So did the fact that I’d stolen a vial of Chloe’s blood as well. But at least they hadn’t reached the end of the alphabet yet for the yearly checkups, so I was off the hook with needles for another week at least.

“Just stand over here.” She actually snapped her fingers and pointed behind her.

I stared at her. “Woof.” I was glad I’d worn my favorite pair of pink cargos. She’d coveted them since we’d roomed together last year. Small, petty revenges were all I was likely to get.

And about a hundred demerits for poking her eyes out if she kept glaring at me like I was some disgusting substance she’d just stepped in.

She sniffed and ignored me. Fine by me.

The staircase was packed full of wide-eyed students and parents lugging suitcases. The dorm felt like a beehive, vibrating with sound and energy. There’d be stings by the end of the day, no doubt. Lia was hovering in the common room, trying to get a look at her roommate before having to introduce herself. Courtney smiled at all the parents and introduced herself politely and pretended I didn’t exist. She wiped her hands with alcohol sanitizer after every hand she shook. Another student had been carted off to the infirmary with a high fever this morning.

I slipped my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Kieran to get Quinn’s phone number. I texted him quickly and tried not to obsess over every word.

Need to ask you a favor. Can you come by the school Sunday
night? Meadow, midnight. Don’t tell Kieran. Hunter.

It wasn’t like I was asking him out or anything. I was only asking for a professional courtesy. I shouldn’t worry about whether or not I sounded too formal or curt or if he’d think I had a crush on him.

Because I didn’t.

Mostly.

It was only natural to be curious about Quinn. He was a vampire, for crying out loud, and a Drake. He was becoming a friend of Kieran’s too, so that made him a friend of mine.

And so what if he was gorgeous.

Lots of guys were gorgeous.

Of course, he was the first one to make me feel like blushing when I so much as thought his name. Like right now. Damn it.

“Oh, hello, Hunter.” One of Grandpa’s friends smiled at me, effectively distracting me from my mental freak-out.

“Mr. Sagasaki.” I smiled back. His hair had a lot more white in it than the last time I’d seen him. He hadn’t made it to our family barbecue this year, which is when I usually saw him and his son, who was standing beside him, a full foot taller than last year.

“Oh, call me Louis, honey. You’re practically family.” Mr. Sagasaki grinned. “I used to change your diapers, after all.”

At the sound of his name, several heads turned. Courtney’s eyes widened and she stood straighter, smoothing her hair back. Louis was a hunter with the kind of reputation it took decades to build. He had a record seventy-two vampire kills and had once taken out a Hel-Blar nest all by himself, two doors down from a grade-school ballet recital. I wasn’t sure about that part of the rumor but I knew he was good. He had the scars and the faded tattoo on his upper arm to prove it.

“Mr. Sagasaki. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Courtney held out her hand. “My name is Courtney and I’m the girls’ ninth-grade floor monitor.”

He shook her hand. “This here’s my son, Martin.”

“Hey, Hunter,” Martin said, trying to hide his relief at seeing a familiar face. It probably wasn’t cool for a fourteen-year-old boy to appear the least bit nervous about his first day at the academy. It hadn’t been cool for me as a thirteen-year-old girl either, but Grandpa got me into classes a year early out of sheer stubborn pride that I could do better than anyone else.

“Hey,” I said. “Still a mean shot with that crossbow?”

He nodded proudly. Over his head, his dad winked at me.

“Glad he’s in good hands, Hunter,” he said, urging his son forward so they could unclog the traffic jam of people trying to move around them. “You too, Kelly.”

“It’s Courtney,” she corrected, but he was already out of earshot. She glowered at me. “I’m the floor monitor. You shouldn’t hog people like that. It’s rude.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to ignore a family friend because you’re insecure.”

This was possibly part of the reason why she hated me so much. I just couldn’t let her weird bragging and overcompensating go by unremarked. I went back to checking my phone before I could say anything else.

No reply text from Quinn.

Maybe he wouldn’t answer. Maybe he was busy with his tongue in some girl’s mouth.

Maybe I was an idiot.

It was noon, the hottest, brightest part of the day. He was a vampire. Duh.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and vowed never to mention to anyone that a straight-A vampire-hunter student had momentarily forgotten that vampires didn’t waltz about in broad daylight.

Talk about being off my game.

I went back to standing at attention and tried to look like someone you’d trust your thirteen-year-old kid’s safety to, someone my grandfather would be proud of.

Not like someone daydreaming about a vampire.

Chapter 12

Quinn

Saturday evening

I couldn’t stop thinking about Hunter.

If I’d been any one of my brothers, I would have mocked myself mercilessly.

Because she wasn’t just human, she was a hunter. I suddenly had way more sympathy for what Solange was going through. Although, at least Hunter didn’t smell like food to me. Mostly.