It's five in the morning by the time Tabitha packs, books two last minute plane tickets, and completes her portrait of the man in my apartment. Guilt sears my stomach when I glimpse his webbed face. Yes, he threatened me with a gun. Yes, he said he was going to kill me. But still, I don't want his death on my hands.

When Tabitha and I leave the apartment building, my heart sinks. Saige's car is still parked in the parking lot. I try to hide myself behind Tabitha as we walk through the lot toward Tabitha's car.

We walk right by the beige sedan. Saige's head lolls against the window. Tabitha passes first, stalking toward a black SUV parked slightly away from other vehicles. As I creep past Saige, her eyes flutter open, connecting with mine. Her eyes bolt open, and she sits upright. I shake my head frantically, holding a finger to my lips. Her face contorts with rage, but I race ahead.

The door pops open behind me. Tabitha is already opening the trunk of her SUV, shoving her suitcase inside, so I turn around, bringing my finger once more to my lips and mouthing, 'please!' Fear strains my facial features. Saige pauses, one foot out the door, regarding me with a mixture of frustration and confusion.

I mouth, "I'll explain later. But don't make a scene. Please."

Saige's brows knit together. I whirl around, hurrying to the passenger seat as Tabitha rounds the side.

"Hop in. The door's unlocked."

I jump into the front seat, securing my seat belt. Saige's head still hangs outside her car across from us. It's like she can't process what's going on. In all honesty, I can't process things, either. I just hope Tabitha doesn't notice her gawking at us.

Tabitha gets into the driver's seat. Her door shuts with a finality. I'm trapped in here with a crazy woman who holds death at her fingertips. I avert my gaze from Saige.

The engine hums to life, but Tabitha removes her hands from the steering wheel, settling them in her lap. "Do you know her?"

My blood freezes. "Uh, who?"

"That girl who keeps staring at us."

I look at Saige, who's head peeks out from her open door. "No. I don't know what her problem is." The wheels in my head spin rapidly, and I spit out the first thing that comes to mind. "She gave me the finger on the way over here. Don't know what's up with her."

Tabitha regards me for a long moment. Then, mercifully, she places her hands on the steering wheel. "Interesting. Perhaps it's the person I backed up into the other day." She puts the car into gear, and we roll forward.

I breathe a sigh of relief. At least Saige is safe... for now.

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One flight and a hotel check-in later, I'm peering outside a window overlooking Seattle, Washington, home of The Symphonic Order's headquarters. Tabitha unpacks her suitcase, filling up the closet with flowing fabrics. Even now, in her travel clothes, she wears a white, silken jumpsuit with red flowers and green leaves on it.

I hug my elbows, sighing to myself. Of all the things I imagined with this job, I never imagined being semi-kidnapped and forced to break into a secret society's home base. I don't even have my phone, or a way to contact Saige.

My eyes zero-in on the telephone. If only I knew her phone number. Then, I could call Saige. But what would I even say? It's not like she can fly to Seattle and save me. No, I need to come up with a way out of here on my own.

Right now, the best way to do that is to survive.

Tabitha spins around, closing the closet doors. "Ready for some opera?"

"Opera?" My brow furrows.

"Yes. We need to figure out who's in the area."

"I don't follow."

Tabitha sinks onto one of the twin beds. "There are only two ways to get into the headquarters. One way is to steal someone else's ID and fingerprints. That's what we're going to do, but it requires us to figure out who's in the area. The order keeps pretty close tabs on the locations of all their members, so if a random person walks in from Indiana, they'd be suspicious. Besides, we need to be able to steal the ID."

I swallow. I'm way in over my head, but I guess I'm stuck doing what I can. "And what about the second way?"

"Disable all security alarms, video cameras, and door locks."

The first way sounds far easier.

"So what do I need to do?"

"For now..." Tabitha crosses over to her closet, flinging the doors open again. The hangers scrape against the metal rod hanging inside as she flips through her clothes. She pulls out a sage green dress. "Get ready for the opera tonight."

I blink at the dress. It appears far too tiny to fit over my frame. "I... don't think we're the same size."

Tabitha tosses the dress onto the bed. "It's one size fits all."

I'm still skeptical, but I take it into the bathroom anyway. To my surprise, the stretchy fabric easily slinks over me, hugging my curves in a way that somehow makes me feel both self-conscious and striking. The sage green color compliments my hazel eyes, and the material feels buttery on my skin. No wonder Tabitha enjoys these fabrics so much.

The one problem I face is that the dress is too long. It puddles at my feet, and I fear that I'll trip over the hem.

At least it will hide my sneakers.

I step from the bathroom. Tabitha stands by a mirror, applying a dark purple eyeshadow over her pale skin. She already has changed into a black evening gown, and a sparkly, matching clutch sits on the table beside her.

"Ready?" she asks once both eyelids are thoroughly covered in shimmery purple.

"Sure." Ready as I'll ever be.

🕸 ✩⋆｡°🕸｡°⋆✩🕸

For the first time, I've been able to sit through an entire opera without being interrupted by weird, creepy music. I just wish it could've been a comedy, not a tragedy. Though we sat high up in the balcony, I actually enjoyed my aerial view of the actors and actresses. It gave me a better view of the stage.

At the end of the show, everyone stands while clapping. I suppose that's what people do at the end of operas, since the audience has done that at every opera we attended. Over the cheers and thunderous applause, Tabitha leans over and whispers, "see that man down there?"

It's difficult to see who she's referring to. There are tons of men in the audience, and my view is limited since a bunch of tall people are standing in front of me, blocking my view. Tabitha moves me past her, into her spot. She pushes me this way and that, pointing. "See the man with the dark hair?"

At last, my eyes latch onto a single man in the audience. He wears a tuxedo and stands and claps like everyone else. Soon, the applause dies down, and the lights brighten once more.

"What about—"

"Keep watching," Tabitha says.

The man reaches up to his ears, removing something from them. He pulls a case from his pocket and slips two disks inside. He tucks the case back into his pocket and turns, waiting for the people on either side of him to clear.

"Let's follow him," Tabitha says.

We push our way through the aisle. Tabitha flows down the balcony steps, down to the lobby floor. Her heels click against the tile, the noise becoming more diluted as people filter into the entranceway.

Tabitha takes up a watchpost by the twisting, glass stairwell. "You watch the other side. If you see him, wave to me."

Wouldn't that be suspicious? I don't wish to argue with her, so I do as she says, crossing the giant, open foyer to reach the other stairwell. As I watch people pour from the auditorium, I realize that I don't know what the man looks like. Sure, I saw the top of his head, but I have no clue what his face looks like.

I stand there for several minutes when a man with shiny black hair and wearing a tuxedo ducks through the doors. To my surprise, I do recognize him. He resembles the man from the fish store, and the opera, back in Bellecrest: same slicked down hair, same dark brown eyes and deeply tanned skin. He scans the foyer, then heads for the door on my side. I wave to Tabitha, who catches my eye immediately and starts swimming her way through the crowd of people to join me.

"Daniel Sun," she murmurs. She hurries past me, and I hike up my dress, trying to follow without tripping on the hem. I burst through the doors, into a gust of cold air, and nearly barrel into Tabitha.

"What?" I ask.

She stands on the curb, watching Daniel get into a taxi.

"Flag it down and get inside," she commands.

"But—"

"Just get inside!" She shoves me toward the cab. "Don't let him out of your sight. Try to get him to tell you where he's staying. I'll give you one hour."

"But..." The word dies on my lips. She must not realize that he'll recognize me from the shop. I race to the cab, flapping my hands wildly to flag it down. The cab driver pokes his head out the door.

"Where to?"

I glance behind, but Tabitha has already disappeared. A cold wind brushes by, raising goosebumps on my bare arms.

"Um..." I scurry to the cab driver, teeth chattering. "Um, I don't know. Any good restaurants around here... or hotels?"

The man chuckles. "Alright, just get inside. I have some restaurants listed in the backseat compartment."

"Thank you." I climb inside. The man, Daniel, is staring down at his phone. The taxi lurches forward and turns onto the main road.

Daniel glances up from the screen, eyes flicking to me. They linger on me with a deadly precision, the kind of look a hunter gives prey right before the pounce. I squirm in my seat.

Tabitha, what have you pushed me into?