by Neill, Chloe
“[FOR] FANS OF CHARLAINE HARRIS’S SOOKIE STACKHOUSE SERIES AND LAURELL K. HAMILTON’S ANITA BLAKE.” —Library Journal
Praise for Chloe Neill’s
Chicagoland Vampires Novels
Biting Bad
“Neill is a rising star and her Chicago is undergoing major upheaval, placing vampire heroine Merit at the epicenter of the trouble. As always, there is heart-pounding danger, high-stakes drama, and excitement as Merit, Ethan, and crew take on a treacherous new enemy!”
—RT Book Reviews
“This is the Chicagoland Vampires book that you will be unable to put down. Chloe Neill brought her A game, and I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.”
—Vampire Book Club
“Neill’s plot is full of twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing until the end. We are anxiously waiting to see what Neill has in store for Merit and Ethan next.”
—Heroes and Heartbreakers
House Rules
“Rising star Neill has made the learning curve for her gutsy heroine, Merit, quite steep, which means the journey is all the more spellbinding.”
—Romantic Times
“Strong characters, wry humor . . . and a mystery plot worthy of speed- page-turning.”
—Vampire Book Club
“Every person in Neill’s world is vibrant and real. You want to be friends with them; you want to know what’s going on. In many ways, Neill’s Chicago is an edgier, urban Bon Temps.”
—Heroes and Heartbreakers
Biting Cold
“Chloe Neill keeps readers right on the precipice of anticipation.”
—Fresh Fiction
“A REFRESHING TAKE ON URBAN FANTASY.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Chloe Neill delivers another engaging plot, but better yet, Biting Cold reminds us this urban fantasy series is about strong, well-developed characters. Ones we can get invested in and wish were real so we could indulge in a pizza and sing-along movie night at their place.”
—Vampire Book Club
“[Merit’s] a character I fully root for.”
—Hardcore Heroines
Hard Bitten
“Delivers enough action, plot twists, and fights to satisfy the most jaded urban fantasy reader.”
—Monsters and Critics
“A fast and exciting read.”
—Fresh Fiction
“A descriptive, imaginative, and striking world . . . rich with real-world problems as well as otherworldly creatures . . . roughly fantastic from beginning to end, with one of the best endings in urban fantasy history.”
—Romantic Times
Twice Bitten
“The pages turn fast enough to satisfy vampire and romance fans alike.”
—Booklist
“Neill continues to hit the sweet spot with her blend of high-stakes drama, romantic entanglements, and a touch of humor . . . certain to whet readers’ appetites for more in this entertaining series!”
—Romantic Times (4½ stars)
Friday Night Bites
“Wonderfully entertaining, and impossible to set down.”
—Darque Reviews
“First-rate fun!”
—Romantic Times
Some Girls Bite
“Neill creates a strong-minded, sharp-witted heroine who will appeal to fans of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake.”
—Library Journal
“IF YOU LOVED NANCY DREW BUT ALWAYS WISHED SHE WAS AN UNDEAD, SWORD-WIELDING BADASS, MERIT IS YOUR KIND OF GIRL.”—Geek Monthly
“With her wonderfully compelling reluctant vampire heroine and her careful world building, I was drawn into Some Girls Bite from page one and kept reading far into the night.”
—USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner
“Smart, sexy, and delightful. A must-read.”
—Candace Havens, author of Dragons Prefer Blondes
“A fun cast of quirky characters and smoking-hot sexual tension . . . a stunning combination.”
—Tate Hallaway, author of Honeymoon of the Dead
“Packed with complex subplots, embittered family members, and politics, this is an excellent first installment to what should be an outstanding series in a crowded field.”
—Monsters and Critics
“There’s a new talent in town, and . . . she’s here to stay. . . . An indomitable and funny heroine . . . truly excellent.”
—Romantic Times
“Engaging, well-executed, and populated with characters you can’t help but love. It was impossible to set down.”
—Darque Reviews
“I can just about guarantee that readers will want to read more of this series. . . . Vampire fiction fans should be well served by this vamp-centric story too.”
—LoveVampires
“GO BUY IT NOW! It’s a great urban fantasy that reads a little like Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series.”
—Literary Escapism
“Chloe Neill . . . has created an interesting vampire mythology and a heroine who has spunk and daring; she’s kick-ass without the hard edges.”
—Romance Novel TV
“Not only action-packed, it’s hilarious. I couldn’t put it down. . . . [Merit is] extremely charming . . . a great read.”
—Wicked Little Pixie
OTHER NOVELS BY CHLOE NEILL
The Chicagoland Vampires Novels
Some Girls Bite
Friday Night Bites
Twice Bitten
Hard Bitten
Drink Deep
Biting Cold
House Rules
Biting Bad
“High Stakes” novella in Kicking It
Howling for You (A Penguin Special)
The Dark Elite Novels
Firespell
Hexbound
Charmfall
A CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES NOVEL
WILD THINGS
CHLOE NEILL
New American Library
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014
USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China
penguin.com
A Penguin Random House Company
First published by New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Copyright © Chloe Neill, 2014
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
Neill, Chloe.
Wild things: a Chicagoland vampires novel/Chloe Neill.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-101-63765-4
1. Merit (Fictitious character: Neill)—Fiction. 2. Vampires—Fiction. 3. Chicago (Ill.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3614.E4432W55 2014
&nbs
p; 813'.6—dc23 2013038459
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
Contents
Praise
Also by CHLOE NEILL
Title page
Copyright page
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Chapter One: MIDNIGHT RIDER
Chapter Two: UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS
Chapter Three: LONE WOLF
Chapter Four: GHASTLY, GRIM, AND ANCIENT
Chapter Five: BLOOD WILL TELL
Chapter Six: GAME, SET, VAMPIRE
Chapter Seven: WITHIN AND WITHOUT
Chapter Eight: DEEP-FRIED TRUTH
Chapter Nine: THE SPOILS OF WAR
Chapter Ten: PAPER MOON
Chapter Eleven: LOOK AT LITTLE SISTER
Chapter Twelve: COME ON, ALINE
Chapter Thirteen: BARNSTORMING
Chapter Fourteen: JUST A BITE
Chapter Fifteen: PARTING IS SUCH (BITTER)SWEET SORROW
Chapter Sixteen: THIS MAGIC MOMENT
Chapter Seventeen: THE BANKER
Chapter Eighteen: OCCUPY CHICAGO
Chapter Nineteen: REDEMPTION SONG
Chapter Twenty: THREE-RING CIRCUS
Chapter Twenty-one: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Thanks, as always, to the usual crew of fantastic Novitiates who assist in the development of these books, including my editor, Jessica Wade, my agent, Lucienne Diver, and my continuity editor and assistant, Krista McNamara.
Very special thanks to Jesse Feldman, who offered valuable editing advice, and to Penguin’s fantastic publicity and marketing staff, including Jessica Butler and Jodi Rosoff, without whom no one would know these books existed.
Keely Buesing and Debi Murray provided very helpful advice on medical matters, and Nicole Peeler taught me an outlining trick that kept this book miraculously on track.
To the other fantastic romance and fantasy authors I’ve had the good fortune to meet at conferences over the last year, it has been an absolute pleasure, and I look forward to future shenanigans.
The heartiest of thanks to SHB, who has the unfortunate job of putting up with me when I’m days away from a deadline or sweating the small stuff. You’re the best.
Such as we are made of, such we be.
—William Shakespeare
Chapter One
MIDNIGHT RIDER
Mid-February
Chicago, Illinois
Within the last ten months, I’d become a vampire, joined Chicago’s Cadogan House, and become its Sentinel. I’d learned how to wield a sword, how to bluff a monster, how to fall, and how to get back up.
Perhaps most of all, I’d learned about loyalty. And based on the magic that was pouring through the House’s first-floor hallway, I hadn’t been the only one who’d taken that particular quality to heart.
Dozens of Cadogan’s vampires stood in the hallway outside the office of our Master, Ethan Sullivan, waiting for a call, for a word, for a plan. We stood in our requisite Cadogan black with our katanas at our sides because Ethan—our Liege and my lover—was preparing to run.
“Out of one fire and right into another,” said the attractive blond vampire beside me. Lindsey was a member of Cadogan’s guard corps and a skilled and capable fighter, but tonight she looked, as usual, more like a fashionista than a century-old vampire guard. She’d left her suit jacket downstairs and had matched her satin-striped black tuxedo pants with a white button-down and four-inch stiletto heels.
“Do they actually think we’d just let them take him?” she asked. “That we’d let them arrest him—our Master—right there in front of the House?”
An hour ago, a Chicago Police Department detective—fortunately, one of our allies—had come calling, advising us that the city’s prosecutor had obtained a warrant for Ethan’s arrest.
Ethan had killed Harold Monmonth, a powerful vampire from Europe who’d murdered two human guards before turning his sword on us. Ethan had acted in obvious self-defense, but violence had recently rocked the Windy City. Its citizens were afraid, and its mayor, Diane Kowalcyzk, was looking for someone to blame. She’d apparently managed to bring the prosecutor to her side.
That’s why Ethan was sequestered in his office with Luc, the captain of Cadogan’s guards, and Malik, the House’s second in command, making a plan.
Detective Jacobs suggested Ethan seek refuge with the Breckenridges, a family of shape-shifters who lived in Loring Park, a suburb outside Chicago. That meant he’d also be outside the mayor’s jurisdiction. The Brecks were über-wealthy, well connected, and politically influential. That was a powerful combination and enough, we hoped, to keep the mayor from using him as a sacrificial lamb.
Papa Breck, the family patriarch, was a friend of my father, Chicago real estate mogul Joshua Merit. I’d gone to school with some of the Breckenridge boys and had even dated one of them. But the Brecks had no love for vampires, which was part of the reason for the closed-door negotiations.
Ethan was the other reason. He was nearly four centuries old, and he had the stubbornness to match his age. Going gently into that good night wasn’t his style, but Luc and Malik wanted him safely away. It had been a long winter for the House—including Ethan’s premature demise and resurrection—and we didn’t need any more drama. We certainly didn’t trust Kowalcyzk and feared turning Ethan over to a justice system that seemed to be rigged against us.
The door had been closed for an hour. Voices had been raised, and the disagreement between Ethan and his soldiers spilled tense magic into the hallway. That was my particular point of contention. I was Cadogan’s Sentinel, but I hadn’t been allowed in the office. The words “plausible deniability” had been thrown around—right before the door had been shut in my face.
“The mayor knew there’d be trouble,” I said. “The CPD already said Ethan acted in self-defense. And we just handed McKetrick to them on a silver platter. The city has absolutely nothing to complain about where we’re concerned.”
The detective’s warning had come only hours after we’d managed to prove McKetrick, the city’s now former supernatural liaison, was the source of the riots that had spread violence, destruction, and fire around the city. You’d think that would have put us in the mayor’s good graces. Alas, no.
“They won’t stay away forever,” I said. “Jacobs wouldn’t have warned us if he didn’t think they were serious. And that doesn’t give us many options. Ethan flees, or we have to fight.”
“Whatever their next move, the House will be ready,” Lindsey said. “We just have to scoot Ethan out of here.” She checked a delicate gold watch. “Not much time before sunrise. This is going to be close.”
“Papa Breck could still say no,” I pointed out, wrapping my arms around my knees. He and Ethan were different sups, but equally stubborn.
But Lindsey shook her head. “Not if he’s smart. Arresting a vampire for a bullshit reason isn’t far from arresting a shifter for a bullshit reason. If Papa Breck doesn’t take a stand now, he’ll put the Pack at risk. But if he does take a stand?” She clucked her tongue. “Then he wins, double or nothing. We’ll owe him a favor, and he’ll have stood up to Kowalcyzk. That reinforces his power, and it’s just—”
Before she could finish, the office door opened.
Luc and Malik emerged, Ethan behind them. All three were tall and bore the toughened shoulders of men in charge, but the physical similarities ended there.
Luc had tousled blond-brown hair and preferred snug jeans and well-worn boots to Ethan’s and Malik’s exquisite suits. Since Ethan’s welfare fe
ll under his jurisdiction, Luc’s ruggedly hand- some features were tight with concern.
Malik had cocoa skin, closely cropped hair, and pale green eyes that thoughtfully took in the hallway of vampires. Malik was reserved, careful, and unquestionably respected by the House. But like Luc, he also didn’t look thrilled with the circumstances.
And then there was Ethan.
He was built like an athlete—long and lean, with taut muscles and a body that fit perfectly into his trim black suit. His hair was straight, shoulder length, and golden, framing a face so gorgeous it might have been sculpted by a master artist. Straight nose, honed cheekbones, lush mouth, and eyes as sharp and green as flawless emeralds. Ethan was as alpha as they came, protective and pretentious, intelligent and strategic, and stubborn enough to match me well.
We’d had our false starts, but we’d finally found a clear path to each other. That might have been the biggest miracle of all.
Ethan’s forehead was pinched in concern, but his eyes gave away nothing. He was the Master of our House; he didn’t have the luxury of self-doubt.
A dozen vampires jumped to their feet.
“I’ll be traveling to the Breckenridge estate,” Ethan announced. “Cadogan vampires do not run. We do not hide. We do not scurry into the dark. We face our problems—head-on. But this House has been through much of late. I have been asked, for the sake of the House, to consider making myself scarce. I have agreed to do so—as a temporary measure.”
The tension in my chest eased, but not by much. He clearly wasn’t thrilled with the plan.
“In the meantime, we’ll try to put this ugly business to bed. The House’s lawyers will address the warrant. Malik has a friend in the governor’s office, and he’ll reach out to determine if the governor can encourage Mayor Kowalcyzk to act reasonably.”
That was news to me, but then again, Malik was the quiet sort. And I didn’t think he was the type to call in a political favor unless absolutely necessary.
“You’ll take Merit to the Brecks’?” Lindsey asked.
“Assuming she can fit it into her schedule,” he said.
