"What's wrong?" I asked.

The girls shared a dark glance. They were such a striking pair, the redhead and the model-perfect African-American, both dressed to kill. Poppy wore all white, like an angel, and Wren wore a bikini top and glittery shorts.

Wren glared at me and said, "I told you something horrible would happen if you went after Cole. Now there's a rumor floating around claiming you slept with him."

My wide-eyed gaze snapped to Kat.

She glowered at me, and I knew she was offended that I'd first thought of her as the culprit. "Hey! I would never say anything."

"You knew?" both Poppy and Wren gasped.

"I'm sorry," I said to Kat, ignoring them. I should have known better. To the others, I said, "Everyone thinking I slept with Cole isn't such a terrible thing, but for the record, we only talked."

"Well, that's not all we were told," Poppy interjected. Like Kat, she was pale, her freckles stark. "The rumor also claims that you slept with Bronx and Frosty-all in the same night!"

Wren had nodded as her friend had spoken. "Basically people are saying you're a huge slut and any guy who wants a piece of you only has to smile at you to get it. I told you not to go after him. I told you."

"I didn't...I wouldn't..." Dang it! The words were snagging in my throat.

There was only one person who hated me enough to accuse me of something that skeevie. Mackenzie Love. Was she truly that vicious, though? I mean, I'd seen my social death in her eyes; I'd expected something from her end. But this, even though, according to Frosty, Cole had told his friends to be nice to me, was too much.

Fury burning like a fistful of acid in my chest, I searched the crowd for her. I'd politely ask her if she'd done it. Then, when she smugly proclaimed that she had, I would smash her stupid face into the floor!

Sadly, I found no sign of her.

"Thanks for the intel, girls. Try and do a little damage control, and tell people how stupid they are." Kat twined our fingers and led my protesting form away. "As for me, I'm going to the bathroom and I'm taking Ali with me," she called over her shoulder.

I glanced over at Cole. He was speaking to Frosty, but his eyes were on me. Surprise, surprise, he was glaring. He also stiffened with every step I took away from him. Had he heard the rumors, too? Would he do anything to his ex when the truth came out? If the truth came out?

When Kat bypassed the bathroom, I frowned. "Uh, where are we going?"

"A place Reeve showed me last night and swore me to secrecy, since even she's not supposed to know about it," she whispered, sounding scandalized. "But you don't count, since you're one of us. Besides, you need a moment to calm down and we need someplace to talk in private. Just get ready to be weirded out!"

She pushed her way through the crowd, snaked several corners, went down a flight of stairs, and finally, we were alone. No matter where I looked, I saw plush furniture and shiny knickknacks. The walls were papered with cherubs, and there were even alabaster columns to guide us to each new room.

"What do Reeve's parents do?" I asked.

Kat gave a sad little sigh. "Well, her mom's dead. Her dad's a genius plastic surgeon with the hands of an angel, or so he likes to say. Every week he's dating someone new. Oh, and don't call him doctor. He insists we call him Mr. Ankh."

We worked our way down yet another flight of stairs, the fresh air turning musty, with a copper tinge to it. My nose wrinkled. I recognized the scent of blood. I wanted to hold my breath, but there was another odor infused with it, one that caught my attention. Was that...rot?

"Kat," I said, tugging at her hold. "I think we should stop."

"No way. It's just a little farther."

My heart beat so hard against my ribs I feared they would crack. You're loaded down with weapons, remember? You'll be fine. And Cole wouldn't be here if he hadn't used a... What had he called it? A Blood Line. The house has to be protected.

When we reached the end of a long, narrow hallway, Kat stopped in front of the only door. I was shocked to my soul when she pulled a lock pick out of her bra and shoved the tip inside the tumbler.

"Do you always carry one of those?"

"Of course. Frosty once told me I had to be prepared for anything. I said, 'What about being kidnapped, locked inside a room and held prisoner as some weirdo's idea of the perfect female?' And he said, 'Totally,' then showed me how to free myself if that happened. He refused to tell me how he'd learned, though." A twist of her wrist, and a click sounded. "Aha!" A little push and the door sailed open, welcoming us inside.

I allowed her to pull me past the entrance. I'd find out what had caused the odor, make sure there was nothing nefarious going on, and then I would force Kat to bail with me.

A few steps in, she released me, held out her arms and spun. "Well, what do you think?"

I studied our new location. No longer was the floor carpeted with thick, soft fibers. There was dark, dank tile. There were several metal tables, some with cuffs for wrists and ankles-and there were drains underneath every single one of them.

I thought...I thought she'd brought me to some sort of...torture chamber.

Trembling, I reached into my purse and palmed the blade. Before I could talk myself out of searching for clues, I slipped past her, doing my best to hide the metal behind my arm.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she whispered. Whispered, yeah, but still her voice echoed.

"Probably not," I muttered.

"So you don't think Reeve's dad needs to buy a case of Febreze? Well, then, do you think he does secret surgeries down here?"

"I think it's none of your business," a male voice boomed from behind us.

Oh...crap.

I felt like a Tilt-A-Whirl as I jerked around, facing off with the intruder. He was only a little taller than me, which put him at just above five-eleven. His pin-striped suit did not look anything like the suits my dad had sometimes worn to church the few times he'd attended. He had salt-and-pepper hair, skin tanned to a deep bronze and weathered with a few thin lines, though not unattractively.

For an older guy, he was pretty hot-and he was eyeing us like we were rats in a cage.

With my free hand, I grabbed Kat by the forearm and shoved her behind me, and maybe I used too much force because she stumbled and humphed. "Who are you?" I demanded, more with bravado than anything.

"I am the owner of this house," he said at the same time Kat muttered, "Say hello to Reeve's dad."

Kat peeked out from around me and waved. "Hey, Mr. Ankh."

His jaw clenched as he nodded in greeting. "Kathryn." To me, he snapped, "And who are you?"

You've faced zombies. This is nothing. "I'm Reeve's friend."

"Yes, I guessed that. What is your name and what are you doing down here with Kathryn?"

"We were just looking for a quiet place to talk, honest," Kat said, and even I wanted to believe her. All that innocence in her tone seemed impossible to fake.

Footsteps sounded, and I was shocked to see Dr. Wright enter the room behind Mr. Ankh. "You shouldn't have allowed your daughter to-" Lips glossed a bright red clamped shut when she spotted me. Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "Alice Bell, what are you doing down here?"

Kat clutched and twisted my shirt, whispering, "Is that Dr. Wright?"

Neither adult turned to her but continued to focus on me.

"It's Ali," I said.

"I am still waiting for a confession," Mr. Ankh said. "After all, you are the one who arrived with-" a sneer "-Justin Silverstone, are you not?"

"Justin Silverstone?" Dr. Wright asked with a clear flare of dislike. Every day she'd wrapped her slight frame in some sort of business suit. Tonight she wore a soft, flowing dress completely at odds with her take-charge demeanor. Was she the new girlfriend of the week? "Cole won't be happy about that."

Kat pinched me on the arm.

I wasn't sure what she wanted. I was too confused. Dr. Wright, the principal of Asher High, was hanging out with Reeve's father in a room full of dried blood and gurneys, but her biggest concern was my escort?

Okay. She might care more about her students than her social life...even though her social life might just get her killed. Unless...had Mr. Ankh kept zombies down here?

Yes, I decided a moment later, he had. That smell was too distinctive to spring from trash or mold.

Did Cole know about this?

I didn't have to think about that for long, either. Yes, Cole knew. Otherwise he wouldn't have let his entire crew take the night off and come here, not even with the Blood Lines. This had to be a safe place for zombie slayers. Which meant Reeve's father was on our side. Which meant Dr. Wright was on our side, too, since she was with him, here, in this room.

And if all the slayers hated Justin-and they must, considering the way they'd reacted to the mere mention of his name-I had to wonder if he was pro-zombie or something.

What could Mr. Ankh possibly do down here, though? Study the zombies? Experiment on them? Was that even possible?

"Ali, you have some explaining to do, and I will not tolerate lies, nonanswers or evasions," Dr. Wright said, her dark gaze trying to X-ray its way to my brain. "Did Justin tell you to come down here?"

Well, well. There was confirmation of my suspicions. "No, he didn't. And now I'd like to return to the party with Kat." No reason to get her tangled up in this. Cole and crew would blame me. "We're very sorry to have disturbed you."

"You're not walking away that easily," she said right before Mr. Ankh said, "Very well, you may go. But if anything like this happens again..."

You'll regret it, I finished for him. "It won't."

Dr. Wright had stiffened after Mr. Ankh overrode her decision, but she didn't protest.

I reached back and grabbed Kat's hand. She remained silent as I dragged her out. Both Mr. Ankh and Dr. Wright moved aside to allow us to pass. I held my dagger tight and maintained as much distance as possible, just in case I'd miscalculated and either one of them decided to attack.

"Classic," Kat said with a giggle the moment we reached the top of the stairs. "That was so wild! You were all, I don't care what you do to us, I'm strong and brave. And they were all, like, oh, we'll do plenty, we're stronger."

By tomorrow, when she retold the events to others-and she would-I would have punched Reeve's dad in the face and tied Dr. Wright to a chair. True story.

"What do you think they were doing together? Because Dr. Wright is soooo not his type."

Discussing recent zombie activity? Planning a zombie attack? "Wish I knew," I replied honestly.

In the distance, I heard shrill chanting, my ears twitching as I tried to listen. Was that...fight fight fight?

Kat must have heard it, too, because she paused and clapped. "Five dollars says it's Cole."

"No way," I said, even though I suspected the worst. If you don't go inside, you'll be eating your teeth. You know I can make you do it. I have before.

"Are you kidding? It's always Cole."

We raced through the house. When we reached the living room, the cheers were so loud I cringed. I shoved my way through the crowd, only to discover that yes, Kat was right. It was always Cole.

The fight du jour? Cole versus Justin. Punches were being thrown and furniture overturned as the two rolled and flew throughout the circle of chanting teenagers. Justin had rage on his side, but Cole had experience and brute force.

"Fight, fight, fight," everyone continued.

Cole could have pinned Justin in seconds, could have ended the entire ordeal. Instead he allowed himself to be hit in the face multiple times, in the stomach a few more, and in the groin-well, not at all. Only when Justin got down and dirty did Cole retaliate and really start to hammer at him.

Frosty worked his way to Kat and jumped in front of her, shielding her just in case the action was tossed her way. I spotted Mackenzie-finally!-and even Trina, their fists pumping toward the ceiling, their mouths stretched in wide grins. They were loving this.

"Enough!" I shouted over the cheers.

Neither boy looked my way or acted as if they'd heard me. Cole threw two more punches, only two, but that was enough. The hard double tap sent Justin to his back, where he stayed, unconscious.

I rushed forward, intending to check on him, but the dark-haired girl who enjoyed glaring at me on the bus beat me to his side. She felt for his pulse, then patted his cheek in an attempt to wake him up. He moaned, but failed to rouse completely.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

She looked up and scowled. "Stay away from him. You and your boyfriend have done enough."

"Is Justin okay?" I insisted.

"As if you really care." She returned her attention to Justin and smoothed her fingers over his cheek, clearly done with me.

I had no idea who she was, but I wasn't going to try and take over. Obviously she would take good care of him. Turning, I searched for Cole. He was still in the center of the room. Little beads of sweat dotted his brow. He was panting, blood smeared under his nose and on his chin, hands curled into fists. Mackenzie and Trina stood beside him, patting him on the back for a job well done.

He must have sensed my gaze because he found me in an instant.

"Are you okay?"

"What?" he said.

I knew only because I'd read his lips. There was too much noise and too much distance between us to hear each other. He motioned toward the kitchen with a tilt of his chin, and I nodded.

I turned to Kat to let her know I was taking off, but she had her arms locked around Frosty and the two of them were kissing as if they needed the other's oxygen supply to subsist.

O-kay. Feud over? All forgiven? I hoped so. I liked them both. And maybe then Frosty would go back to being on Team Ali. Maybe he'd finally open up and tell Kat what was going on with the zombies, and I wouldn't have to hide anything from her. We could remain friends.

Cole beat me to the kitchen. He was leaning against the counter, waiting for me, his booted foot tapping impatiently.

"Let's clean you up," I said.

"No." He took my hand and tugged me to a spacious pantry-already occupied. As light flooded into the darkened area, sending the shadows diving for cover, Reeve and-oh, wow. Bronx. Reeve and Bronx jumped apart as if a bomb had just detonated between them.

Their lips were swollen and red and damp. Twin pink circles appeared on Reeve's cheeks as she peered over at me. I took pity on her.

"I saw nothing-except when I mention this to Kat. You know I've gotta tell her, or we'll both suffer. But you might want to go check out your living room," I said. "Cole and Justin had a slight, uh, disagreement and, well, they broke some stuff. Also, your dad is downstairs." Waaay downstairs.

Her mouth dropped open wider with each ball of information I tossed, and she finally pushed her way out of the pantry.

Bronx attempted to follow her, but Cole stepped into his path.