Yay! Another chapter finished! Thank you everyone for all the reviews from the last chapter. You guys are literally the best :D

Also, BookPaige54, I forgot to tell you that your character, Kayleigh, will be in the story. Surprise! :) She appears in this chapter briefly and will have a larger role a few chapters down. I did change her a bit (sorry I couldn't make ninja work haha), but I hope you like what I do with her.

Previously in the California Secrets trilogy…

It was a report detailing how a man named Nathan Richter had violated a restraining order. I scrolled through the document looking for the connection. Then I found it. The woman who had filed the restraining order lived at the same address provided for the lost dog. The woman's name was listed as Deanna Sheppard. D. Sheppard—it had to be Deirdre's alias. I smiled. I had found her.

And for reference:

When red tints Roe, the war of light will begin
Those of the rainbow will be the first plagued
Magus will bare them and fill the dark with fear

But one of many forms will ascend and change
the course of fate for a brother Descendant
Together, the one will lead embracing light to fight

Only one can join the sun at dawn

Now, on with the story!

When the final bell rang at three, the entire student body filed out to the fields in the back of the school. The usual soccer and field hockey goals had been moved and instead the fields were surrounded by hoards of different flowers. Hundreds of chairs were set up in rows facing a pulpit and a rather large portrait of Principal Wang. Already seated in the front row were Grace, her mother, and people who I assumed were other family members.

I wanted to go tell her I was sorry—that I was there for her—but our teachers turned into ushers, getting us to file into the rows quickly and quietly. I didn't even get to sit beside any of my friends. I spotted Jet with Tommy and Annie across the aisle, smiling sadly that we hadn't found each other sooner. I also took note of Brad sitting with Fallon a few rows ahead of me, and Connor and Skye a few rows behind.

The service was simple and put together nicely, so they properly honored the man Principal Wang had been. Watching Grace with her mother and the rest of the family, I found my thoughts wandering to Jet and his real parents. We may know that his birth mother was Deirdre, but we had no idea who his father is. We may have discovered that his mother was dead but that didn't mean his father was too. He deserved to know everything he could about his real family. The information in the facility wasn't the only information out there.

I was jolted back into the present when the new principal took the podium. What did he think he was doing? I glanced down at the program in front of me—whatever he was doing, it wasn't a part of the funeral service. I couldn't help but frown during his entire speech. Something about expressing his condolences to the family and then how he would be sure that Principal Wang's legacy would continue but that he has a duty to the community to improve things as well. Again, I wasn't sure if it was my loyalty to Grace or my developing personal grudge, but I just didn't like the guy.

A sad song later, and the service was over. I quickly found Jet (and Tommy and Annie) and got in line to talk to Grace—well, the line was specifically to tell the family how sorry you were for their loss. Jet took my hand in his as we shuffled forward.

It was only a minute before I couldn't take it anymore. "Okay," I said, turning to everyone, "Was it just me or was the new principal's speech uncalled for?"

Annie shrugged. "I guess so."

"I think he's just trying to establish himself," Tommy said.

"But was the funeral really right place to do that?"

"Yeah, probably not," Jet said, agreeing.

After that, nobody said anything as we slowly made our way toward the front where Grace was standing. She stood up straight, between her mother and a teenage girl who, despite looking nothing like Grace or her parents, I knew was somehow related to her.

The line picked up, moving us closer, which made me wonder more about what I was going to say to Grace. If there was one thing I was bad at (besides singing), it was dealing with loss. While I had tried to be sensitive to Stephen about Brett and Bryn dying, he hadn't received my sympathies well. And while it might have been foolish, I was worried the same thing would happen with Grace.

I let Tommy and Annie go ahead of me, sticking close to Jet.

"She's not going to blame you," he whispered to me. I looked up at him. "For not being here," he clarified, "when it happened. You're here now and that's what matters."

I smiled at him, even though I hadn't been worried about that. I hadn't even considered that.

Annie rushed forward into Grace's arms when she got the chance, and remained there in her best friend's arms for many moments. By the time she let go, Grace had tears in her eyes again. Annie promised to see her later, and, continuing down the line of family, she also embraced the girl beside Grace. After Annie, Tommy approached and expressed his condolences while Grace told him it was good to see him.

So then it was my turn, and words began pouring from my mouth. "I'm so sorry, Grace. This shouldn't have happened. I should have been there—"

But Grace cut me off by pulling me into a hug. "I'm so glad you're here," she said, and with that one sentence I relaxed. We broke apart, and looking to Jet, she added, "Both of you."

Knowing Grace, she had already picked up on Jet and I being officially together again. I could tell she wanted to ask me about it, but knew now was not the right time. Instead, she turned to the girl on her right and said, "Marina, John, this is my cousin, Kayleigh."

"Nice to meet you," Kayleigh said.

"You too," I said, looking down, surprised to find she had held out her hand to me—I hadn't even seen her stick it out. I hastily took it though, trying not to seem awkward. She shot Jet a smile before Jet and I continued down the line and reached the end. As Jet placed his arm around me, I spotted the new principal in the middle aisle, talking with a bunch of parents. I wondered if he was already trying to start his own legacy.

*/*/*/*

An hour later, Jet, Fallon and I were sitting around my family's kitchen table, handwritten copies of the prophecy in front of each of us. We were supposed to be trying to interpret it, but I had been staring at the piece of paper as if it wasn't even there for at least fifteen minutes. I just couldn't focus.

Beside me, Fallon's new cell phone beeped, indicating she had a new text. She scooped it up before I got the chance to see who it was—not that I didn't already know who it was. She only had four numbers in her phone: mine, Jet's, my mom's, and Brad's.

"What'd he say?" I asked, leaning closer to her.

"He's not coming," she said and I sat back in my chair. "Did you really think he would?"

I didn't respond. I had hoped that when Fallon invited Brad to come help us, he would take the invitation, but clearly I was hoping a bit too much. Jet was silent too. I couldn't imagine he was very comfortable talking about a guy I admitted to once loving—still loving—even if it was now only in friendship. Another ten minutes went by.

Jet pushed the paper further away from him. "I just can't get the idea of blood out of my head," he said, holding up his head with his hands.

I scrunched up my lips. "Probably because of Grace's dad."

Jet nodded and lifted his eyes to me. "Sorry I'm not more help, Mar."

I slid my own paper with the prophecy on it to the center of the table. "It's okay. We're not going to get anywhere just by rereading it," I said.

"Should we get to work on homework instead?" Fallon asked, almost eagerly—I guess she didn't exactly have normal homework back in the tribe.

Still, I wrinkled my nose at the thought. "Definitely not. Actually, let's do some research."

"On what?" she asked.

I ignored her and focused my attention on Jet instead. "I think we should look into Deirdre again," I said.

His head shot up at the mention of his birth mother's name. "Why?" he asked.

I wondered if he had told anyone other than me what he'd discovered back in the facility. Probably not. That was personal information, and, these days it seemed Jet didn't have a lot of personal information to keep to himself. Still, if there was more on his real parents out there, then he deserved to know it.

I shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it. "I don't think we've exhausted all our possibilities," I told him.

"Like what?" he asked, not seeming particularly enthused.

"Like this Nathan Richter guy," I said, giving him a look, "or even the person who put up the lost dog sign." How could he not want to know about his parents? When my dad told Cole, Skye and I that he was a shapeshifter, I couldn't ask enough questions. I wanted to know everything.

Jet's expression softened. "Okay," he said, resigning.

I smiled at him. Who knows? Maybe we would even find out who his birth father is.

Just then the back door burst open and Tommy fell through. "Did you figure anything out?" he asked, huffing like he was out of breath.

Clearly any research regarding Jet's parents would have to wait.

Fallon frowned at Tommy. "Did you run here?"

"Just from the car…" Tommy said hesitantly, "But that doesn't matter. No one answered my question." He looked between the three of us, waiting for a response.

"No," I piped up, "you didn't miss anything."

"Okay, good," Tommy rushed, pulling out the last chair at the table, "Because I've been thinking about the line 'when red tints roe.'"

"What about it?"

"What if red doesn't actually refer to something physical but the actual color red? Like the color of an aura for example," he suggested, removing his hands from the table.

"You're referring to how sorcerers have red auras, aren't you?" Jet asked.

Tommy nodded.

"If that's true then the line would mean sorcerers would infiltrate…roe," I mentally smacked myself on the head, "and Roe refers to the hunters—who are all descended from the first hunter, Roe!"

I could tell Jet was mentally smacking himself too. "Of course. That's part of the reason Brad is connected to this in the first place. I can't believe we didn't figure this out sooner."

I had to agree with him. I didn't know how much shapeshifter history Fallon knew—not actually being one herself—but, between the two of us, Jet and I should have recognized the name.

I scrunched my mouth to the side. "We were too hung up on it possibly referring to blood or love." I reread the first two lines of the prophecy. "That means that the second line could be referring to shapeshifters; we have rainbow auras."

"Fine, so let's say sorcerers are going to try and influence the hunters to get to the shapeshifters," Fallon started, "how will we know if they do?" She looked over to Tommy. "You're not a part of some interconnected wizard coven or something, are you?"

Tommy raised his eyebrows, smiling at her. "No, aside from the sorcerer council over in France, sorcery is generally something practiced within families."

"Could this sorcerer council be the ones infiltrating the hunters?"

He shook his head fervently. "Absolutely not. They would be the ones to stop that kind of thing. They are strictly against us using our powers on non-supernaturals."

"Something else we're not asking is what would sorcerers want with the hunters?" Jet posed, glancing around at each of us before his eyes also landed on Tommy.

"Not sure," he responded, "Perhaps to stop them from hunting shapeshifters?"

I pursed my lips. "Maybe, but I just have this feeling that the line is talking about something bad, not good."

Fallon looked like she was going to protest, but Jet got his word in first.

"Then it's a bad thing," he stated firmly.

I shot him a questioning look.

"You're the one in the prophecy," he explained, "You have the closest ties to it. We should trust your gut on this."

I smiled gratefully at him.

"So it's bad, whatever," Fallon said, wafting her hand in the air as if that detail was irrelevant, "How can we stop them when they do? Last I checked I can't exactly fight magic with fists—though I'd love to try."

She was right. I had only seen Tommy use his magic to fight once when Shira had control of the whole town, and he hadn't actually been trying to hurt those people, only keep them away from him by using a spell that sent some sort of wind at them. I couldn't imagine what he would be capable of if he actually tried to hurt someone. Even though Tommy claimed to be no good with spells, I could tell otherwise. He was talented. But, even with him on our side, how could we fight multiple sorcerers if we couldn't even touch them?

But then a more disturbing thought crossed my mind. Shifting my gaze between each of my friends, I said, "What if they already have?"

"I think we would know if Harry Potter was ordering around a bunch of guys with guns," Fallon remarked.

"Actually we're more like Merlin." Tommy laughed.

But I watched as Jet tensed at Fallon's words. "What is it?" He didn't answer me. "Jet?"

Slowly he turned in my direction. "The bullet," he whispered.

Everyone frowned. "What bullet?"

He took a deep breath in. "The one that you got shot with," he said, "Do you remember what Brad said when I told you should shift to heal?"

I struggled to remember. Most of what I remember from getting shot was the pain. "He said…he said that the bullet would stop my healing."

Jet nodded. "He told me that if you shifted with the bullet inside you it would burst into a hundred smaller pieces that would lodge themselves in your flesh. He said that the bullet would recognize your shift," he elaborated, "If shapeshifting is supernatural, how can a normal bullet recognize it?"

"It can't," I said, eyes wide, understanding what he was getting at, "unless, it's enhanced by magic."

"Are you saying that this part of the prophecy has already happened?" Fallon asked, glancing between me and Jet.

Our heads bobbed in sync.

"If this is true then there isn't much left in the prophecy to take place," Tommy said, "Since you've already gotten Brad are your side."

I pulled a copy of the prophecy back towards me. He was right. That left only three lines. None of which we had any idea what they meant—although I had a nagging feeling that the last one was referencing death—I just hoped I was wrong.

"Before we do anything, we need to make sure we're right about the sorcerer thing," Jet said.

"We need Brad," I said, standing up.

Fallon sighed. "I told you, you're not going to get him over here."

My jaw was taut. "Then I'll just have to go to him."

"Are you insane?" Fallon exclaimed, also getting to her feet, "You can't go over there—that'd be like walking into the wolf's den bleeding from every limb." She smirked. "No pun intended."

Jet took my hand in his. "Fallon's right," he said, agreeing with her for once. "You can't go over there, especially if sorcerers are in control now. They'd be able to see your aura and know what you are. You'd get yourself killed."

I sighed. "Fine." Sitting back down, I felt conviction fill me. "But at school tomorrow Brad won't be able to avoid me. I'll force him to talk to me if I have to."

*/*/*/*

Jet and I spent the rest of the night working on homework and looking up more information about Nathan Richter. I rediscovered the restraining order Deirdre had placed against him, but nothing else. Jet tried to act like this didn't bother him, but I could tell otherwise. Just as I suspected, he wanted to know as much as he could.

"Maybe we can find out who made the lost dog poster?" I suggested, looking over to Jet. His face was lit up by the computer screen. It had gotten dark long ago, but neither of us had bothered to get up to turn on a light. "I mean, if they put out a notice about a lost dog, they had to have known Deirdre was a shapeshifter."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

I took that as a yes. Cross-searching the address listed on both the restraining order and the poster with the year Deirdre would have lived there, I scanned through the results.

"Wait!" Jet said suddenly.

"What?"

"Go back," he said, "Scroll up."

I did as he commanded.

"There! That one."

I clicked on the link he indicated. Reading through the information, I realized that this was her: the woman we were looking for.

"Janet Baxter," Jet read aloud, "she was my mother's roommate."

I retyped her name into the search bar. A photo and a current address popped up. "She lives nearby," I said, glancing back at Jet.

"Let's go," he said, staring at the screen, "I think it's time I learned who my mother really was."

I bit my lip. "And why she filed a restraining order against this Nathan Richter guy."