The sudden ringing on my nightstand jolted me awake at two forty-five in the afternoon.
I sat straight up in bed, heart running amuck. I hesitated, but grabbed my cell phone. My breathing returned to normal when I saw it wasn't Fane calling.
I held the phone to my ear. "Hey Whitney."
"What the heck is going on?" Whitney demanded. "Suddenly Noel transfers to West and Valerie's back together with Fane...has the world gone mad?"
"Fane's with Valerie again?" I know I broke up with him, but how could he go back to the vamp tramp so quickly? I thought Fane liked me. I had even believed he loved me. Fool. Love was a joke.
Whitney sounded confused. "Did you guys break up or something?"
I swung my legs out of bed and stood. "When you say together, did you just see them together or were they..."
"Making out." Whitney didn't say it with nearly enough disgust.
"I'll call you later," I said abruptly and snapped my phone shut.
When I slammed it down, I aimed for the bed so it wouldn't break. I threw open my closet doors and began rummaging around for something to wear, selecting a pair of dressy jeans and black V-neck. I grabbed my phone and dialed Noel.
"Hi, Noel. How was your first day at West?"
"Sucked." She laughed a second later. "Sorry, bad word choice."
"Want to grab a coffee? Or herbal tea, if you prefer."
That got another laugh out of Noel. "Yeah, I really do. I'll pick you up."
"I'll be here."
Stranded. At least I had no shortage of new friends with cars.
I brushed out my hair and worked it into a long braid before going downstairs.
I found Mom in the kitchen.
"Noel's picking me up," I said.
Startled, she looked up from the page of a magazine she was reading slouched over the kitchen counter with a soda at her side.
"What about your cold?"
"I feel better now."
"I don't think you should be going out when you haven't been feeling well."
"Mom, this is really important."
"What's so important that it can't wait until you're better?"
"Noel just transferred to West, and I'm going to transfer tomorrow. I want to ask her some questions."
Mom straightened in her chair. "Transfer!"
Maybe I should've had this talk with my mom yesterday, but I was asleep all day.
"But...but...it's your last semester," she said. "Why do you have to transfer?"
"Fane, Mom. I can't go to the same school as him. I don't want to see him ever again." Not exactly. It would just kill me to see him with Valerie.
Mom considered this and relented somewhat, but not entirely. "But all your friends are at Denali and the semester's already started. You'll have to catch up in all your classes."
"I know it's a surprise, but I need a fresh start. I know I can do better if I get away from the distractions plaguing me at Denali."
Her expression softened.
I smiled and pulled my trump card. "Besides, Dante and I had a long discussion about it on the way to Fairbanks. He believes it's just what I need to get my life back on track."
"Oh," Mom said. "I'm sure Dante's right. He has a good head on his shoulders."
I gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be home soon - need to get ready for my first day in a new school. Will you drive me?"
"Of course, I will."
"I still have to figure out how I'm going to get to and from West."
"I can drive you as long as you need - the whole semester if you need me to."
"Thanks, Mom."
I grabbed my coat from the closet and headed outside to wait for Noel.
I started walking down the hill. Halfway down, Noel's old Volvo chugged up beside me. She stopped, and I got in just before the tires spun in place. Noel backed up slowly into an empty driveway then pulled forward, pointing the Volvo back down the hill.
I watched Noel drive for a moment. She looked so short behind the wheel.
After a few moments of silence, I shook my head. "So you're an informant. I had no idea."
"Don't feel bad. It's not your job to know who informants are."
"Did you suspect I was an assassin at any point?"
"I had my suspicions...especially after you pulled out that dagger."
I fought back a grin and ended up losing. Noel laughed.
I asked my next question. "So that whole song and dance about Henry the mega suave biter was a lie?"
"Not exactly. I sort of stole that story from Whitney and added my own embellishments, but Henry really did bite me. He just wasn't my first."
I swallowed. "What was your first bite like?"
"It nearly killed me." Noel watched the road as she talked. "It turns out my transfusion didn't take. When the vampire got his teeth into me, he kept drinking. He wouldn't stop. I lost consciousness. I didn't wake up again until I was back on the cutting table. The agents had to patch me up and give me a second blood transfusion."
"Assholes," I muttered.
"They didn't know," Noel said quickly. "They rescued me - twice. Agent Melcher was there both times looking out for me when anyone else would have let me die without a second thought."
"What about your parents?"
"We don't talk," Noel answered abruptly.
She slowed as she entered a sharp turn.
I stared out the window at the bare limbed trees.
Noel took a deep breath. "I should have died at the end of sophomore year. You and I are their newest recruits, you know."
I turned in my seat toward her. "We are?"
"You even killed my vampire for me - the rabies vampire. He was the one who nearly drained me."
I shuddered. "So you had your own experience with the lunatic."
"He was almost the end of me."
"Then I don't feel so bad about staking him."
"You should never feel bad about killing a vampire. They're evil...well, most are. Not all. Marcus isn't evil. Nor is Henry or Gavin. Or Fane."
I sat up. "You aren't required to report every vampire you find out to the agents, are you?"
Noel looked over. "They only care about the violent ones, or so I assume. It wouldn't help the cause to destroy the ones that get us closer to the real dangerous targets."
I relaxed. Only slightly. I wasn't entirely convinced that Melcher and Crist didn't wish to obliterate all varieties.
"Are you disappointed?" I asked. "I mean that you're an informant and not a hunter."
Noel's voice lifted. "I love being an informant. I love doing my part to make the world safer. A lot of vampires, it goes to their head. You know, immortality. They don't play by society's rules anymore. We're like the vampire police recruited to keep order in the world."
"Hmm."
"And I did have one advantage," Noel said. "I already knew about vampires before I was recruited. This chick I met had just let me in on the whole secret and wanted me to go with her to a party so we could get bitten together."
"But you didn't?"
"Not that time. I chickened out. It comes as a shock the first time you see it. Anyway, I didn't get another chance to try before...before...you know, I was recruited."
"You mean before you went into critical condition?"
Noel was quiet.
"How did it happen?"
She slouched further down in the driver's seat. "Trust me. It's not something you want to know about."
"But I do."
Noel remained quiet.
"I mean, unless you don't want me to." Which, judging from her continued silence, must have been the case. It was odd. I didn't recall hearing anything about a sophomore nearly dying the year before, whereas my accident was the talk of the school.
It was easy enough to change the subject.
I leaned over. "Did Melcher tell you that an informant was killed in Fairbanks?"
Noel's mouth hung open a moment. "No. Did a vampire get them?"
"Yeah, and now he's looking for me and Dante."
Noel stepped on the brake a bit roughly at the next stoplight. "What happened?"
"We did a job in Fairbanks recently, and someone at the party mentioned us to the dead vampire's friend."
"What's his name?"
"Renard. Supposedly he's headed this way. Maybe he's already here."
"Should you be going out?"
I gave a half shrug. "It's not like he knows my name or anything."
"I'll keep my eyes and ears open."
"Thanks."
I stared out the window.
Noel cleared her throat. "Sorry you had to break up with Fane."
"It's for the best," I said halfheartedly. "Although I'm still trying to figure out why Valerie gets to be with him."
"And go to Denali."
"Valerie's a bitch."
"You don't need to tell me twice."
"You know we'll be school mates again soon?"
Noel jolted up in her seat. "We will?"
"Tomorrow, I'm enrolling at West High."
"You are? That's great. Why? I mean, I'm so happy, but why are you transferring? This is your senior year."
"I can't go to Denali anymore. Not with Valerie moving in on Fane. I'd end up doing something stupid like attacking her in the halls. Anyway, my old friends have dropped me."
Noel considered this and nodded slowly. "I guess it's time we both started fresh."
"Does it take you long to drive to school?"
"I'm rooming with a couple girls near school. They're early twenties, work most evenings. They leave me alone."
"Are your parents not in Anchorage?"
"They are."
"Did you turn into a wild child after the transfusion?" I asked.
"Something like that."
Noel's voice was barely above a whisper. I had to strain to hear her.
I nodded. "I had a similar experience, only in my case, it was a parent who left the house - my father."
Noel perked up. "Really?"
"Yep. He's still MIA."
"Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm really glad you'll be going to West," Noel said.
"Thanks." I shrugged. "School's school, I guess."
"And now it'll be easier to spend time with Marcus."
"Who is this Marcus you keep mentioning, anyway?"
Noel grinned. "A vampire. A really hot one. He's not dangerous or anything."
"Has he ever bitten you before?"
"I wish. Anyway, you just have to meet him and see for yourself."
I wasn't particularly in the mood to meet any more irresistibly hot vampires. Pit me against the nasties. That dynamic was cut and dry. Literally. At least those ones didn't rip out your heart.
