PROLOGUE.

I remember everything.

He had saved me. Saved me from a painful death. But what I faced now was more painful, pain that could only be healed by him. Ian Kabra. You see, my family wasn't always… kind. But he was.

My family was big. It had groups. Once upon a time, back when my family was small. It had five children. That was when no one wanted to kill the other.

Then, one of the five children turned against everyone. Created a new group. One, they believed to "keep" the family going. Like the president, but more dangerous. They didn't give second chances. They killed family members who disobeyed them.

I was searching for a way to stop that madness. Stop the killing of loved ones. In my family, you wouldn't know how to trust. These horrible people are called Madrigals. When they found out what I was trying to do, they warned me to stop.

I didn't. They looked, they tracked, they found me. Ian found out to, came to me. I didn't trust him. He swore he would protect me at all cost. I still didn't trust him. He did protect me. When they came to me, he pushed me out of the way of a bullet, told me to run to the nearest airport, take the next plane leaving… anywhere. He said he would call me soon. I flew to Venice, Italy. I stayed at a random hotel. I waited all night for that call. I couldn't stay up any longer. I dozed off. The next morning, he had sent me a text, saying it was safe to go back. He told me to text him when I got back. I told him when I got back. He yet again, texted me saying he would call me.

I waited day and night again for his call.

Nothing came.

My phone was always on. Weeks passed. Months. Then a year.

Still nothing. After that first week, I cried. I cried myself to sleep. Cried on and on and on. Dreamed about him. My world was gray and dull without him. I always sat by the window, my phone on, waiting for him. I missed him. I missed his Jet black hair, brown skin, amber eyes. His smile, that smile that always lifted my spirits. I knew him before… that bad day. He liked me. He always did. Before he locked me and my brother up in a cave in Korea, he thought of me as disgusting.

But after that, he had new feeling's about me. My brother, Dan, hated him, but now was getting a second thought, about Ian's sister, Natalie. Dan and I haven't heard from Natalie, either.

Next month is my twenty-fourth birthday. Dan is twenty-one. So is Natalie. Ian is one year older than me. Twenty-five. I miss him. CHAPTER ONE.

My eyes opened. Oh, I thought. Another day. Maybe this one will be my last. I chuckled. I had dreamed about him again. I got out of bed lazily. I went in to Dan's room. At first I didn't see him. Then I just saw his foot sticking out on the edge of the bed next to a mountain of pillows. I dug him out of Mt. Pillow-case. Whacked him with the biggest pillow I found.

"Get up, dweeb." I said. All I got in reply was a snore. "Dan!! You weirdo! Get UP!!!" I yelled in to his ear. He lifted his head groggily. "Huh?" I was getting annoyed."Dan, IT'S TIME TO GET UP!" "Hey! I was sleeping Amy!" His green eyes looked tired. I looked at his clock. It said 5:31 AM. "Dan, I have to go to school at six, and you have work. It's five-thirty. Get up." I walked in to the kitchen, looked in the fridge. I poured myself a glass of milk. Dan limped in to the kitchen. "Hey sis, what's for breakfast?" I looked at him, shocked. "Our usual, stupid head. Cereal. Go get some bowls." He looked at me. His eyes saying, "Don't I always." I got out some corn flakes and spoons and we ate in silence. Dan was the first to speak. "So, have you heard from I- "Don't say the name please!!!" I interrupted.

I ate faster, thinking I was going to be late to college. When I finished I rushed to my bedroom, got dressed. Brushed my long reddish-brown hair and teeth. I walked out in to our tiny living room where Dan sat. He wasn't ready at all. "Dan! Could you at least help make my life normal and look natural?" I hissed. Dan looked up from a bag of Doritos, "I do look natural. A natural twenty-one-year-old who is very tired and annoyed by his sister." I rolled my eyes and walked out of our little apartment. When I got out of our building and in to the fresh air of Boston, Massachusetts. I called a taxi and told them where Harvard University was. I got to school and went to my class. I wanted to be an artist. So I took art class. School was like a temporary band-aid on my broken heart. I arrived and paid the cab driver. It was my first day at college. I hated being new. I just imagined if Ian were here, we would be running from Madrigals, bullets, bombs, poisons, everything. That was fun for Ian and I. That's what we were trained for. But, that was behind me now. Memories.

Times that no one could take away from me. I sighed. Would Ian come back? Was he even alive? "Ah, miss Amy Cahill." The receptionist said as I walked in to my school. "Hello, uh…" I squinted at her nametag. "Oh, Mrs. Bernwick. Which floor is my class?" She held up one finger and then searched through some files until she found the right one. "Oh let's see… Ah ha! Up the stairs and second door to the right, dear." "Thank's." I walked up the stairs and walked in my classroom. There were ten seats in a circle with easels in front of them. A man with white and gray hair was sitting at a desk looking at a pile of papers. He had on bifocals and was wearing a blue polo shirt with white pants. No one else was there.

The man at the desk looked up. His eyes were twinkling gray. A chill went down my spine. I don't know why. But his face looked…familiar. I couldn't figure why. He looked at me. Studied my face. Then a grin spreaded across his face. "Hello." He said. "I am Mr. Jenler. I believe you are Miss… Oh yes, Amy. Amy Cahill." I stared at him. Part of my body was telling me to run, but the other half was telling me to scream. I don't know why. His eyes seemed to be smiling even when he wasn't. "A- yeah. Um, am I, a, early?" For some reason I felt scared of him. Frozen where I was standing. "No. You are just on time." His eyes twinkled. "Please, take a seat." I took the one the farthest away from him.

I put my handbag down next to me. A piece of paper flew out of it. I picked it up and turned it over.

Mystery.

Oncoming.

Sincere.

Cowbell.

On

Water.

-Ian.

It was just a poem Ian wrote to me a year ago. I didn't know why I carried it around. Sometimes, when I got flash backs about Ian and me, I would cry. And the poem—even if it didn't make any sense at all—it comforted me.

I screamed as an oncoming car was headed strait toward me.

I heard strange noises. Thwip Thwip Thwip!

Then my arm stung with pain. I looked at it. My arm was bleeding. I then realized those people in the car were shooting at me. Thwip Thwip! More shots flew from the car as it passed by. I ran. ran until my lungs burned. I hid in an alley-way. Unable to feel my right arm. Then a figure in a black suit ran in to the alley yelling "Amy!" I recognized the voice. But was distracted by the black car that had shot at me. It was coming right behind the boy. Ian. Thwip Thwip! "Duck Amy!" Ian yelled and pushed me out of the way, landing on top of me.

"Helloo. Um, I'm Sara." A girl's voice interrupted my flash back. "Um, hi, I'm Sara." The girl said. The girl had shining golden hair, blue eyes, and a crooked smile. "I'll be sitting next to you." She said.

I felt my face got red, "Uh, thanks." I said, managing a smile. "I'm a-Amy." My hands were trembling as I folded the paper Ian wrote on and slipped it in to my pocket. Sara plumped down on the stool next to me.

She was wearing a gray button-down sweater and blue jeans. I looked around. I was so in to my flash back I didn't see the other people in the circle. A boy with brown hair sat across from me. His bangs covered his eyes so I couldn't see them. A girl with dark skin and jet black hair that went down to her shoulders sat next to him. Two boys (who I knew they were twins) Sat to the left of me.

A girl with black hair that was cut to her shoulders in a black and purple striped shirt and jeans sat next to the boy across of me. Then another boy with blond hair sat to the right of the girl with black hair. The other's were just normal looking sibling's. The sound of clapping made the mob of kid's quiet down. It was Mr. Jenler.

"Hello, I am Mr. Jenler. Welcome to Harvard University." He said. His eyes wondering from student to student. Then they settled on me. Another chill went down my spine. "Well, let's all introduce are name's. Shall we? Let's start with you, Amy." I blushed. "Uh, h-hi, I'm A-Amy." I hated stuttering in front of new people.

I didn't think my cheeks could get even redder. Then Sara introduced herself flawlessly. Then a boy with black hair said his name was Seth. His sister was Rosie. Their other sister was girl with dark skin was named Delilah. The boy across from me was Erick. The girl who sat next to Erick was named Zoey.

The twins were Ned and Ted. "Well then." Mr. Jenler said. "I guess I should se what level you are at. Just draw anything that comes to you're mind." Mr. Jenler walked to his desk and started drawing, too. I drew and colored in a cool drawing. I just doodled…

I know. It's weird. I got up to talk to Mr. Jenler. "Uh, Mr. Jenler?" I said. He looked up. "Yes?" I was going to lie to go home. I just couldn't stay. I needed to think. Something was telling me to go home. "My grandmother is ill and needs someone to take care of her." I whispered. He looked like he didn't believe it. Even I didn't believe it. He sighed. "Alright." He said. "T-thank you." I felt guilty for lying. But I needed to get home. Something just didn't feel right. Chapter Two. As soon as I got home I layed down on our tiny little sopha. To my surprise, Dan cam walking out of his bedroom.

"You home early?" He asked. "Uh, yeah. What are you doing here?" I looked at him in confusion. "Oh, I wrote a fake e-mail to my boss pretending to be sick." I really didn't care that my brother didn't go to work on his first day. Apperently he noticed it to. "So, why are you home this early?" He looked at his watch. "It's eleven forty five. Your school ends at six." "Well…" I couldn't tell him I lied to. "The teacher said I was looking ill, so they sent me home." It was a pretty good lie-for me.

I looked at the paper Ian wrote on again. Something about how the words were arranged nagged at the back of my mind. Then Dan grabbed the sheet out of my hands. "What's this? Trust, luck Isaac N.? What is thi- Oh." He smirked at me. "You still haven't gotten over him, haven't you? Ian." I wanted to tear off his head and throw it out the window. "It's my buisness!" I snatched it out of his hands. "Hey wait!" He yelled. "Amy, hang on. Let me take one mor look at it again!" "No!!"

"Please! Theres something hidden in the words!!" My heart stopped. Hidden words? Could this lead to puzzles? Action? Ian?!

I handed it over to Dan. He was a master at anagrams. "Look. At every first letter, it says something. Look at it going down!"

Mystery

Oncoming.

Sincere.

Cowbell.

On

Water.

-Ian.

"Look." Dan said. "It says 'Moscow'. That means Moscow,Russia!" I was so exited and confused. First, I probably was going to do what I was born to do, Adventure.

And, Ian might be alive. "Dan, can you get us two tickets to ?" Dan snorted. "Uh, what do you think?

If I can break in to the CSI computers, getting tickets from a public sight is easy. For me." "Ok." I was so nervuose and exited. "I'll star packing." Chapter Three. Siting in a cab for a half hour is totally boring. Espiecially if your little brother is taking up three fourths of the seat and snoring. I thought I was going to have a Dan imprint for the rest of my life. When we got there we went through security and Dan embarrised me so bad I had to act like he was a stranger. Finally we got to our gate. "Dan." I complained. "Quit eating and listen!!!" Dan had bought at least five packs of chips. I was trying to talk to him about what we were looking for.

I didn't know. I re-read the poem Ian wrote over and over again searching for another hidden message. But nothing else was there. "All boarding flight eight-oh-nine to St. Petersburg, Russia now boarding." A voice said at our gate. "Al-righty, then." Dan said. As Dan and I boarded our plane, we had no idea we were being watched.

Chapter Four. When I first saw Russia I thought I would pass out. It was beutifle-but gray. "Kay. Lets start by getting a hotel. Then, well… we explore." I said. I had no idea what we were looking for. The only idea I could come up with was look at the Kremlin. We checked in to the Baltic Hotel. The lobby was beutifle. It had golden couches and a wonderful twirling stair-case. Our room was goregiouse, it had red curtains, a golden bed, a nice TV, and a lovely bathroom. Dan pulled out his laptop, "Okay, we should go to the kremlin, you know. Look for something… the Russians might want to keep secret." He said. I took out my laptop. I had one new e-mail. "Hey, someone named Romanov sent me an e-mail." I said to Dan, he looked up. "Okay, lets hear it."

Amy and Dan. Follow the blue light.

Do not let anyone follow you.

Even the Madrigal is here. Come to the Kremlin at night. Don't trust anyone but me.

-Romanov.

"Creepy." Dan said. "Wait," I said. Theres a Madrigal here?" Dan looked annoyed. "How are we going to get to the kremlin before night? ." I knew it would take a long time to get to moscow. "It's seven-thirty, it'll take about an hour to get there." "Then we have no time to waste!" I said. "C'mon Dan, get up and lets go!!!" Chapter Five.

When we got to the Kremlin it was closed.

"Great!" Dan said. "Just our luck. How are we supposed to get in?!" "Hey, who said you were coming?" I smirked. Dan looked shocked. "But… Y-you can't go- I rolled my eyes, "Come on, dweeb." We walked to the main entrance of the Kremlin. I tugged on the door, "Locked." I said. "No prob-lamo Am-o." Dan said. "Do you have a hair pin?" I searched my pockets. "Yeah, but what do you need a hair pin for?" Dan snatched the pin out of my hand, "For this." He put it through the key hole and twisted it around then the door popped open. I looked at him in shock. "I'll never understand how you just did that." "It's really quite easy," Dan said. "Weirdo," I muttered, and we slipped inside.