“I’ll stab him,” offers Jaden as she makes a stabbing motion.“You expect me to play along?” Rob scoffs, gripping his arm protectively.“Pretty much,” replies Landon earnestly.“You’re serious?”“As a heart attack.”“No,” argues Rob. “I’m not going to let Jaden—or anyone else—skewer me.” He’s greeted with an amused silence. “Bleedin’ crime is what it is,” he mutters. “Why can’t someone else go all noble sacrifice-y? It’s because I’m English, ain’t it?”

“If I were someone else, I’d go along with you all. But since I’m what I am, lay off! Go to hell without me, Or let me go there by myself! Why do we have to go together?”

“Because she left him a MySpace message that was semi-flirty, and then today he was very vague about what he was doing. So I headed over to his house and waited outside until he left. And now he’s at McDonald’s, and I’m following him to see where else he’s going.” MySpace is seriously going to be responsible for everyone losing their minds.”

“Sorry, but I have plans elsewhere,” William said darkly. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I’ll be gone for a few weeks.”“What plans?”“Doesn’t matter why I kept you in the dark. I’m going and that’s final.”“You can’t go without me,” Gilly said.“I can and I will.”“You promised to protect me always. How can you protect me if you’re gone?”“I didn’t lie to you. I will always protect you,” William told her gently. He stood, reached for her, but realized what he was doing and dropped his arms to his sides. “You have to trust me on this.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m all right?” I say.“No, I’m pretty sure you’re not all right.”He shakes his head. “I’m going to ask you not to make any decisions until we’ve talkedabout it.”

“Again Al touched me, but this time, his hand was gentle on my shoulder. “And if you’re not, it’s Ku’Sox. He knows you’re too protected here, and you’re a threat to him. He’s summoning you. He’s summoning you to where I can’t follow. He’s going to try to kill you!”