Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires #6)(73)
Author: Chloe Neill

More nervous.

I tried to focus on my body, my movements, the dance of the fight and the rhythm of it, just as Catcher and Ethan had taught me.

It was hard.

A knock at the door threw me off balance, and I landed a move in an ungainly position. I righted myself just as the door opened.

Malik walked in.

"Hi," I said.

"Helo." He closed the door behind him and walked inside.

"You’re practicing?"

"I guess. More like working off nerves."

"You can do this," he said.

I nodded. There was much to be said for Malik’s quiet confidence, but my crisis of confidence was bigger than any one vampire.

"I know Catcher and Ethan focus on technique," he said. "But don’t be afraid to trust your instincts. Let the sword be an extension of you, not just something you wield."

I nodded. "I appreciate that. Got anything else?"

Malik chuckled and looked over the wals of the training room. "Most of these weapons were his, you know."

I assumed he meant Ethan. "I didn’t," I said, folowing his gaze. The paneled wals were periodicaly decorated with antique weapons: pikes, shields, swords, and the like.

"They are symbols of his victories. Of the battles he won and lost. Not always perfectly. Not always with rigorous technique.

But always with heart."

He looked back at me. "There are few things in the world that he loves more than this House, Merit. Possibly only one."

At the knowing gaze in his eyes, my cheeks flushed.

"And in al the world, he entrusted one girl, one scholar, with the right to defend it."

I knew he meant it as a compliment, but it felt like a burden.

"That’s a lot of pressure."

"Not pressure to win," he said. "Pressure to try. Pressure to push through pain and fear and to do the thing even if you don’t want to do it. He did not trust you with this task because you guarantee him a victory; he trusts you with this task because he believes you wil give everything you have to the effort. It is the heart, Merit, not the sword, that rules the day. Remember that, and good luck."

With that, he walked out of the training room again, leaving me dumbfounded in the middle of the room, the katana stil in my hand.

Maybe Malik would hold Cadogan House for years to come; maybe he would hold it only for days more. Either way, there was little doubt he was a Master among men.

When our hour was up, we gathered together again in the Ops Room to report our progress, the advance team on the phone.

Jeff went first.

It turned out the requirements for consecrated ground weren’t as specific as you’d think. We didn’t necessarily need a church or graveyard. Although both would have been consecrated or blessed, al sorts of religions blessed al sorts of places.

Community gardens were blessed by neighborhood pastors; parks with strong magnetic currents were blessed by those who believed in the power of that kind of thing.

We needed a nice, clear area for Seth to create the sigil and cal Dominic. We wanted to be close enough to the House that we could retreat, if necessary, but not so close that we risked anyone who might be living or working around us.

Gabriel had recommended a spot. "Proskauer Park," Jeff said, and we al looked down at the map he’d transmitted. "It’s about one mile from the House."

"That looks like it’s in the middle of a neighborhood," Ethan said.

"It was going to be, until the developers lost funding. Now it’s empty lots and empty buildings."

"If they didn’t finish the subdivision, how does a future park do us any good?" Luc asked.

"They didn’t finish the houses," Jeff said. "But they finished the park. They decided the best way to sel the lots was to create the park first. They had a priest bless it. They were pretty optimistic they’d sel the lots quickly. Fortunately for us, they didn’t, and the park is sitting there, al blessed and whatnot, but completely empty."

"Good find," Ethan said.

"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "It’s pretty awesome. Like finding the Higgs boson."

Silence.

"Aw, no physics fans here? Learn things you must," Jeff said

in his best Yoda voice.

I roled my eyes. "So we have a place," I said. "What’s next?"

"Goods," Seth said, putting a canvas tote bag on the table.

"Helen was very helpful in gathering the materials," Paige said.

"There are a few extras she’s looking for now, although it might take a little more time to find them."

"Which we don’t have a lot of," Ethan said. "Malory?"

"Gabriel gave me permission," she said, "as did Baumgartner.

Not that he had a lot of choice."

"Oh?" Ethan asked.

"Gabriel made it clear the problem was ours to solve. And if we didn’t solve it, Gabriel would solve it for us. In a much messier fashion."

Ethan grinned slyly. That was the kind of bravado he appreciated.

"Do you know what to do?" Catcher asked.

"Yes. I’ve finagled a bit of the familiar spel and tweaked the recipe. This wil be a much less minor intrusion. I also wrote down some counterspels for Catcher, just in case something goes wrong. Which it won’t. But I only have a ten-minute window. That’s how much time Gabriel’s giving me to use magic again."

"Is that enough?" Catcher asked.

"It wil be enough," Malory said. "I wil make it enough."

Ethan looked at me. "Are you ready?"

"As I wil ever be." I looked at Seth. "Does he have any particular weaknesses? Things I can exploit?"

"His wings are vulnerable. They’re sensitive to pain, and they’re a major source of his balance. But an injury there wil likely make him even testier, and possibly harder to predict. Otherwise, his anatomy is similar to yours."

I nodded, katas running through my head, when the door burst open. Malik rushed in.

Ethan stood up. "What’s wrong?"

"The radio is reporting that Dominic is terrorizing a building on the South Side. He’s set it on fire, and there are stil people inside. Cops and fire squads are on their way, but they won’t be able to do much against him."

I stood up, too, my heart pounding. "Why that building?"

"It’s a way station for crack in the area."

"He’s playing avenger again," Ethan said.

"Avenger without conscience," Seth said. "And if he thinks the responders are hindering his progress, he’l cut them down, too."

"How do they know it’s Dominic?" I wondered.