“Stop it.”

He straightened. “We all remember what you almost did to Marcus.”

“That was two years ago.” I grabbed a quiver of wooden arrows that looked more like stakes. “I’m taking this one.”

He frowned. “No, you’re not. And why?”

I frowned back. “Hello? Bounty hunters? Helios-Ra? The walking undead? Pick one.”

“No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Not with this thing in my possession.” I propped the crossbow against my shoulder. It was surprisingly light. He looked as if he wanted to argue but changed his mind. I was instantly suspicious. There was nothing he loved more than to argue with me. We’d been honing our skills on each other for nearly a de cade. Instead he opened a carved wooden chest that looked as if it belonged in a pirate movie. He pulled out a silver chain, with thick, old-fashioned links.

“Here, put this on.” He tossed it to me.

I caught it seconds before it collided with my nose.

“What is this?” A cameo roughly the size of a dollar coin hung on the chain. It was carved with the Drake family insignia, a dragon with ivy leaves in its mouth, symbols of strength and loyalty, respectively. It was beautiful, accented with a single teardrop jet bead. “How come I’ve never seen these before?”

“Your parents probably have one, but they’ve never really needed to use it.” I held it up to the light.

“Why, is it magical or something?” I rattled it gently, waiting for something weird to happen.

He smiled at me. It was kind of unusual for him but not quite the magical event I’d been hoping for.

“Not really.” He nudged me to turn around so he could work the clasp. His fingers were light and cool on the back of my neck. For some reason I had to stop a delicate shiver. “There.” His voice seemed husky. It tickled my ear. “This will keep you safe. It marks you as one of us. Vampires or the Helios-Ra would recognize this and know that to take you on would be to take on the entire Drake clan.” I touched the pendant briefly. “Thanks.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t flaunt it until I knew for sure I wasn’t dealing with a bounty hunter.” He paused. “On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t wear it.” He held out his hand, as if he wanted me to take it off . I took a step back, clutched it protectively.

“No way.” The lights flashed twice. I frowned at them. “Power surge?”

“Silent alarm. Someone’s here.”

We both rushed toward the door, nearly getting stuck, like some bad sitcom episode.

“Stay behind me,” he snapped. His eyes were eerily pale. The weight of the crossbow was reassuring in my hands as we crept up the stairs. “And try not to shoot me in the back with that thing.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When we reached the top, he paused, nostrils flaring. The front door shut quietly.

“Uncle Geoffrey.” Some of the tension leaked out of his stance. I lowered the crossbow.

“I didn’t know your sense of smell was that particular,” I said. “I just thought you could tell if it was vampire or not.”

“Everyone has a scent. If you’re around them long enough, you kind of catalogue it.” He didn’t look at me. “You smell like a blend of pepper and cherry bubble gum.”

“I do?”

Before I could press him further, he stepped out into the foyer, where his uncle was setting down a cardboard box.

“More gifts for Solange,” he said drily. “Bruno’s been through and scanned the bunch. Careful,” he added when we bent for a closer look at the jumble of packages, wrapped in everything from brown paper to silver tissue. The lumpy envelope on top had a brownish stain leaking through. “That one’s a cat’s heart,” Geoffrey said calmly.

“Ew.” I recoiled. “What? Ew!”

“A gift.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “It’s considered a delicacy in some of the more remote tribes.”

“Okay, gross . . .”

“That one’s a kitten’s. A love letter, I imagine.”

“A kitten?” I stared for a full ten seconds, my mouth hanging open. I only managed to close it to swallow the threat of bile. “A kitten?”

“Uncle Geoffrey.” Nicholas winced. The family dogs raced over to see why I was shrieking.

“Sorry. Sometimes I forget she’s not fully one of us.” Later, I’d feel flattered by that. Right now I was mad. Way too mad.

“Is there a return address? Who sent that? I’m going to kick his ass.” I had to turn my back on the package. “I’m not happy about this. Seriously.”

“We got that,” Nicholas said. There was something weird about his expression.

His jaw was clenched so tightly I wondered why his teeth didn’t pop right out.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Nicholas, you just bent your ring, you’re clenching your fists so hard.”

“It smells like candy.”

“What does?” I asked, confused. “What are you talking about?” He glanced at the stained envelope. “It’s still covered in blood.”

“You are not serious.” He nodded once, as if it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “That’s disgusting,” I told him. “Seriously.”

“I know.”