I needed to leave this house. Now.

My brain was fried. Every conversation with the Valentine sisters somehow ended with me backed against a wall—literal or metaphorical—while they took turns dissecting my composure like I was some kind of lab experiment.

Cassidy tried to make me kiss her on a library table. Vivienne touched my face in her study while her mother watched through a laptop screen. Harlow bit my neck and called it cosplay research.

And Sabrina? Sabrina just smiled that terrifying smile that meant she knew exactly how close I’d come to completely losing my mind.

I needed to get out before something else happened. Before I did something stupid. Before the remaining pieces of my self-control packed their bags and moved to a different continent.

I found Iris in the kitchen with Mrs. Tanaka, both of them surrounded by the wreckage of what looked like a baking experiment. Flour dusted the counter. Chocolate smeared across Iris’s cheek. She wore one of Harlow’s pink aprons tied twice around her waist because it was designed for someone taller.

"We made cookies!" Iris announced, holding up a tray of what appeared to be slightly lopsided chocolate chip cookies. "Mrs. Tanaka taught me the secret ingredient."

Mrs. Tanaka’s smile was small but genuine. "Good instinct for texture. Needs practice on shaping."

"I’ll practice at home." Iris beamed. "Isaiah loves cookies. Especially ones I make."

That was objectively false. I’d eaten maybe three cookies Iris made in my entire life. But Mrs. Tanaka looked pleased, so I didn’t correct her.

"We should head out," I said. "Traffic’s gonna be bad if we wait too long."

"Already?" Iris’s face fell. "But I didn’t finish showing Harlow my sketchbook!"

"You can show her next time."

"There better be a next time," Harlow said from the doorway.

Of course she was still in the vampire costume. Of course she’d followed me.

"You should visit every weekend!" Harlow bounced forward, grabbing both of Iris’s hands. "Please? Pretty please? We could make it a tradition! Angelo-Valentine Sister Time!"

"That’s not what it’s called," I muttered.

"It is now!" Harlow turned to me with those purple eyes that somehow made saying no feel like drowning puppies. "Right, Isaiah? Iris can come every weekend I’m here?"

My fourteen-year-old sister looked at me with such hope that I knew I’d already lost.

"We’ll figure something out," I conceded.

Iris squealed and tackled Harlow in a hug. Mrs. Tanaka caught my eye over their heads and the corner of her mouth twitched. I was pretty sure she was laughing at me.

"I’ll pack the cookies," Mrs. Tanaka announced. "For the drive."

"You don’t have to—"

She was already boxing them up in a pink container that probably cost more than my first car. I gave up arguing.

"Thank you, Mrs. Tanaka," Iris said with genuine warmth. "For teaching me. And for being so nice."

"Come back next weekend," Mrs. Tanaka replied. "We make bread."

Iris looked like Christmas came early. I was never getting my sister back from this place.

While Mrs. Tanaka finished packing the cookies, I grabbed Iris’s overnight bag from where she’d left it by the kitchen counter. The thing weighed about forty pounds. I peeked inside and found what looked like twelve manga volumes, three sketchbooks, the sailor moon wig Harlow had given her, and possibly half of Harlow’s plushie collection.

"You steal these?" I held up a pink bunny with a bow.

"Harlow said I could have them!"

"All of them?"

"Yes!"

From Harlow’s giggle, that was probably true.

We headed toward the foyer. The afternoon sun slanted through the massive windows, turning the marble floors gold. I could hear voices in the main salon—Vivienne on the phone, probably handling some crisis. Sabrina reading somewhere close by, her presence a quiet weight even when she wasn’t visible.

And Cassidy.

I didn’t know where Cassidy was, which meant she was probably planning something.

"We should move fast," I told Iris. "Like we’re being chased."

"We’re not being chased."

"We might be."

Iris laughed, but she picked up her pace.

We made it to the front door. The Lexus waited in the circular drive, already running. Someone had pulled it around. Probably one of the drivers who’d been watching me fail at professionalism all weekend.

I loaded Iris’s bag into the trunk while she clutched the pink cookie container like it contained state secrets. The afternoon air smelled like roses and freshly cut grass. Birds sang from the gardens. Everything was peaceful and normal and completely wrong.

"Isaiah!"

I turned. All four sisters stood on the front steps.

Of course they did. Of course I couldn’t just leave without this becoming a whole production.

Vivienne stood at the top, her posture perfect, her blazer on despite being home. Sabrina lounged against the pillar with a book. Harlow waved enthusiastically, still in that vampire costume, her twin tails bouncing. And Cassidy—

Cassidy’s eyes locked onto my neck.

Her expression shifted. Confusion. Recognition. Something dark and sharp.

"What the hell is that?" She pointed at me. "On your neck?"

My hand moved to cover the spot before I could stop myself. Stupid. That just confirmed it.

"Nothing."

"That’s not nothing." Cassidy started down the steps. "That’s a hickey. That’s a very obvious, very fresh hickey."

Vivienne’s gaze snapped to my neck. Her face went pale, then pink, then something approaching volcanic.

Harlow’s eyes went wide. She pressed both hands to her mouth.

Sabrina just smiled into her book.

"Iris, we need to go," I said quickly. "Traffic. The game. Sunday drivers. All of it."

"The Giants aren’t even playing today," Cassidy shot back. "What game?"

"A different game."

"You’re lying."

"I’m driving." I opened the passenger door. "Get in, Iris."

My sister, bless her traitorous soul, moved with the speed of continental drift.

"Where did you get that?" Cassidy was three steps away now. "Who gave you—"

Her eyes slid to Harlow, who was now hiding behind her hands, her shoulders shaking with either laughter or terror.

"Harlow." Cassidy’s voice went deadly soft. "Did you bite him?"

"It was for the costume!" Harlow squeaked. "For authenticity!"

"You bit him."

"Vampires bite!"

"He’s not a vampire, he’s our assistant!"

"Your assistant," Harlow corrected. "Also your tutor. Also my friend. Also—"

"Harlow." Vivienne’s tone could freeze blood. "Inside. Now."

Harlow fled. The front door slammed behind her.

Vivienne descended the steps with measured grace. Each click of her heels echoed off the mansion’s stone facade.

"We had an agreement," she said to me. "Boundaries."

"It was an accident," I tried.

"Being bitten is not an accident."

"It is when you’re wearing a vampire costume!" Harlow’s voice carried from inside, muffled by glass.

Vivienne ignored her. "You established rules this morning. At breakfast. Clear professional boundaries."

"I remember."

"Yet somehow, within four hours, you acquired visible proof that those boundaries have been violated."

Sabrina turned a page. "Five hours. Give credit where credit is due."

Cassidy just stared at the mark on my neck. Her jaw worked. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

Then she laughed.

Not her usual sharp bark of amusement. This was something else entirely. Something unhinged.

"This is perfect," she said. "This is absolutely perfect."

"Cassidy—" Vivienne started.

"No, really." Cassidy wiped her eyes. "It’s hilarious. We all agreed to back off. Give him space. Respect boundaries. And Harlow just—" She gestured wildly at my neck. "She just went for it anyway!"

"It wasn’t planned!" Harlow protested from the window.

"It never is with you!"

"I have to go," I announced. "Iris. Car. Now."

"Wait." Cassidy blocked my path. She reached toward my neck, her fingers stopping just short of the mark. "Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"The bite." Her voice had gone soft. Curious. "When she did it. Did it hurt?"

I swallowed. "It didn’t hurt."

"What did it feel like?"

"Cassidy."

"I’m just asking." Her purple eyes lifted to mine. "or my own vampire costume." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"You’re not wearing a vampire costume."

"Not anymore. I’m changing it." She leaned closer. "To something that leaves more marks."

Vivienne cleared her throat. "This conversation is over. Isaiah, drive safely. Cassidy, study for your test. Harlow, change your clothes before Mrs. Tanaka has a stroke."

But none of them moved. We all just stood there in the circular drive while the afternoon sun painted everything gold and the birds sang and somewhere deep in the house, a clock chimed four times.

"I really do have to go," I said.

Cassidy stepped back. "See you Monday, scholarship boy."

"Bring Iris next weekend!" Harlow called from the window. "We’ll make crepes!"

Vivienne just looked at me. I couldn’t read her expression. She turned and walked back inside without another word.

Sabrina waved with two fingers. "Drive safe."

I got in the car. Iris finally climbed into the passenger seat, clutching her cookies and grinning like she’d won the lottery.

"Go," I told myself. "Drive before something else happens."

The engine purred to life. I pulled away from the manor, watching the four sisters get smaller in my rearview mirror.

Harlow waved both arms. Cassidy stood with her arms crossed. Sabrina had already disappeared. Vivienne watched from the doorway, a silhouette framed by gold light.

The gates opened. The guard nodded. I turned onto the main road and the Valentine estate vanished behind the trees.

Iris stayed quiet for exactly thirty-seven seconds.

Then: "So. Harlow bit you."

I kept my eyes on the road. "Don’t."

"Like. Actually bit you. In the hallway."

"It was her room, actually."

"That’s worse!" Iris cackled. "That’s so much worse!"

"Can we not do this right now?"

"We’re absolutely doing this right now." She twisted in her seat to face me fully. "Harlow gave you a hickey. In a vampire costume. While you were supposed to be working."

"I was judging her costume. For the festival."

"Is that what we’re calling it?"

"That’s what it was."

"Uh-huh." She didn’t believe me at all. "And the kiss with Vivienne last night? That was also work?"

My hands tightened on the wheel. "Who told you about that?"

"The walls are thin. Cassidy’s voice is not." Iris examined her nails with exaggerated casualness. "Also Harlow told me while you were with Vivienne this morning."

Of course she did.

"And before you ask," Iris continued, "I also know about Sabrina coming to your room. And about whatever happened with Cassidy in the library."

I wanted to drive off a bridge. "Anything else?"

"Well, now I know about Harlow biting you." She giggled. "Which honestly might be my favorite one."

"I’m so glad my suffering amuses you."

"It really does." She settled back in her seat, looking obscenely satisfied with herself.

"So. Which one are you gonna pick?"