Dani lowered his voice. "Mark staked the dhampir tonight."

Thomas sagged and cursed. I didn't understand why that was so bad.

"I'm sorry," Dani said. "Things were too chaotic. If I'd seen him, I would've stopped him."

Thomas shook his head. "Nothing we can do, now. We'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Can we? This Nathaniel is bad news, Tom. I didn't see much of him, but I got a bad feeling. He's not like the first biter. He's smart. He knows what he's doing. We're going to have our hands full. I don't think we can fight him and watch Mark at the same time." He looked over at the room where Mark and Charlie were talking. "I think Mark's an idiot. And I can't tell if I'm just too worked up to give him a chance or if I actually don't like him, but..." Dani sighed heavily. "But, he doesn't deserve this. I already feel guilty for letting him get that kill. I don't want to risk the poor kid's sanity because we're too distracted to keep an eye on him."

Thomas sighed. "Neither do I. Okay, we need to..." He sighed again. "God, I can't think right now."

"Do you need more blood?" I offered. It was the only thing I felt like I could contribute to the conversation.

"No, it's not that. I'm..." Thomas forced a brave smile. "This kind of hurts. I really... can't gather my thoughts."

Dani rested a hand on his shoulder. "You just take it easy, then. Char and I will talk a bit, and we'll see what we come up with." His eyes widened. "I'm so stupid! Hang on!" He got up and went into the bathroom. A moment later, he came back and held out something to Thomas. It looked like a cross between a bouillon cube and a pill. "Here."

Thomas picked it up and examined it. He looked concerned. "You still take these?"

Dani shook his head. "No, but I like to be prepared. I should warn you, though. It'll knock you on your ass for a few hours."

"Already there," Thomas said. He popped the pill into his mouth and sighed. "How long does it take to kick in?"

"Not long." Dani leaned over the bed. "You want one too, TS?"

"Why not."

"What is it? Painkillers?" I asked.

"Exactly. One of the stronger painkiller potions out there. Sleep-aid too," Dani said.

"A potion?" I was intrigued.

Dani grinned. "Yep. You'll be able to whip some together someday."

"Really?" I couldn't help but picture a bubbling cauldron. But he'd given Thomas a pill. "I thought potions were liquids."

Dani laughed and ruffled my hair. "Initially. And I do hate to say it, but sometimes it's easier to just tow them around in solid form."

"Oh." I looked down at Thomas, and to my surprise, he looked like he was already asleep.

Charlie came back out and sat down on the other bed. "Well, I think reality is setting in," he said grimly.

Dani nodded. "Poor kid."

"I explained typhooning and apologized on your behalf."

"Thanks." Dani patted my knee, then got up and joined Charlie and Mariana. "Guess that's your bed tonight."

"Dani!" I cried. "I can't—" I looked nervously at Thomas, who still had my hand, and then back to Dani. He looked amused. In fact, all three of them were enjoying my situation. I sighed in defeat. "Let me just wash up."

The lights were off when I got out of the bathroom, and once again, I missed my wand. I couldn't believe how dependent I already was on it. I carefully settled in on the bed by Thomas. His breathing sounded more even and less strained than it had been before. I lay there, eyes wide. I couldn't imagine having to fight Nathaniel again. Tonight's horrors had yet to fully sink in.

"Dani?" Mariana said suddenly. I wasn't the only one awake.

"Yeah?"

"Did I do the right thing?"

I heard Dani sigh. "We were in a bad situation, and you picked the best solution."

"But... So, I shouldn't have killed her?"

Mariana had killed the dhampir. I had a feeling she'd never killed anyone before. I wondered if I could have in her place.

"You didn't have a choice," Dani said softly.

"She was just a dhampir. It wasn't her fault. Maybe I could have... I dunno."

"Listen, Mariana, you have to remember that everyone is fighting for something, and the other guy is just as scared and desperate as you are. But if you don't pull the trigger, he will."

"What if she hadn't killed anyone, yet?" Mariana asked.

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"What if you let her go, and we all got killed? Trust me, asking 'what if' only drives you crazy. Killing somebody isn't supposed to be easy, and it doesn't feel good. But sometimes, it's the only solution you have. Don't beat yourself up, calf. You did the best you could."

"Does it ever get easier?"

"No." Dani sighed. "And you don't want it to. Once you stop caring, that's it. If taking a life stops bothering you, then the reason you did it doesn't matter. You're no better than the sick freaks who do it for fun." There was a long silence, and I heard a rustle of sheets. "Come on, let's go for a swim."

"Now?"

"We need one. Come on." I heard them get up and slide the door open. "We'll be back."

"Take your time," Charlie said. "Be careful."

"You, too. Get some sleep."

Charlie sighed. "Jen?"

"Yes?"

"Try to go to sleep."

"Okay."

I rolled over and tried to get comfortable without touching Thomas. And somehow, I fell asleep.

The first thing I heard when I woke up was whispering. I sat up and looked around. Dani, Charlie, Mariana, and TS all sat at the table talking. Charlie's nose looked completely better, and so did Dani's arm. TS still had a large bruise on his face, but it looked like it was mostly healed. Judging from the way he was sitting, his leg was still injured, if not broken. I looked out the window and saw cranes and container ships. We were docked in Peru. I thought I would have been happier, but I was still too shaken from the fight. Oh God, I had fallen asleep with Thomas! I turned quickly. He was, thankfully, still asleep. I started to ease out of bed, hoping to escape before I woke him up, but couldn't resist stopping to study him. It looked like there was more color in his cheeks, which wasn't saying much, considering he was normally fairly pale, but he looked less gray than he had before. I was also relieved to see that he didn't look like he was pain. He really was handsome, though. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks, as I looked at him. His bangs just barely fell over his eyes, and I resisted the urge to brush them off his face. Of all the people to have a crush on, why did I pick Thomas?

I started to get up again, when something else caught my eye. Thomas’ skin was perfect. Everyone’s was for that matter. I had assumed that if you healed as fast as they did, you'd never get a scar. But there, on the base of Thomas’ neck, right over the artery, were two tiny scars. I glanced at my wrist. The bite from the night before was almost gone. I put my fingers over it, measuring it, and held them against Thomas’ scar, just to be sure. They lined up too perfectly to be coincidence. It must have been the bite that turned him.

"That kind of tickles," he muttered.

I jerked my hand back, feeling horribly embarrassed. "Sorry!"

Thomas smiled weakly. "That's okay." He groaned and stretched a bit. "Man, that really did knock me out." He pushed himself up onto his elbows and yawned.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"A lot better." He started prodding at the wound on his stomach, and I studied it.

The wound looked almost completely closed. It was mostly scabbed over, and the edges were scarring. Just hours ago, it had been a huge, deep puncture that surely would have killed a human. I couldn't believe how quickly it was healing.

Dani dropped down on the bed next to us. "Damn, that still looks pretty bad."

To my surprise, Thomas agreed. "Yeah, I should be healing a lot faster." He spat into his hand and gingerly rubbed it over the wound. Even as I watched, some of the scabs flaked off, leaving fresh scars behind. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Ship’s getting searched, again." Dani rolled his eyes. "Not that it's helped, yet. We've also made arrangements for Mark. He'll be staying in Callao for a while."

"How'd he take it?"

Dani shrugged. "He wasn't happy, at first, but I told him he's going to learn about magic and how to do dhampir things. I think he was a bit more onboard after that."

Thomas nodded. "Okay. Have we figured out what we're doing?"

"We've got half an hour before the buses leave, so there's still time to decide. But we're all thinking go."

TS stood up and limped over to the other bed. Thomas groaned in sympathy, as TS sat heavily down on the other bed.

"You don't think you have a collapsed lung, do you?" Thomas asked, looking at TS in concern.

"Might've last night," TS said. "I think it's just a couple cracked ribs giving me trouble, right now. That and my leg." He shrugged. "But the worst heals first, right? I'll be fine after the sun sets again."

"Good. Just take it easy, today. So, we're going on our trips?" Thomas said.

"If we stay put, he's absolutely going to be coming for us," TS said. "That means everyone else on the ship could be in danger. Whether we cower in here or go looking for him, it's the same problem. If we all leave, I think there's less chance of him lurking about the ship. And... Well, he can't follow all of us."

"If he decides to come after us, it'll either be you two, or me and Char," Dani said.

"What if we go, and he turns people?" I asked softly.

Thomas sighed and shook his head. "If we stay, he will."

"For all we know," Dani cut in, "if we stay and try to find him, he'll get off the ship and turn people in port, while we waste our time here."

TS scratched his head. "I think there are just too many variables. He's going to be feeding. He's probably going to be turning people. But we don't know if he'll stay here or go into port. Hell, he's got the entire country to hide in. We could blow the next five days looking for him in the wrong place."

"And be just as screwed when we get back," Dani said.

Thomas nodded. "I have to agree. The only sure thing is that if we aren't here, he'll have less of a reason to stick around."

"We're going, then?" TS asked.

"I can't think of any other options," Thomas said.

"We've been going around in circles for hours," Charlie said. "We can't think of anything better, either."

Half an hour later, we split up, and I was on the bus. I looked out of the window all of the way to the airport. I couldn't deny that I was excited to be going on the trip; I'd been sure we wouldn't. But even as I watched the streets of Callao go by, I was terrified that I'd see Nathaniel. I tried to forget about him and just enjoy the trip, but as soon as we reached the airport I caught sight of TS, still limping. He was obviously having trouble breathing, too. I hoped it was just broken ribs and not a collapsed lung. I was also a little worried about how he'd explain his injuries. It turned out that I didn't have to worry. By the time our plane landed everyone was laughing and warning TS not to trip or fall. It didn't take long to figure out that he had been telling people he'd fallen down the stairs on the ship. Despite the teasing, he didn't have to carry a thing into our hotel and was escorted to his room by half of the girls on the trip.

We arrived shortly before dinner and had just enough time to settle in before meeting in the hotel restaurant. TS wasn't there, but Thomas sat down at the table with me. It was weird seeing him talking with other people, acting for all the world like he was a regular, human, college student. He and a couple of other people at the table were in the same classes, and they talked about homework and their professors. It was all very normal conversation. If I didn't know, I would never have guessed that there was anything different about him. He ordered a huge dinner, and I wasn't surprised at all when he got most of it in a to-go box. When we were done eating, I caught up to him on the way to his room.

"Is TS okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's sleeping it off," Thomas said. He held up his boxed dinner. "He'll be happy though."

"I bet."

I studied him as we walked, tempted to ask how he was doing. He still looked paler than normal, and I was sure from the way he walked that he was in pain.