I had to wonder how many demons beyond Roth and maybe Cayman she’d seen. Only humans who were accidentally introduced to the world of things that went bump in the night and somehow survived and those who were entrusted to keep the truth safe knew.

Stacey probably thought I was one of those exceptions.

“Summer school?” I had no idea if that was normal in the human world, and also not all that sure I knew what it even meant.

“I ended up missing a lot of school at the beginning of the year.” Stacey tucked a short strand of hair behind her ear and folded her other arm across her stomach. “Too much for me to make up, so I’m stuck in school for the next couple of weeks.”

“But they let her walk with her class during graduation,” Layla told me. “These classes are more like a technicality.”

“A technicality?” Stacey laughed softly. “I wish. It feels like some kind of cosmic punishment. Do you know what that school smells like during the summer?”

“That I do not,” Roth answered. “But I am dying to hear.”

Stacey pinned him with a look. “It smells like hopelessness, unfairness and a pair of old, wet sneakers that have been worn through all the back alleys of the city without any socks on.”

Ew.

“You know, I used to think I was missing out on the whole public school thing, but I was wrong.” Zayne closed his eyes briefly. “So wrong.”

“I kind of miss that smell,” Layla murmured, and everyone shot her a dubious look. She shrugged.

“Well, no one else will get to know that smell and love it like you.” Stacey smiled.

“Oh, right. The school’s getting remodeled or something in the fall. It’s about time. Pretty sure both the lockers and the air-conditioning system are vintage.”

“As was the food,” Roth chimed in.

Confusion flickered through me. “How do you know what the food was like?”

Roth’s smile was like smoke. “I was a recipient of public education for a very short period of time.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity of the Crown Prince of Hell attending public school.

“Anyway...” Layla faced me. “You saved my ass a couple of nights ago. Twice.”

I stiffened. “Not really. I mean, I was just doing what I...needed to do.”

Her pale gaze held mine. “You know it wasn’t nothing. It was a big deal, and things could’ve gone south worse than they already had.”

That was true. I’d purposely cut myself to draw the demons that had been surrounding Roth and Layla. The moment they’d scented my blood, the whole mass of them had bum-rushed me like I was an all-you-can-eat demon buffet, allowing Roth to get Layla out of there.

“You have my thanks,” she finished.

I started to argue, but realized there was no point, so I just nodded.