drove a rusty old pick-up truck and lived about forty minutes west of Forest Grove, closer to the coast. Most of the ride passed in an awkward silence. I welcomed it. I was still floundering in a sea of new emotions and instincts, too stunned to ask intelligent questions. And I could practically hear the thought processes churning in Julian’s head. Based off of the flickering red haze surrounding him and his tense frown, I was guessing they revolved around me and weren’t necessarily good.
    For a while I stole secret, casual glances but then I studied him more openly. He was much more interesting than the drab landscape out the window, and seemed unconcerned with my presence anyway.
    The truck’s headlights cut a sharp triangle through the dark two-lane highway. The shadows of the trees loomed over us on either side, reminders of my nightmare.
    I trembled, and then reached over and flipped on the radio and fidgeted with the old-style tuning knob. “I wonder if there’s anything about the earthquake.”
    “Earthquake?” Julian gave me a quizzical look.
    “Yeah, you know, when pressure builds up under the earth’s crust and is relieved by the shifting of its tectonic plates?” I wasn’t sure we were on good enough terms for sarcasm, but it’s my fall back in uncomfortable situations.
    He shifted his attention back to the road. “What are you talking about?”
    “The earth shook tonight, violently. Didn’t you feel it? My entire dorm evacuated.”
    “There was no earthquake.” He wrung his hands around the steering wheel.
    Was that anxiety, or frustration? I couldn’t tell. He seemed to run hot and cold, and switch between them quicker than I could track. It was frustrating, and yet—maddeningly—a little enticing. I shouldn’t have been thinking about it at a time like that, but I couldn’t deny that Julian encapsulated most of my girlish fantasies. His dark, sultry looks, and a body built for battle, or more nefarious activities. And he was a nine-point-seven on the brooding-mysterious scale. Which usually