"What's the Lord of Death been up to these days?" Beatrix asked.

"Cleaning up your messes," Grey replied dryly.

He sounded exhausted.

As much as Beatrix wanted to apologize for everything she'd done, she didn't want to grovel to Grey—not now, while others around the bonfire were gossiping about her.

"I didn't think you went to stuff like this," Beatrix said.

"Why'd you assume that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the whole 'dark and menacing' thing you've got going on."

"Deuce told me the bonfire was being held on the outskirts of school. I came to see if any of you numbskulls hop the fence and run off into the woods," Grey said.

"You're more attentive than campus security. Bloodgood should pay you at this point," Beatrix smirked.

Grey stared into the flames.

Beatrix lowered her voice so others wouldn't hear. "Thank you for saving me that night. And I get why you're mad at me. I would be too."

"I'm not mad," he said.

"You looked ready to kill me when you caught us in the nightclub."

"Fine. I was mad. More than mad," Grey relented. "But I didn't want to kill you."

He was ready to kill someone else, Beatrix thought. When Grey had aimed the end of his staff at the vampire boy, he'd been gripping the weapon so fiercely Beatrix had been convinced he'd strike the vampire down with a single hit.

Beatrix had relived the memory of that vampire tugging her head back too many times to count. She'd never felt so helpless before.

She kept imagining Gilda Goldstag in the woods, alone in her final moments.

Grey got up and pushed some logs around in the fire to keep the flames going. When he sat back down, he was closer, now within a few feet of Beatrix.

"Do you think the school board will kick me out?" Beatrix asked.

"Not sure," Grey said.

"If I get fired, maybe it's for the best," Beatrix said. "Everyone's been telling me to leave since day one. I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe I should've listened to my aunts. This whole thing seems like more trouble than it's worth." Beatrix buried her face in the crook of her arm. "Why did you defend me, anyway? You want me gone more than anyone."

Grey was quiet for a moment.

"You've grown on me," he finally said. She'd never heard him speak so gently before.

Beatrix peeked at Grey. "Really?"

"You trusted your instincts and took action. That's more than I can say for most monsters around here. Plus, you're the only lunch lady who makes casketberry pie that doesn't taste like mush."

Beatrix spruced up.

"Don't let it go to your head," Grey said.

"The Lord of Death cares about an evil little witch like me? I'm flattered," Beatrix teased.

Grey jokingly sighed and Beatrix held back a cackle.

"How did you put Johannah and Mr. Gore to sleep anyway?" Grey asked quietly.

Beatrix kept it vague. "I made a sleeping elixir."

"Sounds pretty advanced for someone who claims she isn't a good witch."

"I guess I learned more from my aunts than I realized. I used to passively watch them practice magic back home. When Holt escaped, the elixir idea somehow popped into my mind."

Beatrix couldn't tell if her reasoning was convincing. She didn't want him to know she'd been studying mermaid songs to pair with witch spells.

"If you do witchcraft again, I'm taking you to the headmistress myself. Understood?" Grey threatened, his wall back up.

"And if I don't get caught?"

"I'm not joking," Grey said.

"Alright, grumpy. Trust me, I know how serious things are. Bram and Vilhelm's vampy friends are planning their revenge on me as we speak."

Grey's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"The vamps think I lied to get the boys in trouble. Honestly, I shouldn't even be out at night right now."

Unless I want to be the next body found in the woods.

"They're threatening you?" Grey asked.

"I heard it through the grapevine," Beatrix huffed. "I hate that I can't put up a fight against them. Look, as much as I dislike devils, I wouldn't have been chased by vampires if I had a devil familiar at the nightclub."

"You can't walk around being so vulnerable," Grey said, his voice sharp.

Beatrix shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Death Lord. I'll have to hide out in my dorm until the school board confirms I told the truth."

Grey reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black iCoffin. "I'm giving you my number." He opened up his contacts. Beatrix noticed he had very few names listed.

"Why?"

"So you can call me if anything happens."

"I don't have a phone," Beatrix said.

"What sixteen year old doesn't have a phone?"

"I'm fifteen."

"Same thing."

"No way. There's a huge difference between fifteen and sixteen in the witch world," Beatrix retorted.

"Whatever. I'm giving you my number anyway. Use one of your friend's phones, get your own, do what you need to do."

Autumn and Frankie returned from their tarot readings with cups in hand.

"Here, Bea," Autumn handed Beatrix a fizzy purple drink. On the side of the cup, the letter "B" was written in black marker.

Frankie was in the middle of labeling her cup as well.

"Can I borrow that?" Grey asked Frankie.

"Oh, um, sure." Frankie passed him the marker.

Grey rolled back Beatrix's sleeve and wrote his number on her forearm. Her skin tingled beneath the marker's touch.

"Don't forget to call," Grey said when he finished, then he rose and joined Deuce again.

"What was that?" Autumn asked, suspicious.

"Nothing. Thanks for the drink," Beatrix said. She knew Autumn didn't approve of her associating with Grey, so pretending nothing happened seemed easier.

That way Beatrix wouldn't have to explain why her heart was threatening to burst from her chest.