I fought the urge to tilt my neck from side to side and work out the kinks. “A request, my lady. A reasonable one, I believe. I don’t know if you’re aware—”

“Yes, of course.” Lady Eris interrupted me impatiently. “A boy has died. I assure you, it’s nothing to do with us.”

It crossed my mind that Pemkowet’s vampire mistress could use a much-needed lesson in courtesy from the Oak King. Wisely, I kept my mouth shut on that thought. “I know,” I said instead. “I’m just here to ask that you keep your people off the streets until this blows over. That’s all.”

She studied me. “On whose behalf do you ask this?”

With the memory of Stacey Brooks flashing me the devil-horns sign fresh in my memory, echoing a hundred times I’d endured similar taunts in high school, it was oh, so tempting to pin this on the PVB. But the fact was, no matter how much I disliked Stacey, her mother was right. Amanda Brooks was good at her job. This was a simple, smart precaution to take.

And if I didn’t own it, I stood to lose face, which could come back to haunt me in future dealings with the House of Shadows.

“I stand before you as Hel’s liaison to request this small favor,” I said steadily. “Do you assent?”

Another long moment passed.

The music that had been playing in the background had stopped. A multitude of candles flickered soundlessly, casting moving shadows against the walls, reflected in the tall arched and paned windows with their blackout curtains drawn for the night. The ballroom was filled with the unnatural silence of the pale, pulseless, and breathless undead, broken only by the sound of their mortal playthings breathing, and the occasional soft, unnerving giggle.

Lady Eris inclined her head. The part in her black hair was ruler-straight and perfectly white. “Let it be heard and known!” she said, raising her head and lifting her voice. “Until such a time as I decree otherwise, there shall be no hunting on the streets of Pemkowet. Is this understood, my people?”

A dozen vampires grumbled without breath, but they bowed to their mistress, acceding to her wishes.

“Well, Hel’s liaison?” she asked me, her expression unreadable. “Does that suffice?”

I nodded. “Thank you, my lady. It does.”

Chapter Thirty-five

Thirty-five

Outside, I gulped down air.

All in all, I hadn’t done a bad job. Okay, apparently I was more vulnerable to vampiric seduction than I’d realized, but I’d managed to hold my own. And I’d gotten what I came for, which was the most important thing.

On the far side of the parking terrace, Jen and Bethany were still immersed in conversation, perched on the fountain’s ledge. I drifted near them and hovered, unsure whether or not to approach.