The house itself sat on a tree-lined street. It was a big, rambling place that had probably once housed multiple generations of a family, now identified by the stylized Triton symbol proudly displayed beneath the eaves. There were a few guys on the front porch drinking beer from plastic cups, and through the screen door, I could see a handful more inside. The mood seemed pretty somber, which, under the circumstances, was to be expected.

“Sorry, ladies,” one of the beer drinkers said as Lurine and I approached the porch. “Private party tonight.”

“No offense,” another added, sounding genuinely regretful. “We’re holding a wake.”

I shaded my eyes with one hand. “For Thad Vanderhei?”

The second beer drinker leaned over the porch railing. “You knew Thad?”

“Yeah.” For all the effort I put into avoiding lying, doing it came surprisingly easily. “We were in youth group together before my family moved. Thad and I stayed in touch. I’m here visiting because I was thinking of transferring. We were supposed to meet up.” I smiled sadly. “He said he really wanted to introduce me to you guys.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Looking stricken, he beckoned. “Come on up. I’m Dale.”

I hesitated.

“We don’t want to intrude,” Lurine said apologetically. “And I’m sorry; I didn’t know Thad.” She laid one hand on my shoulder. “I’m just here to chaperone.”

“No, no!” Dale insisted. “Come on; you’ve absolutely got to have a drink with us.”

Within a minute’s time, we were on the porch, plastic cups of tepid beer pressed into our hands.

I introduced myself as Lisa Trask and Lurine as my older sister, Sara. The Tritons asked a few cursory questions about my acquaintance with Thad, but they had other things on their minds.

“You know this is some seriously fucked-up shit you’ve walked into, right?” Dale asked me.

I shook my head. “I only found out yesterday. I called his home number when Thad wasn’t answering my texts.”

He stared into the distance. “Shit.”

I took a sip of beer. “I just can’t believe it.”

“No shit.” His mood darkened visibly. “Everything about this is pretty fucking hard to believe.”

For a fleeting moment, I wished I’d asked Stefan to come with me instead of Lurine. It would have been useful to have someone who could read emotions. But then, I still wasn’t sure I could trust him, or how well his gift would function outside of Hel’s domain, without the presence of an underworld to sustain it. As the eldritch saying goes, as below, so above.

“I thought it was an accident,” Lurine said in a voice so soft and tentative, I couldn’t believe it was coming out of her mouth.

Dale glanced at her. “You don’t think there’s one hell of a cover-up going on down there?”