“Don’t you dare!” Quinn shouted when I pushed away from the tree.

I ignored him, of course. It was the only way to deal with outright crazy Drake martyrdom. Lucy taught me that. I crept closer, keeping my footing steady in the icy snow. “Quit hogging the monsters,” I shouted back. “I’m ready!”

He pivoted sharply, swearing, and elbowed the Hel-Blar nearest to me in the jugular, then the forehead, and lastly, the sternum. He did it in such quick succession there was no defense. The Hel-Blar sailed backward, landing with an icy splash at my feet. I staked him quickly, not wanting to waste an arrow. I used my heel to drive the stake through his rib cage and into his heart. He crumbled to ashes, drifting away on the sluggish current. Quinn dispatched the last vampire with an antique stake I was sure he’d stolen off a Helios-Ra agent somewhere along the way.

Silence returned to the snow-dusted forest. Quinn rinsed his hands in the river, running his wet fingers through his hair. “Well, that was fun,” he said, flipping his now-damp hair off his face. Adrenaline made his smile even more dangerous than usual. I actually felt seared by it, even several feet away. He caught my eye.

“Wanna make out again?”

Chapter 30

Lucy

Sunday night

When I’d told Solange I was going to kick Helios-Ra ass, scrubbing toilets wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Hunter didn’t look any more thrilled than I did, kneeling on the cold tiles with sponges and spray cleaner. Only Chloe looked cheerful, but that was mostly because she was perched on the counter, tapping away on her laptop.

“Hey, this is your detention too,” Hunter grumbled. She was wearing bright yellow rubber gloves and a disgruntled expression.

“I’m working.” Chloe snapped her bubble gum. “I’m cracking codes so you can crack heads.”

“This detention is archaic,” I muttered from the back shower stall where I was scrubbing mildew out of the grout. It was just past midnight and we had half an hour to finish this last bathroom before curfew and lights out. We’d finally reached the top floor, after an hour of inhaling bleach fumes. “Not to mention disgusting.”

“Hunters tend to hit each other a lot without creative and powerful deterrents,” Hunter said, pushing her hair off her face with her elbows.

“All we did was sneak out.”

“Yeah, but she was pissed. This is her favorite weapon. And Bellwood says it’s as much about teaching us not to kill each other as it is about teaching us how to kill vampires.”

“I don’t know,” I said, moving to the next stall. “This kinda puts me in a murdering mood. Speaking of which,” I added when the door swung open and Jody came in for the third time that night. There were several pounds of dirt and melting snow on her boots. She smirked.

“You can’t possibly have to pee again,” Chloe said. “And this isn’t even your floor.”

“So?” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m looking for an earring I dropped.”

“You are not,” I grumbled.

She opened all the stall doors, making sure to knock as much muddy water off her treads as she went into each one, pretending to look. “I guess it’s not here,” she said, just before knocking over the bucket. “Oops,” she said with a cold, insincere smile as dirty water seeped over the floor.

“All right, that’s it,” Hunter snapped, jumping up so she wouldn’t get soaked. “I’ve had it. Jody, I’m the floor monitor for this section and you’re not allowed up here anymore.” She narrowed her eyes while I grinned behind her. Chloe caught my eye and also grinned. It was so rare that Hunter lost her temper. I kind of wished we had popcorn for the show. “You’re being childish and a bully, two things I know Bellwood disapproves of.” “And you’re a traitor, Wild.”

“I’m getting tired of that accusation,” she said mildly. “Especially from a cheater.”

Jody scowled. “What are you talking about?”

“I know you cheated on your kickboxing demonstration last week.”

Jody paled, before blustering. “You can’t prove it.”

“I don’t have to,” Hunter said. “I just have to suggest you show the class that move again so we can learn from you. Only this time you won’t get a chance to bully your opponent beforehand, because I’ll volunteer. And I promise I won’t fold at the exact right moment.”

Jody muttered something under her breath but since she did it while fleeing, none of us cared.

“You totally blackmailed her.” I beamed at Hunter.

“She’s getting on my nerves. She needs to learn how to save her bullying for Hel-Blar instead of everyone around here.” She jammed the wooden doorstop under the door to keep it closed.

“That was just beautiful,” I insisted, reaching for the mop. “I’ll wash the floor, since she was only doing it to get to me anyway.”

Hunter leaned against the counter. “We shouldn’t be fighting among ourselves,” she said as I pushed the mop through the gritty puddle.

“Never mind, we can—” Chloe stopped swinging her feet, her expression turning as serious as Hunter doing drills. “Got something.”

We both froze, then hurried over to huddle next to her, trying to read her computer screen. “What did you figure out?” Hunter asked.

“That I am as awesome as we always suspected,” she replied, cracking her knuckles. “I’ve finally cracked the encryption code. I should be able to download and read all those e-mails now.” She scrolled, reading quickly. “Bellwood had a few sent to her,” Chloe whistled. “Her reply was . . . scary. I didn’t even know she knew how to swear.” She read for a few more minutes, frowning when it didn’t load quickly enough for her. “I think we’re going to need the Black Lodge,” she said quietly.