Anna spent the first half of Monday at school trying to decide what to do. Rudi was still staring at her expectantly in class, and Mia was acting incredibly strange. Actually, Anna was getting the distinct impression that Mia hadn't managed to solve her problems with Rudi after all, especially with what had happened at the movie theater this weekend. Mia might not really be acknowledging it, but it was pretty obvious what had happened. She'd been jittery and anxious when she got there, then she disappeared for about ten minutes. And when she came back, she was fine. Even Zev noticed something was off – and he wasn't even one of them. Did Mia really think she hadn't been caught?

Anna really wanted to discuss it with Mia, but she didn't get the chance until science. She knew Mia wouldn't be all that happy to have this conversation, especially with Rudi sitting in class with them, but Anna really needed to know.

"There was a very strange article in the paper this weekend." Anna said when Mia sat down. It might not have been the most subtle way to bring it up, but Anna wanted Mia to know exactly how serious this was. She didn't actually seem to understand just how out of hand all of this had gotten.

"Really? About what?" Mia asked. She tried to sound casual, but her eyes darted away for a second.

"There was a girl who passed out at the movie theater." Anna told her. "Actually, it seemed to be about the same time we were there."

"Really?" Mia said again, sounding surprised by the news. Then after a minute she added, "You still read the papers?"

"Of course." Anna told her. "I want to make sure no one's getting suspicious of us."

Anna was surprised that Mia would think she'd ever stop checking. Even if all their friends knew what they were now, that didn't mean they could afford to get careless. If enough people in the city got suspicious, it could make hunting almost impossible – did she forget what started to happen freshman year? And there was no way Anna was going to let something like that happen again. If something was going on in this city, she wanted it taken care of immediately – before it got noticeable again.

"I think we'll be ok." Mia told her.

Anna stared at her for a minute, wondering how Mia could be so caviler about this.

"Do you think there could be someone else here?" Anna asked finally. "I mean, other than you, Carmine and I?"

"Probably not." Mia told her. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"So, what do you think happened?" Anna asked, staring levelly at her.

She was almost positive it was just the three of them too. Which, of course, left only one possibility as far as Anna was concerned. The only reason Anna had even asked that question at all was to give her friend the benefit of the doubt. And to give her the chance to admit it on her own.

"It's probably just a coincidence." Mia shrugged. "She probably just got sick or something."

Anna just looked at her for a minute. She looked so nonchalant sitting there, Anna probably would have believed Mia if it wasn't for the way she'd been acting recently. And as much as Mia didn't seem to want to admit it, the timing on that attack was too perfect to be a coincidence.

"Just don't let it happen again." Anna told her finally.

Mia just nodded, glancing down at the table in embarrassment.

▼△▼△▼△▼

Anna might have been annoyed with Mia, but there wasn't much more she could do about it. She'd already talked to her; now all she could do was watch the papers and make sure Mia really did get it together. But as much as she didn't want to admit it, it was starting to look like there really was only one way to make sure none of this fell apart: she was going to have to break up with Luke.

Anna spent the rest of chemistry and all of history trying to decide if she really could break up with him. It was funny, but it had never occurred to her that it might be something she should do until it was brought up. And not by just anybody, but by somebody who actually knew what was going on in Luke's neighborhood. As much as she hated to admit it, Rudi would know, wouldn't she? And it wasn't like Luke was telling her anything. Anna had tried a couple of times to get Luke to tell her what was going on, but of course he never did. And Mia had been too busy trying to stay ahead of Rudi for Anna to ask her if Zev knew anything. Besides, with the way Mia had been acting, Anna wasn't entirely sure she'd trust any information Mia had to give anyway. So, Rudi's comments really were the only information Anna had to go on.

And if all these problems that both Mia and Luke were facing were things she really could help prevent, shouldn't she do it? What kind of person would she be if she just stood by and let all this happen? Anna hated to admit it, but this really was something she was going to have to seriously consider. She might really hate the idea, but it was starting to look like her only option.

The bell rang and Anna put her book back in her backpack, getting up to leave. As she made her way to the door, she saw it open and someone casually slip through. It was Summer, and she was now standing there, waiting by the door. When she saw Anna, she gave her that knowing smile that was really starting to bother Anna. Why couldn't she ever manage to be faster getting out of class? She was really going to have to pick it up if she didn't want to keep being ambushed like this.

"Can I talk to you a second?" Summer asked, casually stepping up to Anna. They were the only two left in the room. Anna suddenly felt trapped, but she knew better than to show it.

"Ok." Anna said, sidestepping Summer and moving towards the door. She might be willing to talk to Summer, but that didn't mean she needed to literally be backed into a corner to do it.

Summer looked vaguely apologetic, but moved to block Anna anyway. Anna started mentally planning out another escape route – just in case she needed it. She hadn't survived this long by being stupid.

"Look, I don't want to make you uncomfortable – I just want to talk to you." Summer said, obviously realizing that Anna was suspicious.

"Really?" Anna asked. It seemed to her that if all Summer wanted to do was talk, she could have found a better way to go about it.

"Yeah. And I didn't want to do it with a lot of people around, if you know what I mean."

Anna narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. If it was the kind of conversation that needed to be kept secret, she knew whatever Summer had on her mind probably wasn't something Anna would be interested in discussing.

"I really think you should stop talking to Lucas Volk." Summer said. Anna couldn't help but notice the sneer in Summer's voice when she said his name.

"And why is that?" Anna asked.

This was the second time someone had told her that. She just hoped Summer wouldn't take as long as Rudi had to get to the point. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if this had something to do with why Summer had been following Luke around for the past few weeks. Maybe now Anna could finally get some answers about what was going on.

"Well, you know what he is." Summer said. "I mean, you have to have figured it out by now. Actually, if I had to guess, I'd say you've known since sophomore year. That right?"

"It is." Anna said evenly, trying to figure out what Summer's point could be. Luke and his friends were werewolves. Sure, that fact had bothered Anna when she first found out, but that had been almost two years ago; she'd had more than enough time to get used to it by now.

"So you can't really be with someone like that. I mean, even you know that, right?"

"I think I'll be ok." Anna told her as politely as she could under the circumstances. "Thank you for your concern."

She knew there was almost no chance that Summer was actually concerned with her well-being, but she decided to pretend that was it anyway. And maybe it would put an end to this conversation. Anna took another step towards the door, but Summer refused to budge.

"I know you probably think you can handle it – especially with you being...well, you know."

Anna just stared at her, not quite sure what to say. Why was Summer bringing that up? Was she actually threatening her? Anna had thought Summer considered them even since she blackmailed everyone sophomore year. At least, she hadn't mentioned anything about it since then. Maybe Anna had made a mistake in thinking Summer would ever just leave her alone.

Even after her friends had all stopped talking to Summer sophomore year, Anna had always managed to at least say hi to her. She didn't like the way Summer had used them of course – Anna wasn't an idiot. But Summer had been the first person Anna had ever met when she moved here. And even though Summer hadn't exactly been nice to her, Anna still felt a sort of connection to her. Still, that blackmailing scheme from two years ago was only part of the problem Anna was having with what Summer had just said.

The other problem Anna was having was that she really didn't want to talk about what she was – especially not here. And the way Summer brought it up let Anna know she didn't exactly approve of her – like Anna had somehow become a vampire just to annoy Summer. So now, Anna's obviously misplaced loyalty was struggling against her resentment, keeping her from saying anything. In the resulting silence, Summer spoke.

"You know who his dad is, right?" Summer asked.

"We've met." Anna said neutrally. She didn't see how she could date someone for over two years without ever meeting his parents.

"So you know how important he is to them, right?"

"I suppose." Anna said as she thought quickly, trying to come up with why Luke's dad might be any more important than anyone else. Apparently, the look on her face showed her confusion because for the first time, Summer grinned.

"He's in charge – of the whole thing. And from what we can tell, Luke's probably going to be in charge next."

"Ok." Anna said. She wasn't really sure how that was supposed to affect her.

"So, Luke's never getting out of that group – you see that right? And do you really think that means he'll stay with you?"

Anna stared, not sure what to say. She hated to admit that the thought had never even occurred to her. When she didn't respond, Summer continued.

"All I'm saying is that you'd be better off stopping all of this sooner rather than later. Just think about it, ok?"

Summer managed to smile in a way that almost looked sympathetic. Anna barely noticed. She was too busy trying to figure out if what Summer was saying was really true. And if it was, that just left Anna with one question.

"So why are you telling me this?" she asked. Summer had already made it pretty clear that she wasn't exactly looking out for Anna.

"Because I don't want you to get caught up in the middle of this if I can help it."

"In the middle of what?" Anna wanted to know. Summer just shrugged.

"Luke's been stepping out of line lately. If he doesn't get it together soon, they're going to help him out."

"How do you know that?" Anna asked. She might not know much about either group, but she did know they weren't exactly on speaking terms.

"...I have a source." Summer said finally. "And they say it'd be a lot better for you if you weren't around for what they might do."