After spending a week at home, Jen’s sister, Bethany, put on a much-needed ten pounds, copped a healthier attitude toward her bloodsucker beau . . . and promptly caved when Geoffrey the insufferable prat begged her to return to the House of Shadows, vowing for the umpteenth time to make good on his promise to change her.

Yeah, I know. You can’t win them all. I started looking into ways to break the blood-bond anyway.

Amanda Brooks at the PVB was outraged at the invoice I submitted for cowslip dew and a linen tablecloth. I stood my ground, reminding her that I’d delivered big-time on her request for pretty, sparkly fairies, and that I could certainly tell them to cancel their appearances if she didn’t want to reimburse me.

In the end, she relented and paid it, which was good, since it meant I could pay my rent that month.

Mogwai approved and begrudgingly forgave me, so long as it meant his bowl was filled with kibble whenever he deigned to visit.

Terri Sweddon married the youngest Dalton boy in the Episcopal church, looking like a vision in a sleek Vera Wang–inspired satin gown Mom made for her, flanked by bridesmaids in ivory-hued sheath dresses they might actually wear on another occasion. Even the mother of the bride looked surprisingly stylish.

I know, I know, you don’t care, but Pemkowet is a small town, okay? And in a small town, these things matter to us.

Plus, my mom rules.

And my father’s voice had gone remarkably silent since the showdown at the Locksley residence.

I was good with that, too. Forbidden fruit and all.

A month after Thad’s death, I attended Music in the Gazebo for the first time since the night his body had been found there. I was hoping to shake the association, and Jen needed cheering up after Bethany’s defection, so I invited a few other people: Mom, Lurine, Cody, and Sinclair Palmer. Everyone but Sinclair came, and to my surprise, Caleb and Jeanne Fairfax and their two boys joined us, too.

“I hope you don’t mind that I invited them.” Cody lowered his voice. “I think it’s good for them to get out of the woods every once in a while.”

“I’m glad they came,” I said, meaning it. The Fairfax clan might be insular, but they’d come through for us that night at the Locksley place.