Like many eldritch, vampires are big into the whole hierarchical thing, maybe bigger than most. He curled his upper lip at the implied insult, revealing the tips of his fangs. “The mortal girl may wait for her sister if she wishes. But Lady Eris does not come to you, halfling. You go to her.”

“First of all, halflings are hobbits,” I informed him. I’d had enough of that particular erroneous slur from the naiads. “I’m a half-breed, thank you very much. Second . . .” I slid a couple inches of dauda-dagr’s shiny blade clear of the sheath. “I gave you two options. Pick one.”

He actually took a step backward. “Wait here.”

“Um, I’d be fine with talking to Bethany out on the terrace,” Jen volunteered. The vampire closed the door in our faces. She shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to undermine you.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t blame you.”

Several minutes later the blond vampire returned with Bethany in tow—or, more accurately, draped over his arm. I winced at the sight. She was a pretty girl. She and Jen looked a lot alike, actually, only Bethany was far too thin, brown eyes overbright in sunken hollows, her skin ashen. A set of fresh puncture wounds on her throat looked black in the light spilling from the open door.

“Hey, sister buzz-kill,” she said languorously to Jen. “What crawled up your ass and died?”

“I don’t know,” Jen retorted. “What died and crawled up your ass?”

There were times I regretted being an only child. This wasn’t one of them.

The vampire peeled Bethany off his arm and gave her a little shove. “Go speak with your sister.”

She pouted at him. “Do I have to?”

“Yes,” he said ruthlessly. “Our mistress has acceded to the request. Do you wish to disobey her?”

Her eyes widened and she shook her head like a scolded child. “No, no! I’ll go. I’ll talk to her.”

Jen and I exchanged a glance.

“Lady Eris will receive you, half-breed,” the vampire said disdainfully to me. “Sheath your blade and follow me.”

Oops. I shoved dauda-dagr all the way back into its sheath and followed him into the House of Shadows.

One thing about vampires: They definitely know how to throw a soirée. As far as I could tell, life at the House of Shadows was an ongoing party—only the party favors were human. I tried not to look too closely at what was going on in dimly lit corners as the blond vampire led me up a majestic staircase to the ballroom upstairs.