I turned my bedside lamp back on and paced the length of my room, waiting for Kieran. Next to my laptop was a bronze statue of Ganesh that Dad had given me on my first day of high school. Ganesh was an elephant-headed god from India who was believed to remove obstacles. I kept him on my desk because outside of the vampire world, I didn’t know a bigger obstacle than homework. Which I should probably be doing right now, as Mom suggested, but who could concentrate?

Tired of waiting, I yanked open my window and stuck out my head.

My forehead bonked Kieran’s and bounced off.

“Ow!” we both yelped, grabbing our heads.

“I always knew you had a hard head.”

“Ha-ha,” I grumbled, rubbing my hairline. “I was pretty sure yours was soft.”

He was in his usual black cargos and T-shirt. He’d cut off his ponytail but wouldn’t tell me why or how it happened. Which just proved there was a good story attached. I’d have to ferret it out later when I had time. I slipped into the garden and folded my arms expectantly. “What the hell’s up with Solange?”

He frowned. “I thought you’d know. You’re her best friend.”

“Someone should remind her of that.”

“She’s still not talking to you?”

“Not really.” The grass was cold under my bare feet. My toes curled in.

Kieran looked worried. “She’s not really talking to me, either,” he admitted.

I stared at him. “What? But you see her all the time.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked as if he were trying not to blush. “She doesn’t talk much. She won’t ever take off her sunglasses. And she only ever wants to make out. I can barely get her to say three words to me.” He winced, disgusted. “God. Could I sound more like a girl?”

“Please. You should be so lucky.”

Still, Solange just wasn’t the type to be all about the kissing and nothing else. She was too reserved for that, too elegant. I was the one who probably liked kissing a little too much.

“That’s not like her,” I finally said.

“I figured.” He shifted from foot to foot. “And I kind of need to talk to her. Which is hard to do, even with nose plugs.” Vampire pheromones were notorious for making humans befuddled and bewildered. Just as Nicholas sometimes wore his so he wouldn’t be distracted by the smell of my blood, vampire hunters wore them so they couldn’t be brainwashed by vampire pheromones. I was so used to them from growing up around the Drakes that I was mostly immune. So far.

“Talk to her about what?” I asked.

“I’m … uh … well, I’m going to college to finish my training. Now that the Helios-Ra is in good hands, I want to be a real agent. I don’t want to coast on my family name.”

I’d forgotten that he technically wasn’t an official Helios-Ra agent. He’d dropped out of the last two years of his training to hunt down his father’s killer, who he’d mistakenly assumed was a vampire, and a Drake at that.

“Well, good for you, I guess,” I said. “I suppose you’re not so bad for someone who was trying to kill my best friend and her entire family.”

“I never tried to kill Solange,” he argued. He paused. “The college is in Scotland.”

I blinked. “You’re leaving?” Could this day suck worse?

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Have you told Solange yet?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t had a chance.”

“I can’t know this kind of thing if she doesn’t know! There’s a code. You have to tell her.” I waved my hands frantically at him. “Right now!”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” he asked, frustrated. “I told you, there’s not a lot of talking.”

“Ew. Get your tongue out of her mouth and talk to her, dumbass.”

He glared at me. “It’s not that simple.”

“It is too,” I insisted. “I’m dating a vampire; I get it. They’re yummy.”

He sighed, looking a little embarrassed. His ears were actually red. “Lucy, you’re practically immune to pheromones. I’m not. And Solange’s are stronger than any vampire I’ve ever met. She’s … different.”

I wanted to kick something. I should know exactly what was going on, why and how Solange was different. No amount of yoga was going to neutralize the anger and hurt burning inside me.

I fisted my hands. “Okay, look. I’m going to see Solange tomorrow night and I’m going to figure out what the hell’s going on. You better talk to her first.”

“How?” he asked helplessly.

I rolled my eyes. “Use the phone, idiot.”

“Oh.” He blinked, as if he’d never actually considered that. Honestly, boys. “I guess I could do that.”

I just shook my head. “Some vampire hunter. Don’t they teach you anything at that school?”

“You tell me. You’re practically one of us now.”

I gaped at him. “Am not!” He just grinned at my agitation. I stepped on his foot. It wasn’t exactly effective since I was barefoot and he had his combat boots on. “Stop it.”

He glanced at his phone when it trilled discreetly. “I gotta go. Another bulletin.”

“What now?” I asked, trying to read the screen. He flicked it off and slipped it into his inside pocket. Spoilsport.