Still, I’d take my brother’s casual indifference over Sal’s utter fury. The slayer had slammed around the cottage for hours, barking about Lina interfering in his business. Or, as he put it, “sticking her big vampire nose in it.”

Neither one of them was interested in my constant jabbering about the appeal, so I tried to put a lid on it, but by Tuesday morning I was about to burst.

“What do you think is taking so long?” I complained.

“It’s early,” Reg said. “They’ll be here soon.”

“No, not our friends. The Elders.”

We were lounging around Poe’s locker waiting for everyone else to arrive. Reg had insisted we get to school early so he could explain to his world history teacher why his grasp of anti-communism in the postwar era was stronger than hers. I had talked him out of it, worried he might tell her he lived through that era, if it meant she’d turn his B to an A. Now, I figured I could at least distract him with something more important than history—like, our entire future.

Reg gave a casual wave of his hand. “It’s only been a few days. Really, Charlie, you have alarmingly little patience for someone who desires all eternity.”

“It’s not the wait so much as the not knowing,” I said. At this point, I wouldn’t mind waiting months for my chance to get in front of the council, as long as I knew that chance was coming.

“Waste time worrying about it if you want,” Reg said. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you about the wrinkles.”

He squinted at my forehead, then pulled back in mock alarm, as if the creases were sinking into my skin right then, and I pushed him into the wall of lockers.

“Are you going to miss Poe?” I asked after a beat.

The question caused Reg’s face to falter, but only for an instant. “I may not even remember him, if we are given the memory fade.”

My breath caught. “They would do that again?”

“I have no idea,” Reg said. “It may not be necessary. But even if our memories remain intact, when our thirst returns, we are unlikely to feel things like loss—at least not to the degree we feel it as humans.”

“You didn’t really answer the question,” I observed. “What exactly is the deal with you and Poe? Is it . . . serious?”

Reg smiled and struck a pose. “I am far too pretty to be tied down, mortal or immortal. But that’s no reason not to sample the local flavors.”

“Sample or indulge?” I asked.

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.” His smile turned to a devilish grin. “So, it’s a good thing I’m no gentleman.”