Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires #6)(31)
Author: Chloe Neill

"I’m not here to sugarcoat it. There’s no happy ending here, Malory. No pot of gold. This isn’t a TV show you can just turn off and the world goes back to normal. People were hurt. And since Tate’s stil out there, there’s probably more pain on the way."

"I can’t face that."

"Yes, you can. And you wil."

She looked up at me.

"We al have days when we feel smal. Realy smal.

Completely inadequate, but saddled with al this responsibility. I have to keep my House safe, my city from destroying it. I have to do right by Ethan and the rest of my vampires. I have to fight battles against people who shouldn’t be my enemies – especialy when there are already plenty of enemies to go around. There are days when I would love to pul the cover over my head and say to hel with it.

"But I don’t do that. And most people don’t do that. Most people get up and do their jobs and work their asses off for no reward at al – but just so they can get up the next day and do the whole thing over again. The world isn’t perfect, and some days it wears you down. You can either accept that, and face it, and be a help to others instead of a hindrance. Or you can decide the rules are too tough and they shouldn’t apply to you, and you can ignore them and make things harder for everybody else. Sometimes life is about being sad and doing things anyway.

Sometimes it’s about being hurt and doing things anyway. The point isn’t perfection. The point is doing it anyway."

Malory nodded a little.

"You make a go of it," I said. "The hard way – one day at a time, and with patience. And you’l hope he has patience for you, as wel."

She nodded again. The fire gone from both of us, we sat there for a little while – fifteen minutes, maybe – until there was a knock at the door.

We looked up. A shifter I didn’t know pointed at Malory.

"You’re needed downstairs," he said. He didn’t wait for an answer, just disappeared again. I guessed he wasn’t expecting disobedience.

She stood up. "I should go."

I nodded. "I should get back to the House. Good luck."

She tucked her hands into her pockets, hiding the physical evidence of her crimes. "Thanks. I guess I’l see you around."

I nodded and watched her walk downstairs to get to work. I hoped this time around something better would come of it.

Chapter Ten

JUSTICE LEAGUE

I drove back to Cadogan House and parked three blocks up the street. The road was packed with cars. A nearby home was wel lit, with shadowed figures moving animatedly behind sheer window shades. Must have been a party. Vampires in their midst or not, life continued as usual for most folks.

I climbed out of the car and nodded at the two black-clad guards, both mercenary fairies the House paid to keep watch at the gate. Other than their queen, the rest of the fairies were tal, with narrow faces and similar features, long, dark, straight hair, and black uniforms. Most guards were men, although a female guard had watched the post on occasion.

My relationship with the fairies had been tense since my last encounter with Claudia, but since she’d promised our slate was clean, I thought it was worth checking in with them.

"Any sign of Seth Tate?" I asked. "Or someone who looks just like him?"

Both fairies shook their heads. "We’re on alert," they said.

"She is aware of his existence."

"She," I assumed, was Claudia. She’d once hinted that Tate was "old" magic. Maybe she knew more about him. That might be worth a visit. Or maybe a phone cal, since her guards probably wouldn’t let me anywhere near her again.

"Does she know what he is?" I asked.

The fairies looked at each other. "He is old," said the one on the right. "Older than the sky masters. That is al we need to know."

"Thanks," I told them. "Feel free to cal me if you see him around."

They scoffed, probably at the implication they’d need my help, which was okay by me. Better that they consider me incompetent than dangerous.

I walked into the House and headed for Ethan’s office. Our last visit had been weird, and I was hoping the intervening time he’d had to prepare for Darius’s visit had calmed him down a bit.

His office door was open, so I peeked inside. He was at his desk, and I knocked lightly on the door to get his attention. He glanced up at the sound.

"I visited Malory."

Ethan waved me in, and I took a seat at the desk in front of him like a good little Novitiate.

"She’s staying at Little Red in Ukrainian Vilage."

"The bar?"

I nodded. "There’s a bedroom above the kitchen, and she’s working for Gabriel."

He sat back and crossed his arms. "Doing what?"

"Dishes, at the moment."

Ethan nodded thoughtfuly. "Ah. Menial work, to remind her she’s merely flesh and bone."

"That seems to be the theory. Berna was there, and I’m assuming she’s playing den mother, although Gabriel didn’t give me a lot of details."

"Did Paige or Catcher have anything to say about it?"

I shook my head. "They were going to visit Baumgartner, so they didn’t stay long. It also seems Catcher and Malory are now on a break."

Ethan grimaced. "Not entirely surprising given the circumstances, but stil a difficult situation."

"She wasn’t thriled. I don’t think she was surprised, but she wasn’t thriled."

"How’s her attitude generaly?"

"The guilt and remorse are kicking in, which is a good step. I assume she’l go through stages like any addict." I paused. "Can you feel her?"

He nodded and looked away. "She’s on the other side of town, so the volume is lower, but the itch is stil there. The vague sensation someone is hitchhiking in my brain."

That was a perfect segue to broach the topic of our relationship. But before I could do so, Malik walked in. His skin was the color of rich caramel, and he wore an ensemble that mirrored Ethan’s. But there was worry in his pale green eyes.

"Liege," I said deferentialy.

"She’s more obsequious to you than she ever has been to me," Ethan observed with a tilted eyebrow.

"Better leadership skils," Malik said with a smile, but it faded fast enough. "You got Malory settled?"

"I did. She’s with the shifters."

Malik nodded. "It’s a good thing she’s in hand. I just got a cal from your grandfather. He’s been listening to the police scanners."

A handy way to get information when the mayor’s office closed your office and cut off your funding.

"What’s happened?" Ethan asked.