She smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “No. But don’t you think pretend problems are much more manageable than real ones?”
“Yes, I do,” I said quietly.
The sun was steadily rising, lending the lake an orange glow. Several small skiffs were already on the water, casting their nets, and the wind whipped around our ears, a reminder that even though the sun felt warm, winter was well on its way.
“I’ve never talked to anyone about this. That’s rule number two of the Gallagher family business—don’t trust anyone,” she said.
“Your father seems tough,” I ventured, sensing her frustration. “Perhaps too tough?”
“My father is fine,” Callie snapped. She scowled at me, hands on her hips.
“I’m sorry,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. I realized I’d pushed too far too quickly. “That was out of line.”
Callie let her hands fall to her sides. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just protective of him. He’s all I have.”
“Where is your mother?” I asked.
“Died when I was six,” Callie said simply.
“I understand,” I said, thinking of my own mother. “It’s hard, isn’t it?”
Callie plucked a blade of grass from the ground and shredded it between her fingernails. “I try to be strong. But after Mother died, Father threw himself into work.”
“It seems that you do that as well.”
“Now that Father’s got the vampire act worked out, I feel like things will change for the better. He has a short fuse that gets shorter the less money he has.”
At the mention of the vampire act, I kicked the stones around the edge of the shore. A flurry of pebbles flew through the air and landed several meters into the lake with a violent splashing sound.
“What was that?” Callie asked, alarm in her voice.
I forced myself to smile, to look calm—human. In my anger, I’d forgotten to hide my Power. “Advanced stone skipping.”
Callie raised an eyebrow, as if she wanted to challenge me. But all she said was: “We should get back. Dad wants us to clean up the grounds.”
I nodded. “Good idea.” Alone here with Callie, I’d come so close to losing control.
“Stefan,” Callie said. “I was thinking . . . since we don’t have the shows for a few nights, do you think you could show me the city?”
“But I don’t know the city,” I pointed out. “You’ve been here longer than I have.”
Callie’s cheeks flushed poppy red. “Father doesn’t let me leave the house, unless it’s for work. But there are so many shows and adventures in New Orleans.” She looked up at me from beneath her long lashes. “Please? I’ll feel safe if I’m with you.”
I nearly laughed at the irony of that statement, but the chuckle caught in my throat. Callie had it wrong: She wouldn’t necessarily be safe with me, but I could use her to guarantee the safety of my brother. After all, she knew everything about Gallagher’s Circus—including where her father was holding Damon.
“Okay, let’s do it,” I said.
“Oh, we’ll have such fun!” Callie clasped my hands and whirled me around. “Meet me at the park at the end of my street at nine o’clock.” She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed my cheek.
She was so close, I could practically feel her heart beating against my chest. I pulled away abruptly, my head pounding and my jaw aching. I turned my back to her as my canines extended with a click. I had to take five deep breaths before they retracted again.
“Are you okay?” she asked, placing her hand on my shoulder.
I plastered a smile on my face and turned back to her. “Just excited for tonight.”
“Good,” Callie said, humming to herself as we walked back to the circus grounds.
I ran my tongue over my teeth. It was true: I was excited for tonight. But excitement was akin to desire, and as I’d been learning ever since I met Katherine, nothing good ever came from desire.
I arrived at home at dusk and found Lexi perched on the couch, her arms folded over her chest, and her foot rapidly tapping the floor. She looked like a disgruntled mother hen. Hugo and Percy were lounging, cat-like, on chaises in the far corner. Buxton, I noted with relief, was nowhere to be seen. I wondered how long they’d been waiting for me.
“You decided to come back, I see,” Lexi said, a scowl crossing her face.
“So I did,” I said, trying to suppress a smile.
“And something’s changed,” she added. She sniffed the air. “But you haven’t fed, that’s good.” She knit her eyebrows together.
“Hello,” I said to Hugo and Percy, ignoring Lexi’s observation. They gazed at me in surprise. I’d never made any effort to speak to either of them in the past.
“Hi,” Percy grunted.
Hugo just stared at me.
Lexi continued to glare at me, her hands on her hips. “Out with it, Stefan. We don’t keep secrets in this house.”
“I have a plan to free Damon,” I said, wincing at the giddy sound of my voice.
“That’s terrific!” Lexi clapped. “How are you going to do it?”
“Well, uh, it begins with going on a date,” I confessed.
“A date?” Lexi’s brows flew up. “With whom?”
I cleared my throat sheepishly. “With Gallagher’s daughter, Callie.”
“You have a date with a human ?!” Percy said just as Lexi blurted out, “You have a date with Callie Gallagher .”
I put my hands up defensively. “She wants me to take her out on the town tonight. And while we’re there, I’m going to get information out of her on Damon. I can’t influence her because of the vervain, but there are other ways to get a woman to talk.”
Percy and Hugo looked up, expressions of disapproval crossing their faces like thunderclouds.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Hugo said. I glanced at him in surprise. Apart from the night they’d found me, it was the first time I’d ever heard him speak.
“I agree. You’ll either want to kill her or kiss her, and neither scenario will end well for you,” Percy said. The sentence sounded out of place coming from his scrawny, baby-faced body.
“They’re right,” Lexi said urgently. “They’ve learned their lessons the hard way. Who’s to say what you’ll do when you’re alone with that girl, not to mention what she’ll do to you. You saw her house . . . the weapons she has. I just worry that—”
“I know, I know. I’m young, I can’t control my impulses, and I’m going to make some sort of mistake,” I interrupted in annoyance.
Lexi stood up and gazed at me. “All of those things are true. You’re strong, but I worry that you might let your emotions get the best of you.”
“I won’t,” I protested. “I’m just going out with her to see if I can learn anything more about Damon. If I’m going to rescue him—peacefully—she’s my best bet.”
Lexi set her jaw, but then heaved a sigh. “Just be careful.”
“If you’re going out, you can’t wear that,” Hugo said, lumbering up from the chaise. “Percy, get him something nice to wear.”
Percy looked at Lexi beseechingly. She crossed her arms. “What? You heard the man.”
Percy slid off the couch and marched up the stairs.
“If you’re going out with a lady, you need to look nice,” Hugo explained gruffly. “And Lexi, you need to take him shopping.”
“Yes, we’ll go out tomorrow night, Stefan,” she replied.
“Why are you suddenly being so helpful?” I asked Hugo suspiciously.
Hugo showed his pointy teeth in a small smile. “If you free Damon with the human’s help, there’ll be no need
