The door to the master suite banged open. "What the hell, Beth!" David yelled as he entered the room. The blonde looked up from the large leather-bound book in her hands.

"What? What happened now, David?"

The vampire gestured towards Marko, who was slowly slinking into the room after David, then back at the female vampire. His mouth opened and closed several times but the words wouldn't form fast enough to be spoken. "How…How could you!"

"You know, this conversation would go more smoothly if I had any inkling of what you're accusing me of."

David snarled, eyes tinting red. "You turned that goddamn teenager into a half-vampire!"

"What!" Beth stood up from the loveseat, dropping the book on the cushion. She was across the room and up in Marko's face in a blink. "You tried to turn the surviving Frog?"

Marko growled, his features transforming as he tried to defend himself. "He wouldn't have lasted if I hadn't! We needed him to talk!"

"You could have eased up on the torture! Didja think of that, Marko?"

"It wouldn't have continued to be as much fun as it was, if I had!" The younger Boy complained.

David stared at the other two vampires, processing this revelation. "You didn't know, Beth?"

"Of course I didn't fucking know, David!" The blonde rounded on the head vampire, glaring darkly. "I wouldn't have ever agreed to that! If he'd gotten loose, it would have been disastrous for us. I can't believe you, Marko!"

"Hey! I was getting all the intel we needed to bring David back! I was doing all the work-" Marko's head snapped back as Beth's fist connected with his face.

"I forgot you had such a mean right hook." David mused, his countenance still heavy with anger, tinged with a tiny bit of amusement. Beth's bruised knuckles healed instantaneously. Marko snarled, holding a hand over his right eye. He glared from the left one, at both David and Beth, before he turned and rushed out of the master suite.

Beth shook her head. "I left him alone with Edgar, to do whatever he wanted to the kid. He had such a rough time coming back. It was like the revenge was giving him a renewed sense of purpose, since he was the only survivor."

"How rough was it, bringing him back?"

Beth looked at David before shaking her head. "Freezing him, while a smart idea, probably damaged him. It took a couple of days, the process. Letting him thaw while trying to revive him with Max's blood, it wasn't working initially. I couldn't put a needle into a vein and infuse him, so I had to paint it on his skin, let it dribble down his frozen throat."

David frowned. "A lot harder than raising me."

"You were basically a piece of cake, since I could use my own living blood and knew you would respond because of the bond. I don't have that connection to Marko. If you'd been brought back first, I could have used your blood bond to him, but we still didn't know what they'd done with your body."

"Marko was the obvious first choice."

"Only because if I'd waited any longer it would have failed." Beth sighed. "Bottled blood is only half as potent and grows weaker over time. Maria brought me the most recent bottles Max had filled but I made a hell of a dent in the stockpile, bringing Marko back."

"Doesn't matter. I'm head vampire now."

Beth shook her head and sighed. "Sure, whatever, David, but you're not as old as Max was. Your blood needs time, decades if not centuries, to become as powerful as what flowed in Max's veins. Yes, he made you a vampire, but blood magic-"

"You're getting into concept and theory territory, Beth." David interrupted.

"Fine, don't listen, don't learn." Beth snorted, picking up the leather-bound book and settling back on the couch to continue reading. David glanced at the gold embossed title on the front cover.

"'Collected manuscripts of Alwardt's vampiric codex'. That's what you read for pleasure?"

Beth didn't look up from the book. "Someone has to know all this stuff to keep us safe, to know how we tick. It's one of the books Marko took from Michael's grandfather's collection."

"Is the old codger dead?" David sat down in the recliner, lighting a cigarette.

"Yes. He took a parting shot at me but accepted defeat with dignity."

David raised a brow. "He figured out you were a vampire?"

"I made an error. He knew Lucy was dead." Beth shrugged, turning the thick, hand-made paper page. "He really was one of the last legendary hunters."

"Good riddance."

Beth peered over the top of the book at David. "I know you think eliminating all your known enemies as fast as possible is a smart battle strategy, but that just opens up space for those we don't know about, can't predict."

"What's to predict? We're the only vampires in this town. I rule Santa Carla, and I've made that very clear." Beth shook her head and returned to the book. David glared in her direction, angered by her lack of confident affirmation. "What, you think I can't hold Santa Carla?"

"You're a resurrected vampire. Your second is a former ghoul-vampire hybrid who you turned barely three nights ago. And the only other vampire is also resurrected and very likely brain damaged in some fashion. You have four ghouls whose blood oaths were not sworn to you. Not to mention a network of human teenagers that's been halved because you wanted to show them who's boss."

"If you're questioning my leadership…"

"What? What are you going to do to me, David?" Beth lowered the book to her lap. "Kill me? Right now I'm the only one who's backing your claim. You've alienated Marko for a mistake he made. Yeah, it's a pretty big mistake but he made it because he was anchorless without you around. He doesn't listen to me. He only, truly, listens to you."

David frowned in thought. "Because I'm the leader of the Lost Boys."

"There isn't… the Lost Boys are gone, David! They died when you all died!" Beth yelled, exasperated. "You want to be head vampire, fine! You're the eldest; it's your right. But if you're going to keep being violent and make ridiculously over-bold 'statements' to prove your claim, this family is going to crumble!"

"I'm not being 'over-bold'!"

"Did you lose all your finesse in death? You used to be a lot better at subtlety. You nearly out-gamed Max with a double cross. Now it's all cock of the walk, pound people over the head, excessive force crap. If you just eased up a bit, loosened your grip…"

David snarled, a violent noise that silenced the blonde vampire. Fixing her with a dirty look as he rose from the recliner, David left her alone in the master suite. He didn't want to hear a list of his faults and failures. What did Beth know about him, anyway?