As they left the kitchen, Kate flashed me a gentle smile, but it didn’t make me relax. I just had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

“Hey,” Will said. He gave me a reassuring smile and rubbed my shoulders with his hands. “Everything will be fine. Marcus isn’t going to hurt anyone, least of all Kate.”

I frowned. “What does he want with her?”

“Well, he’s just looking for some fun.”

“And by fun you don’t mean playing pool with the guys, do you?”

He averted his gaze and stared without focus into the crowd. “Marcus likes girls a lot, especially human girls. That’s not unusual among our kind. Human girls are different from vir girls.”

“He needs to find some different girls to like,” I said with a huff. “At the very least not my best friend.” I weighed Will’s words for a second and hoped he hadn’t included himself in that observation about reapers and human girls.

Will’s gaze returned to mine. “Ellie, don’t worry,” he said. “He treats them well, and he doesn’t stick around long.”

“So he can use them up and break their hearts?”

“No, he knows the kind of girls he’s after, the ones who are looking for a little fun too. Kate’s a smart girl. She knows how to stay out of trouble.”

“Yeah, but Trouble’s got his eye on her.”

He cupped my chin and lifted my face. “You have to let her make her own decisions, and Marcus too. He can be a little wild, but that’s just his nature. He’s never had to grow up and face consequences the way a human does. Everything’s a game to him. He lives for challenge.”

“But you aren’t like that,” I said. “Are you?”

“Marcus doesn’t have the responsibilities that I have. If he had someone like you, then he might become a very different person.”

I gave him a suspicious look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His returning smile was warm and beautiful. “You know what I mean.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, letting his lips linger for an extra heartbeat, but it was long enough to send my pulse racing. He was going to drive me insane.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s go make you smile some more. You’ll see that Marcus isn’t going to hurt Kate, and you can trust him. You should be spending time with your friends.”

“Okay.” I followed him out of the kitchen and squeezed his hand just a little tighter as he led me through the crowd.

8

ON SUNDAY NIGHT, WILL AND I WERE PREPARING TO meet Ava and Marcus to hunt the last nycterids. I struggled with what to wear for patrolling gear. Ava’s comments about my outfit shouldn’t have bothered me, especially since she was a reaper and the freezing February air didn’t bother her like it did me. I had to stay warm out there, or I’d be shivering like crazy instead of defending myself. I rummaged through the winter clothes in my closet with the door shut while Will waited. There was a pair of leggings that I went running in that would work. Fighting in stretchy pants would be a lot easier than in jeans. A turtleneck sweater might be enough to keep me warm, since I could just discard my coat if anything attacked.

“Are you ready yet?” Will called.

“Just a sec.” I tugged on a black turtleneck and then realized that my leggings were also black. There was no way I was dressing up like a ninja. I threw off the sweater and picked out a purple one. Huge improvement. I scrounged through my shoes and picked out a pair of cute purple snow boots with fur trim to match. Even bigger improvement.

I emerged from my closet and found Will sitting on my bed. “Have you been staring at my door since I went in there?”

“There wasn’t much else for me to do,” he said. His gaze dropped to my feet, and his brow flickered. “Nice boots.”

I put my hands on my hips and glowered at him. “You’re really mean.”

He laughed. “I just complimented you!”

“No,” I growled. “You’re making fun of my boots. I’m not stupid.”

He shook his head, grinning. “Are you ready finally?”

I picked up my scarf and coat. “Yeah. Are you?”

“Yeah. I’ve been waiting.”

I laughed and tossed my scarf into his face. He caught it effortlessly.

“You probably shouldn’t wear this out hunting, anyway,” he said, examining it and frowning.

“Why not? It’s pretty and warm.”

He held it out. “It’s easy for claws to grab. Strangulation is a bad way to go.”

I scowled and grabbed it back. “Fine. I won’t wear the scarf. I swear, you guys just want me to freeze to death.”

“Once you get moving, you’ll warm up.”

“Not likely. It’s like ten degrees outside,” I grumbled.

He grabbed my sweater, tugging me closer to where he sat, and gave me a fake serious look. “Stop whining.”

I swatted at his hand, forcing him to let me go. “I’m going to kick your ass.” I smoothed my sweater back out.

He laughed and rose to his feet. “Really. You look like a cupcake. Are you ready to go? We have to meet them in a half hour and it’s already dark out.”

I saluted him. “Yes, drill sergeant.”

We parked my car in a safe lot downtown and walked quite a ways into a grubbier area. The demonic reapers liked to hunt in the rougher neighborhoods. Fewer people walking around at night meant there were more quiet places to kill and feed without interruption. We found Marcus sitting on the stoop of an abandoned, boarded-up house.