House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7)

House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7) Page 11

IMMORTALLY IRREVOCABLE

Ethan, Luc, and Malik were already downstairs, dressed to the nines in classic black suits. Ethan nodded when he caught sight of me.

I stepped into the foyer just as Darius and the rest of the GP walked into the House, once again in their birdlike V formation. Like members of a dance team, they each had a position to fill, although their routine was much more conniving.

As I slipped into the crowd of Cadogan vampires who'd also assembled to greet them, Lacey stepped up to say hello. That's when the pleasantries began. Ethan had been right; however much I may have hated her, Darius definitely liked Lacey Sheridan.

"Lacey," Darius said, his voice saccharine sweet. He held out his hands and took hers, and they exchanged back-and-forth-and-back European-style cheek kisses.

"Sire," she said deferentially.

"You're looking well," he said, taking in her perfect black suit.

"As are you." Her gaze traveled down the line of vampires who'd accompanied him, and she made eye contact with each.

I told you they had a bond, Ethan silently said.

So you did, I said. And clearly they do.

Lacey pressed her hands together, then lifted them to her forehead, an obvious show of Grateful Condescension. Or brownnosing.

"Sires, I am honored by your presence."

"I doubt that sentiment is universal," Darius said, looking back at Ethan, and an awkward silence fell.

"Darius," Ethan said, and the word fell heavy like a gauntlet, or a challenge. Darius was still Ethan's sire, his king, his commander, at least for a few more minutes, and calling him by his first name wasn't exactly respectful.

Darius's eyes narrowed. He'd taken the slap, and he didn't like it. But then a smile blossomed, and that was even scarier.

"Ethan. Apparently we've chosen to act like peasants before the deed is done," he said, the insult clear. "But no matter. Soon these issues will be resolved. Shall we get to it?"

"By all means," Ethan said, extending a hand toward the back of the House.

I guessed he hadn't forgotten all of his manners.

It was late and cold, but we were most definitely awake, Cadogan House's vampires silent as we gathered together around the brick fire pit on the back lawn.

We'd been joined by about half of the Cadogan vampires who didn't live in the House but wanted to show their support, our size swollen in solidarity against our future enemy. I recognized friends and colleagues in the crowd, but I found I couldn't approach them. I felt like a betrayer, a violator of Ethan's trust and the House's. Separate from everyone else who wasn't currently being blackmailed.

Across from us stood the vampires of the Greenwich Presidium. Numerically, we outnumbered them, but we radiated nervous energy, as if they held the power to destroy us with a flick of their hands.

They were all dressed professionally. Every one of them wore a suit of some sort, and to a one, their hands were clasped together in front of them, an angry jury ready to pronounce its verdict upon us.

Except that we'd already entered a plea in the metaphorical court. And tonight we were making it official.

"Who stands for this House today?" Darius asked.

"I do," Ethan said, stepping forward.

The members of the GP exchanged looks of obvious surprise.

"You are not the Master of this House," said a petite woman, gazing at him above the top of her glasses.

"I am the Master of this House by concession of its former Master and my formal reinvestment." Ethan held out his hand, and Malik handed him the papers they'd signed and sealed last night.

Ethan held up the sheaf, showing it to the GP, but unwilling to hand over the documents. Not that I blamed him. They might have gone directly into the fire.

"We were not invited to the ceremony," Darius mused.

"It wasn't a ceremony for you," Ethan said. "It was for this House."

Darius looked singularly unimpressed. "So you stand Master now?"

"I do."

Darius smiled falsely. "I don't see any particular need to draw this out. Ethan Sullivan, as you are apparently Master of Cadogan House, you and yours have voted to remove yourselves from the Greenwich Presidium. Do you agree?"

"I agree."

"From this night forward, you and your vampires shall be unaffiliated, and your House, the House of Peter Cadogan, shall be Decertified. You shall not be entitled to the rights or privileges afforded to members of the Greenwich Presidium. Do you agree?"

"I agree."

"You reject the authority of the Greenwich Presidium over you and your vampires, and you submit to the authority of humans and hereby do join the world in which they live?"

It was becoming apparent the GP hadn't updated their script in a while. But that didn't stop Ethan.

"I agree," he said.

"Before you take an irrevocable step, we offer you one last chance," Darius said. "Agree to follow the appropriate dictates and we will allow you to remain within the GP on a . . . trial . . . basis."

Ethan smiled thinly and crossed his arms. "I can easily guess what those dictates are. In the course of preparing for our departure, you realized the economic significance this House provided to the GP. And you've decided that our leaving the GP doesn't have quite the favorable ring that it once had. Here's the thing - we don't need you or your organization. We can and will survive on our own."

"What you don't appreciate," Darius said, "are the benefits you received from your membership. That you weren't fully aware of them doesn't mean they didn't exist. Do you honestly think Peter Cadogan would be happy to learn what's happened to his House? That the members of his House have elected to leave the GP - the institution that protected them for so long?"

Silence descended, but magic rose.

Ethan dropped his chin, gazing back at Darius beneath a hooded brow. "Peter Cadogan believed in his vampires. They were his first priority, and they were and remain mine. I'm not sure you've ever understood that, Darius."

"I understand plenty, Mr. Sullivan. The medals, if you please."

Kelley stepped forward and handed him the box of Cadogan gold.

Darius took the box and dropped it unceremoniously into the fire. "By the power vested in me as the head of the Greenwich Presidium, I hereby break the bond between us. Your House is Decertified. Your vampires are unaffiliated, UnHoused, and lacking the rights and privileges that would otherwise be afforded to them. The papers," he added, then held out his hand. One of the other GP members, a tall and lithe woman who looked to be of Indian descent, handed him a folder. Darius held it over the flames, just low enough for bright orange tongues of fire to graze the paper.

Darius lifted his steely gaze to Ethan. "There is no going back."

"We move forward," Ethan said. "Always forward. To affirm our affiliation with you would not be a step forward."

"That's not the most positive statement on which to end your lengthy relationship with the GP."

"I come to bury Caesar," Ethan gritted out. "Not to praise him."

"Then let it be heard - this was their choice." Darius opened his fingers, and the portfolio fell into the fire and burst into flames. Along with hundreds of years of history.

For a moment, the vampires were silent. I'd expected to feel changed somehow. Lighter, or even more afraid when the deed was done. But I didn't feel any different, which was precisely the point Ethan had been trying to make. Being a member of the GP didn't make us vampires; it just made us members. We were who we were with or without our GP association.

Darius, not surprisingly, was the first to break the silence.

"It is done," he said. The change in attitude was clear in his tone. We'd left his secret society, and we were nothing now. We were outcasts, and he intended to treat us as such. No Grateful Condescension for the vampires of Cadogan House, no allowances for the age and respect of our House. Those things were irrelevant now, just as we were irrelevant to him.

"It isn't done," Ethan said. "There's something we wish to say."

"You have nothing to say to us, Rogue," said the woman.

Ethan's eyes flashed silver. And so it begins, he silently said.

So it does, I silently agreed.

"I have more than enough to say," Ethan said. "Words that have built over centuries. Words that you wouldn't hear then. Perhaps you won't hear them now, but I would be remiss not to try." He slid his hands into his pockets, the movement of a man calm and relaxed. But anyone who knew Ethan - and I'd bet Darius did - would have known his calm was only feigned.

"Peter Cadogan was a good man," Ethan said. "A good man and a good vampire. The GP, in the intervening years since its creation, has forgotten how to respect both attributes. It prizes that which is 'vampire' over that which is good or moral. You have lost your compass, and you perpetuate your own ignorance. Your own members cause strife for the Houses you are sworn to protect, and you ignore their actions and blame the Houses when they must defend themselves. You are an anachronism that has no place in this modern world.

"Our exit is not an aberration, Darius. It is a harbinger. Celina predicted war would come. If you ignore the rising tides, you do so at your own peril."

The speech was moving, Ethan's passion clear. But the only thought on my mind? That if he felt that way about the GP, maybe he wouldn't kill me after all.

"Hyperbole doesn't suit you," Darius said, little swayed by Ethan's words. "And moreover, it's irrelevant, because there are two facts you've handily ignored. First, I believe you'll find it a challenge to move forward in light of the fact that any progress you've made since this House was founded is because of the GP's largesse."

"Malik," Ethan said, and Malik handed Ethan a slip of paper. Ethan immediately extended it to Darius.

"This is a check accounting for the increase in the value of the House's assets to which we assumed you would be claiming title. I believe you'll find the settlement to be very reasonable."

Ethan smiled smugly . . . but so did Darius. He handed the check back to the woman, whose eyes had grown wide with Ethan's revelation.

"That is only the first fact, Ethan. Much, much more important is the second."

One of the GP members whistled loudly. A shock of nervous energy blew through the Cadogan crowd at the sound, all of us looking around for whatever threat the GP had called or signaled.

Ethan's safety in mind, I put a hand on the pommel of my sword and moved forward through the crowd, closer to him. I didn't know what Darius had in mind, but there seemed little doubt it would be treacherous.

We didn't have to wait long. Only a second later, there was a thunder of sound and movement as a brigade of mercenary fairies burst into the backyard, swords bared. Each of them wore military black and fearsome grins . . . and their katanas were unsheathed and pointing at us. Other than Claudia, fairies looked nearly identical, so there was no way to tell whether these were the fairies at the gate or a new crew who'd been called in for the meeting. But it hardly seemed to matter - one way or the other, fairies had breached the peace between us.

Cadogan swords were drawn, and we moved closer together for protection even as they attempted to surround us, the hypocritical bastards. So much for the progress we'd made, for the help we'd offered and the friendship I'd thought we were beginning to forge.

In front of us, smiling calmly and cruelly, stood the members of the Greenwich Presidium.

Gloating.

Anger drifted forward in waves from the betrayed Cadogan Novitiates and their Master, and I imagined more than a few eyes had silvered with anger.

But business first. I'm here, I silently told Ethan, checking the crowd for Luc and Malik. They stood nearby, and we formed a protective arc around our Master.

Hold your position, Sentinel, Ethan said, his voice tight.

"What is this?" Lacey asked. Her voice was calm, but there was a thread of irritation in it. She might be a GP-affiliated Master, but she was still one of Ethan's vampires. And for once, that might actually do us some good.

"This," Darius said, "is our second point. The Greenwich Presidium hereby reclaims ownership of Cadogan House."

Ethan laughed with such gusto that Darius's eyes narrowed with anger.

"This House and its remaining assets belong to the vampires within it," Ethan said. "I think you well know that."

"I know your disrespect for the GP has gone on long enough. You presume because we are located an ocean away, you can act with impunity. You are incorrect. The House's contract includes a proprietary clause allowing us certain damages in the event you breach your obligations to the GP. We have concluded you've breached those obligations throughout your history, and, as such, we claim the House by right. And obviously we have the muscle to back that up." He gestured vaguely at the fairies.

Ethan made a sound of disdain. "Because your pride has been hurt, you threaten the very vampires you just invited back into your fold? You kick us out of our home and incite a war between fairies and vampires for the sake of your egos? Peter Cadogan would be ashamed, Darius, but of your behavior. Of the entire Presidium."

"You're only making my point, Ethan. You bring drama, consternation, and media attention to the vampires of this state and nation, and you blame us for taking measures to protect our institutions? How very shortsighted. How very . . . human."

"I take that as a compliment."

"You would," Darius said. "Regardless your opinion of it, you should accept the state of the world you have created. In consideration of the rising sun and the number of vampires you'll need to displace, we'll afford you some time to gather your personal belongings and vacate. You have forty-eight hours. By then, you should be resigned to your fate and out of this House. Should you fail to do so, you'll find a contingent of armed fairies ready to escort you out. And think on this, Ethan: In consideration of the bridges you've burned, who will help you now?"

The GP and fairies disappeared. For a moment, we simply stood there in shock.

"The fairies," Ethan said. "The goddamn fairies."

The fairies weren't known to be lovers of vampires, but that didn't diminish the insult of their actions. They were our guards, for God's sake. They kept watch over us while we slept. Or at least they had.

"What could possibly motivate them to do this?" I asked. "What could they possibly want badly enough to do this?"

I looked at Ethan . . . and understanding dawned. It wasn't what the fairies wanted . . . it was what we had.

"Upstairs," Ethan said. "Check our apartments."

Already knowing what he was thinking, I ran back into the House and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I reached the third floor and was nearly home when I stopped short.

The doors to our apartments were open. Alarm quickened my heart.

Malik appeared in the hallway behind me, his breathing quickened by the run. "I expect you know what you're looking for."

"I think I do." I waited outside for a moment to let my vampiric senses scan the room, and when I was sure it was empty of trespassers, I walked inside and looked around.

Nothing seemed immediately askew: no cushions ripped or bleeding their stuffing, no drawers or lamps overturned. In fact, nothing was disturbed at all . . . except the glass case in the corner of the room.

One side was completely shattered, and the dragon's egg was gone.

"Malik," I called out, as I moved closer to the case.

"A GP affiliate must have taken it," he said, disgust in his voice. "Undoubtedly during the ceremony. Even as they insulted us, they sent someone in here to retrieve an object to which they have no right. As if there wasn't enough drama in the world, Darius had to create more of it."

Malik moved closer, head tilted as he looked over the remains of the case.

"Should I clean up the glass?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"Leave it. Ethan will want to take a look anyway. We'll ask Helen to take care of it."

"We could file a police report," I suggested.

"For what purpose?" Ethan asked, stepping into the room behind us, Luc and Lacey with him.

Luc gave me a nod, and Lacey ignored me completely. Her eyes, and quite likely her mind, were on Ethan. Was it stupid to hope she'd see reason, forget about what she'd imagined she'd seen, and let us get through this crisis before creating another one?

Ethan deposited his suit jacket on a table by the door and walked toward the case. "I seriously doubt they'd care much for the missing trinket of a vampire."

It was an unfortunate point, but no less accurate for that.

"It was trinket enough for the GP to steal and hold before the fairies like a carrot on a stick," Luc said.

"The fairies want it back?" I asked.

"They must," Ethan said, "to be willing to raise arms against us."

"Why now?" Luc asked. "We've had the egg for more than a century, and they've been guarding the House for years. Why didn't they simply ask for it back?"

"Perhaps they didn't know where it was," I said. "Claudia mentioned it in her tower. Her guards were there; maybe that's when they learned it was here."

"And when Darius sought their help," Malik said, "they knew exactly what they wanted."

"Possibly," Ethan said. "Or it's possible they waited because they didn't want to risk the income they receive from the House. Once they believe our stability is questionable, they decide the income is no longer a given, and they're willing to take a chance to get the egg."

Malik nodded. "And perhaps they hoped Cadogan House's new 'tenants' would continue to pay them a fair wage for guarding it. They get both things they want."

Looking suddenly exhausted, Ethan sat down in an armchair and dropped his head back, loosening the tie around his neck. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a haggard breath while Luc, Malik, and I waited for direction.

I took the opportunity to message my grandfather and Jonah about events, and the possibility that I'd be heading to my grandfather's house for an extended stay in the guest room.

"There were days," Ethan said, "when I considered a minor dip in the House's investments a tragedy. Oh, how times have changed."

"Same issues," Lacey said. "Only the scale is different."

"Hoss, you want some blood?" Luc asked Ethan. "Or maybe a drink?"

"Two fingers of whiskey, please. No, fuck it. Just bring me the bottle."

I was closest to the apartment's small bar area, so I made the drink. I wasn't sure even a fifth of fine Scottish whiskey would soothe the sting of Darius's betrayal. I poured the amber liquid into a short glass, the potent smell tickling my nose. When the bottle was recapped, I offered it to Ethan, and sat down in the armchair near his.

"The fairies are gone," Luc said, looking at his phone again, "and we've got the backup firm on the line. They'll have a full contingent of guards here within the hour, and Michael Donovan's agreed to rendezvous with them."

"Who'll guard us now?" I asked.

Luc leaned against a console table nearby. "Humans. We've had a security firm on retainer for years as a backup, but we don't reveal the firm's name even to guards. Or Sentinels," he apologetically added.

"It's a sabotage prevention mechanism," Lacey said, eyes narrowed at me.

Okay, so she clearly wasn't going to let us focus on one crisis at a time.

"Ya," Luc agreed, oblivious to the undercurrent. "We'd preferred fairies, since they're stronger and generally less fickle." His eyes narrowed. "Generally."

Ethan sipped his whiskey, then put the glass heavily on the cocktail table beside him. "Who, in God's name, could have predicted this? That the GP would force us to fight? That they'd prefer to leave us homeless instead of simply accepting our graceful departure? Goddamned bastards."

"They can't really take the House, can they?" I asked, looking from vampire to vampire, but no one offered a response.

My heart sank low in my chest.

I felt for the apartment key in my jacket pocket and looked around the space I'd only so recently moved into. This House had become my home; I didn't want to give it up, especially not to Darius West and his ilk. Talk about adding insult to injury.

"Darius has made his gambit," Lacey said. "For better or worse, he'll follow it through if he believes it's in his vampires' best long-term interest."

"The key phrase being 'his vampires,'" Luc said. "And we've just defined ourselves as falling outside that group."

"We knew he'd label us as the enemy," Ethan said. "I'd merely hoped for more of a 'live and let live' approach. And the irony? Michael broached the possibility the fairies were dangerous last night."

He'd mentioned it to me, too. Not that we hadn't known of the risks before. But we'd weighed the benefits against the costs, and we'd kept them around because the math didn't seem so bad.

"And so it begins," Ethan said. "More strife between vampire and fae. And I'd thought we'd made significant inroads."

"We did," I assured him. I hated to see him so defeated. "We were actually communicating with Claudia. We can't just let them get away with this."

I looked around the room, but no one met my eyes.

"There has to be some way to deal with it, some way to fix it. And we'll figure it out. All of us, together. Right?" I smiled at Ethan, feeling suddenly - weirdly - like a Cadogan House cheerleader, sans pleated skirt and bloomers. "I mean, you did ask your transition team to come all this way. At least now you'll get your money's worth."

Ethan looked back at me, and I saw that familiar spark light in his eyes. He sat up, and looked at each of us in turn. "She's right. We work this problem like any other, and we find a solution. Is that understood?"

We all nodded.

Ethan looked at Malik. "Start a timer. I want it in my office within the hour, counting down the hours we purportedly have to fix this situation. Thank God it's winter, and we'll actually be awake for a good portion of that time."

"Liege," Malik said, a little smile at the corner of his mouth at Ethan's sudden sense of action.

Ethan stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, then put his hands on his hips.

"I say this one time, and you may spread the word to the House as you like. We are not leaving this House. Peter bade me captain his ship, and as long as I am alive on this earth and Master of this domain, I will captain it. They will take this House over my dead body. Call Paige, the librarian, and Michael Donovan. I want them in my office within the hour."

Ethan could be frustrating at times. Infuriating at others. But there was no doubt he was a Master among men.

The troops inspired, I waited while Luc, Lacey, and Malik left the apartments to begin the process of beginning the process, then looked at Ethan. "You're all right?"

He walked toward me and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "I've survived world wars, Sentinel. This is a drop in the bucket."

We both knew he was exaggerating, but I forgave him the boast.

I turned toward the door and held out a hand. "Then let's go downstairs and take care of this real quick."

He smiled a little, which was the point. "Real quick?"

I shrugged. "You know, since it's a drop in the bucket."

He put his hand in mine and we walked toward the door, pretending we had a solution. Pretending we had a fix.

And hoping to God we could find one.

We found Lacey in the doorway of his office, her eyes narrowing at the sight of Ethan and me together. I knew I had to tell him the truth about the RG - if nothing else to beat her to the punch - but this was not the time to add to his burdens. Hopefully she was mature enough to see that, too.

We walked inside to find Michael Donovan, Paige, the librarian, Luc, and Malik already in the room. On the wall was the timer Ethan had requested. It was large, with a black screen and squarish white numbers that ticked the seconds, minutes, and hours that we had left until the fairies tried to forcibly remove us from our home. Unless we figured out a way to stop them.

Luc had scrounged up another whiteboard and set it up near the conference table.

"This looks like a party."

We glanced back at the door. Gabriel Keene, head of the North American Central Pack, stood there with a black motorcycle helmet in hand. Memphis was his home base, but Chicago was, for all intents and purposes, his city. With sun-burnished hair and amber eyes, he looked like a force to be reckoned with. And was.

He took a step inside. "I hear you've got a problem. Thought perhaps you could use some assistance."

Word traveled fast among supernaturals - or in this case from my message to my grandfather, probably to Jeff, and then to Gabriel. The look on Ethan's face was priceless: Hope and joy blossomed, and perhaps for the first time, he believed there might actually be a way out of this.

He skipped the greeting, walked toward Gabriel, and offered a bear-sized hug. Gabriel slapped him on the back.

"All right, old man. Let's not make Kitten jealous." He glanced around Ethan and smiled at me. "Hello, Kitten."

Gabriel had taken to calling me that, mostly as a comic insult, kittens being among the least powerful of the animals shifters could change into. "Gabe. Welcome to the party."

"It means a lot to the House that you're here," Ethan said, as they moved toward the conference table.

"Yeah, well, don't take it too personally." He glanced around the room, his gaze falling on Michael Donovan. "I'm not sure I know everyone?"

Ethan made the appropriate introductions, and we began to gather around the conference table.

"Oh, one more thing," Gabriel said before sitting, swinging a black backpack off his shoulder. He unzipped it and produced a bundle wrapped in aluminum foil. The scent of barbecue filled the air.

"Mallory sends her regards," he said, handing the packet to me.

By having Gabriel bring me a bundle of meat? She most certainly did.

"Now that Merit's fed, which is clearly our most important consideration," Ethan snarked with a smile, "let's get down to business."

I put the meat on the table and sat down, but didn't open it. Now was not the time.

Ethan stood at the head of the table. "We have what's left of this evening and tomorrow night to figure out how to keep this House in our hands, and prevent the GP from destroying what we've built in this city. Failure," he said, looking at each member of the transition team in turn, "is not an option. I don't care what form the remedy takes - whether contractual, legal, or a good old-fashioned brawl. But we will have a plan in place that assures the continuation of this House in our hands.

"Now," he said, taking a seat, "let's get to work." He looked first at Paige and then the librarian, who sat beside me. "The contracts?"

The librarian nodded. "The contract has what amounts to a good-behavior clause," he said, handing Ethan a document with a flagged page. "It basically says the House is obliged to act in a manner consistent with GP values. If the House fails to do so, the GP is entitled to damages."

Ethan flipped the pages, glancing back and forth between them. "It doesn't say, specifically, the damages are comprised of the House?"

"It doesn't. But the language is vague, so there's no way to tell exactly how a court might interpret it." He shrugged. "But that's just my opinion, and I'm not a lawyer."

Ethan glanced at Malik. "And what do the lawyers say?"

"They're reviewing and researching now. They indicated they might not have a final answer until the sun rises again, but they do have some concerns about judicial interpretation."

"They always do," Ethan said. "The primary problem being we'd have to fight the GP in court, even assuming the courts have jurisdiction over vampiric problems. That 'solution' creates years of litigation, which does not accomplish my goal of resolving this issue before Darius leaves for London again."

He looked at Luc. "A show of force?"

"We could fight the fairies, but you know how they fight: to the death, or they deem it hardly worth the trouble. They prefer seppuku over losing, so any battle would result, at a minimum, in the deaths of multiple vampires or the deaths of all fairies."

Gabriel whistled. "The city of Chicago will not like that."

"No," Ethan agreed. "Nor is it something I can countenance. And I still find it hard to believe that Darius would condone such a thing."

"He doesn't think you'll follow through with it," Lacey said. She sat at the foot of the table, facing Ethan across the piles of materials. "He knows you wouldn't allow your vampires to be injured for the sake of a building, and assumes you'll bow out before then."

"Why the House?" I wondered. "Is it the symbolism or the structure?"

"Both," Lacey quickly answered, playing the authority on the GP's motivations, which maybe she was. "Symbolically, it demonstrates the GP's power - that the Houses are utterly within its control, and failure to fall in line will leave a House, quite literally, without resources."

"And structurally," Ethan put in, looking at me, "it defines who we are. We are unified by Peter's name, but it is the House that brings us together. If we will not follow the rules, Darius will strip away the tie that binds."

Gabriel leaned back in his chair, which squeaked beneath him. "That's a class act you have there."

"We're very proud," Ethan dryly said.

Gabriel sat up again and looked at Ethan. "We are friends," he said. "But I cannot offer soldiers now. Not when there's another way."

He meant not when we could leave the House and avoid the fight altogether. Ethan didn't look thrilled at the news the Pack wouldn't assist us in a fight - they were, by far, the largest group of nonvampire allies we had - but he took the news graciously.

"I understand your position," Ethan said. "It doesn't thrill me, but were I in the same place, I'd likely make the same decision." He looked around the table. "What else?"

"Extortion?" Paige suggested. "I don't know much about these vampires, but do we have anything on any of them we could use to change their minds?"

Ethan and I exchanged a glance. We knew Harold Monmonth had murdered at Celina's behest, but there was no way Darius or any of the other GP members would care. The GP generally thought human lives were beneath their concern. A centuries-old death wouldn't inspire much interest.

"Not that I'm aware of," Ethan said.

"We can't buy them off," Malik said. "We're out of money."

"What about the egg?" Gabriel asked.

Everyone looked at Gabriel. "What about it?" Ethan asked.

"It's the key to the entire thing. The fairies want it; Darius has it. I assume he hasn't given it to them yet and won't - not until they follow through on their promise to attack. If you can get it back . . ."

"Then we hold the trophy," Ethan said, "and the fairies won't care what the GP wants them to do." He sat back, then looked at Michael. "Thoughts?"

"It's an idea," Michael said, nodding at me. "Satiating the fairies would solve the immediate problem of keeping the House, but not the long-term issue. Darius isn't just making a one-time play here. If he wants the House, he'll try again to get it."

"A fair point," Ethan said. "But perhaps, for now, we play the hand we've been dealt. Where might the egg be?"

"Darius and the rest of the GP members are staying at the Dandridge," Malik said. "He might take it there."

"Eh, I'm not sure about that," Luc said. "They're gambling here, and he has to know we're having this conversation. That spot seems too obvious."

"Too obvious, and too hard to breach in any event," I said. "Celebrities and senators stay at the Dandridge. I'm not even sure we could get through security to check the rooms."

"I think it's safe to assume it's in the metro area," Michael said. "They can't take it too far away; there wouldn't be time to get it back into the fairies' hands again."

I bet he was right. Unfortunately, Chicago was a big city.

"We have to look," Ethan said. "The search begins now." He looked at Malik. "Start with the other Houses' Seconds. Find out what they know, if they have any information about where it might be."

"They may not want to help," Luc said. "This is precisely the kind of anti-GP behavior Darius wants to punish."

"Perhaps," Ethan said. "Convince them anyway. Someone knows how to fix this, and I want an answer tonight."

Unfortunately, he didn't get it. Two hours later, even after sharing the snack Gabriel had brought, we were no closer to a solution. Other than guessing it might be at the Dandridge, no one from the other Houses had any idea where the egg might be; nor were they forthcoming with even that unhelpful suggestion. Not that their mum's-the-word attitudes were surprising; neither Navarre nor Grey wanted to involve their Houses any more than necessary. That was how they'd stayed off the GP's radar before, and Darius's nuclear threat only reinforced the lesson.

Ethan rubbed a hand over his face. "Dawn is coming. We will reconvene at dusk." He looked at Gabriel. "I appreciate your time."

Gabriel smiled wolfishly. "Devil you know versus the devil you don't. I'd much rather have you in this House than a bunch of GP assholes."

We couldn't argue with that.

With minutes to spare before dawn, Ethan came to me with exhaustion, and sought solace in my arms. Fear hung over me: Lacey's knowledge of my meeting with Jonah. The unknown killer outside our gate. The threats against our House and home.

We lay together in the dark, bodies intertwined, as the sun rose outside. As the minutes and hours of our remaining sanctuary in Cadogan House slipped away, one by one.

"I cannot lose this House," he drowsily murmured, as the sun wandered into the sky again. "I cannot . . . disappoint them."

I ached for him, and swore to help him keep the House, but not even love could stop the rising of the sun.