The Indigo Spell

He took the pages with a frown. "Here what?"

"It's the assignment. Use my answers."

"I. . . ." His jaw dropped. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes."

"I don't think you do. You're giving me your homework."

"Yes."

"And telling me to pass it off as my homework."

"Yes."

"But I didn't actually do the work."

"Do you want them or not?" I asked in frustration. I started to take the papers back, but he pulled them close.

"Oh, I want them," he said. "I just want to know what you want in return. Because this doesn't really make up for getting me ostracized from my family and friends." He kept his tone light, but I heard the edge of bitterness. There it was. No matter how friendly he and I were, our respective allegiances to the Warriors and the Alchemists would always be between us. Maybe it was a joke now . . . but someday it wouldn't be.

"I need a favor," I explained. "A small one, really. Has nothing to do with any of that . . . stuff."

Trey looked understandably wary. "Which is?"

The bell rang, so I spoke quickly. "Angeline needs a math tutor or else she'll fail. And if she fails, she'll get kicked out of school. It wouldn't be hard for you at all. And it'd look good on your college applications."

"Your cousin's a little unstable," he said. But he didn't say no, so I thought that was a good sign.

"You used to think she was hot," I reminded him.

"Yeah, that was before. . . ." He didn't finish, but I knew. Before he found out she was a dhampir. The Warriors had the same taboos the Alchemists did about relationships between the races.

"Okay," I said. "I understand. I'll just take my homework and go." I held out my hand, but he didn't give the papers back.

"Wait, I'll do it. But if she injures me, I hope you'll feel really bad. Basketball season just started, and the team will fall apart if I'm sidelined because of her."

I grinned. "I'll be devastated."

Angeline was not so thrilled when I told her at lunch. She flushed with rage and looked like she was about ready to throw her tray across the cafeteria.

"You expect me to work with that . . . that . . . vampire hunter?" she demanded. I wondered if she'd had another name in mind but had held back in some remarkable show of restraint. "Especially after what they tried to do to Sonya?"

"Trey's not like the rest of them," I said defensively. "He refused to kill her and even went through the trouble of getting me in to help her - which ended up severely messing up his life, I might add."

Eddie looked amused, despite the grim subject. "You should also add that he wants very, very badly to get back to that old life."

I pointed at Eddie with my fork. "Don't tell me you think Trey's a bad choice too."

"For tutoring?" He shook his head. "Nah, he's fine. I'm just saying you shouldn't be so quick to assume everything's happy and bright with him. It seems pretty likely his group's working against us."

"He's my friend," I said, hoping my firm tone would put an end to the discussion. After a few more assurances, Eddie convinced Angeline to work with Trey, reminding her she needed to keep her grades up. Still, Eddie's words haunted me. I believed absolutely that Trey was my friend but again wondered when that rift between us would rear its ugly head.

When Eddie and Angeline left to go to their afternoon classes, I asked Jill to hang back at the table for a minute. "What's Adrian doing right now?"

"He's in his painting class," she said promptly.

"The bond must be running strong today, huh?" I asked. Sometimes her view of his mind and experiences was clearer than others.

She shrugged. "No, but it's eleven on Tuesday."

"Right," I said, feeling foolish. I knew everyone's schedules; it was necessary for my job. "I should've realized that. Do you think he'd be able to meet up with me after school?"

"To go on that witch hunt? Yeah, he'd probably leave right now."

Jill knew what Adrian knew, so she'd also been briefed about my search for Veronica. While I'd learned to accept Jill's knowledge as part of confiding in Adrian, it was still a little shocking for me to hear these forbidden topics discussed openly. Seeing my stunned reaction, Jill smiled a little.

"Don't worry," she said. "I keep Adrian's secrets. And yours." The bitterness in her voice also caught me off guard.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, puzzled. "You're not . . . you're not still upset about what happened between Adrian and me, are you? I thought you'd eased up on that." Although Adrian's proclamation of loving me against the odds had been unsettling, his more relaxed attitude had come through in her until now.

"Adrian has," she said. "He doesn't see the danger of you running around with another guy."

I was lost. "Another guy? You don't mean . . . Marcus? That's crazy."

"Is it?" asked Jill. The bond was so strange at times. Jill was jealous on Adrian's behalf. "He's human, you're human. You've both got this rebel Alchemist thing going on. And I saw him. He's pretty cute. There's no telling what could happen."

"Well, I know what could happen: nothing," I said. Even through a psychic bond, Marcus could win over girls. "I just met him. I don't even know if I can entirely trust him, and I certainly don't have any feelings for him. Look, I get that you want to help Adrian, but you can't be mad at me about what happened. You know why I turned him down - especially after Micah." Micah was Eddie's human roommate, and even though she knew human-vampire relationships couldn't get serious, she'd still been surprised at just how complex and difficult the situation had been.

"Yeah. . . ." She frowned, no doubt conflicted over Adrian's feelings and what she knew was true. "But maybe with Adrian, I don't know. Maybe things could be different. Or maybe there's at least a way to make them less painful for him."

I looked away, unable to meet her eyes. I didn't like to think of Adrian in pain, but what else could I do? What did either of them expect me to do? We all knew the rules.

"I'm sorry," I said, picking up my tray and standing. "I never asked for any of this. Adrian will get over me."

"Do you really want him to get over you?" she asked.

"What? Why would you even ask something like that?"

She didn't answer and instead made a great show of stirring around her mashed potatoes. When I realized she wasn't going to elaborate, I shook my head and walked off toward the exit. All the while, I could feel her watching me as that question echoed in my mind: Do you really want him to get over you?