“I intend to be.”

“You’re well on your way.” He wiped blood off his face ruefully. A car passed by on the street.

“Leave them alone, Black.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It is too. Helios-Ra has a treaty or what ever, so stick to it.”

“I’m a new agent. I only just turned eighteen. Do you really think I’m in charge over there? I have orders, just like everyone else.”

“That’s convenient,” I sneered, gathering up my bags before turning away. “And totally lame.” I stopped at the driver’s-side door. “Don’t be a lemming, Black.” When I got back to the farm, one of the guards stepped out where I could see him and shook his head disapprovingly. Ooops. I was already flinching when I let myself out of the car and Nicholas opened the screen door. So much for sneaking out and then back in, none the wiser. Nicholas’s nostrils actually flared.

“Lucky.”

I flared mine back and felt like an idiot.

“Nicky.”

I pushed past him, then wished I could go back out onto the porch to fight with him. I’d take that over Solange’s pale, worried face any day.

“Lucy, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sol. I just needed supplies and to feed the cats.” I dropped my bags, felt Nicholas come up behind me. She looked so relieved, it gave the guilt sharper teeth.

No one else could make me feel so bad without saying a single word. Bruno was doing a pretty good job though, looking like a disappointed parent before he went out to patrol.

“I’d have fed your bloody cats,” Nicholas muttered. He saw my drugstore bags, looked at me incredulously.

“You went to buy lipstick? At a time like this?”

“Yeah, that’s right, and an exfoliating mask. Don’t be an ass. I went for supplies.” The sun filtered in through the window, and he flinched away, even though it was specially treated glass and he was in no danger. He looked tired enough to fall over.

Even the shadows under his eyes had shadows.

“You should be in bed.”

“I was in bed,” he said pointedly. “Until you went shopping.”

“I needed nose plugs.” I lifted the pair hanging on a string around my neck. “And they’ve already come in handy.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Why?” He grabbed my wrist. “Why, Lucy?”

I tugged back but couldn’t break his hold.

“Because.” I stopped pulling. I’d only dislocate my own wrist. “I ran into Kieran Black. Literally.”

They both stared at me.

“What?” Solange finally squeaked.

Nicholas turned my hand over. His eyes flared, went the color of frost, at the blood on my knuckles. I shrugged sheepishly.

“I nearly broke his nose.” I half smiled. “I’ll have to try harder next time.” He dropped my hand, stepped back. There was something fierce in his face, even when he smiled faintly.

“I guess I should be glad I’m not the only one you punch.” I made a face at him and dropped into a chair. I was starting to ache in muscles I didn’t know I had. There were still roses everywhere, and the smell was overpowering.

“Did he hurt you?” Solange’s face was stony.

“No, I’m fine.” I watched Nicholas trying not to weave on his feet. He looked as if he were standing on a particularly wave-tossed boat. “Go back to sleep,” I said with more gentleness than I’d planned. I paled when something occurred to me. “You didn’t tell your parents, did you?”

“No,” Solange said. “I only just found your note. I didn’t even get a chance to tell Nicholas. He just stumbled out of his room, all freaked out.” We both turned to look at him. I thought he might be blushing— if vampires could blush, that was.

“The house smelled wrong,” he muttered. He glared at us. “Shut up.” Then he went up the stairs. I raised my eyebrows.

“He’s getting weirder.”

Solange snorted, pulled out a handful of nose plugs, air freshener sprays, and a bowie knife from my plastic bags.

“So are you.”

I waited until we were alone before I hustled Solange into her room.

“What are you doing now?” she muttered when I shut her door and pressed my ear to the wood for a moment to make sure no one was listening. And by no one, I meant Nicholas.

“Okay, I should totally be a spy.” I grinned at her. “All I need is some funky accent and I could be a Bond girl.”

She groaned. “What did you do?”

“I stole this from Kieran, right after I punched him.” I pulled out a small book from the inside pocket of my jacket. It looked innocuous enough, slender as a poetry chapbook, with a simple font and a sun illustration on the front cover. It was the title that stood out: A Field Guide to Vampires.

Solange read it, blinked, read it again, and then stared at me. “A Field Guide to Vampires? Is that a joke?”

I laughed out loud. “Nope. Just a little souvenir from the Helios-Ra.” We sat on her bed and set the guide on the blanket in front of us. We skimmed the index, snorted at the pompous introduction and the pseudo medieval oath new recruits had to take.

There was a bunch of stuff on hunter protocol that could come in useful someday.

There was also a whole section on the Drake family, and a page devoted just to Solange, listing her stats, like she was a rare kind of frog one could search for in a swamp.