I stayed away from Cole’s gym and worked out with Kat in Mr. Ankh’s. I still hadn’t been put on rotation, but I hadn’t pushed because the zombies hadn’t made another appearance.I wasn’t eating, wasn’t sleeping.I couldn’t go on like this.“Emma,” I said as I burrowed under my covers. “Emma.” I needed my baby sister.I wasn’t sure how much time passed before she materialized in the center of my room.“Oh, Ali.” She stretched beside me on the bed, ghosting her hand through my hair. Somehow she calmed me, the weird heartbeat evening out, the hunger pains that always seemed to hover at the edge of my conscious ebbing. “I hate seeing you like this.”“I’m better now that you’re here.”“I’m glad. And I’m glad you called me.” Her dark eyes were luminous as she said, “Would it help to know I’ve been watching Cole? He’s miserable, too.”“Maybe,” I said with a sniffle. “Why have you been watching him?”“I think he’s spying on the other slayers.”-- Advertisement --Why would he do that? He trus

“I wonder how many girls Bronx has gotten into bed,” Reeve muttered.“Bronx? Did you say Bronx? Because I could have sworn you told me you’re over him and seeing someone else,” Kat quipped.Reeve pursed her lips.I took a breath—held it. Exhaled, slowly. Mist formed in front of my face. My first real post-breakup encounter with Cole was now history. I’d survived with the tiniest shred of dignity, and that was more than I’d expected. I was going to be okay.A twentysomething guy stepped into our path, blocking us. We drew to a halt as he said, “Hey, pretty girl,” with a wide, toothy grin aimed at Kat. “How about some company, hmm?”Another guy pressed into his side. He eyed Reeve up and down as if she were a stick of cotton candy and he was dying from a sweet tooth.“No, thanks,” she said, and tried to inch around him.He moved with her, continuing to block her. “Wait. You don’t want to go until we’ve exchanged numbers, do you?”The other guy leaned down to sniff Kat’s neck. “My own pe

“Yes.” His tone was short, clipped, letting me know he’d said all he wanted to say on that subject.We don’t always get what we want. “Did she know about the zombies? Is that why she was afraid?”He hammered his elbows into the desk, rattling the entire piece. “Yes, Miss Bell. Yes. She knew about them, but she couldn’t see them, and so she began to imagine them around her every second of every day, and it was more than she could deal with. Finally she killed herself.”How awful. Poor Mrs. Ankh, to feel death was the only way. Poor Mr. Ankh, left to pick up the pieces. Poor Reeve, a little girl drowning in sorrow and confusion. No wonder he insisted she be kept in the dark. He didn’t want the same fate to befall her. “I’m sorry.”He waved my sympathy away. “The past is the past, Miss Bell.”Such easy words to offer—but was he actually living them? “Just so you know, I saw a rabbit cloud in the sky. Zombies could be coming out tonight.”He arched a brow, saying, “And you want in the rot

“It’s not that I don’t want her trained. It’s that I want her stronger first. You could break her. I’d definitely break her.”“Cole didn’t break me, and I’ll be a much gentler teacher. So will you. I’ve seen you with her.”That earned me another head pat. “Cole went easy on you, sweet cakes. And I’m the worst coach the slayers have ever seen. Just ask them. I’m too impatient with failure, and I’d hurt Kat’s feelings.”I got snagged on his first words. “Cole did not go easy on me.”He tsked. “Pretty, but delusional. A smoking-hot combination. No wonder all the boys want a go at you.”Hardly. “You’re seconds away from a busted nose, Frosty.”He laughed. “Unlike Cole, I give back whatever’s dished. Just remember what I said about Reeve.” And he ambled away.As if! “Who’s on patrol tonight?” I called.Frosty grinned over his shoulder. “There are two patrols going out. Gavin and Mackenzie, and Cole and Lucas. Want to guess who you’ll end up with?”For several minutes I stood where Frosty h

What if I decided to hurt him? What if I attacked him?As much as I currently disliked him, I couldn’t take the chance.Panicked, I ran in the opposite direction, away from Cole, from the fight, from everyone and everything. I ran and never looked back.Gasping, I jolted upright. Panic cloaked me as I scanned surroundings I didn’t remember stumbling upon. I was...On the cold, hard ground in front of my old house. The house I’d lived in most of my life. The house my father had built. The house I hadn’t visited since the death of my family.Tremors rocked me. How had I gotten here? I’d run from Cole, from the zombies and the voices, yes, yes, that was right, and then I’d...blacked out, maybe. I remembered nothing else.Now the sun was in the process of rising, though it was hidden behind a thick wall of clouds—one of which was shaped like a rabbit. I gulped. Looked away. The tree swing my dad had built for Emma had been removed. The rose garden my mom had poured her blood, sweat and te