Хлоя Нейл: Some Girls Bite

“So it would appear,” Ethan agreed, nodding. “We are dealing with a killer, or killers, who have access to multiple Houses, perhaps a vendetta against them.”

“But they’ve also got a vendetta against the Rogues,” Noah said. “Let’s not forget that every time a House denies involvement, they implicitly accuse us.”

“Implicit or not, it’s hard to accuse a group no one knows about,” Scott grunted, joining the conversation. “The public only knows about us—that means the shit falls on us.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have stepped forward,” muttered a Rogue who stood beside Noah.

“Not my choice,” Scott pointed out.

“Nor mine,” Ethan said. “But it’s too late to do anything about that now. The only thing we can do now is cooperate. With the CPD, the administration, the investigations. Cooperation is the only thing that will insulate us from the public relations fallout, at least until the perpetrator of these crimes has been identified.”

“And our existence?” Noah quietly asked.

The room fell silent as the Masters, Ethan and Scott, likely weighed their options.

“Until we figure out who’s doing the damage,” Scott finally said, “there’s no point embroiling other vamps.” He shrugged, glanced at Ethan. “That’s my take.”

Ethan nodded. “I would agree.”

“Then we wait,” Noah pronounced, propping hands on his hips. “And if someone has information about which vampire or vampires are responsible for this cluster fuck, I suggest they come forward. We had no intention of entering the public eye, and we won’t do it now. If the Houses fall, we will not step forward. We will disperse into the human world as we have before.” He glanced between Ethan and Scott, then settled his gaze on Morgan. “Clean up your Houses,” he said.

With that pronouncement, Noah turned and began walking through the crowd, which opened to accommodate him and the Rogues who followed.

“And we’re adjourned,” Ethan muttered.

Not privy to the private meeting between Ethan, Scott, and Morgan that followed the Rogues’ departure, I went home, ignored the worried glances I received on the way in, headed straight for my bedroom, and shut the door behind me. The belted sword was placed on an armchair, and I grabbed my iPod, slipped in the ear buds, lay down on the bed, and told myself I didn’t care what had happened earlier in the evening.

I’d never been a very good liar.

CHAPTER 15

BEFORE THE FLOOD

The next night I woke exhausted, having spent most of the day rolling, staring, cursing, replaying the events of the night before, mentally reenacting every moment Ethan and I had shared, and wondering how, why it had been so easy for him to trade me in for his precious political capital.

While that mystery loomed, I had work to do, so I rose, showered, dressed, ate a bowl of cereal in the darkness of my kitchen, slipped on the leather jacket, and grabbed the belted sword and the box of cupcakes I hadn’t had time to deliver last night, preparing to return to Cadogan House and report for duty.

I’d just locked the front door and turned to descend the stoop steps when I saw Morgan leaning against his car, arms and ankles crossed. He was in jeans again, a black shirt tucked into jeans snugged with a heavy black belt, and the ubiquitous leather jacket.

He was grinning. “Hi.”

I stood on the stoop, blinked, then took the steps and went for the garage, hoping the obvious uninterest would send him running. Instead, he followed me, pausing at the threshold of the garage, a disarmingly cute grin on his face.

“You said I could call.”

“Call,” I repeated. “Not show up at dusk.” I pulled open the garage door, walked inside, and unlocked the car door.

“You gave me permission to court you.”

With what I thought was an impressive amount of control, I managed not to run him through with my sword, instead pulling open the driver’s side door and sliding the katana into the backseat, then laying the box of cupcakes on the front. That done, I turned back to him.

“You put me on the spot in front of fifty vampires. I couldn’t exactly say no.” He opened his mouth to respond, but I didn’t give him the chance. “Fifty vampires, Morgan. Fifty, including my Master, another Master, and the leader of the Rogue vampires.”

He grinned unapologetically, shrugged. “So I wanted witnesses.”

“You wanted to mark your territory.”

Morgan walked through the garage, squeezed between the narrow wall and the driver’s side, and before I could scramble away, trapped me in the angle between the car and the open door, hands braced to bar my exit. He leaned in. “You’re right. I wanted to mark my territory.”

Ego deflation time. “You don’t have a chance.”

“I disagree. You danced with me. You fed me. You didn’t slit my throat when given the opportunity.” He grinned, bright and wicked. “You may be conflicted, but you’re interested. Admit it.”

I gave him a withering look that didn’t succeed in flattening his smile or discouraging the Come Hither look it evolved into. “Not. A. Chance.”

“Liar. If Ethan ordered you to go out with me, you’d go.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, that’s the salve your ego needs-you’re only dating the Sentinel of Cadogan House because her Liege and Master forced her to meet you at a Wendy’s.”

He shook his head with mock solemnity. “Not Wendy’s. Bennigans, at least.”

I quirked up an eyebrow. “Bennigans? Big spender.”

“The Windy City is at your disposal, Merit.”

For a moment, we were quiet, just staring at each other, waiting for the other to back down. I considered kicking him out, reneging on my promise to let him court me, but discarded that choice as politically irresponsible. I considered saying yes while explaining that I agreed only because I was duty-bound. And then I considered the other option-saying yes, because I wanted to go. Because he was sexy and funny, because we seemed to get along, because, even if he did have some kind of weird Celina baggage, he’d tried to protect her and stepped back when he realized his method wasn’t working. I could respect that, even if I didn’t understand the loyalty she commanded.

I took a calming breath, looked up at him. “One date.”

He smiled a smile of masculine satisfaction. “Done,” he said, then leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. “No reneging.”

“I don’t reneg,” I said against his mouth.

“Hmmph.” He sounded unconvinced, but kept kissing me anyway, and for some unknown reason, I let him.

Oh-he wasn’t Ethan.

Callous? Maybe. But for now, that was reason enough.

Some minutes later, surprisingly pleasant minutes, I was in the car, making my way south. But before I headed to Cadogan House, I wanted to drop by my grandfather’s office. I needed a sympathetic ear, and had no doubt that Grandpa’s vampire informant had already filled him in on last night’s rally. I drove with the radio off, the windows down, listening to the city on the quiet spring evening, preferring the sounds of rushing vehicles to song lyrics about emotions I couldn’t trust.

The neighborhood was, as usual, quiet. But there was an addition-Ethan’s sleek black Mercedes parked outside. Only his car-no black SUV in sight.

More important, there was no sign at all of a security detail.

That was off. Ethan never traveled without guards, usually in the SUV that tailed his convertible; it was against protocol. I parked a little down the street, turned off the car, and grabbed my cell phone, punching in Luc’s number. He answered before the second ring.

“Luc.”

“It’s Merit. Have you lost a Master vampire?”