“An adorable handful, if it helps.” Lurine reached over to tousle my hair with the careless lack of respect for personal boundaries that was part of her charm. “Even in the middle of a temper tantrum, you were a cute little brat. But I’m serious, Daisy. Your mother reminded me that there are people in the world with enough heart and courage to love even a monster.” She gave a lock of my hair a sharp tweak, her voice sounding a different note. “For that alone, I’d do anything in my power for either of you.”

Batting her hand away, I stole another glance at her to see whether she was kidding me. She wasn’t. “You are serious.”

She smiled at my incredulous expression. “What can I say, baby girl? I’m proud of you. I know what you’re trying to do. You’re doing your best, and it isn’t easy.” She waved one hand in the general direction of Appeldoorn. “And the rest of the world isn’t going to make it any easier.”

I thought about the headlines, the protestors, the righteous amens at the funeral. “That’s for sure.”

It was around seven o’clock when we parked on the campus of Van Buren College, the warm summer air promising another long, balmy evening gliding ever so slowly into the soft lavender twilight. Actually, it was a lot like the night Thad Vanderhei had died. Right around this time, I’d been headed down to the gazebo to meet Jen and listen to Los Gatos del Sol, fighting an unexpected surge of jealousy at seeing Cody Fairfax flirt with my best friend, warning an irascible milkweed fairy against stealing a changeling child.

God, that seemed like a long time ago.

But counting backward in my mind, I realized it was less than a week ago. It felt like so much had happened, so much had changed.

And if we didn’t catch a break soon, there would be a lot more change coming, none of it good.

On the sidewalk, Lurine waited patiently for me. “Ready?”

I nodded. “I’m ready.”

She winked at me. “Showtime, cupcake.”

Triton House wasn’t actually located on the Van Raalte campus, which was charming and stately on a modest scale, with lots of red brick buildings designed to emulate the town’s old Dutch architecture. The fraternity house, a gift of some wealthy fraternal alumnus, was a few blocks away, all the better to avoid being under the aegis of the college’s public safety department. But since it was part of my cover story that I was considering transferring to Van Buren, I thought it best to park on campus and walk the few blocks.