I try not to think of Abuela or Abuelo.

It's hard when Tristin is just like him sometimes. The tone he's using — powerful and passionate — is just like Abuelo's. I can't cry, though. I'm Demon. Demons don't cry. I can't show the others that I have any weaknesses. Los demonios no son débiles, diferente a mí. They look up to me. They depend on me. I'm their hope. Maybe some of them fear me. Not maybe — they definitely do. But it's a part of the job. As I've helped them and taught them, I've realized something. To keep us alive, I can't have my own personal interests. I have to get rid of Nina Lopez. I can only be Demon. It doesn't matter what the costs may be to me — it's me or everyone. I thought I had kept that part of me under control until tonight. I guess not.

After Tristin's broadcast, the room buzzes with questions. I walk outside for some fresh air, hoping that it will calm me. "Maldito, hace frío," I mutter as I'm greeted by the bite of a winter wind. My hands wander to my arms, as if I can hold all of my heat in. I bite down on my lip, bringing a metallic tang to my tongue. I don't feel the pain of the bite, though. The cold numbs it.

"So, you came out here, too?"

I jump out of my skin and unsheath the daggers hidden at my thighs.

"Easy, easy."

"¡Oh Dios mios!" I see Nicole sitting on the concrete, grinning with her hands up in mock surrender. I grab her by the collar of her shirt. "You scared the crap out of me! What the hell?" I demand, anger pumping in my veins.

She bursts out laughing and I shake my head, smiling a little. Nicole is the type that's easy to lose in a crowd since she doesn't stand out much. She has long black hair that she usually pulls back in a low ponytail, although it's down right now. Her eyes are nearly just as dark, which clash with her pale skin. Her lips are constantly chapped, making dead skin stretch across her lips whenever she smiles. And they stretch real badly now, a little blood bubbling out from the lower one. I put her down and sit next to her.

"What are we going to do?" Nicole asks, resting her forehead on her right palm. She gives off an air of someone much older than she is. I'm not sure why, but she seems like she's the leader here, not me. If there's one person who can sometimes make me feel small, it's her. Yes, I know, pathetic: I'm a grown adult and she's a skinny-ass teen.

"After we recruit, you mean?" I ask.

"Yeah."

I close my eyes and think for a minute. "We'll train them and kick some ass!" I cheer, trying to seem hopeful. I don't think I succeed, but I try, which is the important part. Right?

She smiles weakly. "Yeah, sounds about right." She stares out into the trees, a small snow beginning to frost them.

"There's something else," I say. It's not a question. I can read it all over her face.

She rolls her eyes. "Didn't know you were a telepathic demon." She doesn't look at me.

"It's pretty obvious."

Nicole sighs. "Ever since I saw Lucy's shot, saying she went Host, it's gotten me thinking." We Scavengers have a small firework on us in the form of a clip or belt at all times. We fire it off when we know we can't recover from Fūris while we're still outside.

"That's a first." Actually, Nicole is pretty smart. Not that I would tell her that. It would take away a weapon of mine. And also inflate her already big ego.

She ignores my comment. "She isn't weak or stupid enough to get Infected over some Scavenger run. She must of found something." I know what she means immediately: she thinks Lucy found something to do with Fūris. Something big.

"You really think so?"

"Don't you? Lucy, you and Tristin have always been the best of us — the Top Three. Mostly you and Lucy, less so Tristin." I snort at this remark. Everyone knows that Nicole doesn't like Tristin. Like, at all. "A badass like her doesn't just go Host."

"That's a good point..." I get up. "I'll talk to Tristin about it after things cool down a bit. We'll need him if we're going to follow her trail. If I'm a demon on the field, then he's Satanás himself on a computer."

Nicole blinks. "Where did you send her?"

"The city for medicine. The best stuff is there."

"And a hell of a horde of Hosts!" She knocks me over the head.

"What the hell was that for?" I ask, wincing.

"For sending someone into the place with the heaviest horde in Illinois alone!"

I grin. "Weren't you the one just calling her tough-as-nails badass?"

"Don't care if you're the toughest person alive, you won't make it!" She looks at me, her gaze hard as steel. I try to ignore the shiver it gives me.

I shove her playfully. "Dios, just how little do you think of me?"

"Oh, shut up the hell up, you arrogant little —"

I throw her over my shoulder, laughing.

"Put me down!" she yelps, a mischievous grin on her face. She punches my back lightly.

"Never!"

"You —"

Tristin pokes his head out of the door and blinks. "Sorry to interrupt... whatever the hell this is, but sometimes, other people like breaks from the angry mob."

"Oh, shut your cold, handsome face up," I say, grinning. Before you ask, no, he isn't that handsome in my opinion. More of a pretty boy, not really my thing. But Lucy disagreed, along with a bunch of other girls from the original crew, so the tease is valid, in my opinion.

He frowns. "Please tell me you're being a responsible thirty one year old and are not drunk at two PM." Classic Tristin.

"I solemnly swear that not a drop of alcohol has touched my lips today," I say honestly. I place Nicole on his shoulder. "Don't let her escape while I'm gone." She scowls at me and makes a rude gesture, but I just smirk.

"Idiot," he calls back, putting her down. I laugh again as I head inside. I wish it could last. There's at least one thing I've learned over the last eighteen years: our laughter never lasts.