Hard Bitten

by Chloe Neill

Chapter Twenty-two

  DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

  Celina slowly turned to face me. She wore a one-piece, royal blue jumper with ankle boots, her hair in a ponytail. Her eyes widened in apparent shock.

  Okay, now I was confused. Why did she look surprised to see me?

  Her arm still in my hand, she moved a step closer. "If you're smart, child, you'll let go of my hand while you still have yours to use. "

  "I was told you wanted to meet me," I informed her. "By a mutual friend. "

  Almost instantaneously, her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared, and her magic rose in an angry, peppery cloud.

  The humans still moved past with fair food and plastic cups of beer in hand, completely oblivious to the magical reactor who was throwing off enough power to light the Loop.

  "That little shit," she muttered, followed by a few choice curses.

  I assumed she meant Paulie, but if she hadn't been expecting me . . .

  "Who did you think you were meeting?"

  Her expression went haughty. "As you are well aware, and as the GP has reminded you, my life is none of your concern. "

  "Chicago is my concern. Cadogan House is my concern. "

  She scoffed. "You're a vampire in a fourth-rate House. And sleeping with its Master isn't exactly a coup. "

  I resisted the urge to do the nail raking and hair pulling I'd complained about only a few days ago. Instead, I gave back the same pretentious look she gave me. It wasn't that I was nave about Celina or her power - or the damage she could do to me. But I was tired of being afraid.

  And if the GP was going to act like she wasn't a threat, then I was, too.

  "My life is none of your concern, either," I countered. "And I don't care how well you've managed to convince the GP you're a good citizen and have nothing to do with the havoc in this city right now. I know it's bullshit, and I am not afraid of you. Not anymore. I'm also not afraid of the GP, so I'm going to give you one chance to answer this question. " I pressed my nails into the flesh of her arm. "Did you put V on the streets?"

  Celina looked around, seemed to realize that the people around us were beginning to stare.

  And of all the reactions I might have imagined, the one she handed back wasn't even on the list.

  "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 cafe table inside a beer tent. Two empty plast
ic 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.