“Allegedly.”
Nina cocked an eyebrow and I got out from in between them, fairly certain that at some point, lightning bolts would start shooting from her eyes or fangs would sink into undead flesh. Suddenly, a Mercy High coven and a possible kidnapper/murderer on the loose didn’t seem quite so terrifying.
“Allegedly?” Nina spat. “You’ve got two options, Vlad. Take your chances with her or take your chances with me.”
Vlad widened his stance and narrowed his eyes at his aunt, whose glare was still stone cold. They stared like that for a full, silent beat before Vlad huffed and went for the door. “At least I know Kale won’t behead me in my sleep.”
“And don’t you forget it!” Nina yelled at the closing door. When she turned her eyes to me, she grinned. “I can’t believe you get a do-over. I mean, I get a lot, but you! You’re, you know, you!”
“I’m investigating a past murder and the disappearance of another girl and whether or not a new coven is responsible. I’m not going all Never Been Kissed, Neens. This is serious.”
“Ohmigawd!” Nina clapped a dainty hand over her open mouth. “How completely adorbs would it be if, during all the doom and gloom of your stupid detective work, you totally fall for the music teacher or something?”
“Nina . . .”
“Fine. The Spanish teacher, whatever.” Her eyes had gone glassy and she was fluttering around the bathroom, apparently lost in some sort of in-her-head musical soundtrack. “And you’d get your first kiss out on the football field in front of everyone!”
Now I was snarling. “I’ve had my first kiss. I’ve gone all the way—you know that.”
“Half this floor knows that.”
I narrowed my eyes, hopeful they were shooting daggers. Nina might be my very best friend and, she might have the ability to kill me with one soft press of her pinkie (or fang), but she was often the most supremely annoying person—undead or otherwise—I’ve ever known.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I was just having a little fun. Why are you so uptight? It usually takes you, like, ten chapters to get really upset over a murder.”
I let out a long sigh. “It’s not the murder I’m upset about. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m very sorry for the girl who got murdered last year and I will absolutely not stop until we bring Alyssa home safe but, but . . .”
Nina put a hand on my shoulder and even though it was ice cold, the gesture warmed me. “It’s okay, Soph. Whatever you have to say, it’s okay.”
“I. Hated. High school.”
A slick smile made its way across Nina’s perfect porcelain face. “Do over . . .” she sung.
I bit my bottom lip to stop its trembling and let Nina’s words wash over me. But I couldn’t stop the tears that bubbled and clung to my lower lashes.
“And . . . you know how I told Alex—I told Alex I loved him?”
Nina sucked in a deep breath—which was purely for show as vampires don’t breathe. “I’ve heard about it incessantly.”
“Now I’ve barely heard from him in weeks. Weeks!”
In my mind, I wear kick-ass black leather and wield a sword while taking down the rogue demons (and occasional big baddie human) in the Underworld. In actuality, I am a blubbering, blotchy-faced mess in the Underworld Detection Agency ladies’ room.
“It’s probably nothing, Soph. And even if it is, it’s not like he dumped you after you had sex or anything. He dumped you after you told him you loved him. That’s saying something.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and cocked out a hip. “It’s saying what, exactly?”
I could almost see the cogs in Nina’s head spring into action as her eyes widened. “It says you’re great in the sack.”
I was about to respond when Nina went back on her dreamy rampage. “Imagine the things you can teach those girls, Sophie.”
“Really?” I glanced at myself in the mirror, saw my blotchy, snotty reflection staring back at me, and sighed. “I’m somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty living with two vampire roommates, working in an organization that immediately calls me when the toilet roll needs refilling or when a corpse turns up. What, exactly, should I be teaching those girls?”
Nina opened her mouth, but I stopped her, holding up an index finger. “And don’t say I could teach them about being great in the sack.”
Chapter Two