"The journal of Konstantin the Keeper. Someone smashed the glass case and took it right off the display stand."

The report alleviated some of Nika's anxiety. He must have believed she was telling the truth, for whatever reason. But after considering the information, she could only frown.

Konstantin the Keeper was a notable figure from Daemonstri history. The Nefili warrior lived in fifteenth-century Romania, where he and his colleagues founded the Vigil, and nowadays, he was regarded as the original defender of the Serafi race.

"Why would someone steal a dead man's diary?" she wondered aloud.

Kovachev shifted uncomfortably, and his chair creaked. "That question is usually answered after we find a suspect."

Nika watched the headmaster. His knee bounced, a dribble of sweat gathered in his hairline, and he kept glancing at his computer screen.

"Isn't it obvious?" she said.

For all the world, she was a bored teenager trapped in the principal's office. And she certainly wasn't questioning Kovachev's increasing nervousness.

"Dante Azzara," Nika continued, "—or whatever his real name is—showed up out of nowhere, claiming to be a student. He was dumb enough to ask directions to the library, which is always closed by midnight. There are security cameras in that building, but they're broken and the school can't afford to replace them." Kovachev blinked. She restrained a cocky smirk. "The staff gossip. It wouldn't have been hard for Dante to acquire that information. He's your strongest suspect."

"If he even exists."

Nika ignored the underlying accusation and tapped her fingers against the wooden arm of her chair, thinking.

Konstantin's journal was coveted by only two entities in Daemonstri society: the Vigil and the Ministry—an aristocratic group of Serafi that governed western Daemonstri populations. The Ministers' exact function was difficult to explain, but essentially, they did whatever they wanted to, and the public followed their laws.

For as long as Nika could remember, they'd been trying to obtain control over the Vigil's operations. But the High Keeper of North America refused to relinquish his authority, claiming the Vigil should be led by a Nefili.

It was an endless topic of debate. Should the community's protection be overseen by lawmakers or warriors? Konstantin's journal held the answer to that question, which was the reason for the Ministry and Vigil's coveting.

There was just one problem—the journal was a historical artifact in the school's possession. It was untouchable and unable to be used in the debates, which had left the conflict at a stalemate.

Until now.

Because the journal of Konstantin the Keeper had been stolen, and Dante Azzara was likely the perpetrator. And only one question remained: Why did he do it?

"Nika."

Her eyes focused on the headmaster again. He looked at her expectantly.

"Sorry," she said. "What did you say?"

"If you claim not to be the thief, then you wouldn't mind if I had your dorm searched."

Nika shrugged, praising the ancestors that she'd removed her handgun from its secret compartment. "Be my guest."

Please don't pat me down, she thought as the metal weapon dug into her back.

Kovachev called forth two keepers. He ordered one to search Nika's dorm room. To the other, he said, "Go to the abandoned cabins on the edge of campus. Search inside the buildings and around them. Look for signs of a squatter."

"Anyone in particular we should look for?"

"A Native American male—dark hair and brown eyes, mid to late teens. If you find him, bring him to me immediately."

When the keepers were gone, Nika cocked an eyebrow at Kovachev. He must have been torn between clearing and condemning her, if he'd decided to check the cabins for the mysterious Dante Azzara.

He scowled. "Don't make faces at me. You're not off the hook. I'm keeping you under surveillance until—"

A knock at the door, then a female keeper barged in. It was the same young woman who'd guarded Lu earlier. The fact had Nika sitting upright, watching and waiting.

"Her friends are here," she said. Nika sagged—Lu was fine, then. "They're badgering."

"How did they get out of the gymnasiums?"

"They . . . threatened mutiny."

Nika pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. Mutiny—the perfect way to scare teachers witless. It always came down to numbers.

Kovachev closed his eyes and sighed. "Names?"

"Jade Ramsay, Miles Crane, and Elliot Mirza."

Friends—it was an odd label for those three people. While Jade was Nika's roommate, they'd never been fond of one another's company, unless they were in the mood to practice taunts and insults.

Her relationship with Miles . . . Well, it had more complexities than a Celtic knot. And Elliot—they were far from close. Nika only tolerated him because he was Lu's boyfriend.

Yet, Nika supposed, she hardly spent time with anyone else.

"Send them in," Kovachev told the keeper. "I need to have a chat with them, anyway."

They entered the office in a single-file line. First was Lu, who immediately sat in the chair on Nika's left. Her dainty fingers were cold as they slid over Nika's arm and squeezed in a gesture of comfort.

Elliot Mirza, with his exotic, yet utterly boyish, appearance and Serafi poise, silently positioned himself on Lu's other side, while Miles crashed-landed next to Nika.

"I saw them bring you here. What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Oldbloods, Miles," Jade said, alluding to the ancient beings whose name graced almost every page of Daemonstri legend. "You sound like my grandmother."

Nika tried not to grimace as Miles settled in his seat, and Jade did the same beside him.

At the other end of the row, Elliot cleared his throat. "Mister Kovachev," he said. It was an effort for Nika not to roll her eyes. "I just want to clarify that I didn't threaten mutiny with those two. I just wanted to make sure Luiza was alright, given the lockdown and all."

Lu smiled at him. Nika stifled a gag.

"Speaking of the lockdown," Jade chimed in, "would you be so kind as to tell us what it's about?"

Kovachev's expression was the picture of dissatisfaction. "No. But I will inform you that I know you've been trespassing on prohibited school grounds." A guilty silence festered among them. "That cabin needs to be cleaned out by sundown tomorrow. Not a second later. Understood?"

They nodded in unison. Nika was just grateful that he hadn't inquired about illicit substances that may or may not have been hidden beneath the cabin floorboards.

"Now," said the headmaster, rising from his desk, "I have more important duties than amusing a bunch of delinquents. Wait here until a teacher comes to escort you back to the gymnasiums. And Nika, I'm afraid you won't be leaving for some time."

Nika silently told him to shove that smug look right up his—

As soon as the door closed behind him, Lu, Miles, Jade, and Elliot flocked around her. She didn't even wait for them to ask; she knew what they wanted.

So she told them everything she'd learned during her visit with Kovachev, including the reason for the lockdown and how she'd met the student-who-wasn't-a-student.

As she finished speaking, Jade drifted to the other side of Kovachev's desk and began typing at his computer. From the way her fingers flew over the keys, Nika wondered if she'd snooped through it before.

"What are you doing?" Lu hissed. "We're not supposed to go on faculty computers."

All Jade said was, "How do you spell Dante Azzara?"

"Two z's," Elliot replied. When Lu shot a scathing look, he shrugged. "It's a tricky name."

Jade, meanwhile, murmured a filthy, elaborate curse.

Miles asked, "Does Kovachev have naughty photos on that thing?"

"Or scandalous information we can leak?" Nika said.

Lu scolded, "Language."

And Elliot peered through the office window, saying, "Oh, they have cookies in the faculty lounge."

The remarks went in a circle back to Jade, whose eyes hadn't lifted from the screen. "Look."

She turned the monitor toward them. In the top left corner was a photograph of the boy Nika had met last night. As she studied the text around him, she realized it was an official certification for a keeper.

As if the walls were listening, Jade leaned close and whispered, "Dante Azzara is a member of the Vigil."