“I can guarantee at least half of these are wrong.” I pointed to a slim volume with Raktapa Council: Amrita, Drakes and Joiik embossed in gold lettering. “Especially that one.”

Jenna helped me cart them to the librarian, who looked briefly impressed at the sheer weight, and then out the back stairwell to the shortcut leading to the dorms. It was a better shortcut when it wasn’t blocked by three idiots in dire need of anger management classes.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jody asked, the security lights glinting off the metal clamps holding a row of stakes neatly to her belt. She reached out and shoved my arms so that my jacket and my books tumbled to the ground.

“God, could you stop being such a cliché?” I scowled, already out of my limited store of patience. “You’re cranky and macho. I get it already. Now, get out of my way because I have real, actual problems that are more important than your need for therapy.”

“Jenna, walk away,” Jody said, ignoring me.

She narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“We’re giving you a chance to redeem yourself,” Ben explained, glaring at me. “To stand with us instead of the vampire lover.” He was built like a truck.

Jenna looked at Jody’s third friend incredulously. “Samuel, seriously? You’re smarter than this.”

“I thought you were too,” he replied softly. He was lean and dark-haired and looked like what I imagined an assassin would: deadly and quiet. He tossed the local Violet Hill newspaper at our feet. The headlines were lurid: Missing person cases triple and Dracula copycat killer on the loose.

“Your precious Drakes broke the treaty,” Jody said to me. “Just like we knew they would. Monsters don’t know the meaning of honor. And you need to pay, just like them.”

“She’s not a Drake, asshat,” Jenna pointed out.

“Yeah,” I said. “So go pick on one of them if you’re so tough. In fact, ask for Helena.”

“Not while you’re still here and able to betray all of our secrets,” Jody argued. “God knows what you’re telling the Drakes.”

“I have the blueprints to the school,” I mocked her. “Because this is a James Bond movie. Get a grip.”

She shoved me in the shoulder. I hissed through my teeth.

Jenna swore and stepped between us. “Jody, let it go.”

“Jenna, I’ll meet you back at the dorms,” I said. “You don’t need this shit.”

She snorted. “As if.”

“You’re choosing her again?” Jody snapped. “A vampire lover over your own unit? Over your duty to protect the town?”

“I’m choosing a friend over a bunch of bullies,” Jenna corrected her with a sharp smile. “I don’t like bullies.”

Jody just smiled as Ben and Samuel shifted beside her, ready to fight. “Then it’s time you realized she’s not welcome here. And neither are you if you side with her. She’ll only drag you down.”

“Oh, right, like you’ll help her be a better person,” I said. “And she’s recovering from a head wound, so don’t be such a bitch.”

“And you heard Hart,” Jenna shot back, refusing to acknowledge the bandage she still wore under her ponytail. “The treaty is still in effect.”

“Hart’s not here.”

Jenna blocked Jody’s sudden swing and retaliated with an elbow to her stomach. When Ben lunged at me, I threw a book at his head.

“Leave Jenna out of this,” I added, going straight for Jody while Ben clutched his head, swearing. She stumbled back instinctively, too used to people cowering away from her. I stood between her and Jenna.

So she punched me instead.

I punched her back.

Right now, my mother was reciting her nightly mala bead prayers to cleanse me of my violent tendencies.

Not enough chanting in the world, Mom.

“Jody, whatever little story you’re playing out right now, I’m not interested. I have people who need my help. So take up a hobby or something and get the hell out of my face.” Which hurt and already felt as if it was swelling. Pain from my aching cheek made my eyes water. Jenna and Samuel stared each other down warily.

Jody grabbed my arm suddenly, nails digging into my skin. “Are those bite marks?”

Shit.

The fight slid into an ominous pause. Everyone looked at the fang marks Nicholas had left just under the crook of my elbow. They looked redder in the fluorescent lights, or I looked paler. I could just imagine what they were thinking as I stood there with books on how to kill vampires at my feet. Even Jenna goggled. I tried to twist out of Jody’s grasp. She was taller, stronger and meaner than I was.

But I was sneakier.

I yanked to the side, knowing she’d follow me. She assumed I was trying to get away but really, I was just angling her so she was facing the security camera blinking its little red light up in the corner by the door. And then I taunted her.

Luckily, I’d had lots of practice between Nicholas, Logan, and Quinn.

“Vampire boyfriend, remember?” I smirked. “And he’s hot. Maybe I’ll bring him to prom.”

Her nostrils actually flared. I gave her my most obnoxious smile. It was almost worth the bruises. I blocked her punch, but only barely. The force reverberated through my arm, pain flaring into my elbow.

“Careful. What if vampire tolerance is contagious?” I added, making sure my fang marks were near her hand. She snatched her arm out of the way. I rolled my eyes. “You’re an idiot. Also?” I pointed to the camera. “Think of me when you’re cleaning toilets for detention.”