“Oh, my gods,” Olivia murmured, rubbing the palms of her hands over her thighs. “Can they do this?”

I didn’t respond. The pures could do whatever they wanted. I had a feeling it was about to get a lot worse.

“Sentinels will be posted outside the dorms, along with the Covenant Guards. In addition to these measures, all half-bloods will be required to submit to a physical exam. These—” His cut a strong look toward the upper level, where several muffled curses sounded. “— theseexams will be mandatory. After every half-blood has been examined, then the exams will continue based on need.”

Ice rushed through my veins, settling in the pit of my stomach. Of course there would be physical exams. How else could they tell if any halfs had been turned? Their bodies, much like mine, would show the evidence of multiple daimon tags. It was the only sign of a half being turned.

I wanted to puke.

“Exams will begin tomorrow and will be done so alphabetically.” Marcus stepped back, allowing Lucian to take center stage once more.

“None of us enjoy the idea of limiting your freedom or imposing potentially uncomfortable situations upon you.” Lucian splayed his hands open in front of him. “We care for our half-bloods, and this is as much for your benefit as it is for the pure-blooded students.”

I covered my mouth, afraid I’d say something. Benefit us? Restricting our comings and goings, forcing us to submit to physical exams? There was no difference between us and the halfs who served them—except we wouldn’t have the pleasure of being doped up and unaware of what was happening to us.

I looked away from Lucian and caught sight of Seth again. Every line of his face had hardened in disapproval and his eyes flared like the sun. I could feel his anger as if it were my own.

After going over a couple of more rules regarding where we were allowed to enter and something about random dorm checks, the assembly drew to a close. I had a hard time focusing on what Marcus and Lucian had gone over. My own anger roiled inside me, and the brewing storm against the wall kept my attention.

We were ordered to exit the gymnasium the same way we’d entered: a silent, single-file line of half-bloods. Briefly, I caught a glimpse of Caleb’s face. Disbelief and anger warred across his boyish features, making him seem so much older. No one had considered what this could mean for Caleb and me. They would find evidence of recent daimon attacks on both of us. Then what? Shove a bleeding pure in our face and see if we attacked? I glanced over my shoulder, searching for Seth. He stood with Lucian, off from the white-robed Guards, and they appeared to be… arguing.

At lunch, we went over the new rules quietly. More Guards than normal hovered around the perimeter of the cafeteria, and even a few Sentinels stood post, limiting what we could say. I wondered what those half-blood Sentinels thought, knowing that they’d be subject to the exams, too.

Pures usually mingled with the halfs during this time, but today was different. Halfs took up one side of the cafeteria while the pures sat at the farthest tables possible. My gaze landed on Cody Hale and his cronies. Cody hung out with halfs sometimes, like when he had nothing better to do. There were many times during the summer when I’d wanted to hit him, but hitting a pure meant expulsion, and that meant servitude.

Right now his group had their heads bent together. Every so often, Cody would run a hand over his neatly-cropped, brown hair, look at our table, and snicker. I wasn’t the only one who noticed this.

Caleb’s silent anger simmered around our table. Since the whole incident in Gatlinburg, I hadn’t seen much of Caleb. My spare time consisted of training sessions while his revolved around Olivia. Looking back, I kind of wished I’d made time for him. Maybe then I would’ve noticed the subtle changes in him, the shade of darkness that seemed to surround him, how quickly he reacted with anger.

“Just ignore them, babe.” Olivia nodded toward Cody’s table, forcing a causal smile. “Cody’s an idiot.”

“It’s not just Cody.” He gave a tight laugh. “Haven’t you seen how the other pures have been looking at us? Like we’re all about to jump them?”

“They’re just scared.” Olivia squeezed his hand. “Don’t take it personally.”

“Caleb’s right.” Luke leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Today in class, a pure I’ve known for years requested his seat to be changed. Sam didn’t want to sit next to me—or any half. Hades, he looked like he didn’t want to be in the same room as us.”

I rubbed my fingers over my temple as my appetite vanished. “They’re all scared. There’s never been a daimon on campus before.”

“It’s not our fault.” Luke’s eyes met mine. “And what do they have to be afraid of? The way the Minister talked today, it sounded like the daimon wasn’t here anymore.”

“No one really knows that for sure.” I picked up my soda, watching Caleb. He didn’t speak for the rest of lunch. As we filed out of the cafeteria, I pulled Caleb aside. “You doing okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I wrapped my arm around him, ignoring the way he stiffened. “You don’t seem like it. I get—”

“You get that we’re already top suspects, Alex?” Caleb pulled away. “That none of this is right or fair? I don’t want them stripping you down, or Olivia, looking for some sign that we’re chomping on pures during our spare time. And with you…” He paused, glancing around the hallway outside the cafeteria. Luke and Olivia went on, but two Guards eyed us—the same two from yesterday. “Lea was being a bitch yesterday, but people…”

“People have been talking? Caleb, people have been talking about me since they found out my mom was a daimon. So what? Who cares?” I squeezed his hand, just like Olivia had. “Why don’t you sneak over tonight and bring a movie?”

Caleb pulled away again, shaking his head. “I got things I need to do.”

“Like Olivia?” I joked.

That brought a hint of a smile. “Come on, you’re going to be late for class. You have practice with Seth—”

I groaned loudly. “Please don’t say his name. He throws balls of energy at my head like it’s some kind of game.”

“He looked pretty pissed off during the assembly.”

“Yeah, he did.” I thought about him arguing with Lucian. Only gods know about what. “Anyway, sure you don’t want to come by?”

“Not feeling it tonight. Besides, dodging the normal Guards is bad enough, but double the amount? Even I may have problems with that.”

I pouted but relented as we parted ways. The rest of the afternoon crawled by, but I perked up when I saw Aiden enter the gym toward the end of Gutter Fighting. I tried and failed to contain my excitement.

“Where’s Seth?” I bounced up to Aiden.

Aiden’s eyes glittered with amusement. “He’s with the Minister. Would you prefer him?”

“No!” I said a bit too eagerly. “What’s he doing with Lucian?”

Shrugging, Aiden led me out to the center of the mats. “Didn’t ask. You ready?”

I nodded, and Aiden handed me the dummy blades. He’d allowed me to practice with the real ones a week ago. Sadly, the thrill of finally getting to practice with them ended up overshadowed by the fact I’d already used them for real. I knew the weight of the slender daggers in my palms, the feeling of them slicing through daimon flesh. Using them in battle had killed that naïve appeal.

Aiden coached me through several techniques we’d learned in Silat training. We broke apart while he pulled out the dummies for me to stab. I twirled the plastic daggers like they were batons. “The new rules they set up for us suck. You know that, right? Physical exams and dorm searches?”

Aiden reached out, carefully tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear. He was always doing little things like that, things he shouldn’t be doing. “I don’t agree with all of them, but something has to be done. We can’t continue as if nothing has happened.”