Хлоя Нейл: Hard Bitten

“Maybe I did,” she said, loud enough for all to hear. “Maybe I helped put V on the streets. So what?”

My mouth opened in shock. Celina had just announced to a few thousand humans that she’d helped put V on the street. It was a coup for me, but there was no way she’d make that kind of announcement if she didn’t think she had an out.

What was her game?

The humans around us stopped, now staring full out. A couple of them popped out phones and were taping the scene.

“What’s your connection to Paulie Cermak? I know you talked to him at Navarre House.”

She barked out a laugh. “Paulie Cermak is a little worm. He’s got a warehouse in Greektown that houses the V, and he’s been handling the distribution from there. That’s why there wasn’t any V in his house.” She gave me an appraising gaze. “What’s more interesting is how you learned about it. Morgan told you, no?” She looked me up and down. “Did you offer yourself for a little information?”

In addition to feeling disgusted by the suggestion, I felt a little sympathy for Morgan.

Celina’s craziness didn’t excuse the fact that Morgan wasn’t reliable, but it sure did explain why he wasn’t trustworthy. If he’d learned to be a Master by following in Celina’s footsteps, there’d probably been no hope for him.

“And the raves?”

“The raves were the linchpin,” she said. “The key to the entire system. They were means to get V—and humans—into the hands of vampires.”

Celina looked around, realized she had a captive audience of humans who’d recognized who she was—and the fact that she was supposed to be locked away in England, not standing in the middle of Street Fest confessing to crimes against the citizens of Chicago.

If I’d been in her position, I would have balked. I’d have lowered my head and ducked through the crowd, seeking escape. But Celina wasn’t your average vampire. With nothing close to regret or fear in her eyes—and while I stared at her, shocked at her audacity—she began to address the crowd.

“For too long, I bought into the notion that humans and vampires could simply coexist. That being vampire meant tamping down certain urges, working in communion with humans, leading humans.”

She began to turn in a circle, offering her sermon to the crowd. “I was wrong. Vampires should be vampires. Truly, completely vampires.

We are the next evolution of humans. V reminds us who we are. And you, too—all of you—could have our strength. Our powers. Our immortality!”

“You killed humans!” shouted one of the humans. “You deserve to die.”

Celina’s smile faltered. She’d changed positions in a second attempt to ingratiate herself with humans, and it still hadn’t worked. She opened her mouth to counter the assertion, but the next words weren’t hers.

Four uniformed CPD officers stepped around her. Three pointed weapons; the fourth grabbed her wrists and cuffed them behind her back.

“Celina Desaulniers,” he said, “you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say could be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand the rights I’ve read to you?”

Celina struggled once, and she was strong enough that the man who’d cuffed and restrained her had to fight to keep her on the ground. But after a moment she stopped, her expression going pleasantly blank.

That wasn’t a good sign.

“She’ll try to glamour you,” I warned. “Stay focused, and fight through it. She can’t make you do anything; she’ll just try to lower your inhibitions. You might want to have the Ombudsman meet you at the station. He’s got staff who can help you.”

Three of the cops ignored me, but the fourth nodded with appreciation. It couldn’t have been easy to get a lecture from a skinny vamp with a ponytail.

“There’s no need to glamour them,” Celina said, her blue-eyed gaze on me. “I’ll be out before you can warn your lover that you found me here. Oh, and enjoy your conversation with Darius. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to find out about this.”

She went willingly. After a moment, the crowd completely dissipated, leaving no evidence of Celina’s recapture or the proselytizing speech she’d just given.

That gave me a minute to focus on the bigger question: What the hell had just happened?

I stood there for a moment, still trying to wrap my mind around Celina’s confession and arrest.

Long story short: I had to be missing something. The entire thing was way too easy and felt like a giant setup. Celina clearly didn’t know she was going to meet me, but she’d nevertheless confessed to the entire crowd that she’d been helping Paulie distribute drugs and arrange the raves. And then she tried to convince them to join the vampire bandwagon.

How did that make sense?

It simply didn’t. While I wasn’t unhappy Celina was off the streets and back in the hands of the CPD, I couldn’t figure out her angle. She had to have one. There was no way a woman as egotistical as Celina makes a confession without thinking she’ll get something out of it. Maybe that was it. Did she think she could get out of it?

Did she think she was immune from trouble because she had GP protection? Unfortunately, that possibility wasn’t entirely unrealistic.

I didn’t know what game she was playing, but I knew this wasn’t the end of the story. Vampire drama rarely wrapped up so easily.

I sighed and pulled out my phone, preparing to give Ethan a quick update before I searched for a cab. I’m not sure what made me glance up or over, but there he was—right in front of me.

Paulie sat at a small, plastic café table inside a beer tent. Two empty plastic cups sat on the table in front of him, and a third, half-full cup was in his hand. He lifted it to me, a toast to my participation in whatever con he was running.

At least to Paulie, this had been a game. He’d set up Celina, but why? To get her out of the way? So he could lose the vampire middleman—the woman bringing unwanted drama to the entire operation—and gain access to her share of the profits?

I shifted my body weight forward to launch myself toward him. But before I could move, I was stopped by the same thing that had kept McKetrick from me—humans.

This time, a family moved in front of me.

Mother and a double stroller of sleeping children in the lead; father with a sleeping infant on his hip pulling a red wagon that held a third sleeping toddler. The entire family was tethered together with ribbon. It was a wagon train of family.

By the time they’d moved their caravan out of the way and I looked up again, Paulie was gone.

Iwasn’t entirely sure how to break the news to Ethan. How did you tell your boss that for no apparent reason, your enemy had confessed her evildoings and gone willingly into the arms of the Chicago Police Department?

Turned out, I didn’t need to. After picking through the protesters to get into the House, I found half the House’s vampires in the front sitting room, eyes glued to a flat-screen television that hung above the fireplace.

Tate stood in front of a podium in a charcoal gray suit, every hair in place, and a soothing smile on his face.

“We’ve discovered today that Celina Desaulniers, thought to be in the custody of officials in the UK, made her way back to Chicago. While here, she continued to create the chaos she’d begun before her first capture.

We’ve also learned that she was responsible for the increase in violence we’ve seen in the city.

Now, finally, the city of Chicago can breathe a sigh of relief. Life can return to normal, and vampires can return to being a part of the city, not antagonists. Rest assured, Ms. Desaulniers will stay in the custody of the Chicago Police Department in a facility we created just for the purpose of keeping the public safe from supernatural criminals. I also need to give credit to Merit, the Sentinel of Cadogan House.”