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could
hang out and watch TV or talk. They had wet bars if you wanted a
drink, and no one seemed to care how old you were. Roland and Peter
had been so envious when I told them that part.
    TV sounds drew me to one of the rooms, and
when I peeked in I found a single occupant, a blond boy named
Michael, who I’d met on my second day here. Michael was fifteen,
and he was quiet and reserved compared to the other kids here. He
was a bit of a computer geek, too, and he spent most of his free
time on his laptop, gaming and talking to his friends online. On my
third day here, I was struck down by a vicious migraine, and it was
Michael who had come to my room to see how I was doing and to ask
if I needed anything. The healers said my headache was probably
brought on by stress, but it was so bad that even the gunna paste
had no effect on it. I lay in bed suffering for the better part of
a day before I remembered the tiny vial of troll bile I’d brought
with me. I’d planned to destroy it, but thankfully I never got
around to it. A single drop of bile in a glass of water was all it
took to rid me of the horrible pain.
    Michael was sitting in an armchair, engrossed
in his laptop as usual, when I took a seat on the couch. “Hey,
Michael.”
    “Oh . . . hi, Sara,” he stammered, smiling
shyly. Poor guy, I didn’t know how he would ever make it as a
warrior if he didn’t get over his nervousness. I almost rolled my
eyes. Like I had room to judge others. I was probably the worst
trainee in Mohiri history.
    “What are you up to?”
    “Not much, just talking to a friend.” He
leaned on the arm of his chair and his face lit up. “Did you hear
that they wiped out a huge nest in Las Vegas yesterday?”
    “How big was it?” The last time I saw a
vampire, he had twelve of his friends with him. I couldn’t imagine
facing more than that.
    “I heard it was thirty suckers, and it only
took two units to take them all down. Of course, that’s because
Nikolas Danshov ran the mission. He probably took out half of them
himself.”
    My mouth went dry. “Nikolas was there?”
    His eyes practically glowed from excitement.
“Yeah. What I wouldn’t give to see him in action. They say he can
take out half a dozen suckers at one time without breaking a
sweat.”
    “Yep,” I replied absently, remembering
Nikolas facing down a dozen vampires and easily disposing of three
of them.
    “What’s he like? You know him right? Everyone
says you even fought suckers together.”
    I held back a sigh. It had taken less than a
day here to learn Nikolas was something of a superhero among the
younger Mohiri. “Nikolas is an amazing warrior.”
    Michael rolled his eyes. “I know that. I
mean, what’s it like hanging out with him?”
    I let out a short laugh. “Nikolas doesn’t
hang out. He glares at you and tries to boss you around. Then he
leaves. We spent more time fighting with each other than the
vampires.”
    Michael’s cornflower-blue eyes widened. “No
one argues with Nikolas.”
    “He might be a great warrior, but he’s still
just a person, Michael, and half the time he’s an arrogant pain in
the butt.”
    “Who’s an arrogant pain in the butt?” asked a
new voice, and I looked at the two boys entering the room. Josh ran
a hand through his unruly blond hair and elbowed Terrence before
sitting beside me on the couch. “She must be talking about you,
buddy.”
    Terrence scoffed as he plunked down in one of
the other chairs. With his mocha skin, artfully spiked black hair,
and stunning hazel eyes, he was easily one of the best looking guys
I had ever seen. He looked at Michael. “Whatcha up to, Mike?”
    “Nothing,” Michael mumbled. He gathered up
his laptop and stood timidly. “Um, I have some stuff to do. Talk to
you later.”
    I watched him hurry from the room, feeling
bad that we had scared him away. “He doesn’t seem to fit in here
much. He’s an orphan too, right?”
    Terrence nodded, wearing a sympathetic smile.
“Yes, poor