ELI STARED AT Sophie as if she'd grown a purple beard of magical proportions.

She started to fiddle with her rim of her cup and let out a little awkward laugh. "Well...it's kind of a long story," she said finally, avoiding his inquisitive gaze. "And I'm not entirely sure how to explain it myself. I had no clue that I'd been imprinted on until I was changed into a vampire."

He seemed to be trying to recover, a thousand emotions flickering across his features. It took him a moment, but he finally managed to open his mouth to speak. "I'm assuming we have plenty of time," he said, blinking.

Sophie grimaced. She took another sip of her drink and then moved her hands into her lap, fingers intertwined. "I don't know how it happened really, or when it developed. But Wolfe imprinted on me. When I was in that weird pod, I didn't understand what was happening and all of a sudden Wolfe was there, inside my head. He was locked away in that torture chamber, his senses blocked. He said that it caused our link to grow strong enough for us to communicate through our thoughts. He apologized for imprinting on me a lot. He's also the one who told me that you were alive."

"I think I understand," Eli said. "Do you still feel connected to him?"

She shook her head. "No, I haven't heard from him since I changed. He said that the vampirism would destroy the imprint."

Eli pressed his lips into a firm line. He glanced down at his drink, watching the liquid slosh around inside as he sorted through his thoughts. "Did you like him?"

"I thought I did," Sophie said, taking another swift drink. The awkwardness that enveloped them was almost too much to handle. Her thumbs traced the edge of her cup. "That's why I pushed you away. You were attractive and all that, but I was crushing so hard on Wolfe. Now that the imprint is gone, though, those feelings have vanished."

"I can understand that," he said with a nod. "I don't know that much about imprints between werewolves and humans, but I do know that the amount of feelings developed by the human are insane. Humans tend to get super obsessed and attached once a werewolf has imprinted on them."

Sophie grimaced again.

He flashed her a crooked smile and scratched at his cheek. "You didn't seem that way, which is why I never suspected he'd imprinted on you. I didn't even realize that you liked him. To be honest, I thought you liked Alex."

"Alex?" Sophie looked startled.

Eli snickered. "He had a lot of charm, tended to win over a lot of girls –both human and vampire alike. Girls and guys. He liked both. I am surprised he didn't use his magic powers on you."

"Magic powers?"

"Not like actual magical voodoo, goofy. Only witches and warlocks can pull that crap," Eli explained. He snickered and ran a hand through is hair, his eyes gleaming with happiness again. "Like I said, the dude just had a way with his words. Kind of like that one guy from that popular vampire series, only not really. We don't exactly have powers. We just happen to excel in certain skills."

Sophie arched an eyebrow, confused, and then nodded like she understood anyways.

He laughed at her expression, shaking his head. Then he pointed to her drink and asked, "Do you want any more?"

Her gaze dropped to the cup. Within the amount of time it had taken her to explain herself, the plastic cup had been entirely drained of fluid. She clenched her jaw and gulped. It weirded her out that she'd grown so accustomed to drinking blood. It was like drinking a can of soda now.

Her throat burned a little and she nodded, holding out her cup. "Thanks," she muttered as he took it from her.

Absently, Sophie watched him make his way back toward the drink station, both of their cups in hand. He started to fix their drinks and her gaze started to wander around the dining hall. It was unusually full –it looked to have even more people than when she'd first arrived with Aubrey. And now that she thought about it, there had been quite a bit of people outside too.

"I'm surprised at how many rebels there are," Eli commented as he reclaimed his seat beside her. He handed over her drink and then took a sip of his own. "We only estimated about five hundred back at the academy. But I swear there is at least half of that inside this dining hall alone. And I can smell a whole horde of werewolves and witches outside."

Eli tilted his head back and sniffed the air, somewhat dramatically. "There has to be at least two thousand," he continued.

"Do you think we have a shot against the academy?" Sophie asked, watching intently for his reaction. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the dining room pause to listen in on their conversation. It was so quiet, Sophie could hear the pitter-patter of rain beating against the rooftop. Even Aelia monitored their every move, her expression stoic.

A quizzical expression crossed his features. He pursed his lips and stared at her face, brows furrowed with thought. "To be completely honest, I'm not really sure. I'd have to assess the amount of skill accumulated here. I trained the fledglings back at the academy and I know that there was always room for improvement. Definitely weren't the best. But I at least made sure that they could handle their own."

"So we do have somewhat of a chance," Aelia interjected as she stood. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced around the room, her hands clenching into fists. Then her eyes returned to Eli. "We need to develop a plan of attack, to seize the academy. Our goal isn't to kill anybody, but to gain control and reteach them their ideals of the world. Do you think you can help us?"

Eli returned her gaze, eyes hard. "I can. I just need a few hours with the others. I can teach them all that I know. We can also go into details concerning the fledglings."

He paused, expression twisting with something unnamable. "There is something off about the newbies," he added. "I can't explain it properly though. I just know that the fledglings are more susceptible to sunlight –some even burn. And others can't control their thirst."

Aelia's eyes shot open wide. "It sounds like there is something wrong with the transformation," Sophie heard her mutter to herself. "He must either be making a mistake, or the humans have grown used to his experiments."

"But I was just recently changed," Sophie said. "Wouldn't I have problems as well?"

"Not necessarily," Aelia said. "You had my blood in you. You were already half vampire –the change would have just triggered a complete transformation, wiping out your human side."

Murmurs broke out across the dining hall, and Sophie's brow furrowed. Eli glanced at her, his expression grim. He took another sip of his drink, drowning it all back. "We should start training now. I know that the Headmaster was planning to attack soon. All he has to do is wait until dark."

Silence settled across the dining hall. A weird feeling grasped hold of the air, like invisible bony claws had squeezed Sophie's lungs. Her gaze darted around the dining hall, worry and nerves tangling inside her stomach. Her gaze landed on Eli, whose eyes had grown wide. He stared at her like he'd just seen a ghost.

"We're too late," he whispered.

And then the screaming started.