Cody looked like he might start a fight then and there, so I hastily asked, “And nobody knows how the mistake was made?”

“I heard it was Cedric,” called Peter. “And that you’ve been cozying up with him.”

“Hardly. I just met him yesterday.”

Cody was apparently out of the loop. “What?”

“Georgina was sent to Canadian Boot Camp for sleeping with the therapist,” explained Peter.

“Seriously?” asked Cody. I could already tell he was envisioning images of pine trees and snow-capped mountains.

I shrugged. “Figure of speech. It’s some stupid job I have to do for him. I was there earlier today and got sent home empty-handed because there was nothing for me to do.”

“I can’t believe you’d do that,” said Cody.

“Work for Cedric?”

“No. Go to Canada and not bring us back Tim Hortons.”

The vampires invited me to stay for dinner, as I’d known they would, and we mulled over the mystery of last night’s fight and other demonic politics. For the first time in a very long while, I had something to distract me other than Seth and the woes of my love life. There was nothing going on that really indicated some large, disastrous immortal scheme at work. A misunderstanding among vampires. A troublesome cult. An old grudge between demons. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else going on—something just beyond my reach. I kept thinking of what Tawny had said about scams and misdirection.

I eventually gave up on trying to figure out the mystery for now, and the vampires soon started replaying every last detail of the previous night’s fight—a topic they never seemed to tire of. The stories bored me after a while, and I instead found myself studying little things, like the layout of the apartment, the new appliances, the granite countertops . . .

“Do you think I should move?” I asked abruptly.

Cody stopped mid-sentence. I think he’d been describing how he’d had Lenny the vampire in a chokehold. “What?” he asked.

“I’m thinking of getting a new place.”

“Were you even listening to my story?” asked Cody, looking slightly hurt.

“You’ve lived over there for years,” said Peter. “As long as I’ve known you.”

“I know. Maybe it’s time for a change. It’s small, and it’s old.”

“That’s because it’s a historic building,” argued Peter.

“And,” added Cody, “it’s close to where you work. You’d have to drive in if you moved—unless you’re just going up the street or something.”

My eyes focused on the far side of the room without really seeing it. I remembered talking to Seth the other night and how it had seemed like I couldn’t get far enough away from him. I thought about our fight earlier tonight. “No,” I told them quietly. “I’d move somewhere else. Somewhere farther out.”

“Ah,” said Peter in understanding.

Cody frowned. “I don’t get it. Why would you want to move far away from your—ow!” Peter had kneed him. Cody started to demand why, but then he seemed to catch on too. He was naïve about immortal affairs, sometimes, but not human ones. His face turned sympathetic, which I hated. “Maybe change is good.”