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she was pretty sure something in her physics curriculum said time travel was impossible. Leave it to physics to suck all the joy out of life, she thought, in more ways than one. Instead, all she could do was buckle down and do her best.
    The busy week had one benefit, at least—it kept her from thinking too much about the phone call from the guy who claimed to be her father. She had canceled her cell service, but she’d still been on edge the first few days, constantly looking over her shoulder to see if anyone might be watching or following her, especially anyone old enough to be her father. But as each day passed, she worried about it less and less.
    She had only seen Rave once so far this week—he had come by Tuesday night to make sure she was doing okay—but that was about to change. He should be here anytime now, to take her to visit Balin. Leesa smiled at the thought. Visiting Balin was a double bonus. First, she would get another long ride nestled in Rave’s arms, and then, once they were there, she would get to kiss him. It had been well over a week since she had gotten anything more than a peck on her cheek or forehead. She couldn’t wait!
    She stood outside her dorm with her best friend Cali, waiting for Rave to show. Cali’s real name was Kelly, but everyone called her Cali, because of a small port-wine stain on her right cheek that was shaped remarkably like the state of California. Cali was anything but shy about it, saying it helped her stand out. And Cali loved to stand out, which made her the complete opposite of Leesa. That was one of the things Leesa liked about Cali—she drew attention away from her. Cali even streaked her shoulder length black hair with burgundy highlights that matched the color of the birthmark almost exactly. As did her lipstick. She had added a couple of narrow blue streaks to her hair over Thanksgiving.
    Leesa suspected the blue streaks were the reason Cali was wearing a pair of furry black earmuffs instead of a hat—so she wouldn’t have to cover up her newly decorated hair. Because it was certainly cold enough out for a hat, that was for sure. The sun hung low in a clear blue sky as the afternoon ebbed to a close, and a stiff northerly breeze made the thirty degree temperature feel much colder.
    Leesa had pulled her dark blue ski cap down over her ears, and even though she was wearing a pair of black leather gloves, she had her hands tucked deep into the pockets of her bright blue down parka. A pair of tan Ugg boots kept her feet warm. Her cheeks tingled in the cold, and she could see her breath floating up in front of her face in a misty white cloud.
    Cali was wearing a heavy dark brown leather jacket with a fluffy light brown fleece color. Her jeans were tucked into a pair of knee high black leather boots, which, from the way she was bouncing back and forth on her feet, were not doing nearly as good a job keeping her feet as warm as Leesa’s Uggs.
    “ This ain’t like San Diego, huh?” Cali said, blowing out a long stream of steamy breath.
    “ Ha! Not even close.”
    “ I bet on days like this, you wish Rave had a car.”
    Cali did not know anything about Rave’s magical heat, but she knew he was a member of a clan called the Mastons, who, like the Amish, did not use any modern devices or appliances. So there was no way she could know that walking arm in arm with Rave was more than enough to keep Leesa warm, and that once they reached the other side of the river, she would be cradled in his arms as he carried her, making her even warmer.
    “ Yeah, that’d be nice,” Leesa said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it—except dress warm.” She kept few secrets from Cali, but had not told her about Rave’s true nature. That information was not hers to share. As far as Leesa knew, Cali had never even heard of a volkaane. Leesa had pointed Stefan out to Cali and told her he was a vampire, so Cali did know vampires were real. Cali being Cali, she thought that