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before.”
    “It’s not our fault.” Luke’s eyes met mine. “And what do they have to be afraid of? The way the Minister talked today, it sounded like the daimon wasn’t here anymore.”
    “No one really knows that for sure.” I picked up my soda, watching Caleb. He didn’t speak for the rest of lunch. As we filed out of the cafeteria, I pulled Caleb aside. “You doing okay?”
    He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    I wrapped my arm around him, ignoring the way he stiffened. “You don’t seem like it. I get—”
    “You get that we’re already top suspects, Alex?” Caleb pulled away. “That none of this is right or fair? I don’t want them stripping you down, or Olivia, looking for some sign that we’re chomping on pures during our spare time. And with you…” He paused, glancing around the hallway outside the cafeteria. Luke and Olivia went on, but two Guards eyed us—the same two from yesterday. “Lea was being a bitch yesterday, but people…”
    “People have been talking? Caleb, people have been talking about me since they found out my mom was a daimon. So what? Who cares?” I squeezed his hand, just like Olivia had. “Why don’t you sneak over tonight and bring a movie?”
    Caleb pulled away again, shaking his head. “I got things I need to do.”
    “Like Olivia?” I joked.
    That brought a hint of a smile. “Come on, you’re going to be late for class. You have practice with Seth—”
    I groaned loudly. “Please don’t say his name. He throws balls of energy at my head like it’s some kind of game.”
    “He looked pretty pissed off during the assembly.”
    “Yeah, he did.” I thought about him arguing with Lucian. Only gods know about what. “Anyway, sure you don’t want to come by?”
    “Not feeling it tonight. Besides, dodging the normal Guards is bad enough, but double the amount? Even I may have problems with that.”
    I pouted but relented as we parted ways. The rest of the afternoon crawled by, but I perked up when I saw Aiden enter the gym toward the end of Gutter Fighting. I tried and failed to contain my excitement.
    “Where’s Seth?” I bounced up to Aiden.
    Aiden’s eyes glittered with amusement. “He’s with the Minister. Would you prefer him?”
    “No!” I said a bit too eagerly. “What’s he doing with Lucian?”
    Shrugging, Aiden led me out to the center of the mats. “Didn’t ask. You ready?”
    I nodded, and Aiden handed me the dummy blades. He’d allowed me to practice with the real ones a week ago. Sadly, the thrill of finally getting to practice with them ended up overshadowed by the fact I’d already used them for real. I knew the weight of the slender daggers in my palms, the feeling of them slicing through daimon flesh. Using them in battle had killed that naïve appeal.
    Aiden coached me through several techniques we’d learned in Silat training. We broke apart while he pulled out the dummies for me to stab. I twirled the plastic daggers like they were batons. “The new rules they set up for us suck. You know that, right? Physical exams and dorm searches?”
    Aiden reached out, carefully tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear. He was always doing little things like that, things he shouldn’t be doing. “I don’t agree with all of them, but something has to be done. We can’t continue as if nothing has happened.”
    “I know we can’t continue as if nothing has happened, but that doesn’t mean the pures have a right to punish every single half-blood.”
    “We aren’t punishing the half-bloods. These rules were put into place to protect the half-bloods also.”
    “To protect us?” I gaped at him. “Because all I heard today were rules limiting what we can do. I didn’t hear anything about the pures having to submit to embarrassing exams or being told they couldn’t even visit the main island.”
    “You weren’t in the assembly when they laid down the new rules for the pures, were you?” A bit of frustration began to seep