I fell asleep reaching for the phone.

I would have slept straight through dinner if Sarita hadn’t kept waking me up.

Clearly no one had told her it’s not smart to wake up a sleeping girl covered in weapons and mud. Seems basic to me, but then, I’d grown up with the Drakes.

“What?” I grumbled when I opened one eye to find her just standing by my bed. I slept better in a house full of vampires. This whole roommate thing wasn’t off to a great start.

“Are you sick?”

“Yes,” I mumbled, hoping it would make her go away. I pulled the pillow over my head.

“It’s not that flu, is it? Students died from that, you know.”

“That wasn’t a flu,” I said through my pillow. “That was some weird pill one of your teachers was slipping students.” Students with ties to vampires, to be precise. So, said vampires would drink from them, get sick, and die. Hunter discovered the secret plot and saved the school. And then Quinn saved her, so it all worked out in the end. I was still getting a kick out of seeing him so into a girl. Just one girl. He’d even erased the other numbers on his phone. In Quinn’s world that was cataclysmic. He may as well have serenaded her on the front lawn of the school for all to see.

“How do you know that?” Sarita asked.

The explanation would make her head hurt.

“And do you always sleep this late? It’s five thirty.”

I groaned. “Sarita?”

“Yes?”

Everything I wanted to say was rude or violent.

I bit my tongue. See, I was learning stuff already at this school. “Never mind.” I got up and went down the hall to the bathroom. I wasn’t awake enough to remember the events of last night until I was back in my room. I got dressed quickly so I could get to the infirmary to check on Kieran. The sun was already fading. It would be dusk soon. I texted Solange and then Nicholas.

“We studied the historic vampire clans of the Raktapa Council last year,” Sarita interrupted me, peering closer at the cameo I always wore. “Isn’t that the Drake family insignia?”

I touched the pendant protectively. “Yes.” Nicholas gave it to me over the summer. I’d switched out the velvet ribbon for a more durable chain when it became obvious that velvet was too delicate for my present circumstances.

“I don’t think you’re allowed to wear vampire crests at school.” She was aghast.

I stared at her for a full ten seconds before answering, “Om Namah Shivaya.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

How to explain that my mother taught me Vedic mantras as a way to deal with stress and the imminent loss of my temper. Especially when punching someone in the nose was inappropriate. I speared her with my best Helena Drake glare instead. We were saved by a sharp knock on the door.

Hunter was on the other side, eyes wide. “Kieran’s in the infirmary.” Her blond ponytail swung anxiously.

“I know. I brought him there.”

Seeing Hunter, Sarita stood at attention as if this were a military school and Hunter a general. “Hi, Hunter.”

Hunter threw her a distracted smile then frowned at me. “I’d ask you why you didn’t come tell me, but you look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said drily. I grabbed my sweater. “Let’s go check on him.”

We hurried out of the dorm and into the cold late-autumn evening. My breath misted in the air. Winter was definitely on its way. The trees shivered, scattering the last of their leaves. Students hurried to the dining hall and down from the gym, bundled in thick sweaters.

“What happened?” Hunter asked. “And can I tell you how sick I am of this place?” she added as we neared the infirmary. The fluorescent lights made squares of white on the grass.

I didn’t know what Quinn had told her about Solange and her struggle. Or if Kieran had mentioned it. “It was a vampire,” I said. “I went to meet Solange last night and we found him like that.” Lie. Big fat lie.

Hunter paled. “Hel-Blar?”

I shook my head. “No, he was lucid. It was just a vampire bite. He lost some blood. Theo didn’t look freaked out or anything.”

“Theo never looks freaked out.”

“Did he call you? What did he say?”

“Kieran’s mom called,” Hunter replied as we stepped into the bright, medicinal cleaner–scented room. “She won’t come to campus. She’s not … Well, she’s fragile.”

“She is?” Kieran never mentioned his family, beyond his dad, whom he’d once thought the Drakes had murdered. It had been Hope actually, the Helios-Ra agent who’d taken over the society along with Kieran’s uncle. She’d tried to kill Solange too.

Even dead, I did not like her.

Theo came around one of the curtains and eyed me critically. “Better. But you need more sleep. And protein.”

“How’s Kieran?” Hunter and I asked together.

“He’s got a few stitches, lost some blood. Probably have a scar. Could have been worse.”

“Can we see him?” Hunter asked. “And the answer to that question is ‘yes,’ Theo. He’s my best friend.”

Theo just snorted. “You need more sleep too, Hunter. You lost more blood than he did, and it wasn’t that long ago.”

“Yeah, yeah. Where is he?”

“He went home.”

“He did?” She sounded surprised. “His mom didn’t …”