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“Did he flirt back?”
“Yeah. ” I gave a rueful laugh. “I was in over my head in, like, three seconds. ” I glanced away, weighing my words, then confessed, “I think he was going to kiss me. ”
That woke her up. Her face came alive. “Did you want him to kiss you?”
“No way. At least…I don’t think so. ” I waffled, not really sure how I felt about any of it. For the first time in my life, a guy wanted me—my luck it was a dead one. “I don’t want a vampire to be my first kiss. ”
She marveled at the concept. “I wonder if it’d be cold. ”
“Gross. You mean, like his tongue, too?” We both shuddered. “I guess it might be. ”
She nodded gravely. “They are dead, aren’t they?”
“Technically speaking. ”
That silenced us for a moment, until Emma quivered, stifling an unexpected giggle.
I stared at her, amazed. “What?”
“There’s always the dance,” she said, with an uncharacteristic smirk. “Maybe he’ll ask you to be his date. ”
I glared. “The dance. Don’t remind me. I wonder if they’ll issue uniform prom dresses. ”
“Black, floor-length. ”
“Yeah, like Morticia. ” I joined her giggling. “And black capes with super-high, velvety collars. We can hobble around like the brides of Frankenstein. ”
“I hear you even learned some smooth moves for the dance floor. ”
“You sound like—” I froze, gaping, then elbowed her. “Yasuo told you that. ” I scrunched lower into my seat, frowning. “I can’t believe he told you about dance class. I’m sure he’s out there right now
trying to devise ways to blackmail me. ”
A bunch of Initiates came into the lounge, buzzing with conversation and bursting our bubble. Emma darted a nervous glance my way.
I sat up and put a steadying hand on her arm, whispering, “Not afraid, remember? We’re just hanging out. We have as much right to be here as they do. ”
They were across the room, studiously ignoring us and draping their taut, catsuited bodies across couches, over armrests, on the edges of coffee tables. Their yammering drowned out our voices.
Emma’s face turned pleading. “Can’t we just go to your room to hang out? What if Masha comes?”
“I’ll face Masha any day of the week. ” I sounded braver than I felt, but I knew I spoke the truth. “Listen, Em. We can’t act scared. These girls can smell fear. We go into hiding, and I swear it’ll trip some sort of animal-instinct urge to hunt or something. ”
I felt someone staring; I turned. Trinity loomed at the end of the hall, arms crossed over her chest and her gaze zeroed in on us. She curled her lip in disgust before joining her friends.
Her eyes didn’t leave us, though. She sat on an armchair, staring, legs crossed severely and hands clawed on the armrests. Slowly, she pulled a weapon from her boot. It was a long, thin, steel thing, like a cross between a file and a dagger. With a pretty tilt to her head, she began to stab robotically at the arm of the chair, over and over. She made it look like an idle gesture, but we knew better.
I felt Emma freaking, and I tried to ease the tension, murmuring from the corner of my mouth, “Guess she doesn’t like the furniture. ”
She began to gather her stuff. “Seriously. Let’s just go. ”
I squeezed my hand where I’d rested it on her arm, then gave her an encouraging look. “If we leave now, we’ll just look weak. We need to stay. Now, take out your knife. ”
“My what?”
“Your knife. You know, that big-ass Buck knife you have. I know you carry it around. ” It was thick and serrated, and the last time I saw it, she’d been stabbing a Draug in the back, saving me. “Come on, farm girl. ” I gave her a small smile. “You’ve faced worse than this. ”
She furrowed her brows but, with a sharp nod, obeyed.
