Speaking of coffee... “I’ll take that.” I confiscated her mug as I eased into the seat beside her. I wouldn’t allow myself to eat or drink anything from the Ankhs, which made coffee a luxury. But I didn’t mind taking from my best friend.“Hey!” A second later, she confiscated Reeve’s.“Hey,” Reeve said, then confiscated Nana’s.Musical coffees.Nana shook her head, but I could see the gleam of amusement in her eyes.“No need for a lecture,” I said to Kat, flattening my hand on my side. “There’ll be no more surgeries for me.”Her features softened. “My poor, sweet Ali.”“I don’t understand how you fell down our stairs and received such a life-threatening injury,” Reeve said. “You’re not the clumsy type, and there’s nothing sharp on the railing or the floor.”“Of course she’s clumsy,” Kat exclaimed, covering for me as I stuttered for some type of response. “Ali could get tangled up in a cordless phone.”I nodded and tried not to look miserable—the claim was only a lie if I failed to bel

One of Veronica’s perfect brows lifted. “So you’re the infamous Ali Bell, huh? The girl with abilities no one can explain.”I could see the Blood Lines we poured around our homes, a mix of chemicals the zombies couldn’t bypass. My body sometimes became a living flame, ashing every zombie I touched in seconds, while other slayers could only light their hands and needed several minutes to achieve the same results. I could sometimes see into the future.I wasn’t sure why I could do these things, or what made me different. My slaying genes were no more special than anyone else’s.“Yes,” I said. Cole wouldn’t look at me. Why wouldn’t he look at me? “That’s me.”Veronica’s head tilted to the side as she scrutinized me more intently. “Did you use one of those abilities on my friend?”I stuttered for a response, but came up empty.“So what if she did?” Kat called, always my backup. “She’s got the boss man wrapped around her little finger. She can do what she wants, to whomever she wants.”How

I swallowed a laugh. I luv U!Her: Love you, too! Now get back to work.I stuffed my things in my locker and made my way to the cafeteria. Along the way I ran into Mackenzie. I was as happy to see her now as I’d been at the club but still grabbed her by the arm to stop her.She looked at my fingers, curled her red lips in distaste and jerked away. But she didn’t walk off, as per usual, and I was grateful.“What do you want?” she snapped.Such a sweet, sweet girl. “Where’s Cole?”“What am I? His keeper?”“Just tell me where he is,” I gritted.“He’s gone.”“What do you mean gone?” He’d left without saying goodbye? Again?“Is there more than one meaning for the word?”Don’t punch her. You can’t afford a suspension. “What’s the deal with Veronica? She and Cole are on such great terms, I’m curious about how long they’ve known each other.” I should be discussing this with Cole, and only with Cole, but curiosity—and maybe a little anger—urged me onward.“Cole dated her before me. I’ve heard

As I stood, I swiped out my blades, the tips slashing into his neck once, twice, going deeper and deeper, into spinal cord, buying me a temporary reprieve. From him, at least.I tried to summon my fire the same way I’d left my body, believing I could and thereby gaining the inner strength to actually do it, but I was so new to this, didn’t have as much faith as the others and could only stretch myself so far. And multitask? Forget about it.As expected, no flames.Another zombie lunged at me, black-stained teeth bared. I spun and kicked, my booted heel slamming into his side. He stumbled away from me as yet another zombie lunged at me. I popped her in the nose and spun again, elbowing her in the temple when I lined up to her left. She went down, but quickly twisted and reached for my ankle.I don’t think so. I hopped up and stomped on her hand. Saw two more coming at me from the right. With a twirl of my dagger, I pressed the blade against my wrist, then punched one creature and kicke

“Okay, let me rephrase. I know it means we’re over. We have to be. I’ve almost lost you twice, and I’m going to lose you for good when the visions start coming true. I’m not going to hang on to a lost cause, Ali.”Panic set in. I had to make him understand. “I’m not a lost cause. We’re not a lost cause. I don’t like Gavin.”“But you will.”No! “Don’t do this,” I said. “Please. You have to trust me. Please,” I said again, and I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. “There are some things you can never take back, and this is one of them.”A terrible stillness came over him. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing. Then he was stomping to the wall, throwing a fist.Boom! I flinched. Plaster gave, leaving a hole. Dust mushroomed through the air.Here was the dangerous boy I’d been warned about in the beginning. The one mothers wanted to hide from their daughters. The panty melter, I’d heard a few girls at school call him. The boy others feared. The violent criminal. The hard-hearted machine.“