The world stops turning around me, literally. It's like everyone freezes in time and I can't do anything but stand still and stare at Lissa. I stare at her for the longest time, a million feelings and emotions running through me in a matter of seconds. I feel cold but at the same time hot.

I'm the frozen one. The world hasn't turned off, but my body has, my mind has. My feet are planted to the ground and I can't move, because I suddenly understand everything. Julius is a Sprit-user.

He's a Spirit-user.

And then it all becomes clear. All those times when he was upset, or acting strange. Or the times when he left me dangling, like someone had suddenly flipped an off-switch. The scenes in which he does so runs through my mind. In one ear, out the other.

The Moroi history book. Vladimir and Anna.

"A Spirit-user."

"I'll be right back."

Julius disappeared.

Why?

I know why.

I know everything.

"Rose?" At first it's distant, like I'm a hundred miles away from her voice. But then she touches my arm and says something to me. I slowly return to reality, my eyes still burning holes in the dirty ground. "Rose?" Lissa says again, her voice withholding concern.

"He's been lying to me," I murmur quietly, then turn to Julius. "He lied to me." But I can't really say we were that good of friends. We are just starting to open up to each other, like clams that are the guardians of pearls.

"Rose." Lissa touches my arm with the scrapping tips of her polished fingernails. "He can't help it. He. . . he's probably scared himself."

"He lied to me," I say again.

"Rose. Please." Lissa grabs my arm fully, a bit of force behind the tug. "Don't go all blank on me, Rose. Come on. He can't help it!"

I gently push Lissa away and start to stumble toward Julius, but change my direction. I drag my feet on the pavement toward guest housing. I don't want to see his face. I don't want to see Lissa, or hear him talk, or actually see him. Because he's not the same.

I don't think I can look at him the same again. Those viridian eyes will never be the same to me. Because he's a Spirit-user. He's like Lissa, like Vladimir, like Adrian. Is it possible that he is going crazy, too? That he might be struggling with the same things Lissa is? I hear clambered footsteps behind me, flopping against the gravel hard.

I don't bother to turn to see who it is. Lissa. Of course she is worried about me. I probably look like I am in a stupor.

"Go away, Lissa," I say. "I'm fine."

"Hey." I freeze. That is not Lissa's voice. I swivel around so as to face Julius with accusing eyes. I do not know if he can see me with how dark it is, but I still stare at him, like he's in the wrong.

"You're a Spirit-user," I spit at him. I see his body go rigid and tense in the light of a nearby streetlight. I cannot see his face, which is covered in shadows, but I know he probably doesn't look too happy.

"You finally found out," he said. I take a step back, a little stunned. Was he waiting on me to find out? "How?" he asks.

"Spirit-users can sense each other, you know." I doubt he does. Spirit-users are too rare. You don't stumble upon them often. I doubt he has ever met another one. Though I question whether or not he knows about Adrian and Lissa.

"Oh," he whispers. His hands slide carelessly in his pockets and he watches me for the longest time. Or at least I think he does. I can't tell. I stare back, my eyes still accusing him of doing wrong to me.

I finally give up and slouch, then scratch my head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have listened? he asks. "Either way, why should I?"

I take a step forward, believe it to be a bad idea, and step back in the plush dirt beneath a large tree I can't identify. "I could've helped you."

A sudden rumble of a laugh erupts from Julius, and I am shocked. It is cold, humorless. I don't like it. "You don't understand, Rosemarie. You can't help me. It's not some illness you can cure. I mean, you can, but only if you give up your life, your humanity."

"Are you. . .," my words trail off. Would he really consider becoming a Strigoi to escape the powerful forces of Spirit?

"No," he confirms otherwise. "I have never thought about it." He takes a step forward, his pale face being revealed in the light of the moon.

"Then what are you thinking?" I ask. Images flash before me of Lissa's arm, cut and bandaged, bleeding, the destructiveness of Spirit. Is that really Julius? Time and time again he has proved himself otherwise. He is always so composed, almost perfect. And here he is, revealing the truth to me.

He's just as hurt as Lissa is.

Julius pretends to play with his hands before looking up again. He doesn't look his age anymore. He never has. He looks older, wiser, and in a sense, handsomer.

"You really want to know what I am thinking?" Julius asks. "You really want to delve into the mind of a crazy person?"

"You're not. . ." I stop myself. Is he crazy?

"Fine." Julius steps forward, only inches away from my face. I don't move, but I feel so much more different about him now. I look up at him. He's in a different light in my mind now. He's different. He's also taller.

"I'm thinking about kissing you."

My breath hitches in my throat and I stare at Julius. Maybe once I had feelings for him, but he's different now.

"Would you allow me to do so?" he whispers down at me.

"No," I reply blankly.

Then I turn and walk off into the night, leaving Julius behind me to wrap himself in his sorrows while I do the same.

I unlock the front door and run in, slamming the door behind me. I finally let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I slide to the floor, running a hand through my tangled mess of hair.

Julius is a Spirit-user. He is like Lissa, and Adrian, and Saint Vladimir. Is he bonded to someone like I am bonded to Lissa?

He wanted to kiss me. Actually kiss me. But I said no. I told him no, plain and simple.

So he didn't kiss me. I rejected him, and I left. So he didn't kiss me. That's good, right?

I groan and lean my head against the cold door frame. It's freezing, but I'm too caught up in my thoughts to turn on the heater. I don't know when, but sooner or later I find myself crying silent tears.

The next night arrives way too soon. I dress in a hotter version of a guardian - black leggings, black boots, a black tank top and a quilted black button-up jacket with a button-up cotton T-shirt under it - and walk over the Contas' house. They have private housing at Court, and I realize that it's in the same place Adrian's family lives. I wonder what his house is like.

When I knock on the door, a butler answers with a silver tray in one hand, the other one resting on the doorknob.

"Good morning," the butler says. "May I ask your name and your business?"

Oh, God, it sounds like an intervention. I sigh and say, "I'm Guardian Hathaway. I'm, uh, taking the children out today."

I figure the best way to ignore Julius and everyone else around Court is to be on "duty" with the children.

The butlet excuses himself and momentarily disappears. I bounce on my tiptoes as I wait, and when the butler returns, he nods his head. "Lady Conta has approved. You may come in."

I step into the main foyer, which isn't all the grand, and watch as Mr. Butler scurries up the stairs. The foyer is a desperate attempt to make it galliant, with long lace curtains sweeping the ground, tied back to allow moonlight in. In the middle of the floor, which, may I add, is an ugly-looking blue marble, is a circular table with a vase of drooping snowbells.

To my left are two double closed doors, to the North is a large doorway that leads into an antique living room, and to my right are two doors, one locked and the other cracked open by a sliver.

"ROSIE!" I hear Alexis shout from the top of the stairwell. She dances and bounces her way the bottom where she welcomes herself into my arms. I look down at her and frown.

"Uh, Alexis. . . I don't think you can wear, um. . . that outside." I stare at her stained overgrown T-shirt that swallows her whole, and shorts. "It's freezing outside."

"But it's SUMMER!" Alexis yells into my ear and I wince. I look around, desperately hoping that Vivian will magically appear and dress her daughter in proper clothing.

I bend down. "No, honey, it's winter. You know, like snow and ice?" Alexis shows no indication that she understands me; she stares at me with a blank expression. "Tell you what," I say. "Why don't you get dressed in some warm clothes and I'll take you ice-skating."

Alexis breaks into a larger-than-life grin and screams "Okay!" before bounding up the stairs. I hear the echo of a door slam soon after. It's a wonder if anyone gets any sleep with Alexis around.

I don't know what is worse. That I am lugging a pile of children and snot around with me, or Henry tried to dress exactly like me. He's taking this guardian thing way too far.

Henry and Alexis walk ahead of me. Alexis has a jump-rope in one hand and ice skates in the other, and Henry has his skates around his neck, his scarf tightened around him. Wren, on the other hand, is being a sulky teenager beside me. Her insecurity shines through her crossed arm and her eyes cast downward.

"So," I say, "have you seen Julius?"

"Yes," she replies.

"When?" I ask, casting a glance in her direction.

Wren shrugs, her blonde hair falling in wisps out of her beanie. "I don't know. Last night? Why do you care?"

I shrug in reply. "I don't know. Doesn't matter." I wait a few seconds, trudging through mud and dirty snow, before saying, "What was he doing?"

I can tell Wren's patience is wearing. "How should I know?" she spits at me.

"Oh," I whisper and look down at my feet as we walk through the muddy snow. I look ahead and see that Henry and Alex are waving us over, waiting for us.

The ice rink is within the Court's protective dome, and it is just a right amount of distance that no one will consider to look her for me. I feel like a coward, hiding from everyone. But, then again, my head is still reeling from last night. I sigh, shoving the thoughts out of my mind for the moment, and catch up with Alex and Henry.

We walk the rest of the way together and when we get there, I can see footprints in the snow where somebody had been here earlier. Probably a guardian checking to make sure it was safe before his shift ended.

I sit Alex down on an old, rickety bench and start to tie her skates on her chubby feet. She is properly wearing wintertime clothes. I'm pretty sure Vivian dressed her, because she looks like a pink marshmallow.

"So, what are you going to be for Halloween?" I ask, directing the question to Henry and Alex.

Henry smiles, a mischevious glint is his eyes. "You'll just have to wait, Rose. It's gonna be a huge surprise."

Oh, no. I'm worried.

"I'm being a princess," Alex says loudly, her words echoing through the lumbering Pines, their branches leaning downward.

"You were a princess last year, Alexis," I hear Wren say behind me.

"Yeah, so?" Alexis asks and sticks her tongue out. Oh, dear God.

"Alright!" I exlaim happily. "You're free to go skate your heart out."

"Thank you, Rosie." Alexis climbs onto the ice and, in a total of five grand seconds, is splattered against the ice. I hold back a laugh.

"He was quiet." I hear Wren whisper somewhere beside me.

I turn to face her. "Huh?"

Wren scoots closer. "He was really quiet, wouldn't talk to any of us. Julius, I mean. He went straight to his room. We didn't hear a peep from him afterwards. Vivian told us-" she nods toward her younger siblings - "to give him some space."

I try not to show anything in my face, but I guess it doesn't work, because Wren's expression changes. She frowns. "Do you know about any of this?"

"Um, no," I say. "Is that bad? . . . Him being quiet?"

Wren climbs up on a wooden table opposite of us and spreads her legs on the bench below it. "He's a suffer-in-silence type."

"Oh," I say quietly.

"Listen, I don't like you. I hope you know that."

"I do. . . ?" I say, one eyebrow raised.

Wren, keeping her head facing me, rolls her eyes upward and says, "I can't believe I'm doing this." She looks down at me like I'm a child being punished. "But Julius is my cousin - he's my family - and I love him, and I know he loves you."

"Yes?" I ask, having no idea where this conversation is going. Probably South of the equator, I think to myself.

"And since he's so smitten with you," says Wren, "I'm willing to make a truce."

"A. . . truce?"

"Yes," Wren confirms like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"Okay. . ." I scoot forward. "What's the truce?"

"I - Alexis, stop picking your nose!" she yells across the ice rink, then turns back to me. "Look, I don't hate you. I don't particularly like you, but I don't hate you. So, truce is, we become allies."

"Allies?"

"Yes." Wren nods. "Not friends, but, you know, allies. It's for the sake of my family. Henry and Al love you, and Julius. . . I've never seen him this way. He really cares about you."

I look away, feeling guilty. I look back up at Wren and narrow my eyes. "Excuse me if I'm a little skeptical," I say, "but why the sudden change of heart?"

Wren speaks without dropping her hand. "Like I said, Julius cares about you and my family loves you. And who knows, you might become our permanent guardian."

I laugh. "I don't think I'll be permanent. You said you'd make sure of that."

Wren cocks her head to the side. "And I will, don't worry. I'll make sure of it. But for now, I'm willing to have a truce between the two of us."

I smile. "Good to know."

Wren rolls her eyes and, still holding out her hand, says, "So, deal?"

"Yes," I say. "Deal."

Our hands shake once and drop to our sides.