The knock came at the stroke of midnight, making me jump. My fingers jittered across the keyboard, spilling a pile of gibberish onto the end of my essay.

Another knock, this one more forceful. I stood and stretched, shaking out muscles that were stiff with holding still. I'd been working on this paper for the last three hours, and I only had a few more before I had to turn it in.

That said, any distraction from my somewhat rushed analysis of Henry VIII was welcome. I pulled on my panda slippers and padded to the front door. A third knock shook the frame as I pulled back the bolt and let the door swing open as far as the chain allowed.

When I saw who was outside, my heart jumped into gear. I slammed the door shut and latched it, reaching for the bag I kept in the hall closet for this very purpose.

It wasn't there. Adrenaline pumping, I pawed through the piles of coats and gloves - but my bag was nowhere to be found.

There was schnick behind me as they sliced through the deadbolt. I dashed back through the grungy living room and into the kitchen. I threw aside the everyday cutlery and grabbed the wickedly sharp underneath-

And felt a blade under my chin.

"Turn around. Slowly."

I did, feeling the dagger prick into my neck. For a dagger was what it was, glowing in the darkness of kitchen, illuminating the curve of a jaw, the end of a nose. Someone near the door, silhouetted in the light from the living room, reached inside and snapped on the light.

There were five of them that I could see, spread out to cover all possible exits. All of them held glowing blades, and all of them were new to me. I'd known the whole crew when I left, but the times had evidently changed. They had a starved sort of look to them. The one with his dagger at my neck was smiling as if he didn't know what else to do with his face.

And then he walked in.

It had been him at the door, of course. His crew might change, but Danny was always the same. He favoured me with a grin, as if he hadn't just broken into my house.

Again.

"Nareen!" he said, still smiling. "How lovely to see you. It's been too long."

"Get out of my house, Danny." Think brave. No fear with Danny, or he'd gut her without a second thought.

"It is such a lovely house," he said, as if he hadn't heard. He took a seat in one of the folding chairs Mia had bought cheap so that they could afford a 46 inch TV.

I hoped the chair would collapse out from under him.

"What do you want?"

But of course, it was never that simple with Danny. Unless I managed a feat hither-to unheard of, he'd spend the next half and hour dancing around the reason he'd come before he'd finally get to the point.

"What makes you think I want something?"

I didn't even bother to answer that, but I gave the knife at my neck a pointed look.

"Put it away, Miguel," Danny said. His flunky gave me a wary look.

"Sir," he protested. Danny glanced at the knife in my hand and snorted derisively.

"Who's she gonna stick with that piece of flashy garbage?" he said scornfully. "You're gonna let her cut you with it? Boys," he said, turning to me. "I train then with the good stuff and they're still afraid of a metal blade."

Miguel blushed and lowered his blade, but he never took his eyes off me. I put my knife on the countertop. There were too many of them anyway, and it wasn't worth the hell I'd raise with - well, with whoever Danny was working for these days.

Besides, maybe he really did come in peace. For old time's sake.

He'd noticed the bowl of apples on the table. He picked through them, finally choosing one that was red all the way round and biting into it.

"You remembered," he said, mumbling through a mouthful of apple skin and juice.

"They're just apples," I said tightly. I wanted him gone, before Mia got home.

Of course, I would have no such luck.

"Delicious," he said with relish. It was unfair that he could still look so handsome, but that was Danny for you.

"Danny," I said, hoping he might finally tell me what this was all about.

"Oh, alright," he said with a sigh, getting to his feet. "I just came by to visit - you've been so hard to find lately. And I brought you a present."

I'd been hard to find because I hadn't wanted to be found, and I didn't want any of Danny's presents. He gestured to a couple of his goons, and they vanished into the front hall, returning with someone propped up between them.

"Say hi!" Danny said, waggling his fingers at the prone figure.

It was Kausik.

Except that Kausik was supposed to be California for training, not here, dripping blood on the linoleum.

"Danny, what did you do?" I asked, trying to muster up some concern. Kausik was a cousin for whom I'd harboured a particular dislike as a child. The years had not improved him much.

"I didn't do anything," Danny said, hand held high as if to absolve himself of blame. "I found him like this, and thought I'd do you a favour."

"And you'll want some payment for this favour. Who says I even want him here?"

"How can you be so cold?" Danny demanded, overacting as usual. He grabbed Kausik's chin and tilted his head so I could take in the bloody ruin of his face. He wasn't beat too bad, but it looked pretty awful.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. My earlier fear had all but evaporated - for once, Danny hadn't dragged an unreasonably amount of trouble to my doorstep.

It appeared he could still manage some run-of-the-mill trouble, of course.

"Put him in the bathroom. At least it will be easier to clean up."

As Kausik was dragged upstairs, Danny waved the rest of his lackeys outside.

"You can't hide forever," he breathed into my ear. "One day soon, the call's gonna go out and you'll have to step up. And there's a lot of powerful people that want you on our side."

"Who told you that, Danny?" I asked, pushing him away. "Who are you working for?"

He dodged the question, of course, and had the gall to try and con me.

"I miss you," he said. He almost sounded sincere.

"I'm not in that game anymore, Danny," I said. The irony was laughable. Danny's crew in my house, Kausik bleeding out in the bathtub upstairs - I was in neck-deep.

He seemed to read my mind.

"You don't stop being a Shadowhunter, Nareen. You only pretend for a little while."