There was an unmarked sedan parked in the circle driveway. Cole stopped behind it, and we each removed our weapons, hiding them under seats and in cubbyholes, leaving nothing out in the open.

I finished first and stepped into the cold morning, exhaling deeply. Mist plumed in front of my face. I think my damp hair turned into icicles as I searched for a rabbit cloud. When I spotted one, my heart tangoed with my ribs. So, on top of everything else, we’d be fighting zombies tonight.

Great! We didn’t have time for this.

Um. A slayer without time for zombies? I should finally get that spanking, because dang, I was being so dumb.

Cole came up beside me. We walked inside hand in hand, with River and Camilla trailing behind us.

“There’s a rabbit cloud,” I whispered.

He stiffened but said, “We’ll be ready. Don’t worry.”

The moment we were ensconced inside, warm air embraced me, but it wasn’t very welcoming. What kind of interrogation awaited us?

“Cole?” Mr. Ankh called.

“Yeah,” he returned, as if he hadn’t a care.

“Come to my office, please. And bring Miss Bell.”

Okay. This was it.

Game on.

The four of us trekked to the office, our boots thumping against the marble tile. The doors were open, allowing us to see inside before we entered. There were two detectives. A man and a woman. The man looked to be in his thirties, and the woman looked to be in her forties. Neither smiled in welcome, but both twisted in their seats to assess us.

Mr. Ankh introduced everyone but River and Camilla. I nodded at Detective Gautier, the male, then Detective Verra, the female. “They have some questions about the night of the shooting,” he said. “Your friends should probably wait—”

“No,” Gautier said. “They’re a part of this. They can stay.”

Everyone but Mackenzie, Veronica and Juliana was present. Kat and Reeve, sitting together on the couch, gave me terse waves. Frosty and Bronx stood beside Mr. Ankh, who sat behind the desk. Jaclyn and Gavin perched at the edges of the desk. So awesome seeing him on his feet.

Gavin noticed me staring at him and winked, and I had to curb the urge to run over and hug him. He didn’t look like a guy who’d just suffered a mortal injury. He looked healthy, whole...and thank God, like a major pain in my butt once again.

Cole took the only remaining space on the couch and pulled me onto his lap. River sat on the arm of the couch, and I expected Camilla to claim the other side, but she settled at his feet.

“Tell us what happened the night of the attack,” Verra said, peering at Cole. Everything about her was no-nonsense. “And then explain why you’re with your biggest rival.”

Cole just blinked at her. “Rival?”

Gautier tapped his pen against his thigh. “You two are feuding, are you not?”

“You seriously believe what the stations are reporting? That we’re part of rival gangs?” Cole scoffed. “Sorry, but that’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Both detectives scowled at him.

“I have a group of friends,” he continued. “We hang out together. That’s it.”

“We’ve been over this,” Mr. Ankh said.

“The way we hear it,” Verra said, never looking away from Cole, “you and your friends constantly show up to school cut up and bruised.”

“And that’s a crime?” I asked.

Now the detectives focused on me. I think they assumed I would squirm, but I’d faced worse without backing down.

Before either one could say anything, Cole jumped in and said, “Look. I was watching TV when Ali texted me. She asked if she could come over. I said yes.”

“What time?” Gautier asked, making notes in a small pad. “And what were you watching?”

“It was right around 3:00 a.m. Duck Dynasty was playing.”

“Even though it wasn’t airing?” Verra asked, no doubt thinking she’d caught him in a lie.

“Netflix,” he said with a shrug.

A barely perceptible flash of irritation, before she turned to me. “And you? What were you doing? Why did you text him so late?”

If they could get hold of our text exchanges—and according to Castle, they totally could—there would be problems. I had to circumvent things now.

“I was hunting zombies,” I said, earning shocked glares from most of my friends. “Kids like to play video games, you know?” All true.

A collective sigh of relief was released.

“Why did you text Mr. Holland so late?” the detective repeated.

I hiked my shoulders. “I was up, and I couldn’t sleep.” It was the truth, with a few of the more pertinent details left out.

“She came over,” Cole said. “We...” His violet gaze circled the room, narrowed. I knew he hated discussing personal things in front of other people. Especially strangers. “We were distracted. Someone fired a shot. Shattered my window.”

Gautier started tapping his pen again. “We’ve been to your house. Someone tried to clean your bedroom, but just because something can’t be seen doesn’t mean it’s not there. We found blood on your floor.”

“The bullet grazed my shoulder. I’ve already recovered.”

Nice. The bullet had grazed his shoulder all right...as it had cut through skin and muscle and come out the other side.

“The blood is mine,” he continued, “and you can feel free to take a sample to compare with what you found. And yes, my dad tried to clean it up. He didn’t want me living in a cesspool of broken glass and congealed blood. I didn’t know that was a crime.”