I exhaled.

Along the way, I checked the sky. The rabbit cloud was still there.

My phone rang, startling me. I recognized the number and experienced a conflicting tide of emotions, from uncertainty to gratitude. “Justin,” I said. “I should have called you. Thank you for helping with the fight and taking what was meant for me.”

“Hey, I owed you.” Then, “How are you, Ali?” His voice was low, as if he wasn’t sure of his welcome and was determined not to spook me.

“I’ve been better.”

He groaned. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry I bit you. I don’t know what came over me. You were there, and you smelled so good, so clean and pure, and my mouth was watering, and the urge hit me, and it was so strong, so intense, I couldn’t fight it.” The words spilled from him with barely a breath. “I didn’t want to fight it.”

Some of what he’d said really jelled with me. A clean, pure scent. An unwillingness to fight. An unquenchable hunger. “Has anything else happened to you since that night?”

A crackling pause that set my nerves on edge. “Like what?”

Yeah, like I was really going to confide in him. “You tell me,” I said, using a tactic Cole had once used on me.

Cole. I ran my tongue over my teeth.

I had to stop thinking about him.

“To be honest, I’ve been normal,” Justin said. “Nothing’s happened. To me, at least,” he added. “I’m guessing something’s happening with you, though.”

The brakes on the car squeaked, and I peeked out the window to see we’d reached our destination. So soon?

“I have to go,” I said.

“Don’t want to talk about it?”

“I’m kind of busy.” And yes.

Another pause. “We’ll talk again, though?” he asked, hesitant.

“Yeah. I think so.”

I hung up and stepped into the cold of the evening. The sun would soon disappear, and the moon would take its place, full and golden in the sky. Even though darkness had yet to fall, the path to the barn was lit by small halogens meant to discourage any zombies from drawing near.

I used the code on the ID pad to open the door. Before our breakup, when I’d come here and he hadn’t, Cole had finally broken down and given me the “key.” I pushed my way inside, only to discover the meeting was already in full swing. A chair had been carried to the center of the boxing ring, where Cole was perched.

Veronica sat in his lap.

His arm was wrapped around her waist.

The girl was relaxed against him, completely at ease, as if she had no doubts about her reception.

Cole was disheveled, but also perfectly at ease. As if they’d messed around before settling down, and he’d never been happier.

The details hit me like bullets, one at a time, fast and sure. He’d always liked touching me. Sifting the ends of my hair through his fingers. Ghosting his knuckles across my jaw. Pulling me into the hard line of his body for a kiss. Seeing him act that way with someone else...

Pain? Yes, I felt pain. Betrayal? Jealousy? Yes, I felt those, too. Felt them so deeply I wasn’t sure how I remained on my feet—or out of that ring. I think a part of me had hoped he would eventually come crawling back to me, no matter what I’d told him. No matter what I’d told my friends. But he wasn’t going to, was he? We were done, just as he’d said. Just as I’d agreed. Only he’d already moved on.

Breathe. Just breathe.

I wouldn’t freak out over this.

I’d come here to do a job. So I would do it.

I switched my focus. The rest of the crew leaned against the ropes. Frosty, Bronx, Mackenzie, Derek, Trina, Lucas, Collins, Cruz and Gavin, each hard bodied and dressed in black, ready for action. No one seemed to care that Cole—a guy who had only split from me a short while ago—had already forgotten about me.

Okay, so I hadn’t exactly switched my focus.

Threads of fury joined an already toxic mix of emotions, whooshing through me. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t fair. How could he do this to me? Was he trying to punish me for the vision I’d had? A vision I couldn’t control? A vision I wouldn’t allow to come true?

No. This wasn’t for my benefit and wasn’t a punishment. He hadn’t known I would show up. This was for him. He wanted that girl in his lap.

My hands fisted. I’d been wrong about his sense of honesty. He’d lied to me.

I remembered what he’d said to me.

Me: Do you want Veronica?

Him: No. Not even a little.

Liar! I longed to shout.

How easy it would be to stalk into the ring, sink my teeth into his spirit and—

His spirit?

Oh, good glory. Was I thinking like the zombies now?

I raised my chin, squared my shoulders. I’d rather die.

I forced myself to concentrate for real.

“—report every detail,” Cole was saying. “I don’t just want to hear that you survived the night, or that you did or didn’t see any zombies. I’m not kidding, I want every detail. In writing. From all of you. Two partners can’t turn in one report. I want two from two, and I want you to write them separately. After what happened to Justin and Ali, I’m in an information-gathering mood.” Shadows and light battled for dominance on his face, giving him a sinister bent. “Got me?”

He scanned the murmuring crowd, bypassed me and quickly returned. Guilt flashed in his eyes, only to be extinguished, leaving the cold, blank mask. He stood, forcing Veronica to stand as well, and dropped his arms to his sides. She remained only a whisper away and frowned when she noticed me.

I held Cole’s gaze, again not expecting a vision, but wanting one—no, I didn’t want one, shouldn’t want one, but...

It never came.

Disappointment grew wings of sharply honed iron and flew through every inch of me, cutting at me.

Cole cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.

Don’t give him a reaction.

He looked away. “From now on,” he said, voice harder now, harsher, “if your partner gets bitten, administer the antidote the moment you’re able. Don’t wait until the fight is over. And if your partner bites you, don’t try to hide it from us. We’re not going to blame him.”

“Or her,” Mackenzie called, and snapped her teeth.

“Now you’re just giving the girls permission to take a nibble anytime, anyplace,” Frosty retorted. “I’ve got enough trouble keeping them off me as it is.”

Chuckles resounded.

I couldn’t force myself to laugh.

“You know who your partners are,” Cole said, “and where you’ve been placed in the schedule. Do what you have to do to get ready.”

The group broke apart; some kids were to walk the streets, hunting zombies; some were to go home and rest, catch up on schoolwork; some were to stay here and guard the bodies of the slayers, also waiting in case backup was needed.

Veronica rose on her tiptoes and whispered in Cole’s ear.

The fury returned, expanded, but I managed to calmly say, “What about me?” and step up to the ring.

All eyes darted in my direction.

“Ali Bo Bali,” Frosty said, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “I didn’t think we’d see you tonight.”

I appreciated the show of support.

“What about you?” Cole replied, hesitant.

Steady. “I want in.”

A muscle ticked below his eye as he approached me. “After what happened today? No.”

“What happened today?” Veronica asked, coming over to rest her head on his shoulder. Staking a claim? Digging the knife deeper?

If anyone told her what I’d gone through...

Cole eased away from her and massaged the back of his neck, a habit of his. Right now he was more than uncomfortable. He was discombobulated.

Good.

“You’re injured,” he said.

“I’m healed. Besides that, others have fought injured and you never complained.”

“Others have had more training. And why do you have bandages on your wrists?”

He’d noticed them, even though I wore long sleeves?