I was arguing with heaven, but I didn’t care. Grace was silent; then the haze of her brightened. “I don’t know why you want to be alive anyway,” she muttered, apparently willing to concede the point. “It’s messy. I mean, you leak liquids from every orifice and can’t stay awake.”

“Yeah, and we eat, too,” I said sourly. “Do you know how long it’s been since food tasted good?” It was a good thing I didn’t need to, or I would have starved by now.

She made a tiny harrumph, and a new urgency layered over me like a second skin. Swell. Not only did I have to save some guy’s life, but I had to get Barnabas and Nakita to work together in the process? Great. Just freaking great.

“You didn’t think it was going to be easy, did you?” Grace said from the middle of the table, her glow shifting wildly through the spectrum before she shot straight up like a reverse falling star and slipped right out through the high skylights. We appeared to be alone, but I’d bet she was watching.

No one said anything, and I looked from Barnabas to Nakita, who was ignoring me, her expression grim. “I’m going to get a shake,” I said suddenly, not at all hungry of course but needing the excuse to get away from them for a moment. “You guys want anything?”

I didn’t wait for an answer, and standing up, I almost ran into a chair someone had left out. Catching my balance against it, I stopped short and carefully set it under a table, trying to make it look like I’d meant to do it. Striding over to the restaurants, I swear I thought I heard Grace giggle.

I’d ditched school with high expectations, but now I was feeling totally inadequate. It wasn’t an unfamiliar emotion, but this was the first time someone’s life was in the balance. Picking a restaurant without a line, I set my hands on the counter and stared up at the menu, not really seeing it. I had the cash my dad had given me for lunch, not that I ever ate lunch anymore. Crap, I had to text him that I might be late after school today.