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“Seven. We were starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up. Dad sent me to act as an alarm. He said to tell you we’re enrolling you at the high school with me tomorrow, if you feel up to it.”
    Groaning, I tossed the pillow aside. The girl hadn’t moved and wasn’t planning on leaving. I guessed she must be a year or so younger than me since I was Ben’s firstborn.
    “I’m Remy.”
    Your sister. Her knee brushed my calf when she shifted. Out of habit, I focused my attention on her enough to make sure she wasn’t carrying a hidden disease capable of flattening me. Nothing. Healthy, except for her irritating morning cheer.
    She nodded. “I know. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
    “Sorry about that. It’s been a long week.”
    Serious brown eyes studied me. “Dad told us what happened. Want to talk about it?”
    “Uh, no.” Seriously, what was with this family’s need to talk everything out?
    Lucy smiled and wound a curl around her finger. “That’s okay. We’re glad you’re here. By the way, I’m Lucy. We’re sisters.”
    She didn’t sound upset. In fact, she sounded downright chipper, a fact which surprised me. Lucy rose when I stood, and I towered over her like I had Laura. I’d have to thank Ben for passing on the genes that made me an Amazon next to most women. I escaped to the bathroom that connected to my room, half expecting her to follow. A door on the opposite side of the shower opened onto another room that had to be her bedroom.
    The bathroom door muffled her voice. “You’re not a morning person, are you? Neither is Dad. He says I can’t talk his ear off until he has his first cup of coffee.”
    Good rule. I opened the door a few minutes later to find her going through my few belongings.
    “Hey!”
    She didn’t even act guilty. She held up one of the few shirts Anna had packed for me, an old, hand-me-down tee with the color faded to an ugly puce from too many washings. “You can’t wear this. They’ll eat you alive at school. Where’re all your clothes?”
    I grabbed the tee from her and shoved it back in the dresser. “You’re looking at them.” Anna and I’d never had money since Dean tended to drink through it faster than we could earn it. I’d learned not to care much that my clothes had been used and ill-fitting, but my face flushed at her obvious disbelief.
    Lucy didn’t notice my embarrassment. She reached back into the dresser for the tee before I could stop her and held it between two fingers in disgust. “Why would you wear this? It’s way too big. You’d swim in it.” She studied my figure with a critical eye. “You’re too skinny, you know. My mom intends to fatten you up.”
    Gee, thanks. I moved to take the tee again, but she strolled through our adjoined bathroom to her bedroom. It was a duplicate of mine, except posters of rock bands plastered every wall. Her bedspread was a frightening shade of fuchsia, like spilled nail polish. She disappeared into a walk-in closet with my shirt and resurfaced a moment later with a turquoise silk blouse. I’d never owned anything so luscious and wanted it as soon as I saw it.
    Lucy surprised me when she handed me the blouse. “I think this will fit you. I think I have a scarf, too, to hide those bruises around your neck so you can avoid all the questions. Mom’ll want to take you shopping later. By the way, Crimson Chaos is playing at the Underground tonight. I thought maybe you’d like to meet a few of my friends before you start school tomorrow.”
    Nobody was this nice.
    She saw my suspicious expression and laughed. “You better get dressed before Mom and Dad barge in to check on you. I’ll find that scarf for you.”
    Walking toward the bathroom, I stopped in the doorway. “Thank you, Lucy. For the shirt.” And the welcome. She laughed again and waved me away, and I rushed to get dressed.

C HAPTER T HREE
    T hat evening Lucy drove us to the Underground in her white hybrid Toyota. The