"It's the masks," said Sip. "He loves them. And a lot of them have to do with vampire history, so they're very important to him."

"What are the masks, exactly?" I asked. "Just something that you wear to a fancy ball?"

"No, absolutely not," said Sip, hurrying to correct my mistake. "They aren't masks that you mess with. Masks are what they sound like, physical objects that you put over your face, but they hold intense powers. To put one on is to wield that power and to have the ability to cause lots of goodness . . . or lots of pain. The making of masks was popular several hundred years ago. They were used in conjunction with rings to hold paranormal powers, but normally instead of just intensifying powers that the rings already had, masks created new powers. And there was about a ten year period when people were making masks that created dangerous powers."

"What do you mean by dangerous?" I wanted to know. My attention was totally focused on what Sip was saying. It sounded like my internship might turn out to be more interesting than I had thought. Somehow I had a.s.sumed it was going to be more like a punishment.

"I mean," said Sip carefully, "that some of the masks have the ability to kill. Many of them are specifically targeted or geared towards one paranormal type, which means that one mask might send bursts of energy into the air, so that whoever is wearing it could disrupt the flight of a fallen angel. Or another mask could block the moon, thus cutting werewolves off from the source of their changing."

"But you can change whenever you want," I argued, and for about the millionth time I wished I had grown up around paranormals or believed my mother or SOMETHING.

"Yes, but that's irrelevant. There still has to be a moon for us to exist," said Sip, waving her hand impatiently. "There are less powerful masks too, of course, and maybe those are the ones you'll be working with."

"Wait, how will I be working with them? There's no way they're going to let some freshman handle masks that could kill people."

"Why not?" asked Lisabelle. When we all looked at her with raised eyebrows she continued. "I mean, think about it. I could kill people with my hand if I wanted to."

"It's just SO good of you not to," said Sip dryly.

"And who is this Dacer?" asked Lough. "I've never heard of him, but he sounds scary."

"How does he sound scary?" Lisabelle asked. "The only thing you know about him is that he's a vampire."

At Lisabelle's direct address, Lough's breathing instantly quickened. "That's all I need to know," he stammered.

"I don't know much about it," said Sip. "I know that he's a pretty powerful vampire, or else he wouldn't have that position. He also has the complete trust of the faculty here."

"Isn't it strange that I wasn't allowed to pick my own elective? And that of all the ones they decide to place me in, the one they choose has nothing whatsoever to do with Astra?"

"Hum," said Sip, examining the schedule more closely. "Lough, you should dream what's going on here and then tell us."

Lough grinned. "I wish. Maybe after this semester I'll have better control of it. I'm still afraid of just hurting everyone," he said in a strangled voice. Last semester he had tried performing a waking dream and ended up giving everyone else in the cla.s.s nightmares, including one for me that involved my mother. Needless to say, I hadn't appreciated it.

"I'll just have to meet this Dacer and find out. He can't be worse than Zervos," I said, shrugging. I was already wondering if these masks were something I could use against the demons and h.e.l.lhounds. That might prove useful indeed.

"He's a vampire," said a strong female voice behind us. "We're all terrors."

I twisted around. Standing behind me was the vampire princess Lanca. She was a senior and she was absolutely gorgeous; her long dark hair and pale skin shone. Last semester, she had looked confident and untouchable at all times, but now there was a tint of sadness in her black eyes, and I knew that her cool demeanor was a front for the sadness she must still be feeling.

As a vampire princess, the only one currently at Public, she was ent.i.tled to a certain amount of protection from other vampires. One of her most loyal protectors, a Starter named Tale, had died last semester when we battled the demons. I knew she missed him. No one wants someone else to die for them.

"Hi, Lanca," I said, grinning up at her.

"Elemental," she said, nodding at me. "May I sit?"

She indicated with one delicate hand the chair next to me and I nodded.

Even if Lanca didn't look like much, I was pretty sure that if she wanted to, she could throw me across a room without really having to think about. In that way she and Lisabelle were very similar, except that Lanca was bound by the conventions of the vampires, while there was nothing to keep Lisabelle, and especially the tongue lashings she liked to give everyone, in check.

Lanca sat in one graceful motion. I tried not to be jealous. I would never be as graceful as a vampire. Heck, I'd be lucky to be as graceful as a jackrabbit.

"How are you doing?" Lanca asked, looking at me with concern. "It is my understanding that you have moved to your proper quarters?"

"I don't know if that's how I'd put it," said Sip. "She was fine in Airlee. She's all alone in Astra."

"But being in Astra will allow her powers to develop," said Lanca. "Besides, she'll have added protection, and Astra house will blossom under the attention of an elemental."

"There are probably a lot of fun things to explore," said Lisabelle. "We didn't scratch the surface when we were there cleaning."

"Speaking of cleaning Astra," said Lanca, "where is Keller?"

I glanced around. Keller, fallen angel, Dash player extraordinaire, my former tutor, and my most amazing kiss, was nowhere to be seen.

I blushed furiously and shrugged. Lanca patted my arm comfortingly. She liked Keller, mostly because there were a lot of powerful women at Public and Keller treated them as equals, possibly because he was so powerful himself. I hadn't talked to him since the night he kissed me. One of the conditions of my leaving Public for Christmas had been that I not communicate with paranormals I wasn't with. The demons would have liked nothing better than to find me, and the more I contacted people the easier it would have been for them to do just that.

Keller had also said that he was going to be with his family and would have a hard time getting in touch.

"And your internship is at the Museum?" Lanca asked, her eyes brighter. There was an unspoken question burning in their depths. "With Dacer? That's so impressive."

"Yes," I said carefully. "I don't know why, but Sip was just telling me about it. Sounds like it will be interesting."

"I'm sure it will," Lanca mused. "It's hard to get admittance there, let alone an internship. There are masks that are very important to the vampires, that's why Dacer is the curator of the Museum. He is trusted by all."

"Is he as bad as Zervos?" Lough blurted out.

Lanca smiled. "I think he will be kinder to Charlotte, but then again, Zervos put his life between Charlotte and the demons. A frosty personality is just how we vampires are. But no, Dacer is unusual, to say the least. Anyway, I must depart, but I will return this evening for the Demonstration." She rose as gracefully as she had sat, and moved away.

"Well, it was nice of her to stop by," said Lough. "Maybe this Dacer won't be so bad, but I don't agree with her about Zervos. He's a terror."

"There was something she wasn't saying," said Lisabelle thoughtfully. "I wonder what it was."

I didn't want to admit it, but I wondered as well.

"She's nice," said Lough. "For a vampire. Anyway, I have to go. Apparently one of the transfers is a dream giver, so I'm helping her move in."

"Her?" Sip asked, batting her eyelashes at Lough.

"It's not like that," he mumbled. For the second time at breakfast he went bright red.

"Sure, sure," said Sip as he grabbed his tray and left to clear it.

"So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Sip asked right before Lough left.

"We need a plan?" Lisabelle asked.

"Of course," said Sip. "The Committee is arriving soon, so we have to watch that, and then we have to finish moving your stuff in, and I'm sure Charlotte has lots to do over in Astra, and then we have to come back and watch the second semester Demonstration."

"Well, I'm going to leave before the day gets any more complicated. I'll see everyone at dinner. Let me know if you need anything," said Lough, waving cheerily.

"I wonder if he's on something. Happy pills maybe. It's definitely not normal to be that chipper," Lisabelle said thoughtfully as she stared at his back. Her spoon trailed through her soup.

"If he is, we should ask him to share some with you," said Sip, ducking the napkin Lisabelle threw at her. "Then again," she continued, "he might not have enough."

Right after Lough left, a soph.o.m.ore, who I knew was a fallen angel but whose name I didn't know, came stumbling into the dining hall, bracing her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. Everyone stared.

"Spit it out, girl," snarled an all-too-familiar voice. Zervos.

"The Committee's here," she said, "Oh, and demons have surrounded Public."

Then she collapsed.

"Oh, good," said Lisabelle sarcastically as we watched the girl fall. "Starting right where we left off last semester."

Chapter Seven.

My friends and I of course knew about the demons - maybe not that there were enough of them to surround the campus, but still, the fact that they were nearby didn't come as any surprise to us. Judging by the panicked outcry of other students, though, most people weren't aware of the demon presence.

"CALM DOWN," Zervos bellowed. They could probably have heard him on the other side of campus. "WE ARE PREPARED FOR THIS EVENTUALITY."

Students calmed down, but I felt sure it was because they were more afraid of Zervos than they were of demons.

"Let's go greet the Committee," Zervos continued, his voice several octaves lower. "I am sure they will have everything in order."

I wasn't sure what that meant, but all the other students suddenly stood up and started to file out of the dining hall. Many looked pale and a couple were shaking, but demons or no, we were going to watch the Committee's arrival, except for a couple of fallen angels who went to tend to the girl who had collapsed.

"Oh, we found out who another Committee member was," said Lisabelle as we followed the crowd out of the dining hall.

Sip nodded. "There's a vampire named Dove, but that's about it. I'm not sure who the fallen angel rep is going to be," she continued. "There was a lot of contention over who got to be on it. It's a very powerful position."

"Running the University?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah," said Lisabelle. "Well, they're molding young minds and all that nonsense, so the choosing of a President is a big deal. Besides, now whoever they choose is in charge of guarding the only existing elemental, so basically the fate of all paranormals rests on the shoulders of G.o.d-Willing-Not-A-Pixie."

Cale, standing nearby, turned his head, but Lisabelle ignored him.

Sip snickered. "Would you please walk faster?" she asked Lisabelle. "We're not going to get a prime viewing location."

"Do you have an unlimited amount of energy? It is my deep-seated wish that one day you get tired," Lisabelle muttered.

"Not likely."

"If anyone ever gives you caffeine they'll have to answer to me," Lisabelle muttered.

We walked in silence for only a few steps when Lisabelle added, "The paranormal from Airlee is my uncle."

Sip came to a dead halt, forcing the senior pixie behind her to jump out of the way to avoid trampling the much smaller werewolf.

"What?" She gasped. "That's what you meant last night by finding out about it at your Christmas party? Your uncle??"

Lisabelle stopped to glare. "My uncle."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" she squealed.

"You didn't ask . . . ?"

"Well, that's a stupid excuse. You should just a.s.sume I want all possible available information. Don't you know me at all?" Sip stamped her foot impatiently.

"Do you notice how when she does that her weight hitting the ground barely even moves the snow? She's that small. Hmm," Lisabelle said wickedly.

Sip got in her friend's face and said, "It's not the size of the werewolf in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the werewolf."

"Sometimes when I talk to you I feel like we're in a relationship. One where you nag," said Lisabelle, rubbing her temple tiredly.

Sip crossed her arms over her chest. "Who is your uncle?"

"He's a bounty hunter. He's not my favorite."

We were now outside, standing in the brilliant sunshine and snow. I shivered. Coming down one of the paths towards the Tower was a short file of adults. Two were dressed in black, the third wore white.

"That's them," Sip whispered excitedly. "Can you imagine how much time and devotion they had to dedicate to paranormals to get where they are? Amazing."

"Why do I have a feeling we aren't going to like them?" Lisabelle muttered.

Sip leaned over her shoulder. She had to stand on her tiptoes to do it. "Because one of the members of the Committee is your uncle and you said you didn't like him?"

Lisabelle turned her head to look at Sip. Their faces almost touched. "Yup. Sounds about right."

"Is it possible he'll be the next President?"

"No one on the Committee is eligible," said Sip. "That's why Zervos isn't on it."

"Zervos wants to be President?"

"Is that really so hard to believe?"

"I was just hoping he'd confine his particular brand of crazy to the vampires," said Lisabelle.

He helped us in the end," I pointed out. I felt compelled to defend him. He had almost been killed, after all.

"He's a pain in the a.s.s," said Lisabelle.