Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires #3)(35)
Author: Chloe Neill

"I take Cadogan’s side. That’s the point of being Sentinel."

"Whatever," he said. "You attacked Ethan."

"I did."

"And yet, here you are." He looked me up and down, the gaze I’d once found undeniably attractive taking on an uncomfortably lascivious bent. "No punishment for the teacher’s pet?"

"I was punished," I assured him, even if I could agree that being named House social chair, even for an introvert, was a light one. On the other hand, Celina was free after a murderous rampage. Maybe vampire punishment standards were just low.

"Mmm-hmm," he said.

"I get that you aren’t happy, but can we just try to work together without the sniping?" Morgan opened his mouth to retort, but before he got out words, the office door opened. Ethan walked in, tucking his cell phone into his pocket. "We have some things to take care of," he said, looking between us, "if we’re done here?"

Morgan looked at me for a moment before finally turning to Ethan. "I appreciate your coming by."

"Perhaps we all need to remember that there are three Houses in Chicago," Ethan said, "and that those Houses are not enemies." With that, he turned to me and beckoned, and we made our exit.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The Breckenridge estate – and it was an estate – was located in the rolling Illinois countryside outside Chicago, so we had a drive to get through. Knowing we’d have plenty of time to debrief, I waited until we were in the car before I spilled the Celina beans.

"Morgan saw Celina before she came to Cadogan," I told him. "He gave her a new Navarre medal. She was wearing it when she attacked me."

"Sad to say, that doesn’t entirely surprise me. Any other information?"

"Morgan doesn’t think she’s still in town. He’s betting she’s decamped to Europe. But if she is here, he thinks she’d probably be somewhere fancy."

"That would fit Celina’s sense of self."

"As much as I hate to admit it, once ConPack’s done, we probably need to start taking some active steps to, I don’t know, minimize the damage she could cause?"

"There’s only so much we can do in that regard, given the GP’s protectiveness. They chose to release her, after all."

"I know. But if the GP isn’t going to keep her from riling up the Houses and the Packs, that’s precisely why we need to do some creative thinking."

"Perhaps," he said, then paused. "It occurs to me that it was a mistake to encourage you to date Morgan."

I bit back a smile. "Are you admitting you were wrong?"

"Only in a manner of speaking. There’s a tension between you that we’d have been spared if you hadn’t dated. You can hardly stand to be in the same room together." My stomach twisted a bit at his conclusion, and I wondered whether the next sentence out of his mouth would be something along the lines of, And speaking of ill-advised relationships . . . But if he had concerns about us, he didn’t raise them.

"Well, it’s water under the bridge now," he said.

"You know, you once told me that he was too human. I didn’t agree at the time, being recently human myself, but now I get it. He’s smart, capable, funny – "

"Perhaps you should be dating."

"Ha. But he can be really juvenile. He’s been a vampire for forty years. He should be past adolescence and midlife crisis."

"Sentinel, there are men who’ve been human for forty years who aren’t past adolescence and midlife crisis."

I gave him the point there. It also occurred to me that I hadn’t actually heard Ethan’s phone ring. "Did you fake a phone call to leave me and Morgan alone?"

"I did not. Although I thought it would do you both good to clear the air."

"I see. Who called?"

"Catcher, unfortunately. The forensic unit tested Tony’s bike. They found gunpowder on the tank, some on the seat."

"Hmm. That won’t tie it to the drive-by with one hundred percent certainty; it doesn’t look good circumstantially. Have Tony or his Pack taken credit for the hit?"

"Not that I’m aware of," Ethan said. "I plan to ask Gabriel tonight." Ethan switched on the radio, and we listened to a public station for the duration of the drive. The buildings and parking lots eventually gave way to trees and farmland and to the French chateau perched in the midst of the acres of Breckenridge land. Ethan pulled into the long driveway, flanked today by dozens of bikes arranged in two rows. They were an interesting contrast to the luxe mansion, with its chimneys, steep roof, and pale stone. Ethan parked the car at the end of one of the rows of bikes. I hesitated, wondering if I should bring my katana along. I held up the scabbard, the question in my expression.

"Bring it," Ethan said, belting on his own sword. "If the hit at the bar was a shot at Gabriel, we can’t be sure a member of the Pack wasn’t involved."

"Fair enough," I said, and belted mine on, as well.

We walked the rest of the driveway to the front door. The last time we’d visited, a white-gloved attendant had helped us out of the car, and Mrs. Breckenridge

– Nick’s mom – had met us inside.

Today, our greeter was a little bit different.

She pulled the door open forcefully, then propped a hand on her hip. "I got it, Mrs. B," she called back, then looked at us expectantly. She was tallish and fit, and wore a snug T-shirt. Knee-high black boots covered her snug jeans to the knees, and her short nails were tidy and painted glossy black. A dozen earrings dotted each ear, and her wrists were tattooed with tribally inspired bracelets. She had delicately pretty features and Gabriel’s same golden eyes, her hair a mass of sun-kissed curls that spilled around her shoulders.

Another Keene, I supposed.

She gave me a quick look, then shifted her gaze to Ethan. "Sullivan?" Ethan bobbed his head. "And Merit."

"You’re in the right place," she said. "Mrs. B said you’d already jumped the vampire invitation hoop, so she extended your invite for tonight for whatever." She stepped to the side, holding the door open to allow us entry. "Come on in." Ethan stepped inside; I followed, catching a cloud of citrus-and-spice perfume as I walked past the girl.

"I didn’t catch your name," Ethan said.

She held out a hand. "Fallon Keene."

"Ethan Sullivan," he said, shaking her hand.

She turned to me.

"Merit," I said, doing the same.

"I’ll tell Gabe you’re here," she said, then looked at us askew. "Vamps at a Pack party. It’s definitely a new era." Her tone was open enough that I wasn’t sure whether she approved or disapproved of that new era.