House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7)(45)
Author: Chloe Neill

"It’s an idea," Michael said, nodding at me. "Satiating the fairies would solve the immediate problem of keeping the House, but not the long-term issue. Darius isn’t just making a one-time play here. If he wants the House, he’ll try again to get it."

"A fair point," Ethan said. "But perhaps, for now, we play the hand we’ve been dealt. Where might the egg be?"

"Darius and the rest of the GP members are staying at the Dandridge," Malik said. "He might take it there."

"Eh, I’m not sure about that," Luc said. "They’re gambling here, and he has to know we’re having this conversation. That spot seems too obvious."

"Too obvious, and too hard to breach in any event," I said. "Celebrities and senators stay at the Dandridge. I’m not even sure we could get through security to check the rooms."

"I think it’s safe to assume it’s in the metro area," Michael said. "They can’t take it too far away; there wouldn’t be time to get it back into the fairies’ hands again."

I bet he was right. Unfortunately, Chicago was a big city.

"We have to look," Ethan said. "The search begins now." He looked at Malik. "Start with the other Houses’ Seconds. Find out what they know, if they have any information about where it might be."

"They may not want to help," Luc said. "This is precisely the kind of anti-GP behavior Darius wants to punish."

"Perhaps," Ethan said. "Convince them anyway. Someone knows how to fix this, and I want an answer tonight."

* * *

Unfortunately, he didn’t get it. Two hours later, even after sharing the snack Gabriel had brought, we were no closer to a solution. Other than guessing it might be at the Dandridge, no one from the other Houses had any idea where the egg might be; nor were they forthcoming with even that unhelpful suggestion. Not that their mum’s-the-word attitudes were surprising; neither Navarre nor Grey wanted to involve their Houses any more than necessary. That was how they’d stayed off the GP’s radar before, and Darius’s nuclear threat only reinforced the lesson.

Ethan rubbed a hand over his face. "Dawn is coming. We will reconvene at dusk." He looked at Gabriel. "I appreciate your time."

Gabriel smiled wolfishly. "Devil you know versus the devil you don’t. I’d much rather have you in this House than a bunch of GP ass**les."

We couldn’t argue with that.

* * *

With minutes to spare before dawn, Ethan came to me with exhaustion, and sought solace in my arms. Fear hung over me: Lacey’s knowledge of my meeting with Jonah. The unknown killer outside our gate. The threats against our House and home.

We lay together in the dark, bodies intertwined, as the sun rose outside. As the minutes and hours of our remaining sanctuary in Cadogan House slipped away, one by one.

"I cannot lose this House," he drowsily murmured, as the sun wandered into the sky again. "I cannot . . . disappoint them."

I ached for him, and swore to help him keep the House, but not even love could stop the rising of the sun.

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE FIRST RULE OF FRIGHT CLUB

I woke slowly after dreaming that I’d had to reapply for my position as Sentinel, and Ethan had found me utterly lacking for the job. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the origin of that fear – namely, that I was being blackmailed by a woman in love with my boyfriend, even while my House was on the brink of destruction.

Ethan was already up, so the bedroom was utterly quiet. Indulgently, I pulled the sheet over my head and let myself pretend the world outside was empty and blackmail-free.

I didn’t want to tell him. I wasn’t supposed to tell him. After all, what was the first rule of the RG? Don’t talk about the RG.

The entire point of the organization was to monitor the behavior of Masters and the GP so they couldn’t act dictatorially and hurt vampires along the way. It was hard to do that when they’d identified you as a spy. How could I give up the Red Guard to a Master’s scrutiny? How could I punish Jonah for my lack of discretion and Lacey’s obsession with Ethan? If I confessed where I’d been, wouldn’t I be negating the GP’s careful effort to be anonymous, their decades of work, and all the members who’d given their twenty years of service?

Wouldn’t I be betraying Jonah?

But I also couldn’t let Lacey be the one to spill to Ethan what she’d seen. He wasn’t supposed to know at all, but he certainly shouldn’t find out from her. Especially not when she’d use it as an excuse to drive a wedge between us.

Maybe I’d wanted too much, hoped for too much – that I could be an RG member and have a relationship with a Master vampire, of all people. Maybe this would be the end of us: our friendship, our camaraderie, our relationship.

That conversation was going to suck. I knew he’d be angry and feel betrayed, just like Lacey had said. In true Sentinel form, I analyzed the risk, walking through every possible result of my confession:

1. Ethan, drunk on love, would tell me he was proud I’d agreed to serve vampires by joining the RG.

2. Ethan would dump me in a special ceremony in front of Cadogan House.

3. Ethan would kick me out of the House in a special ceremony in front of Cadogan House. Commemorative T-shirts would be prepared bearing the words I SURVIVED MERIT’S EXCOMMUNICATION.

4. Ethan would do both two and three, then kill Jonah.

5. Ethan would turn inward, then let loose a silent but deadly rage that would destroy Cadoga n House and most of Hyde Park. Mayor Kowalcyzk would blame it on our genetics; Catcher would blame it on love.

The scenarios were the least comforting, because one way or the other, Ethan was going to find out, and Jonah was going to be exposed.

I had an unwinnable choice, which was hardly a choice at all.

I hated regret, and that was what I was feeling right now. Not so much regret that I’d said yes to Jonah, but that I hadn’t been more careful the night before and that I’d baited Lacey enough to prick her into blackmailing me.

Unfortunately, sitting around and whining about it wasn’t going to change anything. A killer was still roaming the city and my House was facing a ticking time bomb. Oliver, Eve, and Cadogan needed someone to fight for them, so I flipped off the sheet and climbed out of bed. The night would bring what the night would bring. Better to face it like a soldier – head-on, and without fear – than cower beneath a sheet.

I checked my phone and found a message from Jonah: CHECKING WITH RG CONTACT ABOUT CADOGAN; WILL ADVISE.

I wasn’t sure how plugged in his contacts were. But he’d clearly been right about the contract clause. Maybe he could offer help. It would be an absolute godsend.