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from him. After all, how much did she really know about Tristan? What if he had been fooling her all along, fooling her into falling for him so she would be easier to catch? But why did he even want to catch her or to maybe kill her? None of it made any sense.

Tristan started speaking again, and Kira tried to shut her questioning mind down to listen. "I wanted the power for myself, and for that I apologize. Let’s go and forget this happened. Let’s go to a different town, one not swarming with conduits to confuse us and place us against each other."

Conduits? What were conduits and why would they try to split Tristan from his friends? And what power?

Kira looked at Diana and saw one very prominently raised eyebrow, displaying her doubt. The black-haired beauty didn’t believe Tristan’s story. But, Kira noticed, it wasn't the killing or the conduits she questioned, but Tristan’s belief in his own words.

For the first time since moving to Charleston, Kira wasn’t sure if she wanted all of the answers, especially to the question of Tristan’s real intent. She couldn’t believe the kiss had been a lie, but what if he was just a very good actor? She had heard it in his voice during class. He could play the part of Romeo extremely well so why not that of seducer?

"Tristan?" Kira couldn’t help herself, she had to ask, to know what was happening. She was scared of his friends and maybe of him too. She needed reassurance that she would be safe with him.

Tristan looked back at her, silently begging her to be quiet, and Kira instantly knew she had made a mistake. All eyes turned in her direction, hunger clearly written on their faces. She watched the transformation as all of their eyes, even Tristan’s, turned to a crystal blue. Their pupils expanded and their top lips began to puff. It was the same look Tristan had had back in the classroom—but now Kira understood that his look was meant to keep her away, and this look was meant to kill. Fear raced through her veins. She had never felt so much like prey.

Time stopped as Diana took another step closer to Tristan without taking her eyes from Kira. She leaned over and whispered in Tristan’s ear while running her hand down his arm, "If you came here to kill, by all means, take the first bite."

Tristan closed his eyes slowly, and Kira read pain there. Despite his best effort, she also saw a trace of hunger in his expression, leading her to wonder just how much control Tristan had lost, not only over his friends but also over himself.

Diana, John, and Jerome all stared at Tristan, waiting for him to move toward her. They hunched over on their toes, ready to pounce, and she saw the desire for the fight in their eyes. It was a challenge, that much was obvious. It was also obvious that Tristan was losing.

Kira couldn't process anything fast enough—killing and biting and conduits. She felt as though she was on stage in a play but had forgotten all of her lines. She backed away because her gut told her to go, but she couldn't go far because her heart told her not to leave him. Tristan mouthed to her, and at first she didn’t see what he said, but after a second time Kira made out one word.

Run.

The next instant, Tristan turned and used both of his hands to shove all of his weight and strength into Diana’s stomach. Kira gasped as the other girl flew through the air, landed in the seats below the stage, and stood after a second without a scratch. Diana jumped impossibly far and, in one leap, was back on the stage to face Tristan.

Tristan wasn’t waiting for her though. Kira tried to follow his movements but could only see Jerome fly into the stage curtain and John slam into the wall, causing the brick to crack apart. By the time Diana had returned from her initial punch, only seconds had passed, but Tristan was ready and punched her again, sending Diana toward the back of the room once more.

To Kira's right, Jerome tore through the curtain and reemerged with death in his icy blue eyes. He charged Tristan, only to be picked up and shoved head first through the stage floor, creating a hole in the wood. Jerome reached his hands beside the hole and pushed his head from the floor. Instead of a bloodied mess, he emerged untouched by the landing.

Kira was frozen.

Unable to move.

Unable to look away.

She had known that Tristan had secrets, but watching him now made her realize she never should have tried to uncover them. He wasn’t human, none of them could be. Vibrations rumbled through her as their bodies slammed into the walls and the ground, causing the entire auditorium to shake from its very foundations. Not wanting to attract attention, she continued to watch as Tristan stood like a titan, throwing his friends around as though they were dolls. The building started to fissure with the force. Kira saw dents where their bodies smacked, and she slowly backed away while their attentions were on each other rather than her.

When she reached the backstage door, Kira turned her body to face away from the battle and groped for the handle. It was her only chance to get away and find Luke. Somehow, she was sure that he would understand what was happening—that this was the gruesome revelation he had been warning her about. If she didn’t leave now, Kira wasn’t certain she would be able to escape with her life.

But just as she slipped her hand around the door handle, a loose brick hit her in the leg, slamming her into the wall and almost knocking her unconscious. Kira fell to the ground and suddenly there was silence.

All four of the misfits stared at her. She touched her thigh, felt the warm liquid seeping from a newly formed cut in her leg, and met Tristan’s eye. Now his hunger was obvious, and the sliver of his iris that was still visible began to glow blue. Kira shook her head, unable to comprehend the horror story she had just become a part of.

With Tristan still under the spell of his own wants, his friends jumped him. Jerome and John grabbed his arms, twisting them and breaking each one before pulling them securely behind his back. Kira tried to stand and run away now that she couldn't hide, but Diana got to her impossibly fast and pulled Kira’s hair to stop her. Kira screamed at the pain and Tristan jolted awake, struggling to escape his friends and ignoring the pain from his crooked arms.

"Not so fast," Diana said into Kira’s ear as she dragged her around to face the boys. Jerome and John pulled Tristan back to the stage and Diana forced Kira to face him, but Kira wouldn’t meet his gaze. Diana let her go, but she knew there would be no point to even try to run.

"She’s pathetic, Tristan," Diana spat. "She couldn’t fight. She doesn’t know what she is. She couldn’t even run away properly. And this is what you fancy yourself in love with?" Diana circled around to face Kira, and Kira met her cold, almost crystal, eyes with the little courage she had left.

"Diana," Tristan growled.

"Shut him up," Diana yelled back, revealing the depth of her anger, and Kira watched as Jerome held Tristan while John ripped his shirt to gag him.

"Your faux confidence is amusing," Diana said and grabbed hold of Kira’s chin. "I’d rather see you beg though."

Kira remained silent.

Diana slapped her across the face, and she fell to the ground holding her cheek, knowing it would bruise but trying to ignore the pain. "Have you figured it out yet, little Kira? What we are? How you’ll die?"

Kira looked at Tristan. Her leg had almost stopped bleeding. She wondered if it would clear his head. Was it her or her blood that called to him? Kira looked at Diana and saw her smile. She finally noticed the two pointed teeth sticking slightly over her lip, and Kira couldn’t help but wonder when monsters had become a reality.

Kira was amazed at her own eerie calm and acceptance of the situation. Vampires? she thought, silently answering Diana. And as the word circled in her head, she knew it was true—the blood, the teeth, and the strength. But she thought of them on the beach, basking in the sunlight, thought of the humanity in Tristan’s eyes when he had looked at her in the steeple, and wondered what from the stories was really true.

Kira looked at Diana, at the smug look on her face that already spoke of victory. If she was going to die anyway, she might as well go out with a bang, Kira decided and thought of a retort. "You, Diana? I think you’re a jealous bitch who can’t take the fact that Tristan cares about a mere human more than he’s ever cared about you. You’re the pathetic one," she said calmly.

Pain flashed across Diana’s face, but it quickly turned to anger. Kira was confident that her words had hit home, but maintained a neutral expression so she didn't give away how much the little victory meant and how scared she truly was.

Diana grabbed Kira by the neck and picked her up off the floor, so her feet rested an inch in the air. Kira started choking from the lack of oxygen. "You are nothing," Diana spat in Kira’s face, and then set her back down on her toes.

But before Kira had settled on her feet, Diana’s hand whipped forward and her fingernail sliced a long line across Kira’s cheek. Diana slowly ran her finger along the cut and pulled it back so Kira could see the blood on her finger. And then she brought the blood close to her mouth, sniffing it, and a flash of longing passed over her eyes.

Repulsed, Kira looked away—a mistake that gave Diana an advantage to use.

"Do you think he’s different, Kira?" Diana glanced at the blood on her finger. "Do you think he doesn’t thirst for you like I do? That he’s kind and gentle? Well, he’s not."

Diana moved to the trapped Tristan, who had a look of dread on his face. She walked closer, and Tristan couldn’t tear his gaze away from Kira’s blood on her finger. He struggled, trying to, eventually managing to look instead at the floor.

But Diana grabbed his face with one hand to hold it steady, removed his gag, and let her finger wander up to rest on his lips. Tristan tried not to move his mouth, tried not to taste her blood. Diana rubbed her finger clean on his closed lips and waited, like she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.

Tristan shook from the exertion of trying not to open his mouth, of trying to resist the innate urge to lick the blood clean from his lips. Kira wanted to look away, but she needed to see this, she needed to knock her feelings for Tristan right out of her head.

Before long, Tristan eyes met Kira's with a look full of pain and guilt and self-loathing. Then he slowly opened his mouth to stick out his tongue and swallow. Kira saw pleasure flash across his features, saw the slight glow in his eyes, and knew the image would stay with her for a long time.

Meanwhile, Diana clapped at her own ingenuity, like a five-year-old playing with Barbie dolls, and walked back to Kira. She slid her finger along Kira’s cheek and took her own taste. Kira saw nothing but pleasure in her eyes, and that was how she still knew Tristan was different. Not guilt free or perfect or even good, but certainly not the same level of evil as Diana's cold blue eyes that showed no ounce of remorse.

Kira watched, helpless as Diana moved close again, and couldn’t look away as Diana held her gaze like Tristan had in class. A shiver of fear pierced her heart at the thought of the family she would miss, but she knew there was no way out. Soulless glowing blue eyes looked into hers with excitement, and Kira was paralyzed and helpless to stop it. Diana didn’t move closer for the kill, but instead remained still to enjoy watching Kira so powerless. A smile spread across her features, like she knew Kira didn’t know enough to escape.

But then, in an almost comforting way, a surge of warmth filled her palms, just like before in the classroom. Instead of being scared at this unfamiliar feeling, Kira welcomed it. Welcomed her own power coming