“To creep you out?”

She rolled her eyes like the old Solange. “Tempted to drink live blood.”

I thought of the hundreds of horrible ways I could hurt Lucy.

“No. I’m not tempted.”

“It really is different. It’s more than a craving. It’s what our bodies need, what they were designed for.” She sounded earnest and very nearly evangelical.

I shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not sick. I don’t need live blood. Not until I have a grip on the hunger.”

“But this makes the hunger go away.” She shook her head. “I just can’t believe you’re not tempted.”

My jaw clenched around a single word. “Lucy.”

Solange’s shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

I couldn’t tell if she was remembering Kieran. “Have you called her? She’s freaking out.”

“I can’t talk to her right now.”

“But she’s your best friend.”

“That’s why. And she did Taser me, you know.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, about that. I can’t tell you how great it is that my baby sister and my girlfriend are beating each other up.” Truth be told, it was starting to piss me off.

She winced. “Forget I mentioned it. It was a misunderstanding.”

“Fifteen hundred volts of electricity was a misunderstanding?” I repeated incredulously.

“Yes.”

“At least text her, Sol. You owe her that much.”

“She Tasered me.”

“Lame.”

She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“That’s a lame excuse and you know it.”

Her eyes gleamed. “Maybe. But it’s not that simple.”

“Look, her cousin just got kidnapped and turned, she’s at a new school, and her best friend’s ignoring her. Think about it from her perspective.”

“Yeah, but Lucy can handle it. She can handle anything.”

“She can’t handle you shutting her out,” I said quietly. “Just think about it.”

“Okay.” She turned to go, then paused. “Nicholas.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’m …” She bit her lip. “Never mind.”

“What?”

“Just … thanks, Nicholas. I know I can trust you.”

She wandered off and I lay there feeling like crap.

I understood a little of what Solange was feeling. Being responsible to such a big family who would gladly sacrifice itself for you was more pressure than it might seem. And finding a quiet moment to think was nearly impossible. And right now, I needed to think.

And plan.

Because it was starting to look as if I was going to have to choose between my little sister and the rest of my family.

Chapter 13

Lucy

Monday afternoon

Despite the fact that my best friend, the vampire princess, was going insane, I still had homework to do.

That just didn’t seem fair somehow.

Still, my first day of classes went well enough, all things considered. History class, though obviously deeply flawed and biased, was kind of interesting. Training nearly kicked my ass, which made me even more determined to kick it right back. All of the other students were way better than me at kickboxing and martial arts since they’d been training for years. But I’d learned to fight from Helena Drake, so I was confident that off the mat, I could take them.

The other eleventh-grade students were okay, ranging from curious to downright openly nosy, but mostly nice enough. Jody and her bunch weren’t the only bullies, but word had already spread that I’d pepper-egged a Huntsman, so most of the comments were whispered with sidelong glances. I could ignore them if I wanted to.

I suddenly had a glimpse of what it must feel like to be Solange right now.

I wasn’t exactly a celebrity of her status, but it was still weird to be gawked at or outwardly despised. And Solange needed her solitude more than I did; plus, the vampires who hated her didn’t sneer or push her around, they just tried to stake her. Or her family. Or me. So I could feel a little empathy.

Which didn’t mean I wasn’t still pissed off.

Because I totally was.

I mean, a text message would have been nice, is all I’m saying. I’d only sent her eleven. Granted, the last one was flat-out bitchy, but the first ten were polite if you considered what we’d tried to do to each other.

In the hall, while I was trying to feel empathetic and forgiving, Jody tried to trip me.

I just stepped over her foot, snickering. “Please. I grew up with seven Drake boys. You’ll have to do way better than that.”

She glared at me.

“That glare could use some work too.” I smiled as sweetly and as obnoxiously as I could. I knew better than to display even an ounce of weakness around them.

I walked away, down the locker-lined hall. They were oldfashioned half lockers in army green. A girl in long pigtails nearly closed the door on her thumb as I approached. Her friend nudged her. She nudged back. They whispered furiously to each other. I overheard a lot of “you ask her” and “no, you ask her.” And then the second girl shoved her friend right into my path, solving the argument.

“Is it true that you make out with vampires?” She was bright red.

I blinked. “Just the one, actually.”

“Does he … you know … bite you?”

“Dude,” I said. “Personal much? And no.” I added a mental Om Namah Shivaya.