I could understand, now that I’d had time to dwell obsessively over what had happened, why he hadn’t told me he was meeting Stacey. He’d felt my emotions when Stacey had come over, and he’d seen through my questions about her. He probably wanted to avoid hurting the feelings he sensed in me or avoid them in general. But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t have been honest, same as with Misha. Honesty would’ve sucked in the moment, but would have been far easier to deal with than uncovering a lie designed to cover a hurt. Contrary to what Zayne believed, his lie was nothing like me not telling him about what had appeared to be a random spirit in his apartment.

No one could convince me otherwise.

And the fact that he’d known about what had happened with the coven this entire time? I couldn’t be mad at him for not saying anything, because I had kept that from him, but I didn’t understand why he hadn’t confronted me. Had he really just been waiting for me to tell him?

I doubted he was happy now that I had.

Lightning streaked across the night sky, a jagged arc of light that lit up Zayne’s stoic profile. His hair was pulled back, all except those shorter strands. They were tucked behind his ears.

The one time I would’ve appreciated him being dishonest would’ve been when he’d told me that he’d rather be with a friend than dealing with me.

Than helping me.

That, he could’ve kept to himself.

“You want to say something.” Zayne shattered the silence. “Just say it.”

I jerked my gaze from him, flushing at being caught staring. “I have nothing to say.”

“You sure about that, Trin?”

Trin.

At least we were back to nicknames and not formal names. “Yep.”

He didn’t respond.

“Do you have something you want to say, Zayne?” I didn’t even try to keep the snideness out of my tone.

“Nope.”

Thunder cracked like the blast of a cannon aimed at the Heavens. The pounding rain had stopped about an hour ago, but another storm was coming in. Getting soaked and possibly electrocuted would be a fine way to wrap up today.

Definitely not seeing any stars tonight.

“I wonder what happens when Wardens are hit by lightning?” I walked ahead of Zayne to an intersection.

“Probably the same thing that happens to a Trueborn.”

I rolled my eyes, making sure there were no cars coming before I crossed. Not like I was about to repeat earlier. I started forward, my steps clunky as I reached the curb before I thought I would. I really hoped Zayne hadn’t seen that, because God knows, I wouldn’t want him—

“Trin?”

“What?” I snapped.

“Are you going to the high school with me or someplace else?” he asked, amusement dripping from his tone like thick honey. “I’m just curious, since you seem to have other plans in mind.”

Stopping halfway across the street, I sucked in a breath and did everything in my power to keep myself from screaming. I pivoted and found that Zayne had hung a left at the intersection. Stalking my way back to the sidewalk, I all but power walked past him, noticing the sidewalk was no longer following a flat course but a rather steep incline. A deep, rumbling chuckle came from behind me.

“Glad you found that funny,” I replied, squinting as the outlines of trees gave way to open lawn. “Because you’re going to think it’s really funny when I break your face.”

“You’re incredibly aggressive.”

Up ahead, I saw a two-story building with its main floor lit up. “And you’re incredibly annoying.”

“And you’re still going the wrong way,” he said.

I stopped.

God had to be testing me.

Wheeling around, I saw that Zayne was crossing the lawn. I frowned, glancing in the direction I was going. I couldn’t make out much about the large building ahead of me, but it looked like a school to me. “Is that not the school right there?”

“It is.” He kept walking. “But I don’t think you want to walk right up to the front doors, do you? We’re here to scout the place, not announce our arrival to whoever is working right now.”

My God, I was going to tackle him and pound him into the ground, and not in the fun way.

“Did it cross your mind to maybe say something?” I complained, breaking into a jog to catch up with his freakishly long strides. A flag whipped around its pole, making snapping noises.

“It did.” He slowed down. “For about a second.”

“Ass,” I muttered, remaining a few feet behind him and to the side. The ground was mushy and soft in certain areas, as if the soil had been recently laid down.

“What was that?” Zayne looked over his shoulder, his face hidden in the darkness. “I didn’t quite hear you.”

Yeah, he had; he just wanted me to repeat myself. Not going to happen. “Where are we going?”

“To check out this side of the grounds. There’s a small neighborhood directly behind the school, and I want to see if we pick up on anything.”

All I felt was the constant low hum of nearby demon activity. “The only thing I’m picking up on is your combative attitude.”

Zayne laughed—he laughed loud enough that I wondered if we’d be overheard.

“That wasn’t meant to be funny.”

“It sure made me laugh, though.” Zayne stopped suddenly, throwing out an arm and nearly clotheslining me.

“Jesus,” I gasped, stumbling back a step.

“Careful,” he advised. “It’s hard to see, but the lawn ends here and there are six narrow steps down.”

Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t have noticed that. Granted, tripping and falling down those steps would’ve hurt only my pride. The words thank you burned my tongue, but I didn’t speak them as I tentatively went down the steps.

“I don’t know if I can sense a Shadow Person,” I said as lightning cut across the sky again. “Since they’re not living demons, I don’t know how that works.”

“With our luck, probably not.” He scanned what I realized was a small, narrow parking lot that likely was for faculty.

Beyond a temporary makeshift fence, several lighter colored vans and trucks were parked along the back of the building, blocking whatever entrances were there. The words Bar Rhinge and Sons Construction were scrawled in big, bold red letters across the vans, lit by the side entrance lights. As we drew closer, I could hear the steady thump of hammers and...

“By the way, I talked to Roth this afternoon,” Zayne announced as we started across the parking lot. “He wants to check out the school with us on Saturday.”

“Cool,” I murmured. “He’s like the opposite of a good-luck charm, so why not?”

A rumble of thunder silenced the trill of cicadas and my steps slowed, then stopped. I looked behind me. Wind continued to beat at the flag and the branches of the trees that dotted the lawn. Tiny bumps rose on my arms as I strained to hear...what, I had no idea. It was a low murmur. Maybe even the wind?

“Trin?” Zayne’s voice was close. “You feel something?”

“No. Not really.” I turned back to the school and lifted my gaze to the dark windows. The goose bumps spread as a fine shiver chased them along my skin. “It’s just a weird feeling.”

“Like what?”

I lifted a shoulder. I wasn’t sure if it was anything, but there was the sensation of hundreds of unseen eyes on us. Could be the ghosts Sam had said were trapped. They could be at those windows, and I just couldn’t see them. “I don’t know. Just a weird vibe. Maybe this school is a Hellmouth.”

Zayne was silent.

I looked over at him. “Now that was supposed to be funny.”

“Was it?”

“How mad will you get if I just drop-kick you into one of those trucks?”

“Pretty mad, to be honest.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Just going to weigh my odds over here to see if it’s worth making you madder than you already are.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Oh, really?” That I laughed out. “I’ve seen you happy. This is not happy.”

“Didn’t say I was happy, either,” he returned. I threw up my arms in frustration. “There’re doors back here, along the side, if I remember correctly. I’m going to see if it’s accessible or if any windows are boarded up. Map out the area for Saturday night.”

“Have fun.”

Zayne faced me. “You’re not coming?”

“No. There’s probably debris and crap all over,” I pointed out. “I’m just going to stumble and trip all over everything.”

“Then what are you going to do?” He stepped toward me.

“Play in traffic.”

He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a curse. “Sounds like a good time. Just try not to get hit and killed. Sort of like to survive the night.”

“Getting hit by a car wouldn’t kill me.” I tossed the words back at him.

Zayne lifted his hand, and I thought maybe he’d give me a thumbs-up before he walked around the fence.

“Jerk,” I muttered, turning my gaze to the dark windows.

Of course I wasn’t going to play in traffic. While Zayne was scoping out a good entrance for Saturday, I wanted to figure out what I was feeling and possibly hearing. Plus, I would probably break a leg and alert everyone to our presence trying to navigate an active work site in the dark.

I lifted my gaze to the neat rows of the second floor. It could just be insects, but the vibe...yeah, the vibe was way off, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that I knew what could be inside.

The air was thicker here, like soup. The steady clang of hammers made me wonder if the workers had noticed anything. Missing tools. Disembodied voices. People seen in the corners of their eyes but gone when they focused on the area. Those things would be experienced if there was just one ghost in a place, but over a hundred? God.