I turned and saw Thomas and TS heading our way. They both looked fairly pleased. They stopped farther away from the crowd than we were and beckoned us over.

"Good news," Thomas whispered when we joined him and TS. "They found a dhampir on the ship and nothing else. It's all clear."

"That is good news," Charlie said. "Anything else?"

"Got in touch with some officials in Panama. Apparently they've had a few reports of dhampirs showing up on ships. The problem is that the dhampirs don't cause a problem until they're out of the Panamanian jurisdiction and haven't been reported enough to be caught before they disembark," Thomas said.

"Where are they coming from, then?" Charlie asked.

TS shrugged. "Busy vampire in Panama, I guess." He looked up at the sky with an odd expression. "I don't know what I would've done tonight if they hadn't caught him."

Charlie looked as confused as I was for a moment. Then, his eyes widened in shock. "God, new moon's tonight, isn't it?"

TS nodded. "I feel sick."

"You're fine," Thomas said. "It's only one night, and there's no threat now."

"Easy for you to say," TS grumbled. He rolled his shoulders, like he was sore. "I hate new moons."

"What exactly is wrong with a new moon?" I asked. They all looked at me in surprise, and I sighed. "Let me guess. It's common knowledge?"

"Sorry," Thomas said. "It sort of is."

"Werewolves are human during new moons," Charlie said.

"You mean they can't turn into wolves, or they're totally human?"

"Human, human," TS said.

He looked fairly upset about it, and I decided not to push the issue. We made our way back into line. Soon, they inspected our bags and let us board. We made plans to meet up later in the evening and headed back to our rooms. Charlie and I ended up on the same stairway.

"Is it really so awful to be human at night? I mean, TS is human half the day, anyway."

"Yeah, and he hates it. Even though he still looks human, he gets stronger and faster once the sun goes down, whether he's in his wolf form or not. Werewolves generally aren't very thrilled about being weak during the day, but they're used to not worrying about it at night. New moons are sort of hard on them." He shook his head. "I feel bad. I totally forgot about the new moon. Poor TS has probably been dreading it for days."

We reached my room and said goodbye. I took a nice, long, hot shower; the water on the yacht had been lukewarm, and it was the first time I had felt clean in four days. I traded Ecuador stories with Laurie, and we went up for dinner together. I spotted Thomas and TS across the dining room. The sun was down, and TS didn't look very happy. However, he looked completely healthy. It seemed like he really did only get sick when he was a werewolf. My theory of a magical disease was getting more and more likely. I wondered if they were ever planning on telling me what was wrong with him.

Shortly after dinner, everyone started gathering on deck. I spotted Charlie, TS, and Thomas and joined them at the rails. People cheered and booed at the runners, as the all-aboard time ticked closer. At last, the crew started hauling in the mooring lines, and we began to pull away from the dock.

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"Where are Dani and Mariana?" I asked.

"Still swimming," Charlie said. "Less chance of being spotted if they hop back on later tonight."

"Oh, wow. When will they get here?"

"Probably around one."

That was only a couple of hours away. I wondered when they had left the Galapagos; it was a long, long way to swim. The port itself, was fairly far up a river, which probably would have been harder for Dani and Mariana to swim through unseen. It did, however, make for a neat view; we could see the lights from houses lining the river, as the ship sailed by. It was a strange contrast from the open ocean I was used to. People lingered on deck, but soon headed inside. I groaned when one of them mentioned our early morning class. I hadn't needed a reminder. Getting up at the crack of dawn to explore an island had been much easier, and more pleasant, than getting up for class.

"I have to go study," Charlie said. "I'll be back when Dani and Mariana are due."

"Yeah, I'll see you then," Thomas said.

"Where will they get back on board?" I asked. I had a feeling that Dani jumping back up onto the yacht wasn't nearly as exciting as jumping back onto the ship would be.

"Deck Three, aft," Charlie said.

"That's crew-only, isn't it?" Curiosity had taken me a few steps down from Deck Four to Deck Three, right up to the rope that blocked it off from students. I had seen a bunch of equipment and machinery on the deck.

"Best place for not being seen."

That was true. If you stood at the rails on the back of Deck Seven, you could see the staggered decks all the way down to the fourth. Deck Three, however, was entirely concealed by Deck Four, if Dani and Mariana jumped on there, nobody would be able to see them.

"At one?"

"Right," Charlie said. "See you there?"

"Yeah."

"Catch you later, then."

Charlie headed back inside. Not long after, Thomas, TS, and I did too. With less than two hours to kill, I didn't bother going back to my room. I went into the library and checked my email. I sent a quick "Ecuador was amazing and I'm back on the ship!" note to my stepmother and another to Shannon. After that, I browsed the public folders for pictures of me. A lot of people uploaded their group shots onto the computers in case other people wanted them. When I was done, it was still only a little after 12:30. I decided to take a long, winding way down to Deck Three. I thought the others might appreciate if I scouted ahead to make sure the coast was clear for Dani and Mariana.

I went up to Deck Seven and out. Nobody was there; even the snack bar was closed. Most people were probably already in bed, trying to get as much sleep as they could before class started. The crew had already stacked the chairs and lounge chairs against the rails and covered the pool for the night. I glanced over the rail at the decks below and didn't see anybody. I went down a set of stairs to Deck Six. It was just as empty as Deck Seven; nothing but stacked up chairs and tables. Deck Five was just as empty, and Deck Four was even more barren. There wasn't even any furniture, just a big empty space. I tiptoed down the steps and stopped by the rope. A little sign that read: Crew Only - Do Not Enter hung from the middle of it. The deck looked empty, so I ducked under the rope and continued down the stairs.

Deck Three was filled with massive coils of rope and all sorts of machinery bolted to the floor. The ceiling was so low I could almost reach up and touch it. It was sort of dark and creepy. I realized that my wand was still in my room and groaned. It would have been nice to cast my night vision spell. I supposed I needed to get in the habit of always having it with me. I went over to the rail near the stairs and looked down at the dark water. It looked really far down. Even though I knew he could, I couldn't imagine Dani being able to jump this high out of the water.

"Good evening."

I nearly jumped a mile at the voice and spun around. A crewmember was standing behind me.

"Oh, uh... Hi."

"It's dangerous to be wandering around here alone at night."

"Sorry, I'll just go back up to Deck Four." I couldn't believe I'd gotten caught. I hoped I hadn't just made it harder for Dani and Mariana to get back on. This guy might decide to stick around in case I tried to come back.

"What's your hurry?" He stepped forward and put his arms on either side of me, pinning my back against the rails. "You don't have to run off." He looked and sounded Hispanic. Alarms started going off in my head. The crewmembers were all European and Asian. This guy wasn't a crewmember. He eyed me curiously. "You smell... strange... mouthwatering..." Then, he opened his mouth, and two of his teeth slid down farther, out of his gums. He had fangs! He chuckled and leaned down toward my neck.