Poison Fruit

It’s hard to pull off menacing in a coat that makes you look like you’re wrapped in a sleeping bag, but I did my best, keeping a shield kindled between us and dauda-dagr held low and ready. “Actually, if you’re threatening mortals without cause, it’s my business,” I said evenly, holding up my left hand palm outward. “Agent of Hel here, remember?”

“Um, yeah, you might want to take the glove off, Special Agent Johanssen,” Bethany said. Oops. “And who says I don’t have cause?”

“I do, you freak!” Jen retorted, kneeling beside Lee in the snow. “I wanted you to make sure Brandon was okay, not get all up in my business!”

Bethany cocked her head. “Um, I didn’t hear you complaining when I took a bullet for you at the Halloween parade.”

Jen shrugged. “Yeah, well, there’s a big difference between saving me from a bona fide gun-wielding psycho and threatening my date.”

“Does this mean we are dating?” Lee wheezed.

“Yeah, I guess it does,” Jen said with reluctant affection. “I’d say being threatened by my sister makes it official.”

“Oh, I haven’t even begun to threaten,” Bethany said. “Listen, Lee. If you even think of hurting my sister—”

“Hey!” I waved dauda-dagr in the air. “A little respect, here? Magic dagger? Capable of killing the immortal undead?”

Bethany shot me a dismissive look. “Oh, please. You wouldn’t use that thing on your best friend’s sister.”

“Don’t tempt me.” I tightened my grip on the hilt. “I’m still curious about what would happen if I just injured someone with it, and I’m still betting on eternal never-healing wound. Shall we find out?”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” There was a shift in the tension between us as Bethany attempted to put a vampire whammy on me. Her tongue flicked out between her fangs to lick her lips, eyes gleaming.

Feeling the tug of her allure, I poured more energy into my shield, letting it blaze. “Nice try.” Fledgling vampires have the full measure of preternatural speed and strength, but vampiric hypnosis takes years to master. I beckoned with dauda-dagr. “C’mon, what do you say? Just a scratch?”

With a catlike hiss, Bethany vaulted back atop the jungle gym in a swirl of frock coat. “You’d have to catch me first!”

Another figure emerged from the shadows of the oak. “I’d be willing to take that challenge,” Cody Fairfax said in a silken growl. “And I suggest you don’t try me.” He put his hands on his duty belt and tilted his head to look up at her, phosphorescent green flashing behind his eyes. “I think you’ve had enough fun here tonight, Miss Cassopolis.”

Oh, great.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Cody.

“Working,” he said. “Trailing a suspicious vampire lurking in the playground. Are you okay, Mr. Hastings?”

Lee was back on his feet, brushing snow off his nice new camel-hair coat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to file a complaint?” Cody asked him. “I’d be happy to take your statement.”

“Uh, no.” He shot a nervous glance Bethany’s way. “I’ll pass.”

That was probably a good thing, since the Pemkowet Police Department didn’t really have the resources or the desire to take on the House of Shadows. It wasn’t a confrontation that would end well for anyone, which is why Lady Eris, mistress of our local vampire brood, generally kept her people on the right side of the law.

“Okay.” Turning back to Bethany, Cody addressed her in a gentler tone. “Look, I understand that you want to protect your family. Believe me, I do. You’ve been powerless for a long time, right? And now that’s changed. You’re the one with the power, more power than you’ve ever had in your life.”

Atop her perch, Bethany sneered. “What, and with great power comes great responsibility? Spare me. I don’t need a werewolf on the down low to spout dime-store philosophy straight out of a Spider-Man movie at me.”

“Who said anything about responsibility?” Cody said mildly. “I was going to say something like, when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

A look of confusion crossed Bethany’s face. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It means Lee’s not a nail, so quit hammering him,” I said. “No beating up innocents as a warning, okay? Because I will file a complaint, and I’ll file it on Hel’s behalf with Lady Eris or whatever the hell her real name is.”

“Oh, fine.” Bethany slumped in defeat. “I was just trying to look out for you,” she said to her sister.

“I appreciate the sentiment.” Jen’s voice was softer than it had been. “But I promise you, Lee’s nothing like Dad. He couldn’t be less like him if he tried. Okay?”

“I really couldn’t,” Lee agreed.

“So are we good here?” Cody asked.

I glanced at Bethany. She returned my gaze with a stony one of her own, but she didn’t say anything. “We’re good,” I said to Cody. “And thanks, but I could have handled this on my own.”

He shrugged. “Just doing my job, Daise. I didn’t know who Bethany was stalking when I spotted her.”

“I wasn’t stalking.” Bethany came down from the jungle gym in another bounding leap. “I was observing.” She came toward me, not halting until I could feel the undead aura that surrounded her—the absence of a heartbeat, of involuntary breathing, of human warmth. At close range, it was as creepy as all hell—and somehow even creepier with someone I’d known as a living, breathing mortal. “So you think you could have handled me, huh?”