So I owe you guys a huge apology. Two months. Two months. I honestly don't know where that time went. And I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry that I have not updated. I could give you all these excuses as to why it took so long—classes, writer's block, I didn't know where to go next—but if I had tried harder I could have had this chapter to you at the beginning of March instead of April. Anyway, please accept my sincere apology.

Okay, so in your reviews of the last chapter, a lot of you mentioned that it'd be cool to see Bella, Rikki, and Cleo come to California to help Marina and I completely agree! Although I can't promise anything right now, I can tell you that Bella will definitely be back (eek!). So yeah, I hope that will quench your curiosities for the time being… Also, I have to apologize because the chapter I am giving you is more of a filler chapter, but I promise that it won't take two months for me to update again. Hope you like it and please review! (p.s. I reached 100,000 words! Yay!)

The next morning, as the sun crept across my face, it pulled me back to the waking world. I took a deep breath in, allowing dust mites to wander into my lungs, and opened my eyes. For once, being awake was better than dreaming and that was for one reason only: Jet was lying next to me. As my eyes rolled over his sleeping form, the events of the night before came back to me. I didn't realize he was awake until he lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair out of my face.

"Good morning," he said, a smile stretching across his face. He didn't take his hand away, instead pulling himself closer for a quick kiss.

"Morning," I whispered to his lips. There was a moment of silence and then,

"Marina!"

Crap. I had completely forgotten about Skye.

Throwing the blanket off of me, I rushed out of bed, only to stumble over my shoes and fall on the floor.

"Marina?" Skye called again.

This time I could hear her footsteps on the stairs. "I'm up!" I called to her, still sprawled out on the floor while Jet tried to muffle his laughs behind me. "I'll be down in a sec!"

I waited, frozen where I was, listening as her footsteps retreated back down the stairs. I breathed a sigh of relief only to feel blush rise to my cheeks as Jet's laughter rang clear. I scrambled to my feet, turned, and chucked my shoe back at him. But he tugged the blanket up over his head, easily blocking my attack.

I pulled on my clothes as quickly as possible. Jet climbed out of bed and I found myself swallowing hard as my eyes trailed his every movement.

"I'll meet you downstairs," I managed, tearing my gaze away and sneaking out into the hall. I made my way downstairs to the kitchen where Skye was seated on a stool around the island. I was slightly surprised to see Fallon sitting next to her.

"Sleep well?" Fallon asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Not bad," I said evasively, walking around to the opposite side of the island.

It was then that I noticed Skye was chomping on something in front of her. My stomach rumbled as I breathed in the scent of fresh bagels.

"Mmm, those smell good," Jet said, appearing in the doorway. He walked over to a brown paper bag next to Fallon and pulled out two bagels, tossing one to me. I caught it, immediately realizing it was still warm.

"Your mom gave me money to get the bagels," Fallon said.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Upset," she said, "Two guys stopped by the house last night."

"Were they sorcerers?"

Fallon glared at Jet. "How was I supposed to know? It's not like they performed a spell in front of me."

"What did they want?"

"I'm guessing they wanted to know if you and Skye are also shapeshifters. Your mother told them you two were with your father visiting your grandparents."

I nodded.

"She wanted to come with me this morning but I convinced her not to."

I nodded again. "Good. I don't want them to suspect her of going against them."

"Oh…well, that might be a lost cause. I think they already know your mom doesn't like them," Fallon said, "She made that very clear last night when she threw them out of the house while screaming about removing their hearts without magic."

Jet burst out laughing for the second time that morning. "Way to go, Mrs. Keller," he muttered.

"Yeah, so while she's upset, she's definitely holding her own." Fallon glanced between Jet and I, "So, how was everyone's night?"

I averted my eyes, trying not to blush. Fallon may have suspected but she couldn't know. There was no way she knew. And even though her question was clearly directed at me and Jet, Skye piped up.

"Pretty good," she said, not noticing the tension, "that couch's really comfortable."

An awkward silence followed her comment where I desperately hoped Fallon wouldn't press the matter.

Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, "Brad texted me. He'll be here soon," she said and I silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Have you heard from Tommy?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I'll text him," Jet volunteered. We were silent as Jet pulled out his phone, each of us content to munch on our bagels.

Finishing the food in her hand, Skye heaved a sigh and looked up at me. "I'm guessing we're not going to school tomorrow," she said.

Fallon scoffed. "Probably not the best idea considering the principal basically arrested your brother and is looking to take you next."

"Besides, we need to focus on finding Cole," I said, impatiently running my fingers along the edge of the counter, "I'm hoping Brad will have found something."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up."

I turned to see Brad softly closing the back door behind him. "What do you mean?"

"I think they know," he said, sounding defeated.

"Know?"

"The other hunters," he clarified, "Maybe even my father. I think they know I've stopped hunting shapeshifters."

"Why do you say that?"

"I tried to join in their conversations last night but every time I got close they stopped talking. Even my mother wouldn't tell me a thing."

"Are you okay?" I asked, "What are they going to do to you?"

"Right now? Nothing. I don't think they know for sure that I've full-out betrayed them. My parents will want proof first. So that gives us time, I guess…" he trailed off, shooting me a thin smile.

"So what do we do now?" Fallon pressed, "While I'm all for saving our own skins, you guys can't very well hide out in this house forever."

Jet shrugged, a satisfied smile creeping onto his face. "I wouldn't exactly mind that…"

Fallon raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh really?"

I slammed my hands down on the counter, bristling. "Neither of you are helping!" Fallon stepped back, frowning indignantly. But I paid her no attention. I didn't care if I'd offended her…or Jet. I whirled around, bringing my hands up to cover my face. Did they not see how serious this was? Cole was captured, Tommy was MIA, we were in hiding, we didn't know the principal's plans, and Brad could no longer be our inside man. What were we going to do? What could we do?

We could fight.

I felt Jet's hand slide up my back to grip my shoulder. I reached for it, twiddling with his fingers for a second before pushing them aside.

I turned back to face them. "Fallon's right," I said staring down at the smooth granite, "We can't stay cooped up in here. If I'm supposed to lead a bunch of supernaturals to fight then that's what I'll do—not that I'm really a leader of sorts."

"Yes you are," Jet protested, "and I have more than enough evidence to prove it to you."

I rolled my eyes at his comment but truthfully I was feeling an almost desperate need to hear that proof. Still, despite my insecurities, I couldn't let anyone down—not Jet, not my friends, or my family, not even all the shapeshifters I'm supposed to be helping.

"Regardless, I can't let the principal get away with this. He has Cole and Rebekka and Henry and who knows who else? I may not like Rebekka and the rest of her family but they don't deserve to be locked up and treated as monsters. No one does," I said, kneading my fist into the granite countertop, "And I say we show the principal exactly that."

"I agree," Jet said, "but let's skip the whole purposely getting captured part, okay? Since that didn't really go as planned last time."

"You don't have to do it, I will." I looked up at him, showing nothing but determination. Turning to Brad, I said, "Besides, it'll throw suspicion off of you."

Jet took my hand, pulling my attention back to him. "No," he said just as firmly.

I softened my expression. "I can do it," I told him, reassuringly rubbing my thumb over the top of his hand, "I'll be fine."

"I don't want you getting hurt," he said, his frown deepening, "You're not doing it."

I glared at him and he immediately looked like he wanted to swallow his last words.

"I agree with John," Brad said.

I shot tiny daggers at both of them. "You two realize I'm not exactly hard to take down, right?"

Fallon piped up, "You think because she's a girl she can't fight? Cause I can prove you wrong." She cracked her knuckles menacingly.

Brad brought a hand to his forehead, his frustration increasing. "No and yes—no, I mean, yes and no," he fumbled over his words as he struggled to answer both me and Fallon, "What I mean, Marina, is that this isn't like the facility in Arizona. Not only do we not know where the principal has taken Cole, we have no idea what it's like inside this place. I could try to find out for you, but if you do what we did in Arizona, you'd basically be going in blind."

"We barely made it out of that prison," Jet pointed out, "and that was without sorcerers guarding the place."

Brad nodded gravely. "Before we do anything we need to find out more."

I looked back over to Skye. It seemed her fear was really starting to leak through. While I knew I had to find Cole, I also knew I couldn't disappear on her. Two of our family members were already taken prisoner, I couldn't be the third.

I sighed, trying to rationally think through what Jet and Brad were saying. They were absolutely right. We knew nothing and we couldn't do anything until we did.

"Fine," I said, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Fallon pout, "then we need a new inside man."

"Inside man?"

I nodded. "Brad doesn't have access to the information we need anymore. The only way we are truly going to learn what is going on is if we get the information straight from the top. So we need someone else to get close to the principal and find out what he's planning."

"I'm human and I can defend myself, so why not use me?" Fallon asked.

"The principal may already suspect you," Brad said.

"Yeah," I agreed, "We have been telling everyone you're my cousin for the past week."

"So?" Fallon asked, leaning forward, "If he checks me for an aura he won't find one, so what does it matter if he thinks I'm your cousin?"

"It matters because it doesn't mean he'll assume you're on his side," Jet said.

"He seems way too smart to fall for something like that." I pursed my lips. "Maybe Tommy…"

"I'll do it," came a familiar voice behind me.

I instinctively turned at the sound, not entirely surprised to find Grace standing in the doorway. I briefly wondered how she'd gotten in without any of us hearing her.

Her face was no longer covered in red blotches and her eyes were free of tears. While she definitely looked like she had recovered from the events of the day before, I knew it was possible she had simply hidden those feelings away, forcing a strong façade forward in their place. It was the same façade I had come to recognize on Fallon's face.

"What are you doing here?" Fallon asked bluntly.

Grace looked around at each of us as if the answer was totally obvious. "Marina said we'd meet up again the next morning," she explained, raising her eyebrows slightly, "and when I didn't hear from her this morning I figured I'd just come by."

Guilt infused its way into my veins at her words. Honestly, I had forgotten about Grace, Annie, and Connor. I was so used to them being out of the loop that I hadn't even thought to include them in our plans. And, judging by the determined look on Grace's face, she fully expected to be in the loop.

"Anyway," she said, brushing my memory lapse aside, "you should use me."

It took me a second before I realized what she was talking about.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Brad said, "You'd have no clue what you'd be getting yourself into."

"I certainly know more than I did 24 hours ago," Grace responded.

"But you're not supernatural. You have no powers," Jet piped up.

"If I remember correctly, neither do they," she said, motioning to Brad and Fallon while I suppressed the urge to point out that Brad could see auras, "and you were considering sending her in a minute ago."

"That's because I have extensive hand to hand combat skills, idiot," Fallon spat, narrowing her eyes at Grace.

But Grace only glared right back. If anyone knew how to glare it was Grace. I had only been on the receiving end of her icy stare once and that look alone had been enough to make me wonder if I'd lost her as a friend.

"You guys can't honestly tell me you think a few martial arts will stop a powerful sorcerer," Grace pointed out, "I can see it on your faces. You don't need someone who can fight on the inside, you need someone who can listen and has a good reason to be there."

"And you think that's you?" Fallon asked, crossing her arms over her chest, her irritation only growing the longer Grace stood there.

Grace shrugged. "I don't necessarily think it's me, but I do think I can do the things you need an inside man to do."

Jet and Brad exchanged a look before turning to me. Fallon's eyes also found mine. They all wanted me to make the final decision. I glanced at Skye, who seemed like she was still trying to process how our lives could have taken such an awful turn.

While Grace had a good point she also had little to no experience with supernaturals and could easily miss some important details.

"Tommy's still not answering his phone," I said, "and we can't wait for him. We need to find out what happened to Cole and the others now. Grace is right." As I admitted it an idea began to take form in my head. "She can go in claiming to want to hunt down the monsters responsible for her father's death and maybe even get in to see Cole." I could feel the excitement building inside me at this plan. It could really work.

Fallon scowled at my words but she had to know I was right.

Grace smirked. "That wouldn't be too hard to do. I do want revenge on the monsters that killed my father. It'll be the principal's fault if he assumes the wrong monster."

"There's just one thing," I said, causing everyone to look back up at me, "I'll be going in with you." While Grace did have the best cover story for why she'd want to join the principal, like I mentioned before, she was still inexperienced.

"Wait, Marina, I thought we agreed you can't do that. The chance that you'll get caught is too great," Jet said, pushing his hands down on the counter in front of him.

"I won't get caught," I told him, "because they won't even know I'm there."

"Don't you think the whole mouse in my pocket trick is getting old, your majesty?" Fallon joked.

I fought the urge to tell her that this was serious, instead I settled for a simple glare.

"You can't hide in her pockets at all," Brad said quickly, "Any newcomer will be checked over. And odds are the principal has upped the security since he took power."

"I won't be hiding in her pockets," I said, the corner of my lip turning up in a small smile.

"Then how do expect to go with me?" Grace asked.

"Can you pull your hair up?" I asked her walking around the back of her head.

"What?"

"Put your hair up in a ponytail," I clarified. Everyone looked at me like I was insane but Grace indulged me. She ran her fingers through her black hair, pulling the long strands together at the top of her head.

I reached for the ponytail, wrapping my fingers around it and gauging the width. Her hair was pretty thick. "I can make that work," I said aloud, more to myself than the group.

"Make what work?" Fallon asked, leaning around to look at Grace's makeshift ponytail and probably hoping it would offer some explanation as to what I was talking about.

I didn't answer her. I calmly reached for the edge of my dress and pulled it over my head, not even bothering to tell Jet and Brad to look away. My idea had consumed me. I just had to see if it was doable.

I removed the rest of my clothes and shifted. I had only shifted into a snake once before. It wasn't an animal I particularly enjoyed—having no limbs was probably the strangest thing I'd ever experienced—but it was necessary if I didn't want Grace to go in alone. I shifted into a tiny green snake. I couldn't have been more than two centimeters thick and six inches long. Coiling my thin body, I bit my own tail to form a ring. I held that position on the floor for a few seconds before shifting back and retrieving my clothes.

"Well?" I asked, smoothing out the bottom of my dress, "Good right? I can just pretend to be Grace's hair band and wrap myself around her ponytail. As long as I keep my head on the underside, no one will suspect a thing."

Fallon smiled widely at me, looking almost like a proud parent. "Nice adjusting. Looks like my training paid off after all."

I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut because she was right. If it hadn't been for Fallon's "game" back in the tribe I probably wouldn't use as many animals as I have.

I looked over to Jet and Brad—both seemed to be contemplating my idea…and on the verge of arguing, but in the end Brad sighed, agreeing to the plan. Jet didn't protest either, but I could tell he wasn't fully onboard. As long as he didn't do anything rash, like try to sneak after us, I didn't mind. His reluctance was just a nice reminder of how much he cared.

A ringing sounded throughout the kitchen, echoing off the tile on the floor. I immediately reached for my phone, thinking it was finally Tommy, but my phone was still dark.

"Hello?" Skye said into her phone, her face quickly lighting up. She slid off the stool and made her way towards the living room, a drawn out "hi" coming from her lips.

I frowned at her tone. I didn't know who she was talking to but whoever it was the person was definitely of the male persuasion. The upbeat and slightly more girly sounds were easily recognizable as my younger sister flirting in the other room.

I glanced around at my friends, my frown still in place. "Uhh, I'll be right back," I said, turning and following Skye.

She paced the perimeter of the carpet, watching her toes as she smiled into the phone beside her ear. I stepped in front of her, stopping her path. When she looked up at me, I raised her eyebrows at her, silently inquiring as to who she was talking to. She twitched her lips and turned around in an attempt to dismiss me but I cut her off again.

"Who are talking to?" I asked aloud this time.

"Hold on," Skye said into the phone. She pouted and placed a hand over the speaker. "It's Zach," she whispered to me and then showed me her back again.

"Yeah," she said, speaking to Zach again, "I'm okay." There was a pause where Zach spoke. "I know," she said, her mood sobering, "Thanks. I just hope he's okay. Cause there's no way Cole—"

Her words dropped when I yanked her arm, pulling the phone away from her head. I snatched the phone from her hand and quickly hung up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Skye demanded, reaching for her phone but I held it away from her grasp.

"What am I doing?" I asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was talking to my friend until you stole my phone and hung up on him," she said, throwing her hands in the air.

"I would hardly call Zach a friend," I pointed out.

Skye shook her head, eyes widening. "What does it matter to you if Zach's more than a friend? You can't dictate who I date!"

I groaned, throwing my head back. "That's not my point!"

She stared incredulously at me. "Then go ahead, tell me! What is?"

"A sorcerer revealed our brother to be a shapeshifter and then took him away yesterday!" I said, on the verge of shouting. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself. "We need to be really careful about who we trust right now. And we can't afford to have Zach find out that shapeshifting runs in the family."

"Why not?"

I blanched. "Wh-wh-why not?" I repeated.

"Yeah." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Like I just told you, we don't know who we can trust."

Skye glared at me. "Actually, I think you're the one who's having trust issues," she said, "I trust Zach completely. He would never betray me."

"You don't know that," I told her, "How long have you known him?"

She shook her head, exasperated. "Time has nothing to do with this and you know it!" she exclaimed, "You knew Brad for what? A month? Before you shifted in front of him? And he was a freakin' hunter!"

"You know I had no control over that. I couldn't let him hurt Jet," I said, pursing my lips together.

Skye laughed but there was no joy behind it. "Yeah, and what about yesterday?" she asked, "You know, remember yesterday? When you just went ahead and told four people—one of who is a complete stranger—that we're shapeshifters? God, you're such a hypocrite."

I didn't know what to say. Because, ultimately, she was right. My dad had told us that the number one rule of being a shapeshifter was to keep our identity a secret, and I had broken that rule four, five, eight times? Skye had never broken it. She deserved to confide in someone outside the family. I should've trusted her to know who was trustworthy of our secret, but, at that moment, I couldn't. There was too much at stake now, too many things that could go wrong.

She sighed, letting her arms dangle at her sides. "Can I have my phone back or you going to take that hostage like Cole?"

"No," I mumbled, silently placing her phone back in her hand, "Just, Skye…please, at least wait until we figure out this thing with the principal before you tell him. Okay?"

Skye bit down on her lip, staring at me for a moment. "Yeah, fine," she muttered, before turning and disappearing up the stairs.

As I watched her go, I wasn't sure if she'd keep her promise but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Like she said, I had no control over who she dated or what secrets she divulged. Just as no one…or nothing…could control me.