But the smile soon faded from my face, because there were only two ways to view what just happened. Either Yasuo was wrong and Trainees could stand up to Guidons, or, thanks to me, Josh was going to have some serious hell to pay.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was a gray, blustery Saturday morning, but I was achy, moody, and way behind on my reading, and somehow crappy weather felt like just the thing.

I hobbled across the quad as fast as I could with a sore hip, my butt still bruised from stupid Tracer Otto’s stupid stick-fighting lesson in gym class. Blinking against the mist, I pinned my hood over my head with one hand and used the other to hold my messenger bag at my side—anything to stop that damned German etiquette book from thumping against me.

My sole goal was the overstuffed armchair in front of the science library fireplace, and with a relieved sigh, I reached my destination, stretching my legs toward the hearth and digging out the onion bagel I’d snagged from the dining hall. Someone had already built a decent fire, and a good thing, too, since my leggings were soaked through.

This was my favorite reading spot on campus, even though Alcántara’s office was just upstairs and I was tempting fate by just being there. I felt a little dread at the prospect of running into him, but a part of me had come on purpose. Dance, German…This bizarre curriculum had a million questions rattling through my brain—questions I hoped I’d finally mustered the courage to ask.

I fished out Josh’s silly book. Etikette und Protokoll…Shudder. I’d never been tutored in my life, and it was a real ego buster. I was going to spend the day with it—I told myself it was so I could cram and be done with it, but honestly, I also kind of wanted to impress him, too. Josh and Alcántara.

The content was simple, though I had to admit there were some crazy details. Alcántara was right—I was fluent in modern and Old High German, and none of it would’ve helped me a bit with this stuff. I could do declensions in my sleep, but who knew German businessmen knocked on the table after a good meeting?

One thing was for sure: I had no clue why I needed to learn all this. Was our mission to take place somewhere in Germany? How far off-island were Alcántara and I headed?

Plus, he’d mentioned danger. Summer-term gym classes were running heavy on combat. Were those skills I’d need for the mission? Would I be forced to open up a can of whoop-ass in the middle of a formal business meeting?

The vampire with the answers appeared as though bidden. One minute Alcántara wasn’t there, and boom, the next he was, leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest while looking all blasé, as if he’d been kicking it there for the last half hour instead of materializing as though from thin air.

I knew a swell of satisfaction—he’d sensed me here, and he’d come. Then dread came, quick on its heels. It would be dangerous to forget just whom I was dealing with. Seeking out vampires was a dangerous game…a deadly one.

“Acari Drew.” That voice, a sultry rasp. That hair and those eyes, black and gleaming like a panther’s.

I sat upright. My hands trembled with the adrenaline dump I experienced whenever he appeared like this, and I folded them primly in my lap. “Master Alcántara.”

“Why have you come?”

Good question. He’d know that, with his office just upstairs, I’d pretty much thrown myself in his path simply by being there. I’d wanted to find out more about our mission, but did I have other questions, too? That he might have a flirtation with Masha was just too intriguing. That many girls had special relationships with vampires, too compelling.

So why seek him out privately, instead of in a classroom setting? Was it that I wanted to bring our relationship to some sort of a head? And if so, was it really because I wanted it, or did I just want to best Masha?

There was no way in hell I was sharing any of that wacko stream of consciousness, so I went with a half-truth instead. I flashed the spine of my book. “I came to study. Brushing up on my business protocol, just like you asked.”

“But so near me.” He was unwilling to drop it; yet he still managed to look bored, unconcerned, and vaguely put out as he glided across the room to sprawl in the chair opposite me. Alcántara might have been a fourteenth-century royal mathematician, but his hot indie rocker impression was spot-on. “Was encountering me your intention?”

I neither agreed nor denied. “This is my favorite place on campus.”

“Surely you knew you’d run into me.” He stretched, and his black boots came to rest perilously close to mine.

He was bringing his A-game, and what else had I thought would happen? I was just a stupid, stupid girl, playing with fire.

I laughed nervously. “That’s pretty direct.”

“Do I have reason not to be?” A teasing smile spread across his face. “Is there something you’d have me avoid?”

I was squirming, and clearly the guy was enjoying it. “No, direct is good.…” Scrambling to change the subject, I began riffling through my book and practically felt a cartoon lightbulb flash over my head. I pointed with authority at one of the passages. “Just like they say in this manual here. See, Germans value directness. To the point of discomfort.”

That bored demeanor of his shattered with an explosive laugh. “You have done your homework.”

“Always.” I couldn’t help but feel pleased at his praise. But—crap—did that prove I had sought him out? Was I seeking his approval?

“Truly, you are as quick-witted and as versatile as we’d hoped.” He concentrated on my face, and it made me nervous. What was he looking for…or finding? “Tell me, young Acari—what else have you learned?”

That to have flirty banter with a vampire was to be outmatched?

Obviously, I gave a different reply, rattling off some of what I’d gathered from my reading. “German businessmen value structure. Hierarchy, formality, and titles are important. Oh, and punctuality, above all things.”

A slow smile spread across his face—it was the same smile that always kicked my heart rate into panic gear. “It sounds as if you describe those of us who are Vampire.”

I paused, needing to get this just right. I imagined the first time I inadvertently insulted a vampire might be my last. “Yes, you’re right. It’s reminiscent of life on this island. All the best aspects of traditional culture.” I gave myself a ginormous pat on the back for that little gem.

He leaned forward, elbows on knees. “As with vampires, traditional German businessmen have many rules. Is that not so?”

Hella rules. Though obviously I phrased it differently. “Yes, in a typical meeting, there are many conventions to be followed.”

“Such as?”

“You must already know.”

“Amuse me.”

I rattled them out rapid-fire, figuring it was an easier topic than why I’d chosen the sciences building as a hangout. “Men enter a room before women.” I was sure the vamps must’ve loved that one. “Use a formal greeting and a quick, firm handshake. Stand until you’re asked to sit. Confrontation, exaggeration, and emotion are to be avoided.”

He stopped me with a raised hand. “That will suffice.”

“Why do I need to know all this, anyway? Are we going to Germany for our mission?”

He laughed, and it was a little on the patronizing side. “No, querida. We are not going to Germany for our mission. In time, you will learn all you need to know. For now, you have sufficiently grasped this aspect of your preparations. Trainee Joshua did well.”

Actually I did well—all Josh did was give me a book. But credit where credit was due and all, so I said, “Yes, he gave me a good book to read.”

“I heard that’s not all he did.”

I bristled. Of course he’d have heard about the latest hazing. Using reasoning that might appeal to a vampire, I tread carefully, answering slowly. “I found myself in a compromising situation, and Trainee Joshua proved himself a gentleman.”

Alcántara didn’t look too happy about it, and it freaked me out.

I was dying to ask if Josh was in trouble now. If Trainees couldn’t stand up to Guidons without consequences. Josh and I weren’t exactly buddies, but it didn’t mean I wanted to see him eviscerated or anything. Plus, it was hard to avoid the fact that, if he was in trouble, it was because of me. I was accountable.

I had to change the subject, take the attention off Josh. I could think of only one way, and it was the moral equivalent of batting my eyelashes. Normally I wouldn’t know a feminine wile from a hole in the ground, but I decided to go for it.

And okay, maybe I could’ve thought of other ways, but for some reason, something deep down inside me wanted to go there. Maybe it was discovering that all these girls were enjoying private intrigues with vampires. But in the wake of discovering the whole Ronan/Amanda thing, I wondered at my own appeal—doubted it, really. Either way, I felt ready to push the whole fate-tempting thing.

How did girls do this? I kicked my legs in front of me, trying to mimic Alcántara’s sexy sprawl. But his eyes remained flat on me.

Alrighty, then. On to step two. Cue the lazy smile.

I busted out my most languorous smile, but Alcántara remained a granite statue across from me—an unreadable, unemotional but very attractive slab of granite. Yet I knew that’d been an obvious softball I’d lobbed his way—wouldn’t he have had some reaction? Maybe all this nonsense about vampires having affairs was just that…nonsense.

Fine. Step three. I’d bring out the big guns: my hair. Shiny and blond, it’d always gotten a big reaction. I casually twirled a bit around my finger, because that was what flirty girls did, right? They toyed with their hair?

But only when I lifted it from my cheek did Alcántara’s eyes flare to life. He knelt before me in an instant. And it wasn’t my hair he was interested in. It was the huge bruise my hair had concealed.