Over her shoulder, I saw Cody raise his eyebrows in inquiry, and I gave my head a slight shake, standing my ground. I hadn’t been truly angry before, just annoyed. After all, Bethany had taken a bullet for her sister at the Halloween parade earlier this year—literally, at point-blank range.

But I was getting angry now. I’d never had a lot of patience for the hierarchical bullshit that went on in the eldritch community, all the posturing and standoffs, and tonight, it was more than I could take. All I’d wanted to do was enjoy the lighting ceremony, have a nice time with my friends, and forget about the specter of Armageddon for one evening, not get into a virtual pissing contest with a vampire.

I let my anger slip its leash, feeling the atmosphere around us grow charged. My hair crackled with static electricity. My tail was lashing, and dauda-dagr’s hilt was solid and reassuring in my hand.

If Bethany made a move on me, I would cut her; and then we’d see what sort of lasting damage my magic dagger did to undead flesh.

Over at the swing set, the chains rattled uneasily. Bethany Cassopolis licked her lips, took a deliberate breath and a step backward. Score one for me—and without a single word spoken. With an effort, I reined in my temper. The atmosphere eased and the swings stilled.

Assuming an air of finality, I slipped dauda-dagr back into its hidden sheath. “So, how about that burger?”

“Yes, please,” Lee murmured. “And beer. Lots of it.”

Bethany pointed at him. “I stand by my warning. Don’t you forget it.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “I’m telling you, you’ve got nothing to worry about. And hey, it’s not like your judgment is anything to brag about. Where’s your snotty vampire boyfriend, anyway?”

Her sister shrugged. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I broke it off with him as soon as he turned me. You’re right—he was totally passive-aggressive.”

“Huh.” Jen looked surprised. “Good for you.”

“You can do that?” Lee asked, sounding equally surprised. “Isn’t he, like, your maker or your sire or something?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t work exactly like that,” Bethany said. “I mean, we’re supposed to be soul mates, blood-bonded for life and all that, but you know, once I wasn’t a stupid, weak mortal under Geoffrey’s thrall, I realized he was a controlling prick just like our father and I didn’t really like him all that much.” She shrugged again. “Lucky for me, in real life, vampire progeny can only be commanded by their brood-mistress or –master. I don’t have to obey anyone but Lady Eris.”

“Or whatever her real name is,” I couldn’t help adding under my breath. Opposite me, Cody suppressed a grin. Trust me when I say that Lady Eris of the House of Shadows embodied every vampire trope exploited by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark back in the day. Although it’s also true that she works it pretty hard. In our last encounter, before I learned to shield, I was damn near ready to beg her to sink her fangs into my neck.

“Ha ha,” Bethany retorted. “It’s her real name, dummy. Her mother was the only daughter of a wealthy industrialist and her father was a classics scholar in Boston in the late eighteen hundreds. They fought a lot.”

I didn’t get it. “And?”

She raised one eyebrow. “Eris, as in the Greek goddess of strife? Which is also a pun on heiress, as in the heir to a fortune?”

Huh. Go figure.

“Hey, that’s pretty good,” Lee commented.

“I know, right?” Bethany agreed before jabbing her finger at him again. “Just remember what I said. I’ll be watching.” On that note, she made her exit, whirling away into the shadows along the edge of the playground.

“Ohh-kay,” Jen said to no one in particular. “Sorry about that, guys. Let’s go get those burgers, shall we?”

I paused to retrieve my thermos before following Jen and Lee.

“Daisy.” Cody’s voice halted me. “I lied before.”

“Oh?” Thermos in hand, I straightened. “About what?”

“I knew you were here,” he said quietly. “I caught your scent. And I know you could have handled Bethany on your own. I just wanted you to know I’ve got your back. I’ll always have your back.”

If my life were a movie, Cody would have gone on to say that he’d thought about what I’d said the other day and realized that I was right, that our problems weren’t insurmountable, that he loved me, that we’d find a way to make it work no matter what, that all that mattered was that we were in this together. The sound track would have swelled and we would have clung to each other and kissed in the falling snow, while the Christmas lights sparkled in the background, and maybe a few townsfolk who’d been rooting for us all along would have cheered.

Also, I would have been wearing a much cuter coat.

Instead, Cody just stood there looking sexy and unavailable, snowflakes dusting the fleece collar of his uniform jacket and melting in his hair.

“Thanks,” I said to him. “Good to know.”

So that’s pretty much all there is to say about that, which is to say, nothing. Nothing had changed.

I caught up with Jen and Lee, and the three of us crossed the street and went around the corner to Bob’s. It’s one of those places that’s swamped by tourists in the summer and reclaimed by locals in the off-season. Thanks to the lighting ceremony, it was crowded, but we managed to snag a table in the back.