Hunter smirked. “I have another stash you don’t know about.”

It was the same kind of banter Logan and I used to fall into to distract Solange from being all stressed out over her bloodchange. Both Hunter’s and my phones beeped at the same time. I felt a small clutch of anxiety as we looked at each other.

“Quinn,” Hunter said.

I frowned at my phone’s display before answering. “Logan? What’s up? Where’s Nicholas?”

“He’s patrolling,” Logan answered. “He’s fine.”

Relief made my voice squeak. “Then what is it?” “Solange.”

Relief fled like smoke in a high wind. I glanced at Kieran, eyes wide. He frowned questioningly.

“What?” he mouthed.

I was already jumping to my feet. “We’ll be right there.” I disconnected as Hunter slipped her own phone back into her pocket.

“Solange was just exiled from the Blood Moon,” I explained for Chloe and Kieran’s benefit.

Kieran was the first to respond. “What?” “Apparently she fled with Constantine and they’ve set up camp. She nearly got half her brothers killed for good measure.” I checked my inside pocket for stakes and then adjusted the Hypnos-filled cartridge under my sleeve. “Connor will send me the coordinates as soon as he finds a signal. But it’s in the woods, and we can get at least that far on our own. So let’s go.”

“Um, Kieran?” Chloe interrupted, staring up at the house. “Is there supposed to be a guy in your room?”

Kieran’s head whipped around. The silhouette of a man showed briefly at his window, then was gone.

And he moved too fast to be human.

“My mom’s in there,” Kieran said, already running for the front door with a stake in his hand. “We need to move the fight outside. She can’t know.”

There was no question that there was even going to be a fight.

“Chloe, with me. We’ll take the back door,” Hunter said in her best commando voice. “Lucy, go with Kieran.”

Kieran pushed the door open in one quick shove so the hinges wouldn’t squeak. We stepped onto the thick rug in the foyer and paused. Vampire hearing was preternaturally sharp. They’d hear our heartbeats if they were listening for them, but with any luck they’d attribute any other sound to Kieran’s mom. Ice clinked in a glass as the refrigerator ice maker grumbled.

Kieran nodded to the kitchen, then waved me to the other side of the stairs leading to the second floor. He pointed to himself, upstairs, then the door.

Great, charades.

I slipped into the shadows where he’d told me to wait and hoped to hell I’d deciphered what he’d said properly: Wait until Kieran had lured the vampire out before following. Keep his mother safe.

“Hey, Mom,” Kieran called out. “I’ll be out in the garage working on the bike. Don’t worry if you hear some clatter.”

“Okay, sweetie.”

Kieran went back outside. I held my breath, raising a stake.

The vampire was down the stairs and out the door before it had clicked fully closed. I barely saw him move, just the blur of his white shirt and a shift of cold air. He didn’t even glance my way. I waited to make sure there wasn’t a rear guard. At the first sound of fighting on the driveway, I rushed out.

Kieran’s motorcycle was on its side, and a garbage can rolled noisily into the street, shedding banana peels and yogurt containers. Kieran’s sleeve was shredded and his cheek scraped. He had a stake in one hand and a long, thin dagger in the other. Kieran stabbed at the vampire with the dagger, but he was out of reach, grinning, fangs fully extended.

I edged closer, trying to figure out a way to throw my stake without accidentally impaling Kieran. My aim was good, but logistics were logistics. They weren’t exactly standing still. I picked Kieran’s helmet off the driveway as the fight moved onto the grass, in the shadows of the garden. I swung it from its strap. If I threw it right, I could hit the vampire in the back of the legs and knock him off-balance. Even if it was only for a moment, it would help. Right now he had all the advantages; not only was he faster, but he was a better fighter. I crept closer and closer, swinging the helmet to get better momentum. By the time it left my fingers, the vampire had already turned toward me.

“I don’t think so, little girl.” He kicked the helmet with his heel before it collided with him, sending it back toward me.

I didn’t have time to dodge. It hit me full in the chest, knocking me back into the cold grass. I landed hard, the breath knocked right out of me. My lungs seized up, then cramped around a violent cough. Tears burned my eyes as I struggled to gasp air back into my chest. I thumped a fist on my rib cage, scrambling to get back up. Apparently, Jenna needed to keep training me on how to fall properly. Everything hurt and if the vampire had been focused on me, I’d be dead now.

At least my spectacular failure had given Kieran a brief distraction to work with. His dagger sliced through the vampire’s shoulder, deep enough to lodge into bone and stay there. There was a hiss of pain. Kieran jabbed up with the stake, aiming for the throat. It wouldn’t kill him but it sure would stop him. I remembered what Hunter had once told me about aiming for the eyeballs.

A tip I could use right about now.

“Lucy, on your left!” It was Hunter, blood in her hair, chasing after another vampire darting around the side of the house, from the backyard. He was pale and wispy, and looked surprisingly fragile.