Lurine took my mom’s arm in hers. “If it’s no trouble, I’d love a cup of coffee, Marja. We can talk clothes.” She glanced at me, her gaze light, masking her concern. “Don’t worry about me, cupcake. I’ll call my driver to pick me up.”

“Okay.”

In my car, I slid my phone from my purse. No reply from Jen—oh, well. The ball was in her court now. Suppressing the tiniest pang of guilt, I called Cody. He answered right away, sounding disgruntled. “What’s up, Pixy Stix?”

I cradled the phone against my ear. “No luck?”

“No,” he said shortly. “You?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “And it’s a pretty major development. Do you want me to tell you, or do you want to meet?”

There was a pause. “You had dinner?”

“I never even had lunch,” I said, only just now realizing it.

“Me neither. Meet you at Callahan’s in ten.” He hung up.

It turned out to be more like twenty. Parking in downtown Pemkowet is a nightmare in the summer, and I had to circle the block several times before, miracle of miracles, a car pulled out of a space right in front of Callahan’s Café just as I was about to begin another circuit. I whipped into the space and was fumbling for my purse, which had fallen onto the floor, when someone rapped on the passenger-side window, making me jump.

Cody’s face peered at me. I leaned over to unlock the door. He opened it and squeezed his tall figure into the passenger seat.

“Change of plans?” I asked.

“No, I just thought you could give me a quick rundown.” He nodded at the café. “Too busy for privacy tonight.”

I told Cody the gist of what I’d learned. He heard me out in silence, an increasingly dark scowl on his face.

“Damn!” He pounded the dashboard with one fist when I’d finished. My poor little Honda rocked under the impact. “Sorry. I was really hoping this would turn out to be nothing sinister.” His face looked grim. “Now I’ve really got to find Ray D. I don’t suppose your mysterious friend has any pull in the ghoul community?”

“No, sorry.”

“Too bad.” Cody searched my face, his gold-flecked topaz eyes unnervingly intense. “How sure are you about this info, Daisy?”

“Pretty sure,” I said reluctantly. “Those undines really didn’t want to talk about it. None of the water elementals wanted to get involved. They’re scared. They wouldn’t have given it up if Lur . . . if my friend hadn’t made them. I don’t think they’d lie.”