Hard Bitten cv-4

by Хлоя Нейл

  “Hey, Morgan. It’s Merit.”

  “Oh. Hi.” Suspicion snuck back into his tone.

  “I’m sorry to call you, but I need a favor.”

  “A favor?”

  “Yeah, and I need you to promise not to freak out.”

  “No one ever says that unless the odds of freaking out are pretty high.”

  “True.” I paused for courage, then spit it out.

  “I need to talk to you about Celina.” I gave him the details, from the would-be rave to the woman named Marie outside Temple Bar.

  There was a long pause. “And what, exactly, do you think she’s doing?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Maybe soliciting humans for some kind of vamp anger-management sessions?”

  He made a disdainful sound. “Merit, even if I conceded the point, which I don’t, the GP isn’t going to put her behind bars.”

  “Maybe not. But if we have enough information about what she’s really doing here, we tip the odds. And if nothing else, we gain a better understanding of what she’s up to and how we can keep her from destroying the city.”

  “So, let me get this straight—you want me to help you investigate my Master, the woman who made me a vampire, whom I gave two oaths to serve, against the wishes of the GP, and you don’t have any evidence of whatever it is you think she might be involved in?”

  “‘Investigate’ is a really strong word. I prefer

  ‘keep apprised of.’” He went quiet.

  “Look,” I said, “I know it’s a lot to ask, especially from you, especially from me. But she’s tried to kill me twice, she’s tried to kill Ethan, and God only knows if she’s really staying out of Navarre business.”

  That last one was a stretch, but given the quick hitch in his breath, I figured I was on to something.

  “She’s got friends,” I reminded him. “At least a couple from Cadogan, and that’s not even her House. Have you lost any members lately?”

  I had to give it to him. His tone changed, from adolescent angst to vampire in charge.

  “No,” he said. “But they loved her. And I haven’t made any vamps yet. Won’t until the spring, so their allegiances are to her. Would it surprise me if they’d been in touch? And that they hadn’t told me about it? Eh. I wouldn’t put great odds on it, but stranger things have happened.”

  “If she is mixed up in this—getting humans to vamp parties—why would she do it? What would her motivation be?”

  “Well, she did have the crown whipped out from under her, so to speak. If she can’t play the vamp heroine, maybe she’s ready for a stint as the antagonist.”

  “The humans don’t like her anymore, so she’ll happily feed them to the wolves?”

  “Like I said, stranger things have happened.

  But I seriously, seriously doubt she’s playing it that loose. Showing up at a Cadogan bar where folks might recognize her? That doesn’t play for me.”

  And now Morgan and Ethan were thinking alike. That was a frightening development. But they’d both forgotten something important about Celina.

  “But those folks might include me. And she’s taken the chance for a showdown with me whenever it’s presented itself.” The woman had it in for me, although I wasn’t entirely sure why.

  “I don’t know. I’m just not feeling that argument.”

  “Well, if you start to feel it any more strongly—or maybe you hear anything concrete about Celina or her whereabouts—could you give me a call? And if you don’t want to do it for me, consider the fate of the city.”

  “You think she would cause that much trouble?”

  “Yes, Morgan, I do. Celina is very smart, very savvy, and, from what I’ve seen, very unhappy about the way things went down. She expected to play the martyr with humans as well as vamps.

  She might have a few vamps on her side—”

  “And Cadogan vamps at that,” he interrupted.

  I rolled my eyes, but continued. “She might have a few vamps on her side, but she doesn’t have humans anymore. And that’s the thing that bothers her.”

  “Get me some evidence,” he said, “and we’ll talk.”

  He hung up the phone.

  Why did everyone keep demanding

  “evidence” and “facts”? I swear, cop and courtroom dramas were ruining the good name of gut instinct.

  Well, either way, I was going to have to get more info. Might as well get started.

  My attempt at Temple Bar espionage couldn’t get started without a little introductory chat, so after I showered and donned more club-worthy clothes—my black suit pants and another tank, this one in red, matched with red Mary Jane–style heels—I headed to the basement.

  The House was four stories of vampire wonder: dorm rooms and Ethan’s suite on the top floor. Dorm rooms (including mine), the library, and the ballroom were on the second floor. The first floor held administrative offices, the cafeteria, and the sitting rooms. The basement, however, was all business: training room, the Cadogan House arsenal, a gym, and the Operations Room. The Ops Room served as Luc’s office and the HQ for the Cadogan House guards, including Lindsey and, on rare occasions, me.

  The Ops Room door was cracked open, and this time I had the good sense—and the patience—to peek inside before storming in.

  Juliet and Kelley sat at computer stations along the wall, which meant Lindsey was probably outside patrolling the grounds. Luc sat at the conference table that took up the middle of the room—but he was wearing a suit.

  Across from Luc sat a tall, slightly gawky-looking man in a suit at least a size too large. He was talking at full speed about his video-gaming hobby.

  “And I try not to use cheats, but you can’t always rely on the designers to have created a game that progresses logically through any particular portion of the world, so occasionally you have to compromise your standards and find a cheat code in order to move forward, because you really don’t want to lose the inertia of forward, progress or you’ll completely lose interest in the quest.”

  When he paused for breath, I found myself sucking in air, too. This guy, whoever he was, did not know when to stop.

  “Thank you, Allan. I think that’s an interesting answer, although it doesn’t entirely speak to how you could contribute as a House guard.”

  Oh, my God, Luc was interviewing this guy.

  We were a man down since Peter’s betrayal, so he must have been looking for a replacement. I hoped this one was a safety pick and not Luc’s first choice; otherwise, we were in trouble.

  Allan’s expression was withering. “It goes to the times in which I, as a House guard, would need to rely upon my own fighting instincts and occasionally disobey the standard procedure—the standard protocol, if you will—rather than following the dictates of a Guard Captain who—”

  “Wow,” Luc interjected, “that is an excellent clarification, and I think that will do it for us today, since we’ve got another meeting coming up—oh, and look, here’s our Sentinel now!”

  I muttered a silent curse, but put on a fake smile and pushed through the door. “Hi, there.”

  Luc jumped up and headed for the door, then put a hand at my back. “Thank sweet Christ, Sentinel,” he murmured, then smiled broadly at Allan.

  “Allan, have you met our Sentinel? Merit, Allan is interviewing for the open guard position.

  He’s a Cadogan vamp living outside the House, and he’s looking to join our little family.”

  That explained why I’d never seen him before.

  I offered a little wave. “Nice to meet you, Allan.”

  But Allan had no time for niceties. “Is there really a reason to have a Sentinel in this day and age, given the state of current security technology?”

  “Okay, then,” Luc said, then moved Allan toward the door. “Just head right up those stairs to get back to the first floor. Thanks so much for coming in.”

  “When will I find out when I start?”

  “Well, we’re just at the beginning
of our interview process, but we will absolutely let you know when we’re ready to fill the position.”

  “I’ll be on vacation in a week. I’m going to Branson. So you might not be able to reach me.

  But I have a sat-phone. I could take that with me.”

  “That is exceptional,” Luc said, all but shoving him out the Ops Room door. “I’ll be sure to get that information. And say hello to Andy Williams while you’re down there.”

  Luc shut the door, then proceeded to bang his forehead against it.

  “Interviews not going well?”

  Forehead still pressed against the door, he glanced over. “I want to stab myself in the eye with a pencil. This kid’s smart, but his head’s in the wrong place, and he doesn’t exactly have people skills.”

  “Then maybe he’d be good on the computers,” I pointed out. “Even Jeff Christopher has a Warcraft fixation.”

  “You are ever the optimist. And I’m not busting his balls for the gaming. I may have cut my fangs in a different time, but I own every current gaming system on the U.S. market.” He leaned in. “And a couple from Taipei no one knows about yet.”

  He shook his head. “Nah, I object to the attitude. We’re asking this guy to step in front of a stake for the rest of us if necessary, and he’s waxing philosophical about when it’s okay to disobey orders? No, thank you. Would you trust him to do that for you?”

  “Good point. And no.”

  “Unless a booth babe was throwing the stake,” Kelley dryly threw out, her gaze still scanning the black-and-white closed-circuit security images on her computer screen.

  “You hit that one on the head, Kels,” Luc said.

  “Now, Sentinel, what brings you downstairs, other than your hella good timing? Did Darius scare you down here?”

  “Actually, I need to give you a heads-up about something. Could you give Malik a call? Ask him to come down, as well?”

  Luc arched an eyebrow. “Got a bee in your bonnet?”

  “Not exactly. But I might have a former Navarre Master soliciting humans outside Temple Bar.”

  Luc’s brows lifted. “Let me get him on the phone.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  OVER THE RAINBOW

  Ten minutes later—and presumably an excuse to Ethan and Darius—Malik joined us in the Ops Room. We put Lindsey, who’d been outside patrolling the grounds, on speakerphone so she could listen in.

  “I’m on,” Lindsey said. “Get to it, Hot Shit.”

  She really did love me.

  “So you know the basics,” I told them. “We previously saw small raves—a handful of vampires, a few people, some drinking. Now we’re talking full-on parties with lots of vamps, lots of humans, and lots of potential for violence.

  I didn’t see the kind of violence Tate talked about while we were there—but we pulled the plug as quickly as we could. We know humans are being pretty severely glamoured, maybe helped in part by a drug being passed around.

  And we think the human invites are originating from the House bars.”

  The room went silent, everyone exchanging looks of concern.

  “Your evidence?” Malik asked.

  “The phone that got the text about last night’s shindig was left at Benson’s, the Grey House bar.

  And another human told us she found out about the party when she met a short man and a woman named Marie outside Temple Bar.”

  Malik’s lip curled. “Someone is using our place to hit on humans.”

  “That appears to be the case.”

  There was only one word for the look in his eyes—determination. “And what’s your plan?”

  “Well, in a perfect world, the plan would be not pissing off the GP. But as we know, this is clearly not a perfect world.”

  There were general grumbles of agreement around the room.

  “Darius wants us safe and sound inside Cadogan House—where, for now, he can keep an eye on us—not stirring up trouble outside the House. But there’s already trouble brewing out there, and if we don’t get a handle on it, things are going to go south very quickly. We can’t just sit here and watch the city fall around us.

  “I know I’m young,” I continued, “but I also have an obligation to do the things I think are necessary to protect the House. Even if Darius doesn’t approve . . . and even if Ethan doesn’t know about them.”

  I let that implication sink in for a minute, and then dropped my voice. “I’ve given him a general heads-up, but I’m not giving him details, and he’s not going. The less he knows—”

  “The less Darius can use him as a scapegoat,” Malik said.

  I nodded in agreement. “Precisely. The short of it is, he gave me a thumbs-up to make the best decision I could, and I want to give you all the same courtesy. The GP is putting enough pressure on the House without me adding to it. If you want to know what I’m doing, I’ll tell you. If not”—I held up my hands—“no worries. You can deny you knew anything was going on, and hopefully that will shield you from Darius if worse comes to worst.”

  My piece said, I glanced around the room again.

  Luc kicked a booted foot onto the tabletop.

  “Are you seriously asking us if we’re not going to take your side against the GP? Seriously, Sentinel? I thought I taught you better than that.

  We are a team—and you’re a member of it.”

  “And you’re getting better at the speechifying,” Lindsey said. “I think Sullivan’s going to your head. Oh, and I’m totally in.”

  Juliet and Kelley smiled at each other, then at me.

  “We’re obviously in, too,” Kelley said.

  “We’ve known Ethan a lot longer than we’ve known Darius. He may not be perfect, but he’s concerned about the House, not just the politics.”

  “Agreed,” Juliet said.

  We all looked at Malik, the only one I wasn’t quite sure of. It was not that I doubted his allegiances, but he was quiet enough that I wasn’t entirely sure where I stood with him.

  “Your heart is in the right place,” he said.

  “That’s all I need to know.”

  I smiled at him, then nodded at the group.

  “Okay, then. Here’s the plan.”

  Fast-forward forty-five minutes to a gaggle of vampires emerging from a cab into the dark, muggy street in front of Temple Bar, not far from Wrigley Field. Me, Lindsey, and Christine —Christine Dupree, before she lost her name to join the House, another vamp from my Novitiate class—dressed to the nines in chic shades of black, gray, and red and makeupped within an inch of our immortal lives.

  We probably looked like the new cast of Charlie’s Angels. I was the spunky brunette, Lindsey was the sassy blonde, and Christine —formerly a brunette—was now rocking a sleek bob of russet hair.

  Christine wasn’t a guard, and she and I weren’t exactly close friends. Since we were bringing her into something that could get her in trouble—and demanded her loyalty—Luc gave her a lecture on duty. We didn’t give her all the details about the raves; she only knew that we were looking into bad acts at Temple Bar. She seemed eager to help, which was good enough for me.

  As for the bar itself, I’d decided on a new plan—playing the bait.

  The Cadogan vamps knew me as Sentinel and Lindsey as guard. But they also knew that Christine was the daughter of Dash Dupree, a notorious Chicago lawyer, and that I was the daughter of Joshua Merit, Mr. Chicago Real Estate Bigwig.

  I’d realized at the Streeterville party that I could fake party girl pretty well, so I was going to try it again. And with creds like mine and Christine’s, no one was going to question two socialites mixing it up at Temple Bar, asking questions about new kinds of excitement.

  There was a line outside the door. Although humans hadn’t been allowed in the House, Tate hadn’t extended the ban to the bars. Colin and Sean had gotten creative, installing neon signs above the door to help visitors keep track.

  Tonight, the HUMANS and CADOGAN lights were lit, which meant vamps
from Navarre or Grey were out of luck.

  The human part was fine by me, as it would help us accomplish part one of my Temple Bar Infiltration Plan, or T-BIP. Unfortunately, the ban on Grey and Navarre vamps wasn’t going to help. I’d hoped I could use the night to get info from the other Houses about the raves and drugs.

  Oh, well. Jonah could get me into Grey House.

  As for Navarre, I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

  Christine, Lindsey, and I sauntered in like we owned the place, then stood in the front of the bar for a moment . . . to see and be seen.

  I took a moment to appreciate the locale.

  Temple Bar was practically a shrine to the Cubs, my favorite sports team. The walls were lined with uniforms and pennants, and Cubs memorabilia covered every free spot in the bar.

  The bar was run by two redheaded vampires, also brothers, Sean and Colin. They kept all things Irish and Cubbie alive and well in Wrigleyville.

  “First stop in T-BIP,” I told my accomplices, “identifying humans who might have gotten an invite to a once or future rave so we can identify the host.”

  “Or hostess,” Lindsey added. “Let’s not forget the Celina possibility.”

  “Can we please stop calling it T-BIP?”

  Christine put in. “I get that you enjoy acronyms, but that sounds ridiculous.”

  “Unfortch,” Lindsey said, “I have to agree.

  Unless the acronym is a helluva lot more rugged.

  Like ‘DANGER’ or ‘KILLFACE’ or ‘STUN GUN’ or something.”

  I slid her a questioning glance. “And what, exactly, would ‘DANGER’ stand for?”

  “Um.” She looked up at the ceiling while she made up an answer. “‘Dedicated, angsty Novitiate girls examining risk’? Or maybe, ‘drugs are never good entertainment, right?’”

  “Lame,” I muttered.

  “Aw, sadface. I came up with that totally off the cuff. No props for off the cuff?”

  “Ladies,” Christine said, holding up a hand.

  “Let’s act our ages and stay on target.”

  Lindsey and I exchanged a guilty glance. I’m honest enough to admit that sarcasm and silliness were my preferred methods of dealing with stress. But I had a lot of it, and it wasn’t like I could just break out a Mallocake mid-katana-fight.