Nika froze. She felt at least a dozen gazes on her, as if they'd been pulled by gravity. Among them was Jade, whose swallow-tailed eyes narrowed into slits.

"What did you do?" she whispered, suspicion flooding her words.

Nika's heart hammered against her ribs as she thought about the past few days. She'd been unusually well-behaved because her last stunt had made Kovachev so furious that he threatened to expel her. Again. Of course, he couldn't. Her father would never allow it, and Markos Dimitrovich was one of the most powerful men in the Daemonstri world. One phone call had Kovachev changing his mind.

Despite that reassurance, Nika had decided to abstain from bad behavior for at least one week. Though, she had ditched some classes last night.

Nika said to Jade, "I didn't do anything."

Panic rose inside her throat. She knew she should have already approached the headmaster and his entourage, but she couldn't move. And by now, there was enough attention on her for Kovachev to detect her location.

"Miss Dimitrovich," he said, his tone low and full of warning, "if you don't come willingly, we'll use force."

Two of those intimidating keepers stepped forward for emphasis. Like a puppet, Nika rose, feeling cold and numb.

As she descended the bleachers, a familiar voice hissed, "What have you done this time, halfblood?"

Nika glared at the boy—Isaak. He was a rival and an enemy. Since their first year, she and Isaak had vied to rank at the top of the Nefili class. According to their statistics, both of them were promised to be some of the greatest keepers the Vigil had ever seen.

But Isaak and his family despised anything related to tainted blood. As the world's most infamous halfblood, Nika had been his victim for the past five years. There wasn't a day that he didn't taunt and trouble her. Sometimes, he grew sick of words and used fists instead.

The verbal battles, she could handle. A lifetime of ridicule had honed her wit into an ancient sword. But when it came to physical attacks, she had always been inferior. Cursed with a petite stature, Nika was an easy target for tall, athletic Isaak and his beefy sidekick. She'd lost count of how many times she'd been pummeled into black and blue.

And yet, despite her inferiority, Nika loved fighting. It was all she'd ever known.

Her fingers curled, but before she could wipe the smug grin off Isaak's face, Nika found herself covered by a keeper's shadow. He didn't touch her, but the threat was clear in his stance. If she made a move, he wouldn't hesitate to react. She would probably be unconscious within heartbeats, and he wasn't against hitting a seventeen-year-old girl in front of a large audience.

So Nika backed down, but she didn't peel her baleful gaze away from Isaak until the keepers ushered her behind Kovachev and escorted her from the gymnasium.

When she stepped outside, that silence screamed across the forest, thick and unbearable, and she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching.

When neither the headmaster nor the security guards spoke, her nerves skyrocketed. What was happening? Was she in trouble? Why was the school on lockdown?

As they traversed the sidewalks, agonizing seconds dripped by, and the questions grew dire.

What if this wasn't about her? What if something had happened to Lu, her best-friend-but-more-like-sister? What if something had happened to her dad?

She shoved those thoughts out of her mind as they entered the administration building.

"Stay here," one keeper ordered.

Then they peeled off in separate directions, returning to their regular duties. Perhaps she should have been flattered by Kovachev's enlisting four full-grown men to help. Nika had a certain reputation for being difficult sometimes. Some might have even called her a hellcat.

She scanned the lobby while the headmaster whispered to a receptionist. There was movement from a hallway to the left, and when her eyes landed on a familiar, angelic figure, she felt a wave of relief.

Lu emerged from the corridor with a female keeper, who wasn't here to contain Lu, but to guard her. All keepers, whether young or old, male or female, were the soldiers, security guards, and policemen of Daemonstri society as a whole. But their truest purpose was to protect the Serafi race. Even above their own families.

Nika rushed toward her sister-friend. Lu made a small squeaking noise and caught her hands.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I had to tell them."

Even when twisted in distress, Lu's face was ethereally beautiful. Her hair was like glittering moonlight, streaming over delicate shoulders and a collared blouse. With skin the color of cocoa powder and bright lavender eyes, Luiza Lazarov was too captivating to ignore.

Like all Serafi, she possessed regal height and an air of grace and charisma. Being a Nefili—and just plain short—Nika had to lift her chin to look at Lu directly.

"Tell them what?"

"About our spot. I know how much you love that place."

Nika's heart sank. That's all?

A few years back, Nika and a close group of friends—Lu and Jade among them—had discovered a cluster of abandoned cabins on the fringes of campus, which had served as dormitories during the school's elementary years. Nika had convinced her friends to convert one into a secret hangout, despite the fact that it was off-limits to students.

So this was the cause for a lockdown? It seemed a bit theatrical.

But the more Nika thought, the less she was certain. If Kovachev had learned of their prohibited hangout, he would have detained Jade, too. As well as the two boys who frequented the cabin.

Nika said, "Why would you tell them about it?"

"They think you did something. I was trying to explain that you—"

Before Lu could finish, Kovachev said, "Miss Dimitrovich, please follow."

"Can you wait for me?" Nika asked as she slowly obeyed his command.

Lu nodded, the crease between her perfectly arched brows deepening as Nika turned away.

Kovachev led her into his office and gestured to a chair before his large desk. All the while, Nika's thoughts raced.

What does he think I've done?

"It has come to my attention that you had two unexcused absences yesternight," Kovachev said while taking a seat. He scanned a file angled away from Nika's eyes.

Nika willed herself to remain calm. "Yes. But why does that require an interview with my best friend?"

"Because Miss Lazarov always knows where you are. She claims that you went to the old dorm facilities—to a hangout spot that you've been using for three years."

"That's true."

Kovachev folded his hands and cocked his head. "What were you doing there?"

"I needed some privacy." By the look on his face, that wasn't clear enough. Nika sighed. "I was wallowing in self-pity and frustration because . . . boy drama."

She added the last part with a grimace, and it wasn't a lie. Nika had gone to the cabin to escape a boy last night. She'd been too mortified to attend training after Miles, a close friend—and occasional friend-with-benefits—had dropped an 'I love you.'

They'd been in his dorm during their free period. More specifically, in his bed. Doing things that needn't be remembered in the presence of the headmaster.

Kovachev raised his brows. "Boy drama?" He had the audacity to sound amused. "And you were alone during this time?"

"Yes." Nika suddenly recalled a brief incident and amended, "No—actually, someone saw me there. We talked for a few minutes."

"Who?"

"The new guy. Dante." She pressed her lips together, rummaging her mind for a last name. "Azzara. Dante Azzara."

Kovachev looked vexed, especially when he shook his head at her like she was a misbehaving child.

"You're telling me that the only person who can confirm your alibi is this Dante character? A new student?"

Alibi. Nika tried not to explode at that word.

Leashing the urge to stand up and demand some answers, Nika said, "Yes."

"What are you up to?" Kovachev snapped, leaning on his elbows. Anger flashed through his middle-aged features. "Is this some ruse to stall me or divert my attention?"

"No!" Nika couldn't believe this was even happening. "Just send for Dante and ask. He'll tell you that he was trying to find his way around campus and wandered near the old dorms. He saw the light coming from our cabin and knocked on the door. There was some small talk and I gave him directions to the library, then he left."

Kovachev's eyes narrowed, and for several long seconds, he assessed her. Then finally, he said, "Perhaps both of us have been deceived."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we don't have any new students."