covers as sounds of the girls getting ready for the day bounced around me. They’d be headed to the bathrooms, then on to breakfast. They were thirteen and could handle that without me holding their hands. I was going to stay snug in my bed until I’d convinced myself none of what happened last night had really happened. That it was all a dream.
“Wake up, Piper.”
True’s hands ripped the covers away, the bright morning sunshine burning my sleep-deprived eyes. I tried to yank my blanket back up, but True held it in an iron fist.
“Rise and shine, lazy bones,” she said, smiling at me like it was just another day at summer camp and everything we knew about the world hadn’t been ripped to shreds last night.
I blinked a few times, and her sunny expression didn’t falter. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes with a yawn. A heavy weight lifted from my shoulders, and I hopped out of bed and hugged True.
“Well, good morning to you, too,” she said, grinning with one dark brow arching up.
“I had the craziest dream last night,” I started, and True’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
With tight lips and a meaningful glare, she cut her eyes toward the open front door. I followed her gaze, seeing nothing but the last few stragglers exiting the cabin to start their day. As soon as they cleared the doorway, my breath caught in my throat, and my eyes widened with fear.
Sarah stood on the dirt path only a few yards from Saka’am’s porch, staring into the trees. My gaze ricocheted back to True. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed thickly. Discreetly, she wagged a finger at me from beside her thigh and pointed toward Sarah, then at her ear.
“Hurry up, Piper. I want to get to the mess before those hungry little brats eat all the bacon,” she said, her tone still bright and sunny.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Son of a…
It wasn’t a dream.
Sarah was a vampire, and she could hear us talking from where she stood outside. The other counselors, too. Dean Purty. Sasha, Barbara, and Chef Chloe. Levi.
All of them were freaking vampires, and two of them had tried to suck the blood of a small child yesterday. I’d stopped them, and they knew. They knew I’d seen something, and now Sarah was waiting outside my cabin.
She was going to kill me. I knew too much, and now I was going to die. Just like my fath—
“Come on, Piper, seriously. I’m not waiting all day for your lazy ass.”
True’s chipper voice cut through my panic, and my wildly rolling eyes stopped moving to focus on her face. Her expression ordered me to get it together. I nodded shakily, climbing from the bed and grabbing a pair of shorts and a tank top from my cubby.
She gave me her back, though modesty was the last thing I was worried about at the moment. By the time I was dressed, and we walked to the front door, Sarah was gone. We still didn’t speak freely for fear that she was hiding somewhere nearby, spying on us.
“How are you handling this early morning stuff so easily?” I asked, hoping she’d catch my meaning.
I really needed to know how she was not freaking out right now. Vampires were real… and we were literally surrounded by them.
True shrugged, saying, “I told you I spent the summers with my aunties down south. They always made me get up early, so I’m used to it. It’s nothing new to me.”
I understood her point. Her aunts were basically witches who had visions of the future. When True was telling me about them, she’d mentioned that they’d believed in demons, ghosts, and other supernatural beings.
Of course, this was no shock to her system. She’d grown up surrounded by women who believed in the unbelievable. I was lucky she was in this with me. I didn’t know if I could handle any of it on my own. I’d probably just faint again.
I shook my head at my own weakness. No. No more. I was officially letting Badass Piper take over, and she’d carry the reins until this whole mess was finished… whenever that would be.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said, letting her know I understood what she was saying.
“Oh, look, there’s Levi,” she said, her voice slightly higher and a little wobbly.
My head snapped up, and I spotted him standing near the trees between the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms. He was wearing dark