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anything." Weston finished his father's thought.
    Lional nodded, his long golden hair just touching his shoulders. "And yet you don't know that she is no longer alone."
    Anger boiled through Weston's blood, his already-red eyes growing even redder. "How can that be? Our best officer was there," he hissed through clenched teeth.
    "And yet she went off with two Royal Guards and a princess," Lional stated calmly, never letting his emotions show. "Maybe sending a little girl to do a commander's job was not such a good idea."
    Weston sucked in a ragged breath. Sending Scor had been his idea. She may have been young, but she was sneaky and vicious. She also could blend easily into the Chosen One's life. Scor wasn't supposed to kill her, just watch and then grab her when she didn't expect it. It was the best plan; Weston knew that for certain. Any direct action could prove fatal. The Chosen One may not yet know of her powers, but if she was in the hands of the Royal Guard, something must have gone wrong.
    "Are we in touch with Scor?" Weston asked, knowing that defending his plan now would be useless.
    Lional nodded. "She is in pursuit of them."
    Weston shifted his weight. "Then we must tell her to attack."
    Lional let out a roar of laughter. "Now you believe force is the best option?"
    "I do, sir. Before she was in her own environment. But now she is in unfamiliar territory. If Scor attacks, the guards would be forced to defend and change in the process. Once the Chosen One sees that, she'll run." Weston smiled. "And I'll be there to catch her."
    Lional's eyes narrowed. "And how are you so sure they haven't explained everything to her yet?"
    Weston laughed. "Because their kingdom is based on secrets—which is why they always will lose."
    The elder sighed as thoughts rambled through his head. "All right," he finally said. "But you will not go. Send your brother, Marcus. I think a cat would be better for this."
    Weston bit back his anger. He, himself, was supposed to kill the girl!
    "And this had better work."
    Weston gritted his teeth and said nothing. This plan had to work; it had to.

Syney

    Syney pulled her gaze from the fast-moving world outside her window and looked over at Cass, who sat next to her. The petite girl was reading a book and scoffing every few minutes, like she couldn't believe what she was reading. In front, both Raine and Hunter were completely silent, focusing on the highway ahead; Raine was driving.
    Syney couldn't believe she was in the car with three complete strangers. Her parents had shed lots of tears before nearly squeezing the life out of her, and Jess hadn't been much better, having actually threatened Cass with physical harm if anything happened to her best friend. Even Scorpina had seemed sad to see Syney go.
    She sighed and looked back out the window; maybe she was crazy for doing this, but it felt right. She looked forward and caught Hunter's gaze in the side mirror. His eyes looked at her curiously before he shook his head and turned away. Syney wanted nothing more than to talk with him alone. She couldn't explain it, but he was the one she trusted explicitly. Unfortunately he never seemed to want to be alone with her.
    She looked back at Cass. Maybe bonding might make her feel a little better. "What are you reading?"
    Cass looked up at her.
"Dracula
. Complete work of fiction."
    Syney laughed. "Of course it is. It's about a Vampire."
    "Yeah, a high-class Vampire." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."
    Syney smiled. Maybe bonding wasn't going to happen.
    "Cass, why don't you tell Syney about the Village," Raine prompted.
    Cass glared at him through the rearview mirror before closing her book and looking at Syney with a smile. "Feel free to ask anything."
    "About the school?" Syney asked.
    Cass nodded. "It's affectionately known as the Village."
    "Sounds Cozy," Syney said.
    "Oh, it is, actually. We're all like family. And you'll learn so much." Cass's eyes lit up, and she leaned toward Syney