Faye leaned against the far wall of the parking lot directly opposite the school entrance, knowing that she would be right in his field of vision when he came out. If he missed her then Gahiji would be right – he was an idiot. She secretly didn't want to give the shadow creature the satisfaction of being right.

Tom Locke wasn't exactly her type as far as appearances were concerned. Hell, if she was into tall, dark and handsome she probably would have swooned at his feet. But it just didn't get her blood pumping, didn't excite her senses – it didn't draw her in. She wouldn't have looked at him twice if it weren't for the connections he had.

It had taken her a good deal of bribing and sly words to gain the necessary information from Gahiji when she discovered to her complete dismay that the other Shadow Men had done away with her own. Which had been a mistake in itself on their part because she knew too much about how things worked with them. They'd taken what didn't belong to them and she'd thrown the classic 'a life for a life' back at them. They'd taken Julian – her shadow man – so she had a claim over them. Even Gahiji was weary of her when she used the brilliant advantage of blackmail against them. It had taken her a while to get the message through to them – she wasn't one of them, even after spending centuries in their world she hadn't lost her humanity. She wasn't playing and she made it clear exactly why there was a saying roaming Earth claiming 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

Gahiji had been the one to answer her questions about what happened, and the truth about Julian's 'obsessive hobby' to watch some human girl from the sidelines and failing not once, not twice, but three times in winning her over had seemed almost unbelievable to her. Of course Shadow Men were predators by nature, it was to be expected that Julian would stalk his prey before pouncing. The one thing he hadn't taken into account was the fact that he wasn't like his ancestors. Faye couldn't care less how they'd been brought into existence in the first place, but she knew for certain she was the only human being who had ever created a shadow man. The runes she'd carefully carved into the Stave of Life all those years ago were different because she'd stained it with her own blood. If anything, she knew that was what truly made him different from the others – warm blood pulsing with life soared through his veins, a beating heart that had a greater purpose than merely keeping him alive – it enabled him to feel.

If he'd been a hunter through and through, he wouldn't have played three silly games with a bunch of teenagers. He'd have simply taken what he wanted without question, just as Gahiji had, because in the end he was more powerful than a simple human being.

More powerful than a Shadow Man too, Faye thought to herself, scanning the mass of students filing out onto the pavement before her. She knew Julian was big on sportsmanship but that wasn't what had restrained him from claiming what he desired, and it sure as hell wasn't what made him sacrifice himself.

Faye pushed down the writhing anger trying to claw its way out of her chest. She hated Julian for his stupidity – and her own. Blinded by love. Motivated by humanity. She wanted to dig her fingers into his neck and shake him for all she was worth. She wanted to scream at him, take her fury out on him. She didn't know if he would be left standing once she vented herself out but she knew she most definitely wouldn't. He was the closest thing to human she had in that damned world.

Being surrounded by people of her own kind now was slightly daunting, though. She suppressed the irrational impulse to flee back to the world of mist and ice. She'd known their coldness for so long that she'd forgotten the warmth that made people human and it eerily scared her.



Faye straightened out the figure hugging red blouse she wore when she spotted Tom. She'd been apprehensive about how she would approach him at all and when Gahiji had suggested she act like a damsel in distress she'd laughed. She couldn't very well go right up to him and demand he hand over whatever Julian had left behind. Then again, she couldn't exactly approach the girl Julian had been infatuated with in such a straight on manner either. If the girl was as raw about losing him as Faye was…

Instead, Faye went on what had been suggested to her and ended up knocking on Tom's door in the middle of the night, claiming she'd been in some car accident and pretending to be suffering from mild amnesia. To her surprise, Tom had fallen for her lie without a beat. It was equally easy to charm his parents, but then Faye had the creators of deception teaching her the tricks of the trade for a very long time and it was almost like a second nature to her. She'd been staying in their spare bedroom for eight days now, working down Tom's defences which wasn't that hard to do as he seemed to have taken an immediate liking to her.

She could tell by the way he acted whenever she entered the room. He would stumble over his words, his cheeks would heat up when she joked with him, and the nearly overwhelming adoration in his gaze when he looked at her was enough to make her want to jump in the closet and hide. She hadn't experienced emotions equal to her own for too long and she didn't know how to respond to them.

What made matters worse was that she enjoyed his company. He was fun to be around with, a good listener, an even better comforter. She would have dismissed it as nothing important, blamed it on getting used to being around humans again.

That in itself would have been a stupid move for her to make, though. Faye knew it was more than that and admitted that she'd grown quite fond of him in the last couple of days.

Which held potential trouble with a capital T, but she would cross that bridge once she got to it.

Tom spotted her and she slowly smiled at him, watching it spread and cross to his own lips. Faye seized the moment to let her gaze roam over the group of students around him – his friends. She knew who they were because Tom was constantly telling her about them. Summer Parker-Pearson was the fragile fairy-like girl with the bouncy curls and delicate features; Dee Eliade the tall girl with the proud posture of an ancient goddess; Audrey was dressed in the designer label outfit of some or the other and Michael with his wide rumpled appearance stood beside her. Zach was the fair-haired guy – Faye snorted involuntarily at the thought of Julian shifting into that appearance, according to the shadow men, but she always took what they said with a pinch of salt. Finally Faye focussed on the girl that had caught Julian's eye.

Sun-kissed skin, honey-blonde hair, slender. Pretty.

Curiosity gave her legs a will of their own and Faye found herself nervously sauntering toward the group. What was it about this girl that had swooned her little shadow man? What about her had captivated him so? Why would he have died for her sake?

Faye's smile deepened as she joined the group a moment later, looking at Tom warmly before burnt amber eye engaged with deep emerald eye.

"I haven't had the chance to ah… introduce you guys just yet." Tom said awkwardly.

"This is Faye… she ran into some trouble a little while ago and she has nowhere else to go so we took her in… for the time being, I mean."



There were surprised murmurs of greeting from the others. Faye's smile had disappeared as she stared back at the girl before her, Tom's stammering introductions of the others falling upon deaf ears.

This was who Julian was head over heels in love with? Faye wanted to smack her hand to her face in frustration. Why? There was nothing exceptional about her. Not her beauty, not her aura…

"I'm Jenny." The girl said steadily, her voice friendly and the strength in her gaze unwavering.

"I know who you are." Faye responded, an edge to her voice. She grimaced inwardly – she needed to sharpen up on hiding her real emotions because this, she knew, was going to be one hell of a ride. It was going to take all her self control and a lot of skill to befriend this girl. She needed this girl to trust her, open up to her…and reveal to her eventually what Julian had left behind. That's why she was here in the first place. She hadn't told Julian those things in the early stages of his existence for peanuts.

She would have to bite down the angry accusations and contain the wild impulse to tear Jenny apart limb by limb. Faye knew hurting Jenny would be the worst thing she could do. Common sense told her it wouldn't go down well with Julian and if he loved as passionately and deeply as his ancestors hated, she wouldn't want to be playing on the wrong side of the fence.

"Tom has told me a lot about you." Faye's demeanour changed back to its charming state and she managed a warm smile. "It's good to finally meet the infamous Jenny Thornton."

Jenny appeared baffled by the sudden change in attitude. "Infamous?"

"Ah, she's exaggerating." Tom apologized, eyeing Faye suspiciously.

They both knew full well he didn't mention Jenny to her, not once since she'd arrived.

"Do you guys mind if I give the study group a miss?" Tom asked uncertainly.

Faye glanced at him, surprised. "Oh, don't blow off your friends for my sake, Tom. I was just in the neighbourhood and thought I'd catch you and meet your friends."

"Oh, well, uh…" Tom glanced from Faye to his friends, obviously perplexed.

Faye saw Jenny cringe slightly from the corner of her eye and reality's fingertips teased lightly in the back of her mind. What was going on here?

"We're going to the Time-Out diner for hot coco now. You're more than welcome to join us, Faye." Jenny offered.

Flustered, Tom looked away and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"If it wouldn't be intruding…" Faye said slowly.

"Oh, of course not. If you're a friend of Tom's, you're a friend of ours." Jenny said warmly.

All right, Faye admitted to herself. So Jenny was really nice. She had that and the blonde beauty going for her. A good combo, but was it really that amazing to have caught the eye of a shadow man?

Faye joined the group in the short walk to the diner and found it quite amusing and liberating how much she learnt from all of them in the next hour and a half. It was refreshing to be in civilized company again and the sense of belonging had never been this great before.

Zach's quiet presence was dominant even in its passive state, Summer's sometimes obvious statements was entertaining and Michael's off-beat sense of humour was uplifting. Heaven knows, Faye hadn't laughed like that as long as she could remember. Dee was intriguing with her wise remarks and Audrey was interesting as she would bring a different perspective on certain things – some of which the others 

didn't grasp but Faye did. She didn't doubt that Audrey was the most misunderstood in the group. Tom was fretting shyly beside Faye in such an obvious way that it was no secret to anyone around the table what was up –even Summer caught on and kept sending worried glances from Tom to Jenny and then at Faye.

Faye studied Jenny carefully as she interacted with the others, the reserved restraint when she spoke to Faye but still making her feel welcome and at ease, the hesitant manner in which she interacted with Tom, as though she wasn't entirely sure how to act toward him.

There was a thin thread of tension between herself and Jenny though. She could feel it more than see it. Faye assumed it was merely her own grievances she kept hidden but something in the way Jenny looked at her told her there were negative vibes coming from her as well. For a moment, as they all laughed at some random scrap of humour Michael aired out on the table, Faye wondered if Jenny possibly knew why Faye was here. She dismissed it briefly. There was no way they could make the connection between her and Julian – no way whatsoever.

Faye couldn't tell what it was and it frustrated her. It was an unseen obstacle in her path of befriending Jenny – really befriending her, not just using her. If she was going to bring Julian back she needed to be on good terms with the other girl.

Faye was confident that she'd won the friendship of the others when she finally left the diner with Tom on her side but her mind reeled for a possible solution of breaching the wall around Jenny. Her thoughts were interrupted when Tom spoke on the drive home.

"You look beautiful today, Faye."

She glanced at him and offered a smile in response. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Tom pursed his lips, eyes trained on the road ahead of them.

"So… what do you think?"

"About what?"

"My friends." Tom grinned shyly.

"They're… nice." Faye said slowly, wondering how they could have possibly survived whatever ordeal Julian had put them through.

She was informed of how they had treated Julian – especially of how Tom had provoked Julian purposely and how Jenny had seduced him and then struck him down when he was most vulnerable. But once again, Faye took what they said with a pinch of salt. It was insane to provoke Julian – hell, not even his ancestors were that foolish. It was possible that Tom had done it unintentionally, though. And Jenny seducing him and then deliberately hurting him? Faye didn't know Jenny all that well but she could tell she had a good heart on her. She'd be damned if that girl had one bad bone in her body, Faye mused, and wondered suddenly if that was what had attracted Julian to her in the first place. Gut instinct told her it probably played a big role nonetheless.

As for Julian. Well, Faye knew he wasn't blameless. He was the one who had instigated the games, controlled everything that happened. Faye didn't doubt he'd gotten exactly what he deserved. He'd been looking for trouble, luring innocent people into his trap, and teenagers at that. Faye didn't know whether she should laugh at his stupidity or feel sorry for him. True, he didn't know how to cope with emotions, his ancestors weren't exactly clued up on that development and neither was he. But for the sake of sanity, she'd have thought he'd have learnt humans weren't toys after he 'forfeited' the first game of chase. Instead, as a starving hunter would naturally do, he altered his method of attack and tried again. And again he'd 

failed. Adamant love-struck boy. She wished she could clobber him over the head right that moment. After watching the human race for who knows how long you'd expect him to have learnt the tactics of the male race on earth, their subtle and 'normal' method of chasing after girls.

Just like Tom was chasing her now.

"I think they really like you."

"Do you think so?" Faye replied curiously, gazing out the window at the scenery flashing past.

"Sure. Why wouldn't they?" Tom chuckled.

"Do you like me?" Faye teased lightly and grinned when his face turned hot and he stammered for words.

"I…ah, well…" Tom swallowed and cleared his throat uncertainly. "Yeah, I like you."

"Good." Faye sniffed, stretching her legs and then crossing them lazily, gazing out the window before glancing at him playfully. "I like you, too."

She watched in amusement as his face turned a deeper shade of pink and grinned mischievously out the window. A frown creased her face and she looked back at him steadily.

"What's with you and Jenny?"

Tom didn't answer her straight away and she waited patiently until he gathered himself.

"Things are just a little weird between me and Jenny." He finally managed uneasily. "How did you know about her anyway? My mom didn't tell you about her, did she?"

"No." Faye sighed. "I heard about her from my other… sources."

"She's a really great person. You'll see once you get to know her."

"Oh, there's no doubt she's got to be great." Faye mused, chewing her lip thoughtfully and smiled when Tom shot her a confused glance.

"Really, Faye. I mean… Jenny is one of a kind. She's truly a good person. If she acts a little strange toward you it's my fault so don't hold it against her, okay?"

"You were a couple?" Faye asked curiously.

"Yeah." Tom shrugged but she could see the strain on his face.

"If she's so wonderful, why did you split up?"

"We're just… we don't add up, I guess. It's time we move on – it was going to happen one way or the other." Tom sighed heavily.

"What made you decide it was time for a change?" Faye arched her eyebrows.

Tom bit down on his lip and didn't answer. A snorting giggle erupted from Faye's throat involuntarily and she widened her eyes innocently when he glanced at her, startled. She knew the answer just by his manner of hesitation. Julian. Obviously.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I'm not laughing at you, I swear. It's just… it's all good, right? If it wasn't for… you deciding to move on, then there would be no chance for you and me, right?"

"You and me?" Tom repeated, eyes widening in slight surprise.

"Well... I like you, you like me. In the laws of physics if opposites attract… then why not?" Faye grinned and leaned closer to him, whispering in his ear. "There is chemistry between us, whether anybody else approves of it or not."

Tom smiled at her uncertainly but she knew by the look in his eyes that she had him wrapped around her finger. Oh, the skill of seduction. What a blessing to have such a talent come to you naturally, Faye thought gleefully.