I sit down on the edge of the dock while she rides it out and sobers up.

After ten minutes she scoots closer to me, watching my face with a newfound carefulness. Her colors are back: gray and orange.

“Why did it come and go so fast?” she asks. I’m happy she’s worked up the nerve to open up and ask me something while she’s sober.

“Our bodies fight anything foreign. Germs, cancer, disease, the whole lot. Drugs and alcohol burn through quickly. Hardly worth the effort. I tried smoking. Spent days coughing up black tar.”

“That’s attractive,” she says, brushing something invisible off her knee.

I snort with the irony of her comment. “Precisely. Can’t afford to be unattractive.”

“So . . .” She’s still being careful. “Are you like me?”

“Yes, and no, it seems.”

Her head cocks to the side as she’s observing me. As if I’m the one who needs to be figured out. I want to ask her so much, but I don’t. There’s still a quiet, untrusting voice in my head warning me away from acting too interested. Neph are not supposed to give a damn about other Neph, or anyone, for that matter. In fact, we’ve probably spent enough time together tonight.

I push my hearing up to the house to see if Raj is looking for me, but he’s not. He’s out in the car smoking a joint with Rocker Girl, no doubt after taking his hit of X, as well. He’d better take it easy or he’s likely to show Rocker Girl a poor backseat performance.

Tut, tut.

“Why don’t you have one of those cloud thingies around you?” Anna asks. She’s eyeing the air around me, and I shake my head. What on earth is she talking about? Then, I realize she must have just turned sixteen and gained the ability to see guardian angels.

“Cloud thingies?” I sputter. “You can’t be serious.” Surely, surely she knows that humans have guardian angels. That is the most basic of Neph basics.

As I’m pulling my hearing in I stumble upon a scuffle inside the house—shouting.

“Do you know what I’m talking about?” She sits up straighter, and looks like she might grab at my shirt. “You do, don’t you?!”

Inside the house, Jay and Scott are fighting. Seems as though Jay is drunk and defending Anna’s honor. Brilliant.

I stand up, asking, “Are your senses back now?”

She opens her mouth, clearly wanting to know more about the “cloud thingies,” but I’ve thrown her off and she blinks.

“I think so,” she says.

“There’s a fight in the house. I think you’d better listen.”

She stands up and closes her eyes, looking pained as she strains to hear. Then her eyes pop open. “Oh, my gosh, Scott and Jay!” Yep. Jay just landed a nice-sounding crunch and Scott is howling.

Anna takes off running and I watch her go. She’s got nice form. And a great arse.

And she’s still a possible enemy, although it’s taking more and more effort to convince myself of that. If this girl has been sent by the Dukes to test me, I cannot let myself be reeled in by her spectacular act.

I take my time walking back up to the house and going in. I listen, further baffled, as Anna defuses the situation and gets the drunken Jay to her car. She cares for him with patience and tenderness. The only Neph I’ve ever seen act like that is the twin Marna, but she’s only like that with the few of us Neph who are her friends, never with humans.

I stand in the nearly empty kitchen—everyone has made a mass exodus to the front of the house for the fight. As people filter back in, I hear Anna whisper something in her car, seemingly to herself.

“I’m not finished with you, Kaidan Rowe.”

It’s like a puppy threatening a cobra. A grin flashes across my face and I quickly wipe it away before saying to the air, “Likewise.”

Two seconds later Rocker Girl is standing in front of me with her hands on her hips, looking unamused.

“Uh-oh,” I say. “Has Raj overindulged?”

Her eyes narrow in annoyance. “He says his hands weigh a thousand pounds and he can’t lift them.”

We stare at each other for two beats, and then we burst into laughter. Rocker Girl covers her mouth until her mirth subsides.

I twist the strands of her pink hair in my fingers, and she looks up at me with a tough face, pretending she never showed that moment of humor. Then I lean down and whisper into her ear. “You’re fucking sexy when you laugh, Mandie.”

I’m not sure if it’s my words or my breath against her skin that makes her shiver. She hooks her fingers into the belt loops of my black jeans and looks up at me.

“What’s your name, anyway?” she asks.

“Kaidan Rowe.”

Her mouth drops open and she bats her eyes. “Shit. Wow. I totally didn’t put two and two together when Raj said he was in the band. You’re the drummer. Kai.”

I nod.

Her fingers tighten on my loops and she pulls me closer. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“Oh, yeah? And what reputation is that?” I slowly back her against the counter, amidst all the people.

Her voice goes even huskier. “I’ve heard you’re a very, very bad boy.”

I shrug. “Good. Bad. It’s all subjective, right?” I grind my hips against hers, and her eyes flutter back. I lean down to her ear. “You have two choices. There’s a room upstairs or the empty boathouse.”

“Boathouse, all the way,” she says breathlessly.

I take her hand and say nothing more, but as I’m opening the back door to the deck the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A dark whisperer swoops in and snarls with glee at the partygoers. I tense for half a second, glad Anna is away from the party now. When the demon spirit flies my way, I acknowledge the savage being with a nod, hoping it will leave off, but it doesn’t. It cackles and dives toward Mandie, whispering harshly in her ear as her guardian angel pushes and fights it. She’s unaware she’s being whispered to, but her aura darkens and I squeeze her hand. A pit opens in my gut at the thought that I’m on the same team as that evil thing.

It finally leaves off and I pull Mandie outside. She looks away from me purposefully and reaches across to scratch her wrist. In the porch light I see the silvery reflection of scars up her arm. Cut marks.

Fucking whisperers.

I won’t ask about those lines. Nor will I stick around to chat about it afterward. But tonight I’ll try to take her mind off it, even for a moment. What happens afterward is up to her.

CHAPTER FOUR

Meeting Daddy Dearest

“You’re way too young to play these games,

But you better start, but you better start.”

—“I’m Not The One” by 3OH!3

Anna has me turned completely around, arse about face. It’s been days since I saw her, and I feel as if I will not be able to tell up from down until I figure out if she’s for real.

Am I naive to think she’s genuine? I cannot figure out why she would lie about not knowing her heritage, other than to entrap me for the Dukes’ dark purposes, to question my loyalty.

While I’m out of Father’s hearing range, I call Blake, the son of Duke Melchom, demon of Envy.

“Ever heard of a Neph called Anna? Daughter of Belial?”

“Huh?” he asks. “He’s Substance Abuse, right? I don’t think he has any kids.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Neither did I.”

“What’s going on, brah?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. Take care, mate.”

I know I roused his curiosity, but it can’t be helped. I have trust in Blake, a rarity among our kind, but I can’t say too much over the telephone.

The first knock comes from upstairs. My bandmates are spot on for our practice time. I hear the door open, and voices spill down the halls and stairs. Feet tromp down to my basement, where I sit at the drums, ready to go. Ready to clear my head. A group of girls comes down behind the guys, laughing and smelling of perfumes and hairspray. Raj and I bump fists, and Bennett slaps my palm before turning on the keyboard. There’s enough hair product between Michael, Raj, and Bennett to keep the gel companies in business forever.