“Safe for who?” Lucas asked. “Safe for herself, or safe for the human beings around her?”

“For herself, of course. I told you she wasn’t a killer.”

“And I trust your call on that. But this girl—Charity—she’s hanging around with some vampires who are definitely trouble.”

“Well, if she’s fallen in with a bad crowd, Balthazar can get her out of it, or at least he thinks so. If we help him do that, he’s willing to help us. He’ll tell us a lot of what he knows about vampires and ghosts—”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up. Ghosts? Where do they come into it?”

“A ghost is haunting Evernight Academy.” The look on Lucas’s face made me smile despite myself. “Yeah, just when you thought it couldn’t get more fun.”

“Holy crap.”

“I’ll tell you about it later, okay? The point is, Balthazar can give us a lot of information we couldn’t get any other way. He’s even willing to help me get off campus to see you. All he wants is a chance to find his sister. We can help him do that, can’t we?”

Lucas was silent for a few long seconds before he said, “I thought that guy hated my guts.”

“He’s not in your fan club. But he’ll keep his word.”

“So how is he helping you leave Evernight? Does Balthazar know a secret passageway out of there or something?”

Now we’d come to the tricky part. “Well, actually, he’s older and pretty responsible, and we’ve made it sound like he’s teaching me about being a vampire, so my parents and Mrs. Bethany let him do it.” I took a deep breath and plowed ahead: “We’ve sort of convinced them that we’re dating.”

Silence. Lucas stared at me, his eyes wary.

“We’re not dating. Completely not together. You understand, right?

Because I definitely do, and he does, too.” At least, I hoped Balthazar understood that.

“Yeah, I get it.” Lucas didn’t sound convinced. “But he’s always had his eye on you. I remember how he was the night of the Autumn Ball.

Possessive. Real possessive.”

“He actually was my date for the Autumn Ball, remember? Because you lost your temper in Riverton and freaked me out?”

“My whole life, I’ve settled things with my fists, Bianca. When you’re hunting vampires, that’s the best way to stay alive.” I stepped closer to Lucas, so close I could smell the scent of his skin.

“I understand that. So please try to understand this. It’s the only way we could think of.”

He took a ragged breath. “I don’t mean to overreact. I swear. I’m sorry, Bianca. It’s just—I miss you so bad, and we never get any other chance to talk about all this stuff, and the last thing I expected to hear tonight was that some other guy gets to spend lots of time with you when I don’t.”

“You’re the one that matters. The only one.” I took his face in my hands and kissed him softly. “Okay?”

“Okay.” He squared his shoulders. “Fine, I’ll make nice with Balthazar and then we can get out of here together. Right?”

“Right.”

We walked back to the front of the theater, arm in arm. Balthazar hadn’t moved from the car. When he saw us again, however, he straightened up and came toward us with a swagger in his step. It would’ve made me snicker at him if Lucas hadn’t been doing the exact same thing.

“Balthazar,” Lucas drawled. “Last time I saw you, you punched me in the gut.”

“The last time I saw you, you nearly broke my nose. Lucky thing we’re working together on this.”

“Lucky for me or lucky for you?” Lucas’s cocky grin made it clear that he thought Balthazar was the one getting off easy when they weren’t fighting. “By the way, nice wheels there. That ride could take you straight from a meeting with your banker to the PTA. Makes it crystal clear you’re more than a century old.”

“It’s the driver’s ed car.” Balthazar’s jaw was clenched, like he was biting back a lot of other things he’d rather say.

I gave Lucas a warning look, wishing he’d knock it off, but he still acted like he had something to prove. “What, you haven’t owned a horseless carriage since your Studebaker broke down?” Balthazar smiled, satisfied. “Actually, the last car I owned was a red 1968 Mustang GT 390 Fastback.”

I had no idea what that meant, but Lucas did. His expression shifted from disdain into envy, and then to a grudging respect. “Sweet.”

“Yeah.” Balthazar sighed, all animosity temporarily forgotten.

Guys, I thought. “Okay,” I said, hoping to end this before they started sparring again. “We’ll meet you back here in, what, two hours?”

“You’re not leaving yet.” Balthazar had focused his attention on Lucas again. “First you tell me what you know about my sister, and promise me that you’re going to call off the Black Cross hunt for her.”

“I’m not in charge of Black Cross, okay? They don’t do what I say to do. The hunt for that gang is on, and as long as Charity’s hanging with the same crew, she’s going to be in the line of fire. So we’ve got to separate her from them, one way or the other.”

“There’s one way. Only one. Mine.” Balthazar stepped closer, using every inch he had on Lucas, who was tall but not that tall. “Charity is a person. The same as you, the same as me.”