rumpled suit. “It’s nothing. But there is another matter.”
Dean Purty cleared his throat. “Don’t you think you should let the girl have a night to recover before she decides?”
Levi seemed to feel the same. He’d become a wall of tense muscle beside me. His fisted hands rested on his knees as if he were barely containing himself.
“It’s okay,” I said. “What is the other matter?”
Warren took a deep breath before beginning. “Well, it seems we are of two minds as to what we should do with you, Piper. Our young friend here,” he nodded to Levi, “thinks we should send you home. That you can’t handle being part of our world.”
“That’s not what I said,” Levi blurted out, anger practically oozing from him.
Warren held up his hand. “Please, let me finish. The other option is you stay on at Camp Shadow Lake and help us, like you did tonight.”
Our eyes drifted toward the broken table between us as if we could see traces of the violence that went down.
“We would protect you,” Dean Purty added softly.
“I would protect her,” Levi barked, making it clear there would be no debating the issue.
Warren nodded slowly. “Calm down, lover boy. We all know you’ve claimed her.”
“Claimed me?” I asked, shocked at the archaic words.
“Don’t mind that,” Warren said. “So it sounds like we’re all in agreement? Piper stays?”
“And True?” I asked. “If she wants?”
Dean Purty answered. “If she wants to. She’s a great counselor. We’d be happy to have her.”
As they watched me, I found I didn’t need to mull it over. I’d already decided days ago. I didn’t want to lose Levi, True, or the secrets I’d learned. I still didn’t know who killed my father, though I felt closer to the truth than before. And I hadn’t even begun to process all that Sarah had revealed before she’d died.
“I’m staying,” I said, glancing at Levi. “I can handle it.”
His jaw ticked as he stared at me with hard eyes, but he didn’t argue.
No one did.
And just like that, I tied my fate to the vampires.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Hi, Piper!”
“Hi, Johnny,” I replied, smiling as the little cutie ran across my path toward the lake. “Be careful, okay?”
“I’m always careful,” he called out over his shoulder, shooting me a grin before darting forward.
“Levi better watch out,” True said, falling into step beside me as I headed up the path toward the dean’s office. “He might have a little competition.”
I bumped my shoulder against hers, making her chuckle. Everything seemed normal. We performed our counselor duties, hosted activities, acted as lifeguards at the lake, and sang campfire songs. The kids were having a blast, and seeing the joy on their faces was inspiring.
But under all that, just below surface, the dark memories of that night in the cabin hovered. I remembered Sarah’s sharp fangs and Lars’s dark laughter every time I looked at the others—Naveen, who’d apologized profusely for helping Sarah and Lars toss me in the boat that night; Analise and Miranda, neither of whom ever looked in my direction, probably blaming me for the death of their leader; and Ian, who offered me kind smiles when he saw me, but never approached.
Micah, with her double-edged tongue and dark expressions had ended up being an ally, putting herself at risk to help me, and she’d paid the ultimate price. Would the guilt of her sacrifice ever go away? Or would that darkness live inside me forever?
But in the bright light of day, True and I wore disguises that told everyone around us that there was nothing wrong. Everything was sunshine and rainbows, as if four vampires hadn’t been slaughtered after three of them attempted to kill my mother and me. The dean had explained their absence by stating that they’d been called to another camp. New staff members would arrive to take their place with the next batch of campers. Everyone acted like this was completely normal, so the campers didn’t bat an eye.
We all went on as if none of it had happened, and it was a great summer to be at Camp Shadow Lake.
“Speak of the devil,” True muttered, and I looked up to spot Levi striding down the path toward us.
I couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark sunglasses he wore, but I could feel the burn of them on my skin. True swatted me on the shoulder and mumbled something about seeing me later, but my mind didn’t fully comprehend the words.
Would just the sight of Levi Kass always bewilder