A soft, happy sound came from Ivy, and he turned at the unfamiliar noise. The living vamp wasn’t always gloomy, but she was never obvious about her good moods. The pixy took flight, buzzing an irritating circle around her. “I love you, too, Ivy,” he said with just the right amount of sarcasm to keep things light.

Her long fingers waved him away, slowly so there was no chance of hitting him. Two years ago, if anyone had told me that I’d abandon my I.S. job to go independent with a living vampire and a pixy, I would’ve said they were crazy. It wasn’t that we didn’t do well together. We did. We did fantastically together. But my decisions, which always seemed sound at the time, had a tendency to backfire—badly. And the coven trying to kidnap me was really bad. Signing that paper of Trent’s to get out of it was even worse.

I inched forward, eyes on the red taillights of the cars stopped on the interstate/parking lot. I wasn’t going to let Kalamack’s offer get to me. “So, Ivy,” I said, trying to shift my thoughts. “What’s going on with you and Glenn?”

The living vampire’s eyes glinted as she flicked her attention to Jenks. “You told her!” she exclaimed, and my lips parted. Told me? Jenks knew? Knew what?

Jenks’s wings clattered, and he flitted to the far side of the car, well out of her reach. “I didn’t tell her nothing!” he shouted, laughing. “Tink’s contractual hell, Ivy, I didn’t tell her! She must have figured it out. She’s not stupid!”

The car jerked as I hit the brakes before I needed to, but I wanted to look at Jenks. “Something is going on. I knew it!”

“There’s no anything,” Ivy protested, her face red in the light from the oncoming traffic. “Nothing is going on. Nothing!”

“Nothing?” Jenks blurted out, unable to keep quiet anymore. “You think—”

“Shut up, Jenks,” Ivy snarled.

His wings humming, he hung in the middle of the car as if nailed to the air. He was holding his breath, and silver sparkles were drifting from him to make a light bright enough to read by. The pitch from his wings was starting to make my eyeballs hurt. Grinning, I looked across to Ivy. “You’d better tell me or he’s going to explode.”

“They’ve been on three dates,” Jenks said, and Ivy snatched for him.

My smile widened as Jenks frantically darted about the car. “I can’t!” he shouted. “Ivy, I can’t! I can’t not say anything!”

Sullen, Ivy slumped in her seat, giving up. “I can’t believe you told her. You promised.”

The pixy landed on the wheel as I put the car in motion and merged into “traffic” when a big SUV made some space. “He didn’t tell me,” I said as I waved thanks to the guy. “Glenn’s coat smells like you.” I made a face. “And honey. I don’t want to know why. Really.”

Jenks’s wings halted. “Honey? Honey and gold?” he asked, and Ivy seemed to cringe.