The building was more complex than I thought. Was higher, too. And Klyne Alistair used the stairs. He ignored anyone who blocked his path selling blood in bags or food or pills. For a second, I was drawn to the pills a teenage boy offered me, but I had a vampire to follow. With throat burning, I said no, only to realize Alistair was gone.

I ran to the corner that led to another corridor, but it was empty. Gritting my teeth, I ran up the stairs that led me to another long corridor with more people loitering about. There was no sign of the man.

"What are you doing here, witch?"

I stopped cold. The hairs on my arms and neck stood as a rush of air brushed past me, blowing my hat off. Suddenly, Klyne Alistair was standing before me, eyes menacing. His smile brought a shiver up my spine. Maybe Salwey's impression of him was not too far from the truth after all.

"So the rumors are true." His whispered voice reverberated down the hall. His gray eyes glinted with amusement as his icy fingers ran down the side of my face. "You're a vampire." He wasn't as handsome as Evensen, but the man had a certain charm that stopped me from turning this dream into a nightmare. The danger he imposed kept me rooted, made me want to explore it just a little. See if the ember could burn. "Did Salwey send you?"

"No." I stepped back. Told myself this could be dangerous for me. I may have control of this dream, but this was still his dream. Few knew just how much power they held in their own dreams. Power that even I may find a challenge to control. "I came on my own. No one knows I'm here."

His knowing smile lingered on his lips as he looked around. "Looks pretty authentic. Feels like it, too." He wrinkled his nose. "But do you know what gave you away?" I waited with bated breath. The only thing that offered me consolation was the door that a few feet away. I could escape anytime. "Your scent doesn't belong here."

He placed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side, eyeing me. "They're here for me, aren't they?" When I remained mum, he chuckled. "Of course, they are. Who is it this time? Corey?" His shoulders shook with laughter. "Poor boy still thinks he can catch me and make his mother proud."

"You killed the Katamas." I didn't know why I said it, or why I felt a burning anger in the pit of my stomach for Akira and Akiko's loss. I simply knew what it feels like to have no one.

Again, he just chuckled. "I had to. They did something horrible."

"What did they do?"

"They stole from me." His smile disappeared. "What are you going to do after you wake up? You'll tell Corey where to find me?"

"No. I play by my own rules." When he just smiled, I asked, "What is an Omen?"

I knew he knew the answer the moment the smile froze on his lips. "Why would I tell you?"

"Because it sounds powerful enough for you to steal it from the society." I was making a wild guess, but based on his response, I was on the right path.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "It is indeed powerful."

"Tell me what it is."

He shrugged. "Why don't you ask Evensen?"

It was my time to freeze.

He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose he doesn't tell you enough. Typical Evensen." He turned and continued walking.

"Stop," I ordered. "How do you know Evensen?"

Waving a hand, he said instead, "Wake me up, witch, or you'll be in trouble. I have no time for this."

I closed the path before him with a wall. He stopped, touched it. When he faced me again, he wasn't looking pleased. "Look. I don't really like getting trapped like Evensen does. Would you mind?" he asked, motioning at the door to his right. "This is the door, right?"

"Answer my question. How do you know Evensen?"

"I'd rather not." He reached the door before I managed a full blink. Then he was gone.

***

When I walked out of the blue door, I found Evensen waiting for me.

"Where were you?" he asked, walking away from the fireplace. "Are you all right?"

No, I wasn't. "How do you know Klyne Alistair?" He froze. I strode toward him. "How many secrets are you keeping from me, Evensen?"

His eyes flew to the door. "Did you just bloody come out of his dream? Are you crazy? You can't do that—"

"I'm tired of guessing, Evensen. It's taxing trying to figure out if I'm the card or the bloody table for your game. Tell me who Alistair is. Tell me what is an Omen. Why did Alistair steal it from the Saints? And why are they out here trying to get it back?"

Evensen closed his eyes and sighed.

"Evensen." My jaw tightened when he kept his head bowed. "How hard is it for you to tell me?" Resting my hands on my hips, I scowled at him. "Unless you are deliberately using me for your own selfish reasons, which would not be surprising, by the by."

"It's not a thing. It's a creature."

"What do you mean?"

"The Omen." He lifted a hand to silence me. "I didn't tell you because it's a little complicated."

"What's complicated is your face after I'm done with it," I growled through my teeth. "Tell me now."

He rolled his eyes at my dramatic statement and returned to the seat by the fire. He waited until I took the other seat, nostrils flaring. "There are two Omens—the ember and the obscure. Some myths call them the dark and light, the good and bad..." He looked me in the eye. "Klyne Alistair's sister is an ember."

I stiffened in my chair. "She's the parcel."

He nodded. "Yes."

"Why does she want to get out?"

"Two reasons. The first is that there are no obscure within the society. They're all on the other side of the border." I raised my brows in question. He struggled with the answer, but he eventually blurt it out. "Omens are more powerful with their other half."

"You must be joking."

He blinked and just stared at me for a long time. "I don't even think you'll believe what I'm going to say next..." He shook his head as he said the words. "What do you know about Akarra?"

My brow furrowed. "The library? It's a myth."

"A hundred-and-fifty-two years ago, they discovered it. It's real. It's in a desert in Egypt." He clasped his fingers together. "They found the Book of Ember."

"You can't be serious."

He ignored my statement and kept talking. "The myth is true, Aster." I saw the way he tried to contain his excitement. The way the corner of his lips pursed, trying to contain a smile. "Stars are real."

"Then—"

"But a star is not just one entity."

"The Omens."

He nodded. "Light and darkness. For an omen to attain its greatest potential, they need to find their other half."

"And how do you know Alistair's sister is the ember?"

"Embers mostly stay in one bloodline. The Alistairs have always produced embers—their females. What the men do is to protect them. Alistair became one to protect the embers in the family." He stood, hands in his pockets. "Alistair's sister can't stay here. Although they do age slowly, Omens are not immortal."

"Why can't he take her outside himself?"

"Because the moment the other side finds out he's back, his sister is as good as dead. They know his sister is an ember."

I fell back into the chair in disbelief, my head reeling with everything he just told me. "I can't believe it." Then I frowned at him. "But why would the Saints want to get her? The ember is here, but the obscure isn't."

His jaw tightened. "Second reason she has to get out: Stardust."

My eyes rounded. "Now you're bloody joking."

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair. "Stardust is believed to bring immortality. That's what the Saints have always wanted."

"They can just fall in line outside your club for a bite," I grumbled under my breath. It made the corner of his mouth twitch. "And what do I do with her once we get out?"

"If you get out." He looked at me wryly. "You're wasting your time. You should be learning Katz's border."

"I'll meet him soon. Fret not."

"You deliver her to Brie or my family," he said, answering my question. "They'll know what to do."

"And what do you intend to do with her? Burn her for stardust?"

"No. Help her find her obscure so they can bring down the borders."

"Can't we all just let this bloody society rot in its own perfect imperfections?" I asked. "Let's just get the hell out of here, Evensen."

His face hardened. "There are others trapped in this place, Aster. And not all of them have an ounce of power to get out, even if they want to."

"How long have you been working with Alistair?"

"I don't. I offered him help and he thinks it's a great idea. They traveled to Exodus so his sister could go with you, Aster. You need to master the border soon before she's caught again."

"Again?"

"Years ago, the Saints captured her while she and Katz were in hiding."

"The train incident. The Katamas."

"They worked for the Saints as part of another research team."

"Alistair and his men killed them."

"They were powerful Bishops, Aster. Alistair and his men did what they had to do."

I shut my mouth and tightened my jaw.

The quiet crackling of the fireplace and the eternal burning outside my window reigned for a while as we sat in silence. Finally, I spoke. "I have no pills left."

"You only need to ask." When my eyes flew to him, he was smiling. "It wouldn't be the first time, witch."

My face tightened. "I wouldn't feed on you."

"You're risking attacking someone if you continue to resist."

"I'll deal with it."

"Fine," he snapped. "Just don't get bad blood. That's the worst you can do."

"And how do I recognize a bad one?"

His eyes rolled, and he sighed. "You can't." When I scowled, he continued to stare at me wryly. "Because you won't be able to. You're a young vampire. You're reckless."

"I have control."

"Your mind may be strong, but it will soon have to give in to what your nature demands." He shook his head. "Why am I even trying? We've been through this before."

"And how long did I last before I gave in?"

He was silent for a long time, perhaps reminiscing about old dreams. "Long enough." We stared at each other for a while. It seemed he had finally given up trying to control me that even when he said, "Please meet with Katz as soon as you can," I felt I had a choice.

But as his nemesis then and forever, I also thought that it may be his way of controlling me. Making me think I was making the choice.

"You have to stop overthinking," he said. "You over-analyze things."

"I can't help it. Not if it's you I'm supposed to trust. We don't have the best history."

"We do, as far as I remember," he said, a corner of his mouth curling. "The few years we were rivals are almost inconceivable in my mind, to be honest. But I can't blame you," he added the last statement hastily. "You only remember the worst."

***

The next day, they did not even bother to take us along. My apostles were brooding like children. The two girls stayed in the kitchen to brew potions. Akira said he'd try to research about Omens in their room.

With nowhere to hide, I stayed in my room. Bellatrix followed me with her eyes as I paced around, trying to shake off the tremors. "Go and find Katz," I ordered, writing a brief note. "Tell him to find a good place to sleep."

Like how we used to in the past, I tied the note around her neck and let her out through the window. She looked awkward, being a fox, but she still navigated her way down the side of the building with ease. Alone now, I lay in bed clutching my crux to my chest. It may not offer me relief from the symptoms that were killing me, but it still centered me to my core. I closed my eyes and looked for Bellatrix.

The alleyways she passed blurred through my vision. A turn. More turns. Streets and cars. She made leaps and ran all the way to the border, stopping only once to smell the flowers displayed outside a store.

"What's wrong?" I murmured when she slowed down, smelling the air. I could see what my familiar could see; hear what she could; smell what made her suspicious. And felt the same rising dread before they appeared in front of her.

Cedric Corey and Mertha Krall blocked Bellatrix's path.

"Who do we have here?" Corey asked, bending down to gaze at my familiar, his face filled with amusement and knowing, as if he knew who was behind the fox's eyes. "Run, Bella," I whispered, clutching my crux tighter.

But there was nowhere to run. There were at least three more Bishops surrounding her.

"What are you doing near the border, you sly little fox?" Corey asked, reaching for Bellatrix.

"No. Stay still," I calmly told her, my heart mirroring her rampant beats.

"And what's this?" He tugged the folded note from my familiar's neck and read. I didn't know how much he knew then, but at that moment, the surprise was clear in his eyes. His jaw tightened, just long enough for me to realize we were doomed. Then Corey broke into a cold smile and stood. He made one motion with his head and suddenly everything was dark.

Someone had placed a sack over Bellatrix's head.

"Take it back to my room," Corey ordered. "Get Katz. And get Aster Byrne. Now!"

My eyes flew open, and I was back inside my room again, gasping for air.

Bloody tarnation.