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to kill off a draki quickly. I should know.”
    I cut her a glance. “What do you mean?”
    She sucks in a deep breath. “I lived here during my tour.”

    I pull back and stare at her. Lots of draki take a tour to gain exposure to the outside world. For a short time anyway. A year, maybe two. But never to someplace hot and dry. Never in a desert. A draki needs to know how to fake being human for survival. Occasionally, rarely, a draki chooses to remain in the human world.
    “I thought you went to Oregon. You and Jabel took your tours together and shared an apartment there.”
    Mom nods. “I started my tour with Jabel, but after a few months I decided…” Here she pauses for breath. “I decided I didn’t want to go back to the pride.”
    I straighten. “How come I never knew this?”
    Her lips twist. “Clearly, I came back. I didn’t need everyone to know that it took a bit of arm-twisting.”
    Then I get it. I understand who did the arm-twisting. “Dad,” I say.
    Her smile softens. “He never toured, you know. There wasn’t any point. He never wanted to be anything but draki.” Her lips wobble and she touches my cheek. “You’re a lot like him.” Sighing, she drops her hand. “Anyway, he visited me once a month in Oregon…and every time he tried to persuade me to come home with him.” Her smile grows bleak. “He made it very difficult.”
    She looks me squarely in the face. “I wanted to get away from the pride, Jacinda. Even then. It was never for me, but your dad didn’t make it easy. So I ran. I came here.”
    “Here?”
    “I figured your dad wouldn’t find me here.”
    I rub one of my arms. My skin already feels dry and chalky. “I should think not.”
    “Almost at once my draki began to wither. Even when I broke down and risked flight a few times, it wasn’t easy to manifest. It was working. I was on my way to becoming human.”
    “But you went back.”
    “I finally faced reality. I wanted to give up the pride, but I missed your father. He couldn’t live without being a draki, and I couldn’t live without him.”
    I stare out at the water’s surface, still and dead without the faintest ripple of wind, and try to imagine loving someone that much. So much that you would give up all you ever wanted for yourself.
    Mom did that.
    Couldn’t I make a sacrifice for those I loved? For Mom and Tamra? I’d already lost Dad. Did I really want to lose them, too?
    The hunter, Will, flashes in my mind just then. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because he let me go. He didn’t even know me, but he let me go…even though he was trained to do the opposite. He fought what doubtlessly came naturally to him. Hunting and destroying my kind. If he could break from his world, then I could break from mine. I could be that strong.
    Mom’s voice rolls over me. “I know it’s hard to accept right now. That’s why I chose this town. The desert will take care of things for you. Eventually.”
    Eventually. I only have to wait until my draki is dead. Will I be glad then? Will I thank Mom one day like she seems to think?
    She squeezes my knee. “Come inside. I want to go over some things with you and your sister before we enroll you in school.”
    My chest clenches at this, but I stand, thinking about all Mom has given up for me, all she’s lost.
    And Tamra. She’s never had anything of her own. Maybe it’s finally time. Time for both of them.

    “Jacinda Jones, come up here to the front and introduce yourself.”
    My stomach twists at these words. It’s third period, which means it’s the third time I’ve had to do this.
    I slide out from my desk, stepping over backpacks as I move to the front of the room to stand beside Mrs. Schulz. Thirty pairs of eyes fasten on me.
    Mom enrolled us last Friday. She insisted it was time. That attending high school is the first step to assimilating. The first step to normal. Tamra is thrilled, unafraid, ready for this.
    All last night, awake in my bed, sick to my