I checked it. Six texts about a graduation party tonight. Patti gave me a sad look and I felt my shoulders slump. Time to get ready to go out.

That night after the party, I called Dad.

“How was your graduation night?” he asked.

“It was okay. A spirit was there, but he didn’t stay the whole time.”

“Good.”

“I have a sort of weird question,” I began. “I heard something about Nephs being able to have more than one sin.”

“Sure, yeah. It’s rare, but not unheard of. There used to be fewer Dukes back when there were fewer humans, which meant the Dukes were in charge of multiple temptations. I’m the youngest Duke, so to speak. I’ve only been around since the eighteenth century. I only have the one sin, so you shouldn’t have a major problem with anything else. Do you?”

“No, no, not me. I just heard it and I was curious.”

“Only one of your pals’ fathers had multiple sins at one point, and that was Alocer,” Dad continued. A headache began behind my eyes as he went on. “He used to be the Duke of Wrath and Lust, before Pharzuph came on the scene. Wait—How did you hear about this, again?”

I cleared my throat.

“Um, yeah, I heard it from Kope.” I hurried on, changing the subject. “You should have stayed today—it was funny watching Ginger and Patti—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up a second.”

I clutched the phone tighter. “Yeah?” I asked, all innocence.

Silence.

“Please tell me Kopano is not a Lust Neph, too.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Dad, he’s extremely self-controlled—”

A scratchy interference cut me off, probably from his hand covering the receiver to hide the muffled string of curses taking place on his end. I cringed.

Finally it ended.

“What happened between you two?” he asked.

Why was I afraid of his anger, even through the phone?

“It was my fault—”

“I don’t wanna hear that! Just tell me nothing happened!”

“Nothing happened,” I assured him. “I promise.” It wasn’t a lie, since I knew he was referring to sex.

The line was quiet as we both calmed.

Then I whispered, “Please don’t be mad at him, Dad.”

“I’m not.” He let out a breath. “He actually talked to me when you two got back from Australia. Said he didn’t think he should accompany you anymore. I took it to mean his emotions for you were getting in the way.”

“That is what he meant,” I told him. “Everything got a little too complicated.”

“Well, you’ll go to California by yourself, and then I’ll have to work something out for future trips. I don’t want you going alone when unknown elements are in the picture.”

I understood that, and I agreed.

“I have one more question, though,” I said. “Why wouldn’t Kope’s badge be red? Or red and black?”

“Neph inherit whatever color badge their father currently has, regardless of what other past influences might sneak into the genes. Everyone except you, it seems.”

“Hm.” I yawned and lay back on my bed.

“Get some sleep,” Dad said.

I snuggled into my pillow and closed my eyes. “Thanks for coming today,” I whispered.

He gave a grumpy little “hmph” and I smiled into the darkened room.

“Love you, Dad.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Love you, too.”

“Love is no hot-house flower,

but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a

wild wind.”

John Galsworthy, The Man of Property

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Few sights compared to the Santa Barbara coast. The land on one side of the road was lined with mansions, while the other side broke off into sharp cliffs overlooking the ocean. I drove to Blake’s with the windows down, salty air drenching my system. According to the twins, Kaidan spent a lot of weekends at Blake’s. That’s good, because it was a Saturday, and I was ready to tell them both. Only a couple of miles to go.

I reached down and pressed a hand to my stomach, trying to rub the nerves away.

A hot breeze ruffled my hair around my shoulders as I guided the car to a small surf shop next to a carnival. I hadn’t brought a bathing suit because I didn’t anticipate this being a leisurely trip. But now that I’d smelled the ocean and seen the creamy-looking sand, I decided on a whim that it would be good to have one. Just in case. And maybe I was stalling a little.

A long-haired boy behind the counter greeted me with a smile when I walked in. Beach Boys music played as I found the wall of bathing suits. I quickly narrowed it down to two: a cute pink tankini or a sexier white halter-top bikini with a small ruffle along the edges. An image of Kaidan came to mind, and I grabbed the white bikini. I picked out a pair of silver and pink girl’s surf shorts with a matching fitted T-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses from the rack. I threw everything on the counter without looking at the price tags, and presented Dad’s credit card before I could lose my nerve about the teensy bikini.

I changed in the surf shop’s restroom, then climbed back into the car for the last stretch, feeling much more like a California girl, minus an awesome tan. I passed some spectacular coastal homes, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I rounded the bend through an open security gate and saw Blake’s mansion built into the cliffside.