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friend.
    She raised her eyebrows as she continued to look around.
    “She’d better not be in our room ‘decorating,’” said Sip, showing her first signs of life. “I wasn’t gone for that long, and I don’t approve.”
    Lough’s lip started to tremble. I didn’t have the words to tell her.
    I was too slow. I should have been the one, but Dobrov beat me to it. He strode up the hill, his legs longer than I remembered.
    “Sip,” he said, without warmth. “Glad you’re back.”
    Sip just looked at him, her eyebrows raised.
    “Why are we wasting time?” she asked me. “Let’s get to Airlee, before she screws everything up.”
    “We aren’t going to Airlee,” Lough said quietly.
    Sip’s face fell a little. Now, suddenly, in the warm morning, a morning that should have been more beautiful than heart-wrenching, Sip started to realize that something was truly wrong.
    “What happened?” she asked softly. “Please, what happened? Tell me she’s okay!” Sip started to look around frantically. “Where is she? What happened?” she cried. “She didn’t die fighting the Golden Falls Happiness Officers, did she? There’s no way they’d take her down,” she breathed. “No way.”
    “She didn’t die fighting them,” I croaked. I couldn’t stand watching my friend in pain.
    “You just have to tell me,” said Sip, meeting my eyes. “Just tell me.”
    “She traded herself for you,” said Dobrov. “That’s why you’re free and she isn’t here.”
    He didn’t stop there.
    “They took you, but she fought her way out. By the time she was in the clear, you were gone. I know that after they all fought their way out of Golden Falls, with a little help from a few dragons and faeries - obviously - she brought Charlotte back to Public. After that, Charlotte couldn’t stop her. You shouldn’t blame Charlotte, and Lisabelle had no choice. They’ve always wanted the power Lisabelle has within her. What she’s doing is very brave.”
    Sip changed into a werewolf before I could blink. She let out a single howl before tearing off into the night.
    “SIP!” I cried, racing after her, but it was useless. I had expected some kind of response like that, but I was still powerless to stop it. None of us could keep up with a werewolf unless we used magic, and there was no way I was going to use magic on my best friend.
    I vaguely heard Dobrov yell that he was sorry, but I ignored him.
    I chased her for as long as I could, but I was forced to give up when I saw the small dot I knew was my friend crash into the trees. Lough wasn’t far behind me. When he caught up he bent over, bracing his hands on his knees. In the early morning light I could see the sweat that streaked the back of his neck. His whole body heaved with his deep breaths.
    “You okay?” he asked me.
    I didn’t take my eyes from the last place I had seen Sip. Since it was spring, the leaves were green and vibrant - deep shades of life. It was impossible to see anything beyond them, especially a small werewolf streaking away.
    “Yeah,” I said. “I’m pretty sure we need more werewolf friends.”
    “Well, we have Nolan, the paradigm of bravery,” said Lough.
    “He did his best,” I said, defending Sip’s co-founder of the Sign of Six.
    “He could have told us he didn’t trust them,” said Lough. “We had nothing to go on.”
    “Sometimes how we respond in times of stress is not how we’d like ourselves to respond,” I said, letting out a deep sigh. “Come on, we should be getting back.”
    “Where do you think she went?” Lough asked worriedly. “There are so many demons. . .”
    “I think she went for a run,” I said, finally turning away. “And I think she’d love to run into a few of those demons at the moment.”
    I didn’t want to admit it, but my mind kept returning to the dream I’d had, all those semesters ago. I was with Cale, and Lisabelle had turned crazy and started killing. I could almost smell the blood and see